From Superman to Man

“From Superman to Man”, self-published in 1917 by J. A. Rogers, was the author’s first book and a powerful attack on racism and the ignorance that fuels it. Born Joel Augustus Rogers in Jamaica around 1880, Rogers emigrated to the United States in 1906 and eventually settled in Harlem, New York during the exciting artistic and cultural time of the Harlem Renaissance. In “From Superman to Man”, a black Pullman porter and a white racist Southern politician on his way to California debate racial stereotypes and the arguments used to bolster claims of white superiority. Rogers based the novel on his own experiences working as a Pullman porter and his exhaustive research into biology, anthropology, and history. A novel far ahead of its time in its understanding of biology, race, and the history of oppression, Rogers makes many compelling arguments against white supremacy that he would continue to expound upon throughout his career. While written over a hundred years ago, “From Superman to Man” remains a compelling and thought-provoking book on the irrationality of racism and the important and forgotten contributions of black people to human history.