Before the Mayflower: A History of the Negro in America, 1619-1962

Written by Lerone Bennett

Narrated by John Riddle

The black experience in America, starting from its origins in Western Africa up to 1961, is examined in this seminal study from a prominent African American figure. The entire historical timeline of African Americans is addressed, from the Colonial period through the civil rights upheavals of the late 1950s to 1961, the time of publication.

Before the Mayflower grew out of a series of articles Bennett published in Ebony magazine regarding the trials and triumphs of a group of Americans whose roots in the American soil are deeper than the roots of the Puritans who arrived on the celebrated Mayflower a year after a "Dutch man of war" deposited 20 Negroes at Jamestown.

Bennett's history is infused with a desire to set the record straight about black contributions to the Americas and about the powerful Africans of antiquity. While not a fresh history, it provides a solid synthesis of current historical research and a lively writing style that makes it accessible and engaging listening.

After discussing the contributions of Africans to the ancient world, Before the Mayflower tells the history of the other Americans, how they came to America, and what happened to them when they got here. The audiobook is comprehensive and detailed, providing little-known and often-overlooked facts about the lives of black folks through slavery, Reconstruction, America's wars, the Great Depression, and the civil rights movement.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HN Publishing
• Release date: May 6, 2019
• ISBN: 9781987137934

Lerone Bennett

Lerone Bennett Jr. (October 17, 1928 - February 14, 2018) was an African-American scholar, author and social historian who analyzed race relations in the United States. His works included Before the Mayflower (1962) and Forced into Glory (2000), a book about U.S. President Abraham Lincoln.Born and raised in Mississippi, Bennett graduated from Morehouse College. He served in the Korean War and began a career in journalism at the Atlanta Daily World before being recruited by Johnson Publishing Company to work for JET magazine. Later, Bennett was the long-time executive editor of Ebony magazine. He was associated with the publication for more than 50 years.

Reviews for Before the Mayflower

[Ayanna Cobb · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I didn’t like the narrative omissions and revisions, it deviates from paper book .

[David Slaton · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The subject (first the historical accounts of slavery throughout the world and then the plight of Black society in the British colonies and America) was documented from a very broad point of view. Of course their was some slant in the selected subject matter to show the contributions of Black citizens in a positive light (understandably) and to highlight the often dire circumstances with which they were faced.


The quality of the recording was marginal. It kept skipping randomly leaving out the last parts of the end of some sections which was distracting.

[Brenda Shealey Steele · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Interesting . Introduced me to lots of others. Cost me to dig deeper into our history. Was a bit surprised that Malcolm X was not mentioned

[Kirrena · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I give the book itself 5 stars. The audiobook however, skipped quite a bit of the book. The whole part about Nat Turner in chapter 6 and all of chapter 8 where it talks about the KKK. Scribd should definitely take the audio book off if it’s not going to include the entire book.