An interesting and informative book that explored the lives thoughts and works of leading Black intellectuals during the 20th century Some I were familiar with like Booker T Washington and W. B Du Bