Arturo Schomburg was an Afro-Puerto Rican man with a little German blood who wanted to prove that Africans have an important history. The reason why he wanted to find out about his history is that his teacher told him that Afro-Puerto Ricans and Africans have no history and he decided to prove her wrong. So he went on a journey to find it. In order to do that, he searched for black history books, art, letters, music, and built a library out of them.  Some of the important black people that he learned about were Phillis Wheatley, Frederick Douglas, Toussaint Louverture, and David Walker. He also found that some famous people had african roots like John James Audoboun,  Alexander Pushkin, and even Beethoven. He even corresponded with some of the people I am currently studying like Booker T. Washington.  The thing that I admire about Arturo is that he found so many rich books of black history that no one else could find. He worked hard and didn’t wait for someone else to find it.

I liked the book because of his determination to find black history and he was Puerto Rican like my grandparents. I also like the illustrations from the book and some of his quotes. My favorite quote is: 

“I am proud to be able to do something that may mean inspiration for the youth of my race.” -Arturo Schomburg

Recommended Age: 8 and up or anyone interested in black history.