The Hindered Hand

The Hindered Hand (1905) is a novel by Sutton E. Griggs. Sutton’s fourth novel is a story of race and identity that explores and critiques the politics of liberalism and assimilation in twentieth century America. Although Griggs’ novels were largely forgotten by the mid-twentieth century, scholars have recently sought to emphasize his role as an activist and author involved with the movement for Black nationalism in the United States. Critics since have recognized Griggs as a pioneering political figure and author whose utopian themes and engagement with contemporary crises constitute some of the era’s most radical literary efforts by an African American writer. The South is changing. In the city of Almaville, a burgeoning Black middle class offers hope to a people oppressed for centuries. Ensal Ellwood, a veteran of the Spanish American War, returns home to a community flowering with possibility yet inextricably rooted in a history of violence. As his political conscience wavers between Black nationalism and assimilation, he meets the beautiful Tiara Marlow, a young woman who has only just arrived in Almaville. When his friend is murdered in cold blood by a white lynch mob, Ensal flees America for Africa, where he is presented with a fateful choice. Engaged with some of the leading social issues of its era―American imperialism, lynching, and the movement for economic and political self-determination in the Black community―The Hindered Hand is a brilliant novel from an underrecognized talent of twentieth century literature. This edition of Sutton E Griggs’ The Hindered Hand is a classic work of African American literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Sutton E. Griggs (1872-1933) was an African American novelist, activist, and Baptist minister. Born in Chatfield, Texas, Griggs was the second of eight children. His father, Rev. Allen R. Griggs, was a former slave who became an influential minister and founded the first newspaper and high school for African Americans in Texas. Upon graduating from Bishop College and Richmond Theological Seminary, Griggs followed in his father’s footsteps to become a pastor in Berkley, Virginia, where he married Emma Williams in 1897. In 1899, while serving as pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church in East Nashville, Griggs published his novel Imperium in Imperio, a powerful story of a separate African American state. Recognized as a pioneering work of utopian literature and science fiction, the novel launched Griggs’ literary career and allowed him to open the Orion Publishing Company in 1901. Devoted to alleviating social issues within the Black community, Griggs supported the Niagara Movement and the NAACP, educated himself through the words of W. E. B. Du Bois, and advocated for both separatism and integration in his literary works. Towards the end of his life, having published several novels and dozens of political and religious pamphlets, Griggs devoted himself to his work in the Baptist Church, serving for 19 years as a pastor in Memphis and for one year as president of the American Baptist Theological Seminary.