Blair A. Ruble

What so excited me about this book was its originality. No one has undertaken such a comprehensive examination of this undeniably important neighborhood.

U Street has been Washington’s vibrant center for many decades, and Ruble’s detailed account of the neighborhood, from before the Civil War to today, puts its modern issues in context.

Blair Ruble begins by framing the U Street area as a “contact zone”—a place where cultures and peoples exist side by side. Whether black or white, southern or northern, professional or scholarly, residents in the neighborhood have interacted with each other with very few clashes for decades. U Street has bred activists, politicians, scholars, educators, athletes, musicians, and dancers, among others; and it calls such famous figures as Duke Ellington and Ralph Bunche sons.

Ruble explores the significance of cultural institutions and historical events, such as the founding of the NAACP, Jim Crow and segregation, the civil rights movement, and the establishment of U Street as “black Broadway.”

Washington’s U Street demonstrates the exceptional ability of the area’s many different residents not just to coexist but also to build a strong identity and unique culture.

For a more detailed review, head over to http://melodyandwords.com/2010/11/04/washingtons-u-street/… (altro)