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Why the cabdriver is the real victim of the false promises of Uber
and the gig economy. 2007 Noteworthy Book in Industrial Relations
and Labor Economics, Princeton University Industrial Relations
Section Hailed in its first edition as a classic study of New York
City's history and people, Graham Russell Gao Hodges's Taxi! is a
remarkable evocation of the forgotten history of the taxi driver.
This deftly woven narrative captures the spirit of New York City
cabdrivers and their hardscrabble struggle to capture a piece of
the American dream. From labor unrest and racial strife to ruthless
competition and political machinations, Hodges recounts this
history through contemporary news accounts, Hollywood films, and
the words of the cabbies themselves. A new preface recalls the
author's five years of hacking in New York City in the early 1970s,
and a new concluding chapter explores the rise of app-based
ridesharing services with the arrival of companies like Uber and
Lyft. Sharply criticizing the use of the independent contractor
model that is the cornerstone of Uber and the gig economy, Hodges
argues that the explosion of for-hire vehicles in Manhattan
reversed decades of environmental anti-congestion efforts. He calls
for a return to the careful regulations that governed taxicabs for
decades and provided a modest yet secure living for cabbies.
Whether or not you've ever hailed a cab on Broadway, Taxi! provides
a fascinating perspective on New York's most colorful emissaries.
Since publication of The Black Loyalist Directory in 1996, the
primary component, The Book of Negroes, has become one of the
most-cited of American Revolutionary primary sources. This new
edition salutes The Book of Negroes by using the original title of
this famous accounting of Black freedom. On the surface, The Book
of Negroes is a laconic, ledger-style enumeration of 3,000
self-emancipated and free Blacks who departed as part of the
British evacuation of Loyalists from New York City in the summer
and fall of 1783 for Nova Scotia, England, Germany, and other parts
of the world. Created under orders from Sir Guy Carleton (Lord
Dorchester), Commander-in-Chief of British forces in North America,
to placate an angry George Washington, Commander-in-Chief of the
Continental Army (USA), who regarded the Black Loyalists as
fugitive slaves, The Book of Negroes is, as Alan Gilbert has
observed, a "roll of honor."
The cartmen-unskilled workers who hauled goods on one
horsecarts-were perhaps the most important labor group in early
American cities. The forerunners of the Teamsters Union, these
white-frocked laborers moved almost all of the nation's
possessions, touching the lives of virtually every American. New
York City Cartmen, 1667-1850 tells the story of this vital group of
laborers. Besides documenting the cartmen's history, the book also
demonstrates the tremendous impact of government intervention into
the American economy via the creation of labor laws. The cartmen
possessed a hard-nosed political awareness, and because they
transported essential goods, they achieved a status in New York
City far above their skills or financial worth. Civic support and
discrimination helped the cartmen create a community all their own.
The cartmen's culture and their relationship with New York's
municipal government are the direct ancestors of the city's fabled
taxicab drivers. But this book is about the city itself. It is a
stirring street-level account of the growth of New York, growth
made possible by the efforts of the cartmen and other unskilled
laborers. Containing 23 black-and-white illustrations, New York
City Cartmen is informative reading for social, urban, and labor
historians.
In this remarkable book, Graham Hodges presents a comprehensive
history of African Americans in New York City and its rural
environs from the arrival of the first African--a sailor marooned
on Manhattan Island in 1613--to the bloody Draft Riots of 1863.
Throughout, he explores the intertwined themes of freedom and
servitude, city and countryside, and work, religion, and resistance
that shaped black life in the region through two and a half
centuries. Hodges chronicles the lives of the first free black
settlers in the Dutch-ruled city, the gradual slide into
enslavement after the British takeover, the fierce era of slavery,
and the painfully slow process of emancipation. He pays particular
attention to the black religious experience in all its complexity
and to the vibrant slave culture that was shaped on the streets and
in the taverns. Together, Hodges shows, these two potent forces
helped fuel the long and arduous pilgrimage to liberty. |A
comprehensive history of African Americans in New York City and
East Jersey from 1613-1863. The author pays particular attention to
the black religious experience and to the vibrant slave culture
shaped on the streets and shows that both fueled the long
pilgrimage to freedom.
New York City cabdrivers hold a unique place in American culture
writ large. Cabbies proverbially counsel, console, and confound.
Sometimes perceived as the key to street-level opinion or
mysterious savants who don't speak much English, the hackers who
move New Yorkers have been integral to the city's growth and
culture since the mid-nineteenth century when they first began
shuttling residents, workers, and visitors in horse-drawn
carriages. Their importance grew with the introduction of
gasoline-powered cars early last century and continues to the
present day, when more than 12,000 licensed yellow cabs operate in
Manhattan alone. Taxi! is the first book-length history of New York
City cabdrivers and the community they compose. From labor unrest
and racial strife among cabbies to ruthless competition and
political machinations, this deftly woven narrative captures the
people-lower-class immigrants, for the most part-and their struggle
to attain a piece of the American dream. Hodges tells their tale
through contemporary news accounts, Hollywood films, social science
research, and the words of the cabbies themselves. Taxi! provides a
new perspective on New York's most colorful emissaries.
