[.ca] The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It ... (ISBN 0679733477)

outstanding book.:
This was an excellent combination of conveying historical fact with painting the picture by telling the stories of several people and families who lived the history. A fascinating period in history and a great read.

The Underclass:
In The Promised Land, Nicholas Lemann tells several interwoven tales. One is about Mississippi sharecroppers who migrated to Chicago during the middle decades of the century. Another is about the bungled policies of President Lyndon Johnson's "war on poverty." Binding them together is Mr. Lemann's attempt to understand why the United States has a black underclass that probably lives in greater squalor and desperation than any other people on earth. The book's perspective is the by now standard one that pins most of the blame for black failure on white racism, and it leads to a call for an "ambitious wave of new programs" that will bring the underclass into the American mainstream. Nevertheless, The Promised Land is by no means a simple rehash of the liberal clichés of the 1960s. Mr. Lemann does not gloss over the failures that stemmed from the soft-headed zeal for uplift that characterized the period. At the same time, his accounts of the lives of underclass blacks do not leave an impression of helplessness and victimization so much as one of fecklessness and self-destruction. The author coats his facts with a layer of liberal indulgence, but he has gathered the facts and they are not pretty.

The Promised Land Review:
I enjoyed this book a lot also. From slavery to migrating to Chicago, I learned a lot about the African-American experience.This book has shown me the many obstacles that my people have had to overcome and has taught me to be so thankful for those who fought for rights for African-Americans so I would have a better experience than they had growing up in America. It has also shown me why Blacks are still not seen on the same level playing field as Whites today.Even though this book is factual it reads more like a novelin that it includes excerpts about the lives of many Blacks growing up back then.The video series that goes along with this book also adds a personal feel to the novel. This video series is a must for every families video collection.

Book Review:
This book followed the lives of about a dozen black men and women, each who migrated to one of three different areas in the US, during the great black migration. The book has details of each persons life starting from before they migrated, all the way untill they had been in the area for a while. The recent publishing date gives you up to date information on each persons whereabouts at this point in time. A very good, worthwhile read.

A Look at the Great Black Migration:
"The Promised Land" is a very detailed documentation of the lives certain African Americans that migrated from the South (specifically Clarksdale, Mississippi) to Chicago. Lemann follows these people throughout their lives, from before they left to after they arrived in the North. He recounts the many problmes they encountered as well as the freedoms they received upon reaching Chicago. Although the book is well written and very informative, it can get a little dense, and read more like a history book then as a story. On the whole, however, it was very interesting look at the downside of the promised land.