When authors refer to other great works, people, and events, it’s usually not accidental. Put on your super-sleuth hat and figure out why.
Literary and Philosophical References
- Marcus Garvey (1.1), "Africa for Africans" (1.19)
- Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin (1.8)
- Thoreau (10.26)
- Elijah Muhammad (10.95)
- Wallace D. Fard (10.95)
- Wonders of the World (11.38)
- Will Durant, Story of Civilization (11.38)
- H. G. Wells, Outline of History (11.39)
- W. E. B. Du Bois, Souls of Black Folk (11.39)
- Carter G. Woodson, Negro History (11.39)
- J. A. Rogers, Sex and Race (11.40)
- Aesop (11.40)
- Gregor Mendel, Findings in Genetics (11.40)
- Frederick Olmstead (11.42)
- Fannie Kimball (11.42)
- Will Durant (11.44)
- Goethe, Faustus (11.46)
- Socrates (11.56)
- Schopenhauer (11.61)
- Kant (11.61)
- Nietzsche (11.61)
- Spinoza (11.62)
- Pierre Van Paassen, Days of Our Years (11.84)
- Homer (11.84)
- Shakespeare (11.85)
- Sir Francis Bacon (11.86)
- Milton, Paradise Lost (11.88)
- C. Eric Lincoln, The Black Muslims in America (14.2)
- Orson Welles, The War of the Worlds (14.139)
- Martin Luther (14.38)
- Icarus (15.142)
- Abd-Al Rahman Azzam, The Eternal Message of Muhammad (17.12)
- James Baldwin (18.19)
- John Griffin, Black Like Me (18.19)
- Essien-Udom , Black Nationalism (18.30)
- Julian Mayfield (18.48)
- Maya Angelou (18.48)
- Richard Wright (18.59)
Historical References
- Ku Klux Klan (1.1)
- Universal Negro Improvement Association (1.2)
- The Black Legion (1.8)
- United Nations (1.14)
- Work Progress Administration
- John D. Rockefeller (3.9)
- Carnegie Mellon (3.9)
- Crispus Attucks (3.10)
- The Boston Massacre (3.10)
- Pearl Harbor (4.83)
- Fidel Castro (5.20)
- The Scottsboro Boys (5.30)
- Communism (5.30)
- Race Riots of 1935 (7.27)
- Mayor LaGuardia (7.28)
- Adam Clayton Powell (7.28)
- NAACP (7.29)
- Jackie Robinson (7.94)
- Napoleon (10.17)
- Le Bastille (10.17)
- The Slave Trade (10.99)
- Harry S. Truman (11.17)
- Nat Turner (11.43)
- Harper's Ferry (11.43)
- Herodotus (11.44)
- Mahatma Gandhi (11.44)
- The East India Tea Company (11.47)
- The Indian Rebellion of 1857 (11.47)
- The Opium Wars (11.49)
- The Treaty of Nanking (11.50)
- The Tientsin Treaties (11.51)
- The Boxer Rebellion (11.52)
- Communist China (11.53)
- The United Nations (11.54)
- Adlai Stevenson (11.54)
- Dr. Louis Leakey (11.66)
- Italo-Ethiopian Wars (11.83)
- Charlemagne (11.88)
- Richard the Lionhearted (11.88)
- Korean War (12.7)
- Black Nationalist Movement (13.47)
- Galileo (14.39)
- Abraham Lincoln (14.40)
- Brown v. Board of Education (14.41)
- Hitler (14.42)
- Stalin (14.42)
- WWII (14.42)
- The One Drop Rule (14.119)
- The Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (15.13)
- The Japanese-American Internments (15.13)
- The Montgomery Boycott (15.21)
- Dr. Martin Luther King (12.21)
- Rosa Parks (15.23)
- The March on Washington (15.75)
- New York Race Riots of 1964 (15.104)
- Medgar Evers (16.25)
- Birmingham Church Bombing (16.25)
- Philo (16.75)
- The Assassination of John F. Kennedy (16.76)
- Taj Mahal (17.92)
