Four Hundred Souls

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ΓÇó A chorus of extraordinary voices tells the epic story of the four-hundred-year journey of African Americans from 1619 to the presentΓÇöedited by Ibram X. Kendi,author of How to Be an Antiracistand Keisha N. Blainauthor of Set the World on Fire. FINALIST FOR THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL ΓÇó NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington PostTown & CountryMs. magazineBookPageShe ReadsBookRiotBooklist ΓÇó ΓÇ£A vital addition to [the] curriculum on race in America . . . a gateway to the solo works of all the voices in Kendi and BlainΓÇÖs impressive choir.ΓÇ¥ΓÇöThe Washington Post ΓÇ£From journalist Hannah P. Jones on JamestownΓÇÖs first slaves to historian Annette Gordon-ReedΓÇÖs portrait of Sally Hemings to the seductive cadences of poets Jericho Brown and Patricia SmithFour Hundred Souls weaves a tapestry of unspeakable suffering and unexpected transcendence.ΓÇ¥ΓÇöO: The Oprah Magazine The story begins in 1619ΓÇöa year before the MayflowerΓÇöwhen the White Lion disgorges ΓÇ£some 20-and-odd NegroesΓÇ¥ onto the shores of Virginiainaugurating the African presence in what would become the United States. It takes us to the presentwhen African Americansdescendants of those on the White Lion and a thousand other routes to this countrycontinue a journey defined by inhuman oppressionvisionary strugglesstunning achievementsand millions of ordinary lives passing through extraordinary history. Four Hundred Souls is a unique one-volume ΓÇ£communityΓÇ¥ history of African Americans. The editorsIbram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blainhave assembled ninety brilliant writerseach of whom takes on a five-year period of that four-hundred-year span. The writers explore their periods through a variety of techniques: historical essaysshort storiespersonal vignettesand fiery polemics. They approach history from various perspectives: through the eyes of towering historical icons or the untold stories of ordinary people; through placeslawsand objects. While themes of resistance and struggleof hope and reinventioncourse through the bookthis collection of diverse pieces from ninety different mindsreflecting ninety different perspectivesfundamentally deconstructs the idea that Africans in America are a monolithΓÇöinstead it unlocks the startling range of experiences and ideas that have always existed within the community of Blackness. This is a history that illuminates our past and gives us new ways of thinking about our futurewritten by the most vital and essential voices of our present.