Description
Book SynopsisAn immersive multigenerational memoir that recounts the hopes, injustices, and triumphs of a Black family fighting for access to the American dream in the twentieth century.
Trade Review"If his story comes off unremarkable, that’s because he presented himself as unremarkable. Which is an odd thing to write. To say Nesbitt was ordinary is to suggest guts, humility and decency are ordinary." * Chicago Tribune *
"
Being Somebody and Black Besides is a treasure trove for understanding twentieth-century Black American life, told in direct prose that will appeal to a wide audience. Nesbitt is not a well-known historical figure; rather, he is a member of the rank and file, but his nearly unerring ability to capture the everyday experiences of living while Black is extraordinary, and makes this a must-read book for all readers, both within and beyond academia. In Ralph Ellison’s great novel
Invisible Man (1952), the protagonist ends up living underground; Nesbitt refused that route, defying his very invisibility by leaving readers the great gift of this autobiography." * Choice *
“A part of a remarkable and accomplished family of Black educators, organizers, and crusaders, Nesbitt led an amazing life as a World War II veteran, civil rights lawyer, Harvard graduate, and official in the Kennedy administration. The story of his life offers a powerful glimpse into the issues of race, politics, and public policy over the course of the twentieth century. A compelling and thought-provoking life story and a wonderful addition to the growing genre of Black biography.” * Barbara Ransby, author of 'Making All Black Lives Matter: Reimagining Freedom in the Twenty-First Century' *
“A fascinating memoir on par with Richard Wright’s
Black Boy/American Hunger. Through Nesbitt’s engaging storytelling and revealing narrative,
Being Somebody and Black Besides will remind people of the rich complexity of life in Black America during Nesbitt’s formative years that is seldom told or imagined today.” * Robert Stepto, Yale University *
“This is a searing portrait of an ordinary, yet extraordinary, middle-class Black man forced to endure the indignity of having to fight for fair play from people far less ‘civilized’ than he. A keen observer of the ‘ways of white folks,’ Nesbitt was a brilliant, sarcastic, insightful analyst of the color line, even as he willed himself to believe in his country and its ideals. This memoir reminds us how much we owe the early fighters for civil rights, who endured so many insults and injuries as they fought to widen opportunities for Black people and dismantle northern style Jim Crow. Nesbitt’s accounts of racism are unforgettable in their detail, anger, sheer absurdity, and casual cruelty.” * Martha Biondi, Northwestern University *
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Foreword Imani Perry A Note on St. Clair Drake’s “Foreword” Sandra Drake Foreword to the George Nesbitt Manuscript St. Clair Drake A Note on the Manuscript Prexy Nesbitt Preface 1. Our Family’s Great Migration: Growing Up Black in the Shadow of the University 2. A Family Which Stayed Together 3. Learning to Be Somebody 4. The Comfort of My Negroness 5. Going to University: Labor and Learning 6. Town and Gown: The Difficulty of Navigating Two Worlds 7. Lawyer by Day, Redcap at Night: Union Organizing and Rabble Rousing 8. The Army and Its Apartheid: The Racial System in the War Years 9. The Ugly Specter of Race Discrimination 10. Poking at the Good, White Liberals: Discrimination Veiled and Rationalized 11. An Exceptional Family in the Lawndale Ghetto 12. The Future of Our People Postscript Acknowledgments
