Book Review: The Devil You Know: A Black Power Manifesto, by Charles M. Blow (2021)

 

Author Charles M. Blow, and the cover of his 2021 book, The Devil You Know: A Black Power Manifesto.

I’ve been a fan of Charles M. Blow’s op-ed pieces for The New York Times for a few years now. When I heard last summer that he had a book coming out, I was looking forward to reading it. (Late last year I read Blow’s memoir Fire Shut Up In My Bones, which I reviewed here.)

The Devil You Know: A Black Power Manifesto, puts forth Blow’s ideas about how Blacks in the United States can gain more political power. In short, Blow thinks that Blacks should move to the South and attempt to consolidate their political power in these Southern states. The cities Blow specifically mentions are: Shreveport, Jackson, Birmingham, Atlanta, Columbia, Charlotte, Richmond, Baltimore, and Wilmington.

Blow writes about wanting to launch a movement of Black resettlement that would in some ways reverse the trend of the Great Migration of Blacks who moved North during the 20^th century. It’s an interesting idea, and a migration that might indeed end up consolidating Black political power, as Blow posits.

Blow’s call for migration would presumably lead to a block of Democratic Senators from the South. However, a fact that Blow never mentions in his book is that Donald Trump won more Black voters in 2020 than he did in 2016. To cite just one example from the exit polls, Business Insider’s data shows that Trump won 6% more of the Black male vote, and 5% more of the Black female vote than he did in 2016. Yes, Biden still trounced Trump soundly among Black voters, but by a smaller margin than Hillary Clinton did. That doesn’t mean that Republicans will suddenly start winning the Black vote, but it will be interesting to see if Republicans continue their gains among Black voters in the 2024 Presidential election, or if Trump’s gains in 2020 were just an anomaly.

The Devil You Know loses momentum during the book’s second half, after Blow has explained his theory. A review I read suggested that Blow might have written more about what is happening in these Southern cities right now. I think that’s an excellent point, and it’s something the book lacks.

I’d also be interested to learn more about Blow’s experiences as a Black man living in New York City. There’s a bit sprinkled throughout the book, and then a few more details on the last page or two, but I would have been interested in reading a whole chapter about Blow’s time in New York City.

The Devil You Know makes a compelling argument, and it will be interesting to see if Blow’s ideas gain traction in the years to come.