Monday, February 10, 2014

The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross, by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Donald Yacovone

The African Americans: 
Many Rivers to Cross
Authors: Henry Louis Gates Jr., Donald Yacovone
Publisher: Hay House
Publication Date:
View on Amazon
Source: Hay House Book Nook

I have not yet seen the television series The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross, but after reading this companion book I'm very much looking forward to it. The book is a brief but unflinching look at 500 years of African American history, from the first people of African descent to inhabit what is now American soil, to African American experiences today. It examines the roots, reality and ultimate abolishment of slavery in the United States, as well as the far-reaching aftermath. There is a section on racist imagery in the 19th century that is both disturbing and illuminating (and, as the book points out, does not all originate from white people in the south). It is both a history of racial discrimination in America and a history of African American achievement (and it shows how linked these two things are).

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