Michael Hucles – författare

A long overdue history of a Black community in the heart of the South and its vibrant and inspiring legacyAs the cultural and economic center of the Virginia Tidewater region, the great historic seaport city of Norfolk has flourished on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay for more than three hundred years. I, Too, Am Norfolk celebrates the contributions of the city's Black residents—contributions that have gone overlooked and underappreciated for too long.Norfolk's Black community has a remarkable history. In 1865, the city's Black residents were the first in the United States to collectively demand equal rights, including the right to vote, when they issued a nationally circulated pamphlet. Through decades of Jim Crow, Black residents boldly resisted pay discrimination, disenfranchisement, and the poll tax. And in 1943, teacher Sarah B. Davis protested segregated seating on a Norfolk bus—a decade before Rosa Parks did so in Montgomery. The first Black woman to graduate from the University of Virginia School of Law, as well as the first Black state supreme court justice, grew up in segregated Norfolk. This is the story of how the city's Black community challenged their relegation to slavery, serfdom, and second-class citizenship, fighting every step of the way to realize true freedom for themselves and their children.

African American History: The Development of a People provides students with diverse, concise essays that explore the experiences, traditions, and culture of African Americans in the United States from the nation’s early years to today. The readings center on the collective and individual experiences of African Americans and explore the cultural and historical contexts in which they live their lives.Part I of the anthology features readings that correspond to America’s Antebellum Era. The selections speak to slavery, politics, family life, survival, and indomitable will. Part II explores issues of the post-Civil War and Reconstruction eras, including reimagining life after slavery, Jim Crow, the Civil Rights Movement, boycotts, the emergence of black power, and more. The final part contains readings from influential figures and political bodies—including former presidents Abraham Lincoln and Barack Obama, civil rights leader Booker T. Washington, civil rights activist W.E.B. DuBois, and Supreme Court decisions—that demonstrate how African Americans have challenged and continue to challenge political and social systems through activism.A powerful and engaging anthology, African American History is well-suited for undergraduate and graduate courses in U.S. history, African American history, urban sociology, and black political thought.