A Grand Rapids Sampler Book

I never pass up a chance to dig into the more tragic and proletarian side of Chicago history and this book satisfied my desire for local color through a pop-aware history of the relation between black culture in Chicago and the idea of a national black culture during the 1940s and 50s. Most of the locations discussed in detail in Green's book are in the Bronzeville neighborhood where I work, which gave the book extra appeal for me. An interesting, if a bit over-long, search for the roots of the civil rights movement and a supposed singular african-american culture.