Are We There Yet? The Geography of Black Progress

Through a mixed-methods analysis that draws on census data, public opinion surveys, interviews, and personal narratives, Are We There Yet? reveals how African Americans in different regional, city, and neighborhood contexts perceive the Black condition in distinct ways. Stewart demonstrates that perceptions of Black progress diverge not only across regions but also within them, reflecting the enduring legacies of economic restructuring, racially exclusive development, and selective urban disinvestment. At the center of the book is Stewart's Spatialized Racial Progress Views (SRPV) framework, which explains how geography shapes both the lived experience and the perception of progress. By tracing how spatial context, from region to neighborhood, interacts with economic mobility, the framework shows that racial progress is not simply uneven but spatially produced. By centering economic mobility in an examination of racial progress, Are We There Yet? reframes the conversation about Black advancement. The book illuminates how optimism, disappointment, and moments of divided despair coexist across a changing geo-economic landscape, offering a powerful corrective to narratives that portray Black progress as a uniform experience. Ultimately, it provides a new vocabulary for understanding race, place, and progress, bridging data, theory, and storytelling to show how geography continues to shape the boundaries of economic opportunity for Black Americans.

Jessica Lynn Stewart is an Assistant Professor at Emory University. Her research and teaching focus on the intersections of race, place, and political economy. She earned her bachelors degree in Philosophy, Political Science, and Economics from Denison University and a Master of Science in Health Systems Management before completing an Administrative Fellowship at the Mayo Clinic. Stewart received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and previously served as an Anna Julia Cooper Center Postdoctoral Fellow at Wake Forest University.