Black gotham Carla Peterson recounts the lives of black elites in new york city in the 19th century. Professor peterson examines a community of black new read more . Recounts the lives of africanamerican elites in new ork. This is about an hour, ten minutes. Um, i want the start out my talk with two quotes. Um, theyre both from the prologue of my book, and ill give a little explanation for them, um, but they introduce why i decided to write book. Write the book. So the first quote is in my own prose from the prologue. We still hold certain truths about africanamericans to be selfevident; that the phrase 19th Century Black americans refers to enslaved people. That the, that new york state before the civil war denotes a place of freedom, that blacks in this new york city esignates harlem, that the black community posits a classless and culturally unified society, that a black elite did not exist until well into the 20th century. The lives of my new york forebearers belies such assumption
that was after words, booktv s signature program in which authors of the latest nonfiction books are interviewed by journalists, public policymakers and others familiar with their material. it air every weekend on booktv at 10 p.m. on saturday, 12 and 9 p.m. on sunday and 12 a.m. on monday. you can also watch after words online. go to booktv.org and click on after words in the booktv series and topics list on the upper right side of the page. and now on booktv, carla peterson recounts the leaves of african-american elites in new york. she examines african-american new yorkers, some of which are her descendants prior to the civil war who were afforded upper-class status under the constant threat of racial violence. this is about an hour, ten minutes. um, i want the start out my talk with two quotes. um, they re both from the prologue of my book, and i ll give a little explanation for them, um, but they introduce why i decided to write book. write the book. so the fir