Summary

Here is the most sweeping and informative collection of documents detailing the Black experience ever compiled.

Destined to become the bible of writings on and about African-American culture, politics and history, THE AFRICAN AMERICAN ARCHIVE portrays the stark realities, great moments and fascinating particulars of being black in America, through the minds and pens of those who lived it. Featuring letters, articles, pamphlets and papers of all kinds, every important document is here-the Emancipation Proclamation, the Brown vs. Board of Education decision, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech and-along with scores of enlightening personal documents-harrowing accounts from slaves who suffered the passage from Africa, letters from black soldiers in the Civil War, journal entries from civil rights workers in the '60s and Louis Farrakhan's speech at the 1995 Million Man March. Arranged chronologically from the 1600s to the present, each document is introduced with a careful discussion, providing historical background and context.