Black Livingstone - Pagan Kennedy
Product Details:
Series: Pagan Kennedy Project
Paperback: 144 pages
ISBN: 9780988225268
Cover Design: Gwen Grafft
About the Book:
Part of SFWP’s ongoing effort to bring Pagan Kennedy’s works back into print, this biography on William Sheppard — an African American in the 19th century who defied segregation and became an explorer and hero of freedom — displays Kennedy’s trademark “participatory journalism” putting herself into Sheppard’s shoes as he exposes the cruelty of Belgian colonialism in the Congo, is crowned a prince of the Kuba tribe for his humanitarian efforts, and then returns to live out his life in Jim Crow America.
About the Author
Pagan Kennedy is the author of 10 books in a variety of genres, including The Exes, The First Man-Made Man, Spinsters, Stripping, and Confessions of a Memory Eater, which was featured in Entertainment Weekly as an "EW pick." She is a regular contributor to the Boston Globe, and has published articles in The New York Times. She also has been the recipient of a Barnes and Noble Discover Award, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Fiction, and a Smithsonian Fellowship for science writing. She lives in Somerville, Massachusetts.
“A deeply felt and moving book.”
“Sheppard, who fought for the rights of blacks in Africa, lived under apartheid at home in what was the Jim Crow era. Kennedy takes on racism and imperialism in this first book-length exploration of Sheppard and his life. For students of African American studies, Presbyterian Church history, and anyone interested in colonial Africa.”
“Kennedy is an engaging writer and ably captures the undercurrent of horror found everywhere in the late 19th-century Congo while honoring Sheppard’s accomplishments, heroism and character.”