The Autobiography of a People: Three Centuries of African American History Told By Those Who Lived It

by Herb Boyd

Autobiography of a People is an insightfully assembled anthology of eyewitness accounts that traces the history of the African American experience.  From the Middle Passage to the Million Man March, editor Herb Boyd has culled a diverse range of voices, both famous and ordinary, to creat a unique and compelling historical portrait:

Benjamin Banneker on Thomas Jefferson
Old Elizabeth on spreading the Word
Frederick Douglass on life in the North
W.E.B. Du Bois on the Talented Tenth
Matthew Henson on reaching the North Pole
Harriot Jacobs on running away
James Cameron on escaping a mob lyniching
Alvin Ailey on the world of dance
Langston Hughes on the Harlem Renaissance
Curtis Morriw on the Korean War
Max ROach on "jazz" as a four-letter word
LL Cool J on rap
Mary Church Terrell on the Chicago World's Fair
Rev. Bernice King on the future of Black America