Product Description

Here is a magnificent account of a past rich in beauty and creativity, but also in tragedy and trauma. Eminent historian Nell Irvin Painter blends a vivid narrative based on the latest research with a wonderful array of artwork by African American artists, works which add a new depth to our understanding of black history.

Painter offers a history written for a new generation of African Americans, stretching from life in Africa before slavery to today's hip-hop culture. The book describes the staggering number of Africans--over ten million--forcibly transported to the New World, most doomed to brutal servitude in Brazil and the Caribbean. Painter looks at the free black population, numbering close to half a million by 1860 (compared to almost four million slaves), and provides a gripping account of the horrible conditions of slavery itself. The book examines the Civil War, revealing that it only slowly became a war to end slavery, and shows how Reconstruction, after a promising start, was shut down by terrorism by white supremacists. Painter traces how through the long Jim Crow decades, blacks succeeded against enormous odds, creating schools and businesses and laying the foundations of our popular culture. We read about the glorious outburst of artistic creativity of the Harlem Renaissance, the courageous struggles for Civil Rights in the 1960s, the rise and fall of Black Power, the modern hip-hop movement, and two black Secretaries of State. Painter concludes that African Americans today are wealthier and better educated, but the disadvantaged are as vulnerable as ever.

Painter deeply enriches her narrative with a series of striking works of art--more than 150 in total, most in full color--works that profoundly engage with black history and that add a vital dimension to the story, a new form of witness that testifies to the passion and creativity of the African-American experience.

* Among the dozens of artists featured are Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Beauford Delaney, Jacob Lawrence, and Kara Walker

* Filled with sharp portraits of important African Americans, from Olaudah Equiano (one of the first African slaves to leave a record of his captivity) and Toussaint L'Ouverture (who led the Haitian revolution), to Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth, to Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X

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Product Details

Publisher	Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN	0195137566
Format	Paperback
Author	Nell Irvin Painter
EAN	9780195137569
Label	Oxford University Press, USA
Dewey Decimal Number	973.0496073
Studio	Oxford University Press, USA
Number Of Pages	496
Title	Creating Black Americans: African-American History and Its Meanings, 1619 to the Present
Publication Date	2006-08-09
Manufacturer	Oxford University Press, USA

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Customer Reviews

Excellent resource on both black history and art

Review by Amazonian, 2010-07-09

Whether your interest lies with African-American history or African-American art, you must add this book to your library. As Painter tells the story of black people in America from the 15th century to the beginning of the 21st, she illustrates her points with works of art (paintings, sculpture, even quilts) by black Americans. The back of the book includes short profiles of each artist mentioned and a detailed timeline of black history. This book is definitely worth re-visiting many times.

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The Most Important History Book I Have Ever Read!!!

Review by Bronze Trinity, 2009-04-08

I finally finished the book 'Creating Black Americans: African-American History and its Meanings, 1619 to the Present' by Nell Irvin Painter. I can sum up my opinion of the book by saying this is the most important history book I have ever read! This is 392 pages(without notes and references) of essential information about the experience and history of Black people in the United States from the very first time our people set foot in the country. If there was any important figure you wanted to know about that person is mentioned in this book, including Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglas, W.E.B. DuBois, Fannie Lou Hamer, Crispus Attucks, Phyllis Wheatley, James Baldwin, Amiri Baraka, Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey, Mary McLeod Bethune, Elderidge Cleaver, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., Angela Davis, Abu-Jamal Mumia, and so many others who's names you have probably heard before. I have heard many of the names before but I did not know what the person did or why I should know about them. I am so glad I know who these people are now! Never let anyone tell you African Americans have never achieved anything, we have no role models, or we have no heroes. These people are my heroes! The book showed me how strong our people are and how much they had to fight, survive, and overcome. I swear, African people have had to overcome more than anyone on earth! I am so proud of these people and I know that their struggles, sacrifices, and deaths have made my life possible!

If there is any historical event you want to know about, it is in this book. Creating Black Americans is actually a text book. It has 15 chapters including an Epilogue, timelines at the end of each chapter, and discussion questions to think about. It covers our beginnings in Africa, the TransAtlantic Slave Trade, the Civil War and Emancipation, Reconstruction, Segregation, the Harlem Renaissance, The World Wars, The Civil Rights Era, Black Power, and the Hip Hop Era. I think that this is a book that should be in the home of every Black family around the world. It is something that I would like to have for my future children. I hope to add similar books about Africa and the Caribbean to my collection.

One ingenious feature of the book is that Nell Irvin Painter included African American art to illustrate the book. Each piece reflected on a historical event, important person, or feeling created by an African American artist. This is the first book I have ever read that had information about African-American art! The art is beautiful and it includes, paintings, sculptures, collages, quilts and even poetry! Some of the art is realistic but a lot of it is abstract and full of emotion. I made a point to take my time looking at the art pieces to really appreciate them. This is an ideal choice for an African American history book because it is a lesson in history that includes art history!

I found this book in my university library. For the past couple of years I have been going into the African and African American history sections and just walking around, looking at the books. If I saw something I liked I would sign it out. I never did keyword searches for a topic or book, I just looked until I found something. That way I got to know the different topics and sections where I would like to learn more. I saw Creating Black Americans and the cover was new and it was a recent book from 2007. I'm so glad I found it because it was the foundation for African American history that I really needed. I have read other things, but I wanted something general that covered EVERYTHING not just particular parts of the history. This book gave me that. In the future I'm going to buy a copy and read it again. Reading this book was like taking an African American history class!

What I have to say to Nell Irvin Painter is that I am so glad that there are educated people like her who took the time to pass on this knowledge to the world. Her book in written in such a way that someone with a highschool education could understand it and the art is a brilliant touch! It was truly a gift to read this book and if I were Dr. Painter I would feel I really did something wonderful! I want to thank her for teaching me about the history of my people. I feel more complete now. I realize that NONE of this information was taught to me in history class in Canada. I didn't learn anything about Black people at school. I didn't really understand who I was until I finished reading this book! This is a must read for everyone because African American history IS HISTORY and should be a part of every American and world history program. Thank you Dr. Painter for spreading the knowledge and lifting the ignorance from my eyes!

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Engaging and highly readable

Review by AfroAmericanHeritage, 2007-06-11

The past isn't what it used to be.

That's one of the threads which runs throughout this engaging narrative of African American history from 1619 to the present. Too often students misconstrue history as being carved in stone but as this book illustrates - literally, for it includes nearly 150 works of art which provide comment upon on historical events - interpretations of the past change as new facts come to light, or are viewed through a more diverse lens and connected to current events.

For example, Painter frequently uses the word "terrorist" when referring to white supremacists who have used violence to limit the rights and economic development of black Americans for centuries. It's a word which is not only appropriate, but more meaningful to contemporary students.

Though not an art history book per se (it does not provide analysis of the art, only descriptions which place it in historical context) there is biographical information about each artist at the end of the book.

Engaging and highly readable, I recommend this book to anyone seeking a general overview of African American history and culture. I think it would be particularly useful as a text for high school Advanced Placement courses.

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Great Book

Review by mistermaxxx@yahoo.com, 2006-03-17

very descriptive Book on African Americans from Slavery to the present day. very detailed Book that talks about many firsts&also deals with Politics,Entertainment,Creativity&is a full Book that is a Must Read&Have.

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Great Book, highly recommend

Review by G. Williams, 2006-03-03

This is a great book to read, covers everything from the origns of slavery to the rapid growth of hip-hop. The artwork that is included in the book is phenomenal and really adds to the reading experience. This book will be one of the few scholastic books that I don't sell back to the bookstore.

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