James E. McGirt, poet, songwriter, businessman, and editor, has never been well known in literary circles, but he deserves notice for his efforts to further the cause of Afro-American literature by publishing McGirt's Magazine, which regularly reprinted the work of the leading black writers of his day. In his role as McGirt's editor he also advanced the causes of black activism, urging his readers toward education and economic autonomy. Through the Constitutional Brotherhood of America, which he founded, and for which his magazine was the "official organ," he promoted voting rights for blacks and encouraged close scrutiny of political candidates. Biographer John W. Parker wrote of McGirt that his vision went beyond the material and social limitations he confronted. Parker suggests that McGirt's "contribution to American letters, by no means pronounced, is perhaps more individual than racial. A dreamer whose dreams never came true, this literary enthusiast nevertheless...