Unsung: Unheralded Narratives of American Slavery & Abolition

The first Penguin Classics anthology curated by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, As one of the most influential forces behind the creation of the world-renowned cultural institution and National Historic Landmark documenting Black life in America and globally, Arturo Schomburg stressed the importance of rethinking how readers conceptualize history: "The American Negro must remake his past in order to make his future…. History must restore what slavery took away." Drawing from the Schomburg Center's 11-million-item collection, including unique holdings from its Lapidus Center for the Historical Analysis of Transatlantic Slavery, Unsung focuses on the voices and actions of enslaved people; writings, speeches, and pamphlets by lesser-known Black abolitionists and their allies; and overlooked accounts of everyday antislavery activism in the United States. In its scope and strength, Unsung makes the case for recognizing Black people as agents and architects of their own lives during enslavement and their ultimate liberation.