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From Fort Mose to Soul City: Dashed Hopes for a Black Sanctuary

A new book out this month explores the four-century history of African America through the voices of prominent Black writers.

Floyd McKissick participates in a demonstration in front of Harlem’s Apollo Theater in 1966. He later embarked on a plan to build Soul City, an urban oasis for Black Americans in the middle of rural North Carolina. 

Floyd McKissick participates in a demonstration in front of Harlem’s Apollo Theater in 1966. He later embarked on a plan to build Soul City, an urban oasis for Black Americans in the middle of rural North Carolina. 

Photo: Bettmann via Getty Images

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The new book Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019, released Feb. 2, features contributions from 90 writers, edited by Ibram X. Kendi, author of How to Be an Antiracist, and Keisha Blain, author of Set the World on Fire. The following excerpt, “From Fort Mose to Soul City,” by Bloomberg CityLab reporter Brentin Mock, explores the earliest attempt to create a sanctuary for formerly enslaved Africans, and its modern parallels.

Black Republicans often urge Black Democrats to “flee the plantation,” meaning to join the Republican Party, or to cease using what they perceive as the victimizing language of civil rights and racial justice.