Young Black Americans have been trying to realize the promise of the American Dream for centuries and coping with the reality of its limitations for just as long. Now, a new generation is pursuing success, happiness, and freedom -- on their own terms. In It Was All a Dream, Reniqua Allen tells the stories of Black millennials searching for a better future in spite of racist policies that have closed off traditional versions of success. Many watched their parents and grandparents play by the rules, only to sink deeper and deeper into debt. They witnessed their elders fight to escape cycles of oppression for more promising prospects, largely to no avail. Today, in this post-Obama era, they face a critical turning point. Interweaving her own experience with those of young Black Americans in cities and towns from New York to Los Angeles and Bluefield, West Virginia to Chicago, Allen shares surprising stories of hope and ingenuity. Instead of accepting downward mobility, Black millennials are flipping the script and rejecting White America's standards. Whether it means moving away from cities and heading South, hustling in the entertainment industry, challenging ideas about gender and sexuality, or building activist networks, they are determined to forge their own path. Compassionate and deeply reported, It Was All a Dream is a celebration of a generation's doggedness against all odds, as they fight for a country in which their dreams can become a reality.
"In her revelatory new book, It Was All A Dream, Reniqua Allen amplifies voices that America needs desperately to hear. She explores the lives of Black millennials who strive for success - or sometimes basic survival - with insight, empathy and candor. Pinned between the unfinished business of the civil rights movement and the economic, political and racial rifts of the post-Obama era, their stori
Jessica Bruder, author of Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century
"At a time when every aspect of the millennial experience has been dissected ad nauseam, It Was All a Dream offers a fresh perspective. It's an honest account-buoyed by statistics-of the struggles of black young adults and the disparate racial outcomes... In the aftermath of the first black presidency, It Was All a Dream is a vital book, a necessary reminder that this post-racial generation is any