Republication on the twenty-fifth anniversary of “Pretends to Be
Free” recognizes the signal importance of its sterling
presentation of northern self-emancipation. Today, even more than a
quarter-century ago, these fugitive slave notices are the best
verbal snapshots of enslaved Americans before and during the
American Revolution. Through these notices, readers can discover
how enslaved blacks chose allegiance during our War for
Independence. Replete with a preface by Edward E. Baptist, the
leading scholar of slavery and capitalism and director of a massive
project aimed at digitalizing every escape notice, and with a new
Introduction and teacher’s guide by Graham Hodges, this new
edition makes this documentary study more relevant than ever.
David Ruggles (1810-1849) was one of the most heroic--and has been
one of the most often overlooked--figures of the early abolitionist
movement in America. Graham Russell Gao Hodges provides the first
biography of this African American activist, writer, publisher, and
hydrotherapist who secured liberty for more than six hundred former
bond people, the most famous of whom was Frederick Douglass. A
forceful, courageous voice for black freedom, Ruggles mentored
Douglass, Sojourner Truth, and William Cooper Nell in the skills of
antislavery activism. As a founder of the New York Committee of
Vigilance, he advocated a ""practical abolitionism"" that included
civil disobedience and self-defense in order to preserve the rights
of self-emancipated enslaved people and to protect free blacks from
kidnappers who would sell them into slavery in the South. Hodges's
narrative places Ruggles in the fractious politics and society of
New York, where he moved among the highest ranks of state leaders
and spoke up for common black New Yorkers. His work on the
Committee of Vigilance inspired many upstate New York and New
England whites, who allied with him to form a network that became
the Underground Railroad. Hodges's portrait of David Ruggles
establishes the abolitionist as an essential link between disparate
groups--male and female, black and white, clerical and secular,
elite and rank-and-file--recasting the history of antebellum
abolitionism as a more integrated and cohesive movement than is
often portrayed.
Winner of the 2019 Richard P. McCormick Prize from the New Jersey
Historical Commission Black New Jersey tells the rich and
complex story of the African American community’s remarkable
accomplishments and the colossal obstacles they faced along the
way. Drawing from rare archives, historian Graham Russell Gao
Hodges brings to life the courageous black men and women who fought
for their freedom and eventually built a sturdy and substantial
middle class. He explores how the state’s unique mix of
religious, artistic, and cultural traditions have helped to produce
such world-renowned figures as Paul Robeson, Cory Booker, and Queen
Latifah, as well as a host of lesser-known but equally influential
New Jersey natives.
A Choice Magazine Significant University Press Titles for
Undergraduates, 2012-2013 2013 New Jersey Studies Academic
Alliance, Author Awards, Edited Works Category Winner New Jersey: A
History of the Garden State presents a fresh, comprehensive
overview of New Jersey’s history from the prehistoric era to the
present. The findings of archaeologists, political, social, and
economic historians provide a new look at how the Garden State has
evolved. The state has a rich Native American heritage and complex
colonial history. It played a pivotal role in the American
Revolution, early industrialization, and technological developments
in transportation, including turnpikes, canals, and railroads. The
nineteenth century saw major debates over slavery. While no Civil
War battles were fought in New Jersey, most residents supported it
while questioning the policies of the federal government. Next, the
contributors turn to industry, urbanization, and the growth of
shore communities. A destination for immigrants, New Jersey
continued to be one of the most diverse states in the nation. Many
of these changes created a host of social problems that reformers
tried to minimize during the Progressive Era. Settlement houses
were established, educational institutions grew, and utopian
communities were founded. Most notably, women gained the right to
vote in 1920. In the decades leading up to World War II, New Jersey
benefited from back-to-work projects, but the rise of the local Ku
Klux Klan and the German American Bund were sad episodes during
this period. The story then moves to the rise of suburbs, the
concomitant decline of the state’s cities, growing population
density, and changing patterns of wealth. Deep-seated racial
inequities led to urban unrest as well as political change,
including such landmark legislation as the Mount Laurel decision.
Today, immigration continues to shape the state, as does the
tension between the needs of the suburbs, cities, and modest
amounts of remaining farmland. Well-known personalities, such as
Jonathan Edwards, George Washington, Woodrow Wilson, Dorothea Dix,
Thomas Edison, Frank Hague, and Albert Einstein appear in the
narrative. Contributors also mine new and existing sources to
incorporate fully scholarship on women, minorities, and immigrants.
All chapters are set in the context of the history of the United
States as a whole, illustrating how New Jersey is often a
bellwether for the nation..
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