Black Pioneers: An Untold Story

by William Loren Katz

After not being allowed to vote, testify in court, or send their kids to school, African Americans had to create a system of their own, in a book that examines the institutions they made and the struggles they faced to gain equality.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

208 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1999

Reviews

[Mamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book with excellent stories and perspectives about the west during the 1800s that were new to me. I do think it could have been organized and laid out more effectively. Also, it ended abruptly, which was dissatisfying. Overall, though, Katz takes a major step forward in writing this book. I hope to find many more about history from untold perspectives and eventually have these stories better unified into mainstream "American history."

[Sami Zaputil · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would've never seen myself reading a nonfiction book because I thought they were boring, stale, stodgy, colorless, flat, uninteresting book. I think fiction or realistic fiction is my forte, or my cup of tea. I was proven so very wrong because this book wasn't only amazing but it was stunning, awesome, marvelous, fascinating, incredible, prodigious, unbelievable, wonderful book. After having an African American baby in my FCS class I thought I needed to learn more about my babies past, history. This book made me realize more about the past and let my mind do the work of imaging, brainstorming, image photos in my mind, devise, develop, originate, and to dream up what the past looks like. This book is truly an eye opener. I would like to thank the author for making small illustrations to go along with the text, this was truly an astonishing read, so my fellow book worms please go out and read Black Pioneers: An Untold Story because we need to make this story be told. This book is like a roller coaster that only goes up for young adolescent minds.

[Karen]

* Understanding Oppression: African American Rights (Then and Now)

Out of a past little noted in history texts comes this tale of African American pioneers in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys. These pathfinders were slaves, poets, runaways, missionaries, farmers, teachers, and soldiers. For these African Americans, the frontier meant freedom, and from the earliest times, some seized liberty by joining Indian nations. #reference #blackcowboys #blackindians

[Missy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is always pleasing to learn the history of familiar places from a new perspective. The short vignettes left me wanting to know more about many of the individuals profiled here.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read.