- Hussein Amini (18.12)
- Kwame Nkrumah (18.38)
- Huang Ha (18.59)
- Mao Tse-Tung (18.70)
- Nelson Mandela (18.71)
- Sobukwe (18.71)
- Lumumba (18.71)
- French Algiers (18.86)
- Vietnam War (18.101)
- The American Civil War (19.5)
- Eygptian Revolution (19.20)
- Algerian Revolution (19.20)
- President Johnson (19.57)
Pop Culture References
- Joe Louis (2.1)
- James J. Braddock (2.1)
- Erskine Hawkins "Tuxedo Junction" (2.27)
- Slim and Slam "Flatfoot Floogie" (2.27)
- Lucky Thompson (2.27)
- Milt Jackson (2.27)
- Glen Miller, "Moonlight Serenade" (2.37)
- Ink Spots, "If I Didn't Care" (2.38)
- Gone with the Wind (45)
- Erskine Hawkins (2.60)
- Duke Ellington (2.60)
- Cootie Williams (2.60)
- Li'l Abner (3.1)
- Duke Ellington (3.26)
- Benny Goodman (3.48)
- Peggy Lee (3. 48)
- Charlie Barnet, "Cherokee," "Redskin Rhumba" (3.57)
- Count Basie (3.58)
- Lionel Hampton (3.58)
- Cootie Williams (3.58)
- Jimmie Lunceford (3.58)
- Johnny Hodges (3.58)
- Sonny Freer, "Daydream" (3.58)
- Jimmie Rushing, "Sent for you Yesterday, Here you Come Today" (3.58)
- Lester Young (3.58)
- Harry Edison (3.58)
- Buddy Tate (3.58)
- Don Byas (3.58)
- Dickie Wells (3.58)
- Buck Clayton (3.58)
- Lionel Hampton (3.93)
- Sidney Poiter (3.93)
- Aunt Jemima (3.94)
- The Lindy Hop (4.4)
- Jay McShann (5.20)
- Walter Brown, "Hooty hooty Blues" (5.20)
- Dizzy Gillespie (5.20)
- Billy Eckstine (5.20)
- Billie Holiday (5.20)
- Ella Fitzgerald (5.20)
- Dinah Washington (5.20)
- Arnett Cobb (5.20)
- Illinois Jacquet (5.20)
- Dexter Gordon (5.20)
- Alvin Hayse (5.20)
- Joe Newman (5.20)
- George Jenkins (5.20)
- Earl Hines, "Second Balcony Jump" (5.20)
- Sonny Greer (5.32)
- Ray Nance (5.32)
- Cootie Williams (5.32)
- Eddie Vinson (5.32)
- Sy Oliver (5.32)
- Tommy Dorsey (5.32)
- Louis Armstrong (5.59)
- Fletcher Henderson (5.59)
- Redd Foxx (6.57)
- Humphrey Bogart (6.79)
- "Stormy Weather" (6.79)
- Cabin in the Sky (6.79)
- Wilt Chamberlain (7.32)
- Sarah Vaughn (7.95)
- The Bluebonnets (7.95)
- Emily Post (10.41)
- Jesse James (11.54)
- Sister Rosetta Tharpe (13.53)
- The Clara Ward Singers (13.53)
- Mahalia Jackson (13.53)
- The Mike Wallace Show (14.1)
- "The Hate that Hate Produced" (14.138)
- The Charmer, "White Man's Heaven is Black Man's Hell" (14.77)
- Louis X, "Ornega" (14.77)
- We Shall Overcome (15.97)
- Dick Gregory (16.47)
- Ahmed Horyallah and Essid Muhammad, The Muslim from America (18.13)
- Sarah Vaughan (18.72)
- Milt Jackson (18.72)
- Charlie Parker (18.72)
Religious References
- Billy Graham (15.128)
- The Dead Sea Scrolls (16.75)
- The Essenes (16.75)
Christian References
- Adam and Eve (1.19)
- Acts 9 (10.106)
- Matt 23:1-12 (10.107)
- The Book of Revelation (10.118)
- Moses (10.134)
- The Book of Job (12.39)
- Samson (13.84)
- 2 Samuel 11 (16.58)
- 1 Samuel 17 (16.58)
- Genesis 19 (16.58)
- Genesis 9:20-25 (16.58)
- Genesis 7 (16.58)
- Exodus 13 (16.58)
- Numbers 12:1-15 (16.58)
- St. Augustine (19.33)
Islamic References
- Hajj (17.1)
- Al-Imran: 96–97 (17.2)
Nation of Islam References
- The Nation of Islam (10.95)
- Yacub (10.115)