100 Amazing Facts About the Negro

By: Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman

The first edition of Joel Augustus Rogers’s now legendary 100 Amazing Facts About the Negro with Complete Proof, published in 1957, was billed as “A Negro ‘Believe It or Not.’” Rogers’s little book was priceless because he was delivering enlightenment and pride, steeped in historical research, to a people too long starved on the lie that they were worth nothing. For African Americans of the Jim Crow era, Rogers’s was their first black history teacher. But Rogers was not always shy about embellishing the “facts” and minimizing ambiguity; neither was he above shock journalism now and then.

With élan and erudition—and with winning enthusiasm—Henry Louis Gates, Jr. gives us a corrective yet loving homage to Roger’s work. Relying on the latest scholarship, Gates leads us on a romp through African, diasporic, and African-American history in question-and-answer format. Among the one hundred questions: Who were Africa’s first ambassadors to Europe? Who was the first black president in North America? Did Lincoln really free the slaves? Who was history’s wealthiest person? What percentage of white Americans have recent African ancestry? Why did free black people living in the South before the end of the Civil War stay there? Who was the first black head of state in modern Western history? Where was the first Underground Railroad? Who was the first black American woman to be a self-made millionaire? Which black man made many of our favorite household products better?

Here is a surprising, inspiring, sometimes boldly mischievous—all the while highly instructive and entertaining—compendium of historical curiosities intended to illuminate the sheer complexity and diversity of being “Negro” in the world.



Jacket images: (top, left to right, details) Thomas-Alexandre Dumas by Olivier Pichat. akg-images; Map of Spanish Florida and Jackie Robinson, both the Library of Congress, Wash. D.C.; (bottom, left to right) The Redemption of Ham by Modesto Brocos y Gómez. akg-images; Malcolm X, Keystone Pictures USA/Alamy; Madam C. J. Walker, the Library of Congress, Wash. D.C.

Overlooked and ignored history

I like how the individual histories were linked to written / already proven historical events not to disprove them but to include details that were "edited out" by people / societies / communities who wanted to validate their own importance.
Racism has taken new forms and names over the centuries as this book describes. The history of black people exists inspite of the efforts to discount it.

Thoroughly Enlightning

Henry Louis Gates is the absolute best. This book provides tremendous insights into black history

A must read and listen to Book for Black Families

A “Must Read Book “ for Black families and a necessary book for all school libraries.

Very enlightening

This was a truly enlightening listen. Its sends a ton of topic to look into more and is undoubtedly truthful in many aspects.

Excellent Book

I really loved this book. Henry Louis Gates, Jr is a superb reader and the information in this book is enlightening and enriching. It helped me better understand my own unconscious prejudices, misconceptions, and filled in gaps in my historical knowledge that I should have paid attention to years ago.

My only critique of the title is that as an audiobook at times I would forget what the dates were that were mentioned and it's not easy to review the information that was stated without skipping back 30 seconds or more if I had to come back to it after taking a break. It probably would have been better as a paperback for me for that reason alone, It has nothing to do with the content. When you have information that jumps through the span of human history in the way this does, it can be difficult at times to keep track of where and when.

However, what I really want now is the TV documentary series of this book.