George S. Schuyler (1895-1977), a satirist, critic, and eminent African American journalist of the Harlem Renaissance, was born in Providence, Rhode Island. After a seven-year stint in the army, he moved to New York City, where he joined the staff of The Messenger, the official magazine of the Friends of Negro Freedom, a black socialist group. His writing for The Messenger caught the eye of H. L. Mencken, who became a mentor figure to Schuyler; Schuyler soon began writing for Mencken's The American Mercury, as well as The Nation, The Washington Post, and The Pittsburgh Courier, black America's most influential newspaper. He became the first black journalist to attain national prominence and was known for his controversial opinions. In addition to Black No More, Schuyler published the novels Slaves Today and Black Empire (originally as a serial in The Pittsburgh Courier) as well as several novellas and an autobiography.

Danzy Senna (introduction) is the author of the novels Colored Television, New People, Symptomatic, and Caucasia, a national bestseller that won the Stephen Crane Award for Best New Fiction and the American Library Association's Alex Award and was translated into nearly a dozen languages. A recipient of the Whiting Writers Award, Senna is also the author of the memoir Where Did You Sleep Last Night? and the story collection You Are Free. She lives in Los Angeles, where she is a professor of English at the University of Southern California.