100 Amazing Facts About the Negro

By: Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman

Length: 14 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

The first edition of Joel Augustus Rogers' now legendary 100 Amazing Facts About the Negro with Complete Proof, published in 1957, was billed as "A Negro 'Believe It or Not'". Rogers' 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' 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 Rogers' 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 100 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.

©2017 Henry Louis Gates (P)2017 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"A collection of vignettes about the black experience in the United States and around the globe. In 1957, respected Pittsburgh Courier journalist Joel A. Rogers published a book, 100 Amazing Facts About the Negro with Complete Proof, based on research he had conducted for his columns...Gates, the prolific scholar and popularizer of black history, presents this book as an homage and update to the work of 'Mr. Rogers'.... The pieces range widely in chronology, theme, and geography, and his facts about the 'Negro' (the anachronism is intentional, part of the tribute to Rogers) most heavily emphasize the African-American experience but also explore Africa and the diaspora across the Americas and in Europe...Gates surprises...intrigues, and rarely disappoints." (Kirkus Reviews)

"Gates pens a corrective yet loving homage to a work of the same title published in 1957 by Joel A. Rogers, a largely self-educated black journalist and historian." (Publishers Weekly)

"Narrator Dominic Hoffman's deep and raspy voice serves as the perfect voice to capture Gates's writing...he vocally communicates the gravitas of these figures and moments." (AudioFile)

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.

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.

A ton of information

There is a lot of good information in this audiobook. I thought I knew my people's history until this.

Informational

this was very infirmational, i did not think some of the facts were necessary. but very informational

Excellent Presentation

The information presented is of the highest quality. I recommend this resource to students, history buffs, and scholars. The data contained within this book is worth further in-depth study.

Learned so much

I was so impressed by the author's dedication to sticking to the facts. He reinforced my belief that only people of color will take the time and effort to rediscover the facts of their history that has been hidden and distorted by primarily white so called historians.

great read

Concentrated historical facts. It really makes an effort to present nuances of the stories around the facts