ÒWithout question this book will fill an important void in historiography. African American urban history is positioned to replace slavery and emancipation as the dominant topic of discussion in the next decade or two.Ó ÑEarl LewisBlack community building was not a smooth or conflict-free process. It proceeded through much trial and error and not a little rancor between its chief builders and benefactors. Notwithstanding those impediments, by 1945 the black community in Detroit had developed into one of the major centers of black progress. Richard W. Thomas begins his analysis of black community building in the key period 1915Ð1945 by examining its roots in the nineteenth century. The study focuses on how industrial workers, social workers, ministers, politicians, protest leaders, business and professional people, housewives, youth, and a range of community institutions and organizations all contributed to the process. ThomasÕs approach draws on, but differs from, both the ghetto and the proletarianization approaches to the black urban experience.