Fountaindale Public Library

America's first Black town, Brooklyn, Illinois, 1830-1915, Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages [221]-258) and index

government publication of a state province territory dependency etc

index present

non fiction

America's first Black town

bibliography

41944555

Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua

"Brooklyn, Illinois, was a magnet for African Americans from its founding by free and fugitive Blacks in the 1820s. Initially attractive to escaped slaves and others seeking to live in a Black-majority town, Brooklyn later drew Black migrants eager to commute to jobs in East St. Louis and other industrial centers as an alternative to eking out a living in agriculture." "Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua traces Brooklyn's transformation from a freedom village into a residential commuter satellite that supplied cheap labor to the city and the region."

Brooklyn, Illinois, 1830-1915

"America's First Black Town challenges scholarly assumptions that Black political control necessarily leads to internal unity and economic growth. Outlining dynamics that presaged the post-1960s plight of Gary, Detroit, and other Black-dominated cities, Cha-Jua confirms that, despite Brooklyn's heroic struggle for autonomy, Black control was not enough to stem the corrosive tide of internal colonialism."--BOOK JACKET

Preface -- Introduction: "founded by chance, sustained by courage" -- From separate settlement to biracial town: Blacks in Brooklyn, Illinois, 1830-60 -- Uncovering Brooklyn's African American population, 1850-70 -- From outlaws to lawmakers, 1870-85 -- Mobilizing the race: John L. Evans, decolonization, and consolidation of Black political power, 1886-1906 -- Proletarianization, dependency, and underdevelopment, 1890-1910 -- The Black municipality and the white colonial county, 1898-1915 -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Index

adult