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In his new book, Building the Black City: The Transformation of American Life, Joe Trotter Jr., Ph.D., explores the role of Black Americans in creating, sustaining, and expanding cities all over the United States.

Building the Black City delves into how African Americans launched cities from the ground up, often having to rebuild them after white mobs and capitalist forces destroyed them, how majority Black cities have existed within white-dominated cities, and how Black communities influenced the arts, economy, and politics of urban centers. Trotter chronicles 20 cities across 18 states, from the colonial period to the Great Migration and through to today, offering up a story about history, racial capitalism, and reparations.

Trotter is the Giant Eagle University Professor of History and Social Justice at Carnegie Mellon University and the director and founder of the Center for Africanamerican Urban Studies and the Economy at Carnegie Mellon. He spoke with YES! Senior Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on YES! Presents: Rising Up With Sonali about Building the Black City.