‘The Brownies’ Book:’ Inspiring Racial Pride in African-American Children offers a descriptive analysis and interpretation of America’s first magazine for young African-Americans. Published by W.E.B. Du Bois in cooperation with Jessie Fauset and Augustus Granville Dill, the monthly hoped to foster a new African-American identity by (re)connecting «the children of the sun» with Africa, by turning them into proud Americans, and by educating them to be global citizens. The editors turned the crow into a positive symbol of blackness and provided photographs which proved that «black is beautiful» to increase the self-esteem of black youths. The magazine was a harbinger of the Harlem Renaissance and served as a creative outlet for many African-American writers and artists, among them many women.

Christina Schäffer graduated from the University of Mainz in 2008 with a Master’s degree and the First Teacher’s State Exam in American and German Studies. She worked as a Foreign Language Assistant in England and studied at Washington College in Maryland. Between 2008 and 2011, she completed her PhD and is currently doing her teacher’s training.

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