THIS WEEK MARGARET BUSBY


Black Focus Company Spotlight: Allison & Busby


Allison & Busby marks 55th anniversary of Sam Greenlee’s groundbreaking début The publication of Sam Greenlee’s The Spook


Who Sat by the Door cemented its en uring legacy as a timeless and indispensabl work of literature


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Magdalene Abraha @mags_ab 08 31st May 2024


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his year marks the 55th anniversary of the publication of The Spook Who Sat by the Door by Sam Greenlee. First released in 1969 by the pioneering publishing house Allison & Busby, the book marked the publisher’s first foray into novel publication. Despite facing initial rejections by 40 publishers in America, Allison & Busby’s publication cemented The Spook’s enduring legacy as a timeless and indispensable work of literature. The novel serves as a critique of institutional racism within government organisations and wider societ, and exposes the hypocrisy of institutions that claim to uphold democratic values. This sentiment remains profoundly relevant today, as ongoing issues of racial inequalit and systemic discrimination continue to challenge the principles of justice and equalit worldwide. The book follows Black Chicago native, Dan Freeman—the “spook”— who enlists in the Central Intelligence Agency’s elitist espionage programme aſter a white senator decries the lack of Black officers in the agency. Freeman becomes the first Black man in the CIA but, despite his abilities, is only given a desk job. Deciding he’s had enough, Freeman uses the tactics he learns in the CIA to foment rebellion in Chicago. The book will be republished by Jacaranda Books in


September 2024 with a new introduction by Allison & Busby co-founder Margaret Busby and an aſterword by Greenlee’s daughter Natiki Hope Pressley.


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