{"product_id":"black-moses-isbn-9780593543795","title":"Black Moses","description":"\u003cb\u003eOne of \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e 100 Notable Books of the Year\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLonglisted for the National Book Award for Nonfiction\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne of \u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e's Best Nonfiction Books of the Year \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e Editors' Choice Pick\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Powerful… [and] fascinating.” \u003ci\u003e—The Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe remarkable story of Edward McCabe, a Black man who tried to establish a Black state within the United States.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this paradigm-shattering work of American history, Caleb Gayle recounts the extraordinary tale of Edward McCabe, a Black man who championed the audacious idea to create a state within the Union governed by and for Black people — and the racism, politics, and greed that thwarted him.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs the sweeping changes and brief glimpses of hope brought by the Civil War and Reconstruction began to wither, anger at the opportunities available to newly freed Black people were on the rise. As a result, both Blacks and whites searched for new places to settle. That was when Edward McCabe, a Black businessman and a rising political star in the American West, set in motion his plans to found a state within the Union for Black people to live in and govern. His chosen site: Oklahoma, a place that the U.S. government had deeded to Indigenous people in the 1830s when it forced thousands of them to leave their homes under Indian Removal, which became known as the Trail of Tears.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMcCabe lobbied politicians in Washington, D.C., Kansas, and elsewhere as he exhorted Black people to move to Oklahoma to achieve their dreams of self-determination and land ownership. His rising profile as a leader and spokesman for Black people as well as his willingness to confront white politicians led him to become known as Black Moses. And like his biblical counterpart, McCabe nearly made it to the promised land but was ultimately foiled by politics, business interests, and the growing ambitions of white settlers who also wanted the land.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eBlack Moses\u003c\/i\u003e, Gayle brings to vivid life the world of Edward McCabe: the Black people who believed in his dream of a Black state, the white politicians who didn't, and the larger challenges of confronting the racism and exclusion that bedeviled Black people's attempts to carve a place in America for themselves. Gayle draws from extraordinary research and reporting to reveal an America that almost was.\u003cb\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eBlack Moses \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Timely.... [written] with great empathy.... [this] compelling study of McCabe’s quixotic crusade for Black self-determination richly illustrates just how tenuous the promise of freedom remained.” —\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"Gayle’s voluminous research and vivid prose make this a fascinating story.\"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e—The Boston Globe\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“Powerful… [and] fascinating.” —\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“[E]loquent .... Gayle does more than just rescue a forgotten yet crucial figure; he places McCabe at the center of radical liberation … As our nation continues to fracture into partisan camps, Gayle tells an engrossing tale, revealing that the tensions remain the same.\" \u003cb\u003e— Minneapolis Star Tribune\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“It’s a rare and satisfying experience to find a nonfiction book that balances the scope of its content with narrative coherence, without sacrificing either. Gayle’s latest carves a historical epic out of a forgotten episode in the Black separatist movement, enthralling as both a character study and a novel look at America’s racial history.” —\u003cb\u003eThe Millions\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“A welcome contribution to the history of Black liberation and the struggle for civil rights.” \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e—\u003c\/i\u003eKirkus\u003ci\u003e, \u003c\/i\u003eSTARRED review\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Gayle presents McCabe’s misguided dream as a cautionary tale of the dangers of one oppressed people attempting to colonize another rather than making common cause.” \u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e, STARRED review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Gayle has brilliantly captured the little-known history of McCabe and the Black-majority towns that dotted the landscape in Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and other Plains states. . . .[a] deeply researched and well-written history.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e, STARRED review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“In this enthralling saga, journalist Caleb Gayle resurfaces the little-remembered late-19th-century effort to turn Oklahoma into a Black state . . . .Gayle’s stylish, brisk account elegantly incorporates many tangents (including spotlighting the Native nations being dispossessed by McCabe’s efforts). It’s one not to miss.”\u003cb\u003e—Publishers Weekly, STARRED review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“What Caleb Gayle calls a ‘tale of what could have been’ is an eye-opening, heartrending study of a man’s—and a nation’s—broken dream. \u003ci\u003eBlack Moses\u003c\/i\u003e carefully rescues a story – Edward McCabe’s attempt to create a state where Black people could breathe pure freedom— from the indifference of history.” —\u003cb\u003eStephen Harrigan, author of \u003ci\u003eBig Wonderful Thing: A History of Texas\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Caleb Gayle has written a compelling book about a breathtakingly ambitious, borderline crazy, and ultimately doomed idea. It’s a wild ride through American history.” \u003cb\u003e—S. C. Gwynne, author of \u003ci\u003eEmpire of the Summer Moon \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eBlack Moses\u003c\/i\u003e illuminates one boldly dreaming man’s quest for abundance—for himself and his people—that is both essentially American and beyond the bounds of American imagining. Gayle skillfully uncovers a history that feels at once wildly alive, scarcely visible, and integral to the United States we inhabit now. This is a hidden history that Americans need to know.” —\u003cb\u003eIlyon Woo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of \u003ci\u003eMaster Slave Husband Wife\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A layered and complicated narrative about Black freedom dreams after the demise of slavery and during the rapid rise of Jim Crow policy. Gayle invites us to look westward to understand the ways Black people sought existential and political autonomy in a nation determined to deprive them of all they needed and desired. The story of \u003ci\u003eBlack Moses\u003c\/i\u003e resonates more than a century later as the unfinished business of freedom haunts everyone. A searing biography of both a charismatic leader and the worlds he tried to create.”\u003cb\u003e—Marcia Chatelain, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of \u003ci\u003eFranchise: The Golden Arches in Black America \u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“When the true history of America’s west is written, \u003ci\u003eBlack Moses\u003c\/i\u003e will stand as a flagship bearer of that accounting. Caleb Gayle is a gifted writer who rolls out this splendidly researched, spell-binding yarn with grace, honest grit, and full-on immediacy. Wonderfully done.” —\u003cb\u003eJames McBride, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Good Lord Bird\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Heaven \u0026amp; Earth Grocery Store\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“An unforgettable account of a forgotten hero. \u003ci\u003eBlack Moses \u003c\/i\u003etells the story of a larger-than-life figure whose journey has the power to inform and inspire us. Caleb Gayle brings impressive research and propulsive prose to this shrewd and vivid work of history.”\u003cb\u003e —Jonathan Eig, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of \u003ci\u003eKing: A Life\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eCaleb Gayle is an award-winning journalist and the author of \u003ci\u003eWe Refuse to Forget: A True Story of Black Creeks, American Identity, and Power\u003c\/i\u003e. A professor at Northeastern University, he is a contributing writer at \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Magazine, \u003c\/i\u003eand his work also has appeared in \u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eTIME, The Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eGuernica\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe New Republic, \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Boston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e. He lives near Boston.","brand":"Riverhead Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48232985755877,"sku":"NP9780593543795","price":33.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780593543795.jpg?v=1767722709","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/black-moses-isbn-9780593543795","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}