Since their enforced and brutal emigration to North America about 400 years ago, African-Americans have forged rich and dynamic literary forms that today have become an important and unique aspect of American literature and culture. The sound literary qualities, interesting thematic range, and social significance of this variety of American literature notwithstanding, it has remained largely unknown to the general African-American reading public, including even students of literature. We are, of course, aware of the presence of books by and on African-Americans in our libraries and African-American literature courses in the curricula of African colleges and universities. But such books are generally limited to those of well-known authors, such as Langston Hughes, Richard Wright, and James Baldwin, and the courses are offered by only a few privileged institutions and even then on an irregular basis.' The aim of this article, then, is to help acquaint more AfricanAmerican readers, particularly students of literature, with the ways in which the meanings, beauty, and power of African-American literary creations have evolved to enrich American literature and culture. However, due to its time span, generic variations, stylistic complexity, and content range, it would be presumptuous and preposterous to attempt to treat the whole literature here. What follows, then, is a modest effort to review mainly African-American