With his Introduction to Black History, Robert L. Bradley proffers an ambitious compendium of black history beginning with human origins in Africa.
Bradley is a historian and cartographer. His book is loosely organized by timeline, topic and the countries or colonies involved.
The author discusses African tribes and political entities and shows how they were impacted by early warfare among themselves and countries like Rome, and by later imperialism and slave trade. He describes the economic impetus for slavery in each of the countries or colonies where it was practiced and emphasizes the terrible treatment slaves endured. Most of all, he writes sternly of the religious leaders, rulers, laws and proclamations that gave permission to own blacks as slaves. For instance, in the mid-1400s the Pope “granted permission to the Portuguese to enslave Africans so that they could be converted from their traditional religion to Christianity.”
The history of slavery constitutes only a small part of Bradley’s encyclopedic tome. What readers will enjoy most is the paean to black courage, resilience and talent. Bradley includes the military stratagems of Hannibal of Carthage and the fierce prowess of the Moors. Resistance leaders like Harriet Tubman, W.E.B. Du Bois and Martin Luther King Jr. are discussed, as well as political leaders like Michaelle Jean, the first black governor general of Canada, and cultural icons like Brazilian poet Machado de Assis and American writer Maya Angelou. All this information is packed in a textbook-style presentation with summaries and review questions following each section.
Bradley sometimes fails to offer context or cite sources when needed. For instance, he states that in “1664, Spain issued an edict that offered land and freedom to blacks who wanted to migrate from non-Spanish colonies to Puerto Rico.” Since, according to Bradley, Puerto Rico no longer needed “large numbers of slaves” and, presumably, workers at that time, an explanation for the edict would have been helpful. Similarly, the author discusses New York City insurgents named the Coromantees but doesn’t say where they were from or why others so feared their African military experience.
Bradley also fails to indicate the controversial nature of some of his claims like the “original people of Arabia were Black” and that Africans had “contact with America before Columbus’ arrival.”
Those issues aside, Introduction to Black History has much to offer. It’s an easily accessible, comprehensive resource for those seeking information about black culture and history.