You Don’t Know Us Negroes (and other essays)

You Dont Know Us Negroesis the quintessential gathering of provocative essays from one of the worlds most celebrated writers, Zora Neale Hurston. Spanning more than three decades and penned during the backdrop of the birth of the Harlem Renaissance, Montgomery bus boycott, desegregation of the military, and school integration, Hurstons writing articulates the beauty and authenticity of Black life as only she could. Collectively, these essays showcase the roles enslavement and Jim Crow have played in intensifying Black peoples inner lives and culture rather than destroying it. She argues that in the process of surviving, Black people re-interpreted every aspect of American culture”modif[ying] the language, mode of food preparation, practice of medicine, and most certainly religion.White supremacy prevents the world from seeing or completely recognizing Black people in their full humanity and Hurston made it her job to lift the veil and reveal the heart and soul of the race. These pages reflect Hurston as the controversial figure she wassomeone who stated that feminism is a mirage and that the integration of schools did not necessarily improve the education of Black students. Also covered is the sensational trial of Ruby McCollum, a wealthy Black woman convicted in 1952 for killing her lover, a white doctor.

Demonstrating the breadth of this revered and influential writers work,You Dont Know Us Negroes and Other Essaysis an invaluable chronicle of a writers development and a window into her world and mind.

Hardcover, Jan 18th 2022