Manchild in the Promised Land by Claude Brown

Reviewed by Jennie Sondakh

The life journey from street life to success of a black man in the 1940’s is told in the book Manchild in the Promised Land. The author, Claude Brown, writes this autobiography like a story. Raised on the streets of poverty-stricken Harlem, Brown’s childhood was once of crime, drugs, hustlers and violence. He had to learn and grow and be born out of the distressful environment, which in turn led to his success. His book is very vivid and detailed. In the book, Brown includes so many stories of his childhood and shares the eventful times in his life.

Brown starts off this book with his childhood memories. At a very young age he was already very active with the gangs of New York—stealing, drugs, alcohol, truancy, and gang wars. The author basically described himself as this terrible delinquent. He caused a lot of trouble in school. His home was also not in good living conditions. His family decided to move up to New York, after the Great Depression, to try and find prosperity. At the time it was known as the “promised land”—hints the title of the book. Other that the living conditions, his family life was, as well, not in good conditions. Living in that time period, the African-Americans had a different mind set. They always settled for things that would just allow them to get by. They did not believe in gain high positions and success. Working as a janitor would be just fine to them. Brown’s parents never really encouraged him to go to school. Brown began drinking with his father at the age of six. Brown described how his parents couldn’t disciple him even after the beating and whippings. Brown ended up living in the Youth House. This description of his lifestyle and home base was a general example of all the people in Harlem, New York in the 40’s and 50’s.

Brown also talked about his adolescent years. During this time he was in the Youth House called Warwick. Brown described the place as a jail in disguise. This is where he spent most of his time. In these homes, he was still in fact a trouble maker. Brown often bragged about his bad deeds to the other delinquents. He always reminded them of how he got shot and he was well known for it. Brown was in and out of Warwick, but when he was in he met the Cohen family. This particular family took great concern of Brown. Mrs. Cohen always encouraged Brown to be someone and told him that he could still turn away from all the bad stuff. Mrs. Cohen started to give Brown books about extraordinary people and he read them. It made Brown want to know more and be someone like that the people he read. Unfortunately, when he finally went home for good he started getting back into drugs and all bad things. Throughout the book you meet so many “homies” and “cats”—friends and other boys. He has so many friends that it gets hard to keep up. Many of friends went in and out of the youth homes, rehab, and jail even. But throughout any situation with his friends, he always managed to find another friend that added to the continuous bad influence to him. This went on until he realized that he needed to turn his life around. He also tried to be a good influence to his younger siblings.

Throughout the years, Brown began reading more and more. He suddenly longed to get out of Harlem and the chaos it was in. At the time heroin had taken over and people there was crazy. He grow in touch with his intellectual side. Brown even began to play the piano. During this time he also started to become religious. He grew to this Islamic faith and he was a part of the black movement. Soon enough Brown was away from the Harlem and it’s influence. In the end he attended college and receive a bachelors degree in law.

Manchild in the Promised Land is one of the most remarkable autobiographies of our time. Here is Claude Brown trying to survive the toughest streets of Harlem. In his book, he clearly defined the everyday life for the first generation of African Americans that were raised in the Northern ghettos of the 1940s and 1950s. His stories were filled with thrill, excitement, humor, total seriousness, and inspiration. He never let the plot get dull. Brown’s life was so alive and vivid in the book. It is one of the few that captured the sadness and trauma of everyday life in city ghettos. The language of the time was portrayed in such a raw manner — including all the vulgar words and phrases. Brown’s book was in fact praised for his realistic portrayal of Harlem—the children, the drug-dealers, the parents, the police, etc.

The were so many things that happened to him, that it even makes me wonder how true the book is. Nonetheless, it was still a very good book. Claude Brown’s life turned away from drugs, sex, and violence to books, piano, and school. He grew to be a successful man. This book is exemplary in showing life in the 1940’s and 1950’s. Manchild in the Promised Land is “a story about the one who made it, the boy who kept landing on his feet and became a man.”