 Thanks to Tommie Shelby, who commissioned this article, discussed it with me, and steadily, patiently encouraged its production. Thanks also to Martha Bragin. Early versions of this essay were presented to a meeting of the Society for the Study of Africana Philosophy in New York City, and at the ‘Diverse Lineages of Existentialism’ conference in St. Louis, both in 2014; and at a meeting of SOFPHIA in Amherst in 2015, at which Cory Aragon gave helpful commentary. The essay has benefitted from discussion in all those venues. Thanks finally to the hardworking librarians at Lloyd Sealy Library, John Jay College, CUNY, and those at the Research Division, New York Public Library, whose help facilitated this research.