Ralph Ellison, 1952. The unnamed Black narrator's pre-Civil-Rights odyssey from the South to a Harlem basement. National Book Award.
From Wikipedia
Invisible Man is Ralph Ellison's first novel, and the only one published during his lifetime. It was first published by the British magazine Horizon in 1947, and addresses many of the social and intellectual issues faced by African Americans in the early 20th century, including black nationalism, the relationship between black identity and Marxism, and the reformist racial policies of Booker T. Washington, as well as issues of individuality and personal identity.