Introduction by New York Times bestselling author Henry Louis
Gates Jr.
Spanning more
than 35 years of work, the first comprehensive collection of essays,
criticism, and articles by the legendary author of the Harlem
Renaissance, Zora Neale Hurston, showcasing the evolution of her
distinctive style as an archivist and author.
“One of the
greatest writers of our time.”—Toni Morrison
You
Don’t Know Us Negroes
is the quintessential gathering of provocative essays from one of the
world’s 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, Hurston’s 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 people’s 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 was—someone 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 writer’s work, You
Don’t Know Us Negroes
and Other Essays
is an invaluable chronicle of a writer’s development and a window
into her world and mind.