Black Manhattan

Originally published in 1930 and now back in print with an introduction by Zadie Smith, Black Manhattan traces the Black experience in New York City from its origins in the seventeenth century, through the Revolutionary and Civil War periods, to the triumphant achievements of the Harlem Renaissance. Written by one of the leading Black scholars and activists of the first half of the twentieth century, this timeless book also illuminates Black literature, theater, and music of the time, as well as raising important questions about Black people’s struggles to find their identity in America.

James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938) was an early civil rights activist, a pioneering leader of the NAACP, and a seminal figure in the creation and development of the Harlem Renaissance. Johnson’s first success as a writer was the poem “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” (1899), which became known as the “Negro National Anthem.” His published works include The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (1912), God’s Trombones (1927), and Black Manhattan (1930).