Long Memory: The Black Experience in America

Even thought the book barely got used for its intended purpose, it was still a fine read.

From Preface: "This book tells the story of a people wrenched from their African homeland and scattered along the inhospitable shores of the Americas.... Power emanating from weakness, patience and hope in the face of overwhelming odds, and the unity of masses and elites, have at various times been characteristic of Afro-Americans. These and other traits are, however, often obscured by the mass of detail in narrative history. Consequently, rather than follow the traditional narrative approach, we have focused on those themes and subjects most revealing of the complexities of the black experience in America. Convinced that the ideas articulated by black in poetry, song, folklore, novels, cartoons, plays, speeches, autobiographies, newspapers, and magazines reflected their attitudes and significantly affected their actions in the political, social and economic arenas, we have relied heavily on such material in developing our themes. Though we have sometimes disagreed with the interpretations of many of our predecessors, we have read their works carefully, drawn upon their research, and benefited greatly from the trails they blazed." ******** Contents Include: * Introduction * Africa, Slavery, and the Shaping of Black Culture * An Unsecure People: Free Negroes in America * Family and Church: Enduring Institutions * Sex and Racism * Blacks and the Politics of Redemption * The Economics of Hope and Despair * American Archipelago: Blacks and Criminal Justice * The Battle of Education * Military Service and the Paradox of Loyalty * White Proscriptions and Black Protests * Black Nationalism * Bibliography * Some Significant Dates in Black American History

This book can be overly academic and really drag on. The book is worth dragging through, however. It is the most complete history of the black experience in America that I have ever seen.

Contrary to the myopic review below, 'Long Memory' chronicles an extensive analysis of the African American experience in America. Apart from an illusory union of American peoples which exists only in flaming conservative imaginations, there is nothing in this particular piece of classic literature that could even be remotely viewed as divisive, unless of course ethnophobia prevents one from seeing the world from the perspective of someone else's looking glass.

I am an African and African American Studies and History major at Indiana State University. Long Memory is a powerful and provocative survey organized on key themes in African American history: slavery, family, religion, sex and racism, politics, economics, education, criminal justice, discrimination and protest movements, and black nationalism. An excellent and timeless book that reveals "the African American experience" to students that have little or no historical knowledge about African American history. Regardless of its age, Long Memory continues to be an invaluable resource for students and a required text in many Black Studies courses across the United States. Long Memory is a well-developed masterpiece of scholarship that should be read by students looking to learn more about the African American experience. It has revealed to me the Afrocentric perspective of African American history and a must read for Black Studies majors. The authors of Long Memory are Mary Frances Berry at Howard University, and John W. Blassingame at Yale University.