Without a doubt, this is the most comprehensive analysis ever written about North Omaha, one part descriptive and socio-historical (Volume I) and second part a blistering critique of North Omaha written by a charlatan who placed buildings, parks, infrastructure and token representations of "black leadership" above a sincere and thorough assessment of the only African-American community in the state of Nebraska (Volume II). This book is an "homage" to North Omaha because it represents a special honor and respect shown to the history of the people who came to Omaha seeking work and stayed around to make valuable and viable contributions to the historical development of the city, facing racism, housing discrimination, redlining and even death. This book is an homage because the second section of the book pays tribute to the Caucasian businessmen, real estate moguls and other wealthy types who dug into the area, created a race-based empire, then ran from the area when Black people began arriving in the area in sizable numbers. The second part of the book is a continuation of part one andaddresses such areas as the black church and other issues before delving into the critique of a book that was insulting to the black presence. Volume II is important because the person who is being critiqued and commented on has the typical perspective of the "settler," the interloper who views all that took place as being positive and productive. Despite the denials of and discrimination against people of color, authors such as the one in question nevertheless give the three volume set that is being analyzed the title "History of North Omaha," implying that the people will be given due respect when, in reality, it is essentially concerned with white capitalist history, housing and park construction, and the glorification of crooked leaders who gave the city its early foundation and focus. The first section of the book, written as an historian, is a portrait painted by me. It is the story of people who prospered despite the spate of poverty pimping that would become an Omaha trademark. From the opening sections on the Black arrival in the city to migration, settlement and on-going issues of discrimination, the first historical section of this homage addresses a number of areas worthy of historical and descriptive analysis. I discuss issues ranging from the major media and maintenance of racial segregation, the handling of "race issues (including various riots)," real estate patterns and establishment of black "ghettoization (from past to present-day)," issues of employment and economic development, an overview of health care as well as the rise and fall of Black institutions in the ghetto, to the history of education and race, police-community relations, the Black church and attempts at the development of a "black media (including black newspapers)," the rise of African-American art, male female relationships, traditions and festivals, and Black politics (from civil rights to Black Power).
About the Author: AUTHOR'S BIO Matthew C. Stelly is a doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee working on a degree in Urban Education and Community Policy. He holds three Master's degrees: Urban Studies (1982), Urban Education (1983) and Political Science (2000). He is the former editor of the Milwaukee Courier newspaper, former director of the Great Plains Black Museum and the Plano (TX) African American Museum, and lead archivist for The Black Academy of Arts and Letters (TBAAL) in Dallas, Texas. Stelly has more than 2,500 articles in print and has won two national essay competitions. He is the founding director of the largest African-American neighborhood group in Nebraska, the Triple One Neighborhood Association and Parents Union. He is the father of five children - Mandla, Malik, Clariece, Charisse and Shannon -- and remains actively involved in community organizing and neighborhood development in several cities, including Milwaukee and Omaha.