a memorial to MARGARET WALKER ALEXANDER
(1915–1998); an interview with CHARLES JOHN-
SON, the author of MIDDLE PASSAGE, “The Politics
of African American Scholarship,” an essay by
the coauthor of Africans in America HENRY LOUIS
GATES, JR., and book reviews of works by Carib-
bean writer EDWIDGE DANTICAT and TREY ELLIS, the
author of Platitude. BIBR’s breadth was further
validated with articles on MARTIN LUTHER KING,
JR., Thurgood Marshall, JUNE JORDAN’s Affirmative
Acts: Political Essays (Anchor Books, Doubleday
1998), and Ruby Dee and OSSIE DAVIS, who cel-
ebrated their 50th anniversary with the publica-
tion of With Ossie and Ruby: In This Life Together
(New York: William Morrow and Company, 1998).
Other book articles of interest included one on
The Tribal Art of Africa and one on black bookstore
owner Clara Villanova, who had moved her Hue
Man Experience Bookstore from Denver, Colo-
rado, to Harlem, New York.
Wilfred D. SamuelsBlack Nationalism
As defined by many scholars and critics, Black Na-
tionalism refers to the belief that black people share
a common culture and worldview, have a common
destiny, and have a common experience. The con-
cept of a self-defined, self-sufficient state, which is
of the black politic and exists independently of any
other state, is also foundational to the ambitions
of Black Nationalism. The multiple aspects of this
brand of nationalism include economic self-suf-
ficiency, political sovereignty, and a social if not
cultural existence based on the identity and initia-
tive of the black politic. While overcoming the rac-
ism and discrimination of America is a goal, Black
Nationalism seeks to forge a state that embodies
collective thought, interests, and positive self-per-
ceptions of its people. Generally, these perceptions
include community-mindedness, spiritual affinity,
and brotherhood and sisterhood. This is the as-
pect of Black Nationalism that many black writ-
ers of the 1960s, and specifically those who aligned
themselves with the BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT led by
AMIRI BARAKA, HAKI MADHUBUTI, and LARRY NEAL,
among many others, embraced as part of their de-
sire for black empowerment.
Historically, Black Nationalism advocated by
these writers had its roots in the emigrationist
and separatist ideas and activities popular among
19th-century black Americans and promoted by
MAULANA KARENGA in the mid-20th century. The
historic record of emigrationist thought in Amer-
ica includes a 1773 petition by blacks from Mas-
sachusetts to the state legislator expressing a desire
to be settled in some part of Africa. A similar pe-
tition requesting assistance in immigrating to Af-
rica came from Prince Hall, a Methodist preacher
during the same era. A 1789 letter from the Free
African Society (a black fraternal organization) of
Newport, Rhode Island, to its brother organiza-
tion in Philadelphia suggested the serious consid-
eration of a return-to-Africa movement. No action
ensued immediately after this correspondence, but
the idea was not lost.
In 1808, Paul Cuffee, an independently wealthy
merchant, captain, and shipbuilder from Massa-
chusetts, also conceived an idea of repatriation. He
had the support of many black New Englanders
who were interested in starting colonies in Africa.
In 1811 he became a cosponsor of an explor-
atory trip to Sierra Leone. Although temporarily
deterred by the War of 1812 until 1815, the idea
was realized when Cuffee financed the transpor-
tation of 38 black men, women, and children to
Sierra Leone at an expense of $3,000 to $4,000 to
himself.
Separatist and emigrationist thought was insti-
tutionalized by such organizations as the Haytian
Emigration Society and the American Colonization
Society (ACS) in addition to Cuffee. Blacks formed
the Haytian Emigration Society, with chapters in
Baltimore, Boston, Cincinnati, New York, and Phil-
adelphia, through which 6,000 blacks migrated to
Haiti in the 1820s. Similarly, established from De-
cember 1817 to January 1818, under the auspices
of Thomas Jefferson and other leading mainstream
politicians, the American Colonization Society’s
central goal was to repatriate Africans to Libe-
ria, a new American colony. This initiative was aBlack Nationalism 53