Ronda Racha Penrice attended the M.A. program in Southern Studies at the University of Mississippi. A veteran freelance writer, the Columbia University alum has covered Black history and culture for publications including Zora, Essence, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Ebony, theGrio, The Root, and NBC THINK.
Introduction 1
Part 1: Coming to America 7
Chapter 1: The Soul of America 9
Chapter 2: From Empires to Bondage: Bringing Africans to the Americas 33
Chapter 3: The Founding of Black America 49
Part 2: Long Road to Freedom 63
Chapter 4: American Slavery, American Freedom 65
Chapter 5: Bringing Down the House: Marching toward Civil War and Freedom 85
Chapter 6: Up from Slavery: Civil War and Reconstruction 109
Part 3: Pillars of Change: The Civil Rights Movement 135
Chapter 7: Living Jim Crow 137
Chapter 8: I, Too, Sing America: The Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1963 163
Chapter 9: Turning Up the Heat (1963-1968) 187
Chapter 10: Where Do We Go from Here? Post-Civil Rights 207
Chapter 11: The New Civil Rights -- Obama, Black Lives Matter, and Beyond 233
Part 4: Cultural Foundations 259
Chapter 12: Somebody Say "Amen": The Black Church 261
Chapter 13: More Than Reading and Writing: Education 285
Chapter 14: Writing Down the Bones: Black Literature 307
Chapter 15: The Great Black Way: Theater and Dance 331
Part 5: A Touch of Genius: Music, Film, TV, and Sports 357
Chapter 16: Give Me a Beat: Black Music 359
Chapter 17: Black Hollywood: Film and Comedy 393
Chapter 18: Black Hollywood: TV 427
Chapter 19: Winning Ain't Easy: Race and Sports 449
Part 6: The Part of Tens 479
Chapter 20: Ten Black American Firsts 481
Chapter 21: Ten Black Literary Classics 487
Chapter 22: Ten (Plus One) Influential Black American Visual Artists 493
Index 501
