Make Good the Promises: Reclaiming Reconstruction and Its Legacies, Kinshasha Holman Conwell and Paul Gardullo

Item specifics

Condition
Pre-owned book in good condition. Please see the photos of the book to see its condition.
ISBN
9780063160644
Book Title
Make Good the Promises : Reclaiming Reconstruction and Its Legacies
Item Length
9.4in
Publisher
HarperCollins
Publication Year
2021
Format
Softcover
Language
English
Item Height
0.9in
Author
Kinshasha Holman Conwill, Paul Gardullo
Genre
History
Topic
Social History, United States / Civil War Period (1850-1877), African American
Item Width
7.9in
Item Weight
26.7 Oz
Number of Pages
224 Pages

About this product

Product Information

The companion volume to the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture exhibit, opening in September 2021 With a Foreword by Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Eric Foner and a preface by veteran museum director and historian Spencer Crew An incisive and illuminating analysis of the enduring legacy of the post-Civil War period known as Reconstruction--a comprehensive story of Black Americans' struggle for human rights and dignity and the failure of the nation to fulfill its promises of freedom, citizenship, and justice. In the aftermath of the Civil War, millions of free and newly freed African Americans were determined to define themselves as equal citizens in a country without slavery--to own land, build secure families, and educate themselves and their children. Seeking to secure safety and justice, they successfully campaigned for civil and political rights, including the right to vote. Across an expanding America, Black politicians were elected to all levels of government, from city halls to state capitals to Washington, DC. But those gains were short-lived. By the mid-1870s, the federal government stopped enforcing civil rights laws, allowing white supremacists to use suppression and violence to regain power in the Southern states. Black men, women, and children suffered racial terror, segregation, and discrimination that confined them to second-class citizenship, a system known as Jim Crow that endured for decades. More than a century has passed since the revolutionary political, social, and economic movement known as Reconstruction, yet its profound consequences reverberate in our lives today. Make Good the Promises explores five distinct yet intertwined legacies of Reconstruction--Liberation, Violence, Repair, Place, and Belief--to reveal their lasting impact on modern society. It is the story of Frederick Douglass, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Hiram Revels, Ida B. Wells, and scores of other Black men and women who reshaped a nation--and of the persistence of white supremacy and the perpetuation of the injustices of slavery continued by other means and codified in state and federal laws. With contributions by leading scholars, and illustrated with 80 images from the exhibition, Make Good the Promises shows how Black Lives Matter, #SayHerName, antiracism, and other current movements for repair find inspiration from the lessons of Reconstruction. It touches on questions critical then and now: What is the meaning of freedom and equality? What does it mean to be an American? Powerful and eye-opening, it is a reminder that history is far from past; it lives within each of us and shapes our world and who we are.

Product Identifiers

Publisher
HarperCollins
ISBN-10
0063160641
ISBN-13
9780063160644
Product ID (ePID)
20050027314

Product Key Features

Book Title
Make Good the Promises : Reclaiming Reconstruction and Its Legacies
Author
Kinshasha Holman Conwill, Paul Gardullo
Format
Softcover
Language
English
Topic
Social History, United States / Civil War Period (1850-1877), African American
Publication Year
2021
Genre
History
Number of Pages
224 Pages

Dimensions

Item Length
9.4in
Item Height
0.9in
Item Width
7.9in
Item Weight
26.7 Oz

Additional Product Features

Lc Classification Number
E185.2
Reviews
The Reconstruction era is perceived within the racist imagination to be a failure. In fact, popular memory has been a failure. Make Good the Promises is a powerful and illuminating exploration that shows the Black struggle during the Reconstruction era for a multiracial democracy. We are fighting the same struggle today., The truly impressive essays and gorgeous illustrations collected here offer a powerful and unflinching look at a critical period of our history. Engaging directly with a history of what W.E.B. Du Bois called 'propaganda' about this period, Make Good the Promises helps us see that we cannot understand the present without grappling with this violent, transformative time. This beautiful collection reveals why Reconstruction belongs at the center of Black history and, indeed, all of American history., Firmly planted in both the past and the present, this is an excellent introduction to an oft-misunderstood chapter in American history.
Target Audience
Trade
Lccn
2021-940978
Dewey Decimal
(description exceeds maximum possible length)