by Ken Walker
Newark by Kevin Mumford
November 11, 2008
NYU Press has published a new book about Newark that explores the racial dynamics of Newark from its founding right up through the 1967 riots that tore the city apart. Check out the full introduction the book here (PDF).
Newark’s volatile past is infamous. The city has become synonymous with the Black Power movement and urban crisis. Its history reveals a vibrant and contentious political culture punctuated by traditional civic pride and an understudied tradition of protest in the black community.
Newark charts this important city’s place in the nation, from its founding in 1666 by a dissident Puritan as a refuge from intolerance, through the days of Jim Crow and World War II civil rights activism, to the height of postwar integration and the election of its first black mayor.
I’ve just started Mumford’s book and I’m about 80 pages in. It is not an easy read. He employs an array of statistical and sociological methods, which can, at times, bog down the narrative. Perhaps he’s still laying the groundwork for the 60s and beyond, the primary thrust of his study. But the early analysis is nonetheless fascinating and I look forward to reading more about my new city.