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Black Moses: A Saga of Ambition and the Fight for a Black State Audiobook
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One of The New York Times 100 Notable Books of the Year
Longlisted for the National Book Award for Nonfiction
One of The Washington Post's Best Nonfiction Books of the Year
A New York Times Editors' Choice Pick
“Powerful… [and] fascinating.” —The Washington Post
The remarkable story of Edward McCabe, a Black man who tried to establish a Black state within the United States.
In this paradigm-shattering work of American history, Caleb Gayle recounts the extraordinary tale of Edward McCabe, a Black man who championed the audacious idea to create a state within the Union governed by and for Black people — and the racism, politics, and greed that thwarted him.
As the sweeping changes and brief glimpses of hope brought by the Civil War and Reconstruction began to wither, anger at the opportunities available to newly freed Black people were on the rise. As a result, both Blacks and whites searched for new places to settle. That was when Edward McCabe, a Black businessman and a rising political star in the American West, set in motion his plans to found a state within the Union for Black people to live in and govern. His chosen site: Oklahoma, a place that the U.S. government had deeded to Indigenous people in the 1830s when it forced thousands of them to leave their homes under Indian Removal, which became known as the Trail of Tears.
McCabe lobbied politicians in Washington, D.C., Kansas, and elsewhere as he exhorted Black people to move to Oklahoma to achieve their dreams of self-determination and land ownership. His rising profile as a leader and spokesman for Black people as well as his willingness to confront white politicians led him to become known as Black Moses. And like his biblical counterpart, McCabe nearly made it to the promised land but was ultimately foiled by politics, business interests, and the growing ambitions of white settlers who also wanted the land.
In Black Moses, Gayle brings to vivid life the world of Edward McCabe: the Black people who believed in his dream of a Black state, the white politicians who didn't, and the larger challenges of confronting the racism and exclusion that bedeviled Black people's attempts to carve a place in America for themselves. Gayle draws from extraordinary research and reporting to reveal an America that almost was.
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"A layered and complicated narrative about Black freedom dreams after the demise of slavery and during the rapid rise of Jim Crow policy. Gayle invites us to look westward to understand the ways Black people sought existential and political autonomy in a nation determined to deprive them of all they needed and desired. The story of Black Moses resonates more than a century later as the unfinished business of freedom haunts everyone. A searing biography of both a charismatic leader and the worlds he tried to create."
— Marcia Chatelain, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America
Quotes
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“Powerful…[and] fascinating.”
— Washington Post -
"Revisits the gripping yet long overlooked story of Edward McCabe.”
— New York Times Book Review -
“Gayle does more than just rescue a forgotten yet crucial figure; he places McCabe at the center of radical liberation.”
— Minneapolis Star Tribune -
“Here the true story of pursuing a Black promised land vividly comes to life.”
— Barnes&Noble.com -
“Deeply researched and well-written.”
— Library Journal (starred review) -
“Gayle’s stylish, brisk account elegantly incorporates many tangents (including spotlighting the Native nations being dispossessed by McCabe’s efforts). It’s one not to miss.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Awards
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A New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice
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About Caleb Gayle
Caleb Gayle is an award-winning journalist who writes about race and identity. A professor at Northeastern University, he is a fellow at New America, PEN America, and Harvard Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Studies and is a visiting scholar at New York University. His writing has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, London Guardian, Guernica, and other publications. The son of Jamaican immigrants, he is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma and the University of Oxford and has an MBA and a master’s degree in public policy, both from Harvard University.
About Leon Nixon
Leon Nixon is a professional actor, playwright, and filmmaker. A Los Angeles native, he has performed in short films, web series, and on stage in dramatic and comedic roles. He is also an improviser and part of the group that appears in the Guinness Book of World Records for Longest Continuous Improv Show.