Freedom in Laughter: Dick Gregory, Bill Cosby, and the Civil Rights Movement by Malcolm Frierson, and: Laughing to Keep from Dying: African American Satire in the Twenty-First Century by Danielle Fuentes Morgan (review)

Abstract

based challenges. But Finley also carefully points out that profits, not social conscience, drove the promotion of men of color to leadership positions and that achievement at sea did not translate into acceptance or equality on land. Finley provides a detailed and wide-ranging study of the entire history of the whaling trade and the role of men of color in it. His account of how crews hunted whales, processed their kills, and delivered their oil to market provides a useful backdrop as to why the industry was so vital and why so many in America’s growing industrial center required the efforts of so many whalers. His description of the pioneers of the whaling industry, especially the sea captain, businessman, and educator Paul Cuffe, establishes that men of color were not later additions but rather an integral part of the business from the start. Perhaps the most interesting portion of the book is Finley’s association of men of color in the whaling industry to the abolitionist movement. As some of the relatively few free men of color with disposable wealth, the ship captains included in the book (such as Edward Pompey and James Forten) were contributors to the nascent abolitionist movement while at the same time serving as examples of what men of color could achieve in the face of racist attitudes. Captains were also at risk from slavery, however, and many of the men of color who rose through the ranks had to take drastic action to avoid its perils. The contribution of the abolitionists and their allies of color aided slavery’s ending, but that contribution foreshadowed bad times for the whaling industry. The Civil War led to the growth of the petroleum industry as whale oil fell out of general use. The industry continued into the early twentieth century, and, as it declined, became more of a source of opportunity for men of color, especially as Jim Crow attitudes proliferated. Men like William Shorey (known to his crew as the “Black Ahab”) became prominent members of the community in the process of defying the segregationist racism of the day. Overall, Finley has produced an excellent work. It offers a complete account of men of color in the whaling industry from its beginning to its final days, with multiple examples of individual achievement to reinforce his thesis of whaling as a meritocracy. In this regard, it is a useful work for comparison to W. Jeffrey Bolster’s 1997 work, Black Jacks: African American Seamen in the Age of Sail. The book is well illustrated and Finley’s ability to write good biographies of the various ship captains is plainly evident. The only downside to the biographies is that the book at points becomes just a list of biographies that the author could have limited to a few main examples. Despite this, however, the writing style is clear and effective. Finley presents his thesis clearly and without overpromotion, allowing the reader to draw conclusions without leading comments by the author. The extensive Appendixes are also useful. Such a mass of detail and statistical data would have swamped the narrative, but the Appendixes provide valuable sources for researchers who are likely to reference the book in the future.