A review by graywacke
12 Million Black Voices by Richard Wright

medium-paced

4.5

But the photographs... Called poetic or elegant prose, this is really a kind of historical manifesto on the crimes of America against African Americans. Wright's Communism is held in check, but he contextualizes everything with economic power - the power struggle between the "Lords of the Land" and the "Bosses of the Buildings", and their way of controlling and mollifying poor white tensions by directing them towards white/black divisions.  The photographs, almost all depression-era images from the FSA, are magnificent. Terrific text/photo combo.