Black Moses - by Caleb Gayle (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

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.

Review Quotes

Advance praise for Black Moses

"What Caleb Gayle calls a 'tale of what could have been' is an eye-opening, heartrending study of a man's--and a nation's--broken dream. Black Moses carefully rescues a story - Edward McCabe's attempt to create a state where Black people could breathe pure freedom-- from the indifference of history." --Stephen Harrigan, author of Big Wonderful Thing: A History of Texas

"Caleb Gayle has written a compelling book about a breathtakingly ambitious, borderline crazy, and ultimately doomed idea. It's a wild ride through American history." --S. C. Gwynne, author of Empire of the Summer Moon

"Black Moses illuminates one boldly dreaming man's quest for abundance--for himself and his people--that is both essentially American and beyond the bounds of American imagining. Gayle skillfully uncovers a history that feels at once wildly alive, scarcely visible, and integral to the United States we inhabit now. This is a hidden history that Americans need to know." --Ilyon Woo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Master Slave Husband Wife

"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

"When the true history of America's west is written, Black Moses will stand as a flagship bearer of that accounting. Caleb Gayle is a gifted writer who rolls out this splendidly researched, spell-binding yarn with grace, honest grit, and full-on immediacy. Wonderfully done." --James McBride, author of The Good Lord Bird and The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

"An unforgettable account of a forgotten hero. Black Moses tells the story of a larger-than-life figure whose journey has the power to inform and inspire us. Caleb Gayle brings impressive research and propulsive prose to this shrewd and vivid work of history." --Jonathan Eig, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of King: A Life

About the Author

Caleb Gayle is an award-winning journalist and the author of We Refuse to Forget: A True Story of Black Creeks, American Identity, and Power. A professor at Northeastern University, he is a contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine, and his work also has appeared in The Atlantic, TIME, The Guardian, Guernica, The New Republic, and The Boston Globe. He lives near Boston.