Colored People

A Memoir

Author: Henry Louis Gates
ISBN: 9780679739197

In this rich memoir of his early life, the celebrated scholar and writer Henry Louis Gates, Jr., gives us an indelible portrait of a vanished America. Born in 1950, he grew up in Piedmont (population 2,565), a West Virginia town perched on the side of a hill in the Allegheny Mountains. He was raised in a small, intimate, middle-class "colored" community where secrets and haircuts were prime commodities and the major social event was the annual mill picnic. It was a time when the United States was just crossing the threshold into desegregation (the Piedmont schools were integrated the year before Gates entered first grade); when racial boundaries were constantly shifting and progress was measured primarily by the number of black faces that appeared on television. But Gates's story is not only a story about race. It is the story of a family, of a village, and of a special time and place in American history. Gates vividly recalls the characters who peopled his childhood: from his first lo

Publisher: Vintage Books
Publish Date: 1995

Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Cultural Heritage, Political Science / General, Social Science / Ethnic Studies / African American Studies

This book is available in the following Community Centers: Cross-Cultural Center (Location: Biography (BIO))