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  • Before the Mayflower

  • A History of Black America
  • Written by: Lerone Bennett
  • Narrated by: John Ridle
  • Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (2 ratings)

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Before the Mayflower

Written by: Lerone Bennett
Narrated by: John Ridle
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Publisher's Summary

The black experience in America - starting from its origins in western Africa up to 1961 - is examined in this seminal study from a prominent African American figure. The entire historical timeline of African Americans is addressed, from the Colonial period through the civil rights upheavals of the late 1950s to 1961, the time of publication.

Before the Mayflower grew out of a series of articles Bennett published in Ebony magazine, regarding "the trials and triumphs of a group of Americans whose roots in the American soil are deeper than the roots of the Puritans who arrived on the celebrated Mayflower a year after a Dutch man of war deposited twenty Negroes at Jamestown."

Bennett's history is infused with a desire to set the record straight about black contributions to the Americas and about the powerful Africans of antiquity. While not a fresh history, it provides a solid synthesis of current historical research and a lively writing style that makes it accessible and engaging listening.

After discussing the contributions of Africans to the ancient world, Before the Mayflower tells the history of "the other Americans", how they came to America, and what happened to them when they got here.

The book is comprehensive and detailed, providing little-known and often overlooked facts about the lives of black folks through slavery, Reconstruction, America's wars, the Great Depression, and the civil rights movement. The book includes a useful time line and some fascinating archival images.

©2020 African History (P)2020 African History
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

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Written directly in the the civil rights movement

This is a very interesting read directly from the midst of the equal rights movement in 1964. I'm not sure if there are any historical inaccuracies in the book, but it was enlightening and unique in it's approach, specifically because it was written while history was actually taking place. I highly recommend it.

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