Black Moses: A Saga of Ambition and the Fight for a Black State

A New York Times Editors' Choice Pick

"Powerful... [and] fascinating." --The Washington Post

The remarkable story of Edward McCabe, a Black man who tried to establish a Black state within the United States.

In this paradigm-shattering work of American history, Caleb Gayle recounts the extraordinary tale of Edward McCabe, a Black man who championed the audacious idea to create a state within the Union governed by and for Black people -- and the racism, politics, and greed that thwarted him.

As the sweeping changes and brief glimpses of hope brought by the Civil War and Reconstruction began to wither, anger at the opportunities available to newly freed Black people were on the rise. As a result, both Blacks and whites searched for new places to settle. That was when Edward McCabe, a Black businessman and a rising political star in the American West, set in motion his plans to found a state within the Union for Black people to live in and govern. His chosen site: Oklahoma, a place that the U.S. government had deeded to Indigenous people in the 1830s when it forced thousands of them to leave their homes under Indian Removal, which became known as the Trail of Tears.

McCabe lobbied politicians in Washington, D.C., Kansas, and elsewhere as he exhorted Black people to move to Oklahoma to achieve their dreams of self-determination and land ownership. His rising profile as a leader and spokesman for Black people as well as his willingness to confront white politicians led him to become known as Black Moses. And like his biblical counterpart, McCabe nearly made it to the promised land but was ultimately foiled by politics, business interests, and the growing ambitions of white settlers who also wanted the land.

In Black Moses, Gayle brings to vivid life the world of Edward McCabe: the Black people who believed in his dream of a Black state, the white politicians who didn't, and the larger challenges of confronting the racism and exclusion that bedeviled Black people's attempts to carve a place in America for themselves. Gayle draws from extraordinary research and reporting to reveal an America that almost was.

Author: Caleb Gayle
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Published: 08/12/2025
Pages: 304
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 9.19h x 6.29w x 1.09d
ISBN: 9780593543795


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 07/01/2025 pg. 12
Publishers Weekly 06/30/2025
Booklist 07/01/2025 pg. 4
Kirkus Reviews 09/01/2025
Shelf Awareness 08/23/2025

About the Author
Caleb Gayle is an award-winning journalist and the author of We Refuse to Forget: A True Story of Black Creeks, American Identity, and Power. A professor at Northeastern University, he is a contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine, and his work also has appeared in The Atlantic, TIME, The Guardian, Guernica, The New Republic, and The Boston Globe. He lives near Boston.