America in Black

The history of Black People in the Caribbean, particularly the countries of Haiti and Cuba, are of extreme importance to Black People in the United States. Since Black People were enslaved and shipped to the Americas, the experiences of Black People in the Caribbean and the United States have so much in common that they should be studied as if they were a single historical process. That way, students will get a clear snapshot of two opposing forces at work. One of those forces is white power, the other is Black Power. White power came to North, Central and South America and utterly dominated the native populations, and could have ruled without any serious competition from non-white people. But then white power made the decision to transport Black People to the Americas for slave labor purposes. In so doing, white power placed within its midst a force that is as powerful as white power, that has as much social substance as white power, and a force that white power could not kill off using its usual methods of military, economic, political, psychological and cultural violence. When one studies the history of Black People in the Caribbean and the United States as parts of a single process, one also sees Black Power thwarting white power even when Black Power is relatively unorganized and without an anti-white power agenda. We see white power with all of the advantages, and we still see Black Power, though unorganized and disjointed, responding frenetically but effectively enough to confound white power and frustrate the white power game plan. AMERICA IN BLACK: Black People's Ongoing Transition From Africa to New Afrika, reviews some elements of this historical and sociological process.