Imperium in Imperio

Imperium in Imperio (1899) is a novel by Sutton E. Griggs. Written while Sutton was at the beginning of his career as a Baptist minister, Imperium in Imperio was sold door to door and earned modest praise upon publication. 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. Born and raised in rural Virginia, Belton Piedmont knows the struggle of the poor Black American firsthand. In school, he befriends Bernard Belgrave, a young boy from a wealthier family who ends up enrolling in Harvard, leaving his roots for the center of American success. Although Belton remains behind, he devotes himself to activism and receives a check from an anti-lynching politician allowing him to attend college in Nashville. On campus, he gains a reputation for his radical politics, organizing acts of civil disobedience in order to oppose the segregation and inequality rampant at the institution. When a lynch mob leaves him gravely wounded, he wakes up on an operating table in a panic and accidentally kills his physician. His trial gains national attention, earning him the support of his old friend Bernard and his prominent political allies, who help Belton appeal his case. Years later, Bernard receives a cryptic invitation to Waco, Texas, where he finds Belton waiting for him. A group of Black nationalists have established a functional shadow state, and intend to use their power to secede from the Union.

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