By the time of the American Revolution, blacks made up 20 percent of the colonial population. Early in colonial history, many blacks who came to America were indentured servants who served out their contracts and then settled in the colonies as free men. Over time, however, more and more blacks arrived as slaves, and the position of blacks in colonial society suffered precipitous decline. This book discusses the lives of blacks, both slave and free, as they struggled to make homes for themselves among the white European settlers in the New World. The author thoroughly examines colonial slavery and the laws supporting it (as early as 1686, for example, New Jersey had laws demanding the return of fugitive slaves) as well as the emancipation movement, active from the beginning of the slave trade. Other topics include blacks and the practice of Christianity in the colonies, and the service of blacks in the Revolution.

The author has wonderfully traced the orgins of the Roanoke Missionary Baptist Associations and its Founders from 1866 to 1966. He has included brief but substative narratives of the lives of the Founding Fathers namely: L. W. Boone, Z. H. Berry, H. H. Hays, C. E.Hodges, C. E. Johnson, William Reid, Emanuel Reynolds and others. Sufficient attention has been given to the activities of the Women Missionary and Education Union. Pictures and narratives of 10 of its previous presidents has been enshirned in the chapter entitled, "Woman, What of our Past." Historical sketches and pictures of selected churches within the Roanoke Missionary Baptist Association displays the far reaching effects of the Founding Fathers. The concluding chapter details the founding of the West Raonoke Missionary Baptist Association from the Roanoke Missionary Baptist Association. Dr. Boone has taken the Bataan from others who knew that this important historical contribution needed to be gathered, appreciated, shared and celebrated for a job well done. Unfortunately, no one was able to consistently pursue this great endeavor before Dr. Boones extensive and exhaustive work represented here. Massive in its scope the volume guides the reader in a comprehensive and challenging look at the origin and the significance of the Roanoke Missionary Baptist Association and the importance of the Founding Fathers and the work with the North Carolina and Virginia abolitionist. The lives of the Founding Fathers and the lives of the first three generations of pastors and officials are succinctly presented as they lifted up the esssential meaning of liberation for the pastor and the local congregations in northeastern North Carolina. The History of the Roanoke Missionary Baptist Association from 1866-1966 provides critical resources for the study of the formation of this grand institution. Dr. Boone has put in place a solid foundation that can be built upon as new information becomes available. He is married to the former Amanda Battle of Richmond, VA. They reside in Hampton Roads, Virginia.

The 1400s were a pivotal time in the history of Africans. The Songhai Empire rose to prominence and new city-states arose in Hausaland, Yorubaland and Benin. One of the most significant developments, however, was European and Asian exploration of the continent and the rapid expansion of the slave trade. By the end of the century, African slaves could be found from India to the Indies, and the foundation was laid for a peculiar institution that would last for over 400 years. From the time of the first European expeditions to Africa to the end of slavery in the United States, this work chronicles the most significant events in African, Pan-African and African American history. Many of the entries (e.g., Columbus' "discovery" of America and the death of Toussaint L'Ouverture) are supplemented by brief historical accounts that set the event in context. There are extensive see references to related happenings.

Compiles information and interpretations on the past 500 years of African American history, containing essays on historical research aids, bibliographies, resources for womens' issues, and an accompanying CD-ROM providing bibliographical entries.

Originally published in 1993. The purpose of this volume is to lay out documents which give an estimate of Mark Twain as a humourist in both historical scope and in the analysis of modern scholars. The emphasis in this collection is on how Twain developed from a contemporary humourist among many others of his generation into a major comic writer and American spokesman and, in several more recent essays by younger Twain scholars, the outcomes of that development late in his career. The essays determine how the humor takes on meaning and importance and how the humor works in a number of ways in the literary canon and even in the persona of Mark Twain.

“PRIOR TO THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE, BLACKS PORTRAY THEMSELVES AS STRANGS OBJECTS, ALIENATED FROM OTHERS IN THE SOCIETY.” The social activities in literature, art, theatre and entertainment in Harlem Renaissanc: a Handbook are documented for the period 1910-1940. A few intellectuals, specifically James Weldon Johnson, W E B DuBois, Charles Johnson and Alain Locke perceive that they, themselves, are the “New Negro.” Thus they produce and record the visual arts, literature and music they personally create as well as that of younger literary artists: Langston Hughes, Arna Bontemps, Countee Cullen and Roland Hayes. The literature, scholarship and criticism created among these intellectuals are mainly responsible for bringing about a renaissance. What is so unique about the Harlem Renaissance is that it is totally perceived and criticized by white American literary standards. At no time in African American history has there been an era wherein self-proclaimed intellectuals record their own literary activities as they are being created. That single concept is the focus of the research in Harlem Renaissance: a Handbook. Identifying each Major and Other Figures of the Harlem Renaissance permits the reader to experience the life and time of the era. The influx of African American literature requires the need to study the artists and to document the literary and creative arts of the Harlem Renaissance. View the photos and read the biography of the intellectuals as they live through an era devoted to illuminating Negro life as it actually exists in America. Most helpful to the reader is the Chronology of literary arts and corresponding activities of the Harlem Renaissance. During the years 1910-1940 the titles of articles, theatrical productions, books, poetry, music, visual arts and literature created during this period have been documented. The items chosen for the Chronology are not exhaustive, but they represent nearly all the literature and activities created during the Harlem Renaissance. Harlem Renaissance, a Handbook is a journey through time wherein literary and artistic history is documented as it occurs. With the aid of local New York Publishing companies, intellectuals encourage younger literary artists to publish only Negro folk life and culture as it actually exists.

Portland, Oregon, though widely regarded as a liberal bastion, also has struggled historically with ethnic diversity; indeed, the 2010 census found it to be “America’s whitest major city.” In early recognition of such disparate realities, a group of African American activists in the 1960s formed a local branch of the Black Panther Party in the city’s Albina District to rally their community and be heard by city leaders. And as Lucas Burke and Judson Jeffries reveal, the Portland branch was quite different from the more famous—and infamous—Oakland headquarters. Instead of parading through the streets wearing black berets and ammunition belts, Portland’s Panthers were more concerned with opening a health clinic and starting free breakfast programs for neighborhood kids. Though the group had been squeezed out of local politics by the early 1980s, its legacy lives on through the various activist groups in Portland that are still fighting many of the same battles. Combining histories of the city and its African American community with interviews with former Portland Panthers and other key players, this long-overdue account adds complexity to our understanding of the protracted civil rights movement throughout the Pacific Northwest. A V Ethel Willis White Book

Achievement engenders pride, and the most significant accomplishments involving people, places, and events in black history are gathered in Black Firsts: 4,000 Ground-Breaking and Pioneering Events.

Judge Higginbotham chronicles in unrelenting detail the role of the law in the enslavement and subjugation of black Americans during the colonial period. It is a moving book that should be read by all Americans who believe in justice and dignity for all.