Black Empire

Originally serialized between 1936 and 1938 in a newspaper that served Pittsburgh’s Black community, these two linked novellas from Schuyler (1895–1977) are indispensable reading for anyone interested in early Afrofuturism. In “The Black Internationale: Story of Black Genius Against the World,” journalist Carl Slater reluctantly agrees to serve as secretary to the ruthless Dr. Henry Belsidus, a wealthy Black American nationalist who, by the tale’s end, has violently wrested control of Africa from white imperialists. “Black Empire: An Imaginative Story of a Great New Civilization in Modern America” continues the story with Belsidus and his crew of handpicked specialists defending their takeover of the African continent through cunning espionage and the deployment of technology ripped from the pages of the era’s science fiction magazines. In both tales, Schuyler, a journalist, steeps his progressive criticism of “white world supremacy” in the palatable popular storytelling conventions of the day, creating rip-roaring yarns with sharp satirical points. The result, though undeniably pulpy, is still searing in its indictment of entrenched racism. (Feb.)