An Afro-Indigenous History of the United States (Revisioning History)

Kyle T. Mays connects the racialized history and heritage of Black and Indigenous Americans, bridging the gaps in understanding shared struggles with white supremacy. To support the American capitalist structure, Blacks were exploited for labor, and natives for their land. By drawing parallels between the enslavement of Indigenous Africans and the colonization of American Indian communities, Mays discusses how Black and Indigenous pasts and futures are inextricably linked.

Mays, who identifies as Black and Saginaw Chippewa, anchors his analysis to his training as a historian and researcher. Citing leading Indigenous and Black thought leaders such as Philip Deloria, bell hooks, Wilma Mankiller, James Baldwin, and others, the scholar makes thoughtful linkages between the American Indian and Black civil rights movements, noting common streams of resistance against dispossession and disenfranchisement. Mays does not shy away from naming the complicated dynamics that divide communities, namely anti-Black sentiments among in the U.S. Indigenous peoples and Indigenous erasure among the Black community. The author asserts that confronting these issues is key to addressing their damaging effects on Afro-Indigenous solidarity.

From the perspective of a non-Black and non-Indigenous reader, this book underscores the importance of the bold truth-telling of American history. We all benefit when historians like Mays focus on dismantling misconceptions about Black and Indigenous struggles for liberation, justice, and unity.