"[An] extraordinary new work of history and memoir . . . An unforgettable history of seemingly impossible yet worthwhile dreams." –Gabriel Bump, The Washington Post
"[Robertson] dodges the pitfalls of nostalgia and sentimentality; his anecdotes crackle with immediacy . . . Layered and probing, studded with germane autobiography,
The Black Utopians is an extraordinary achievement in narrative nonfiction."
–Hamilton Cain, Minneapolis Star-Tribune "[A] captivating exploration of Black utopian movements in the United States. Robertson weaves together memoir, history, and social analysis, tracing the efforts of African Americans to create self-sufficient communities and escape systemic oppression."
–The New Republic "Compelling . . . Aaron Robertson sets himself the ambitious task of capturing the spirit and history of the drive to create a self-sustaining Black world within the U.S."
–Clifford Thompson, Times Literary Supplement "A lush history couched in a stirring memoir . . . [Robertson is] so elegant in braiding personal history and research that both distant events and bright futures feel tangible and alive."
–Literary Hub "A genre-bending debut . . . The personal and the collective are seamlessly blended in this sweeping yet intricate book that excavates the past and imagines a different future."
–Oprah Daily "
The Black Utopians provides a refreshing and in depth reinterpretation of the Civil Rights and Black Power periods . . . Robertson engages with serious and important themes without being didactic or heavy-hearted. On the contrary, the knowledge shared within the pages of this book is quite freeing and liberating."
–Essence "Interesting and idiosyncratic . . . A meaningful contribution to the wider literature on American utopianism . . . Original and compelling."
–John Jeremiah Sullivan, The New York Times Book Review "A compelling volume that emphasizes not only the dream of utopia but the necessary pursuit of it."
–Elle "Using his ancestors as his guide, Robertson lays out a path toward survival and prosperity for all Black Americans."
–TIME "[A] magnificent work . . . Robertson has created a document that historians and scholars will reference for years to come."
–Fare Forward "[
The Black Utopians] refuses any kind of essentialization . . . A stunning work of literature."
–Mitchell Atencio, Sojourners
"Ambitious and captivating . . . Robertson paints a vivid and beguiling picture of the indomitable human yearning for a safe and nurturing home. It's a must-read."
–Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Fascinating and resonant."
–Booklist (starred review) "Inventive . . . A fresh perspective on Black history."
–Kirkus Reviews
"This enticing mix of personal and general history of Black utopian safe spaces promises to engage readers interested in reckoning with the past and present of Black American experiences and milestones."
–Library Journal "
The Black Utopians is a gorgeously intimate yet powerfully expansive witness to Black freedom dreams and the love that keeps them alive."
–Imani Perry, National Book Award-winning author of Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People "At a time when signs of dystopia and despair abound,
The Black Utopians takes us on a journey to a place–as much inside as around us–where stubborn hopefulness pushes back against the sirens of impossibility. In these pages, utopia is not fanciful and fleeting escapism, but the sweat-soaked soil of freedom dreams and fugitive imagination–nowhere and everywhere at once."
–Ruha Benjamin, author of Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want and Imagination: A Manifesto "An entrancingly rich odyssey of observation and storytelling,
The Black Utopians returns us to forgotten and unknown histories of the ongoing search for a fairer, more equitable America. Aaron Robertson reminds us that integral to Black struggle has been an unbreakable sense of hope, resistance, and joy."
–John Keene, National Book Award-winning author of Punks: New & Selected Poems and Counternarratives "I was afraid that the complex story of my father's life would be told without the proper context. I didn't need to worry.
The Black Utopians is the book I have been waiting for all these years . . . Profound and powerful."
–Pearl Cleage, playwright and Distinguished Artist in Residence at the Alliance Theatre and author of What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day
"A richly braided and beautifully written account that combines history, personal memoir, and journalism to explore the search for a black utopia. Robertson's tone is elegiac and lyrical, his method grounded in colorfully detailed characters and painstakingly reconstructed examples. This wise and often moving book offers both a slice of a particular utopia as well as a more general portal onto the quest for a better world that has propelled so much human history. A deeply original and major contribution to the literature of utopia."
–Akash Kapur, author of Better to Have Gone: Love, Death and the Quest for Utopia "In this stunning narrative, Aaron Robertson beautifully unveils the hidden spirit of Black utopian yearnings. By telling the forgotten story of the important Detroit pastor, Albert B. Cleage, Jr. and the Shrine of the Black Madonna, which he led, and the 1960s Black freedom struggles, with which he was affiliated–
The Black Utopians deftly shifts from intellectual history to cultural critique to personal memoir. In doing this, Robertson answers a profound question: what does it mean to be free?
The Black Utopians is thus more than just a gripping story; it is an indispensable resource for all those who dream of horizons, and who imagine unimaginable worlds."
–Alex Zamalin, author of Black Utopia: The History of an Idea from Black Nationalism to Afrofuturism "In
The Black Utopians, Aaron Robertson invites readers into a lyrical, rigorous, and deeply personal chronicle of the 'better worlds' that Black Americans have, against all odds, dreamed into being. Robertson's exploration is not merely a historical recounting of collective innovation, but an urgent philosophical quest for what is sacred about the Black utopian imagination in the face of brutal constraints. Robertson's voice is exquisitely clear-eyed, searching, and expansive, offering a perspective as wise as it is intimate. From the postbellum settlement of Promise Land, Tennessee, to the radical social movements of Detroit,
The Black Utopians unearths again and again crucial legacies of Black resistance."
–Adrian Shirk, author of Heaven is a Place on Earth: Searching for an American Utopia
