Black Atlantic Crossings by Sabrina Gledhill examines the lives and anti-racist tactics of Booker T. Washington and Manuel R. Querino, two influential figures in the Black Atlantic world whose contributions have often been overlooked or belittled. Challenging this historical erasure, the book argues that these figures were not merely products of their respective national contexts (the United States and Brazil) but rather transatlantic intellectuals who navigated and challenged the racialised boundaries of their time. It emphasises the interconnectedness of Black experiences and intellectual movements across the Atlantic, highlighting how Washington and Querino, despite their geographical distance, shared common concerns and engaged in vital transnational dialogues. Furthermore, it analyses the strategies and tactics they employed to combat racism and promote social justice within their societies, including their engagement with education, politics, and cultural production, ultimately offering a crucial rethinking of their lives, work, and enduring impact beyond narrow nationalistic frameworks.
Praise for Black Atlantic Crossings
...Sabrina Gledhill’s Black Atlantic Crossings: The Lives and Anti-Racist Tactics of Booker T. Washington and Manuel R. Querino presents an innovative analytical method by drawing upon a diverse range of primary sources across both the United States and Brazil. Based on solid research and a comprehensive bibliography, her study of the lives of two Black intellectuals and leaders in slave societies develops a fruitful dialogue with the historiography of slavery, intellectual history, and Afro-Atlantic and comparative history.
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Following Paul Gilroy’s argument, Gledhill demonstrates that the Black Atlantic was interconnected in myriad ways—elements that make this study highly significant and essential reading for researchers of Afro-Atlantic history, Black intellectuals, biography, autobiography, and prosopography.
Iamara da Silva Viana, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (Translated from the Portuguese)
Hispanic American Historical Review (HAHR) August 2026 DOI 10.1214/000182168-12488171
As promised, Sabrina Gledhill’s research does, in fact, expand the Black Atlantic by putting into dialogue the ideas and activism of two giants of the African Diaspora in the Americas. The legacy of Booker T. Washington has been well known, including in Brazil, since the turn of the twentieth century. However, in addition to reinterpreting his legacy in a broader context, this book introduces the English-speaking reader to Manuel Querino, an insightful and multifaceted Afro-Brazilian thinker who is little known outside Brazil. Enjoy reading this original work, which is destined to become a classic.
João José Reis, Universidade Federal da Bahia, author of Slave Rebellion in Brazil
Crossing the Atlantic requires navigating a sea of stories through rough and calm waters, amidst fleeting encounters and enduring dialogues. In this insightful work, Sabrina Gledhill offers more than just a theoretical compass. Her sophisticated approach reveals the profound oceanic connections that shaped Booker T. Washington and Manuel R. Querino, revisiting them as original Atlantic characters, without borders, but with transnational margins.
Flavio dos Santos Gomes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, co-author of The Story of Rufino: Slavery, Freedom, and Islam in the Black Atlantic
