African American Political Thought

African American Political Thought

A Collected History

Edited by: Melvin L. Rogers and Jack Turner

University of Chicago Press | 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7208/9780226726076

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Contents

About this book

African American Political Thought offers an unprecedented philosophical history of thinkers from the African American community and African diaspora who have addressed the central issues of political life: democracy, race, violence, liberation, solidarity, and mass political action. Melvin L. Rogers and Jack Turner have brought together leading scholars to reflect on individual intellectuals from the past four centuries, developing their list with an expansive approach to political expression. The collected essays consider such figures as Martin Delany, Ida B. Wells, W. E. B. Du Bois, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, and Audre Lorde, whose works are addressed by scholars such as Farah Jasmin Griffin, Robert Gooding-Williams, Michael Dawson, Nick Bromell, Neil Roberts, and Lawrie Balfour.

While African American political thought is inextricable from the historical movement of American political thought, this volume stresses the individuality of Black thinkers, the transnational and diasporic consciousness, and how individual speakers and writers draw on various traditions simultaneously to broaden our conception of African American political ideas. This landmark volume gives us the opportunity to tap into the myriad and nuanced political theories central to Black life. In doing so, African American Political Thought: A Collected History transforms how we understand the past and future of political thinking in the West.

Author information

Melvin L. Rogers is associate professor of political science at Brown University. He is the author of The Undiscovered Dewey: Religion, Morality, and the Ethos of Democracy. Jack Turner is associate professor of political science at the University of Washington. He is the author of Awakening to Race: Individualism and Social Consciousness in America.

Reviews

“For far too long, mainstream white American political theorists, whether in political science or political philosophy, have gotten away with the construction of a Jim Crow canon for which black thinkers are separate, unequal, and invisible. This groundbreaking and comprehensive overview of the African American political tradition should henceforth make such intellectual ghettoization impossible.”

— Charles W. Mills, The City University of New York

“African American Political Thought should become an instant classic. So much to mine here. So many lines of inquiry to follow. Rogers and Turner have masterfully curated a collection of essays that will guide the field of African American political thought for generations. The study of American political thought will never be the same.”

— Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Princeton University

“This book is an essential intervention in political theory and expands the notion of the canon of American political thought in ways that are both necessary and profound. Herein we begin to understand the richness of the legacies of politics reasoned from margin to center and the critical impact that can have on conceptions of democracy and justice. A must-read for those interested in understanding American politics and seriously engaging political theory.”

— Deva Woodly, The New School

Frontmatter Free access PDF PDF	i
Contents Free access PDF PDF	vii
Political Theorizing in Black: An Introduction Melvin Rogers and Jack Turner Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	1
1 Phillis Wheatley and the Rhetoric of Politics and Race Vincent Carretta Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	31
2 David Walker: Citizenship, Judgment, Freedom, and Solidarity Melvin Rogers Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	52
3 Martin Delany’s Two Principles, the Argument for Emigration, and Revolutionary Black Nationalism Robert Williams Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	77
4 Harriet Jacobs: Prisoner of Hope Nick Bromell Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	95
5 Frederick Douglass: Nonsovereign Freedom and the Plurality of Political Resistance Sharon Krause Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	116
6 Alexander Crummell’s Three Visions of Black Nationalism Frank Kirkland Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	142
7. Booker T. Washington and the Politics of Deception Desmond Jagmohan Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	167
8 Anna Julia Cooper: Radical Relationality and the Ethics of Interdependence Carol White Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	192
9 Ida B. Wells on Racial Criminalization Naomi Murakawa Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	212
10 W. E. B. Du Bois: Afro- modernism, Expressivism, and the Curse of Centrality Paul Taylor Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	235
11 Marcus Garvey: The Black Prince? Michael Dawson Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	260
12 A. Philip Randolph: Radicalizing Rights at the Intersection of Class and Race Michael McCann Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	290
13 Zora Neale Hurston’s Radical Individualism Farah Griffin Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	314
14 George S. Schuyler: Post- Souls Satirist Jeffrey Ferguson Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	330
15 C. L. R. James: Race, Revolution, and Black Liberation Anthony Bogues Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	352
16 Langston Hughes’s Ambivalent Political Expressivism Jason Frank Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	367
17 Thurgood Marshall: The Legacy and Limits of Equality under the Law Daniel Moak Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	386
18 Richard Wright: Realizing the Promise of the West Tommie Shelby Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	413
19 Bayard Rustin: Between Democratic Theory and Black Political Thought George Shulman Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	439
20 Ralph Ellison: Democratic Theorist Danielle Allen Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	460
21 James Baldwin: Democracy between Nihilism and Hope John Drabinski Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	481
22 Malcolm X: Dispatches on Racial Cruelty Nikhil Singh Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	497
23 Martin Luther King: Strategist of Force David Chappell Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	516
24 Toni Morrison and the Fugitives’ Democracy Lawrie Balfour Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	541
25 Audre Lorde’s Politics of Difference Jack Turner Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	563
26 Stokely Carmichael and the Longing for Black Liberation: Black Power and Beyond Brandon Terry Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	593
27 Huey P. Newton and the Last Days of the Black Colony Cedric Johnson Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	631
28 Angela Y. Davis: Abolitionism, Democracy, Freedom Neil Roberts Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	660
29 Clarence Thomas: Race Pessimism and Black Capitalism Corey Robin Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	685
30 Cornel West and the Black Prophetic Tradition Mark Wood Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	705
Acknowledgments Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	731
Index Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	733
Contributors Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	759

African American Political Thought

A Collected History

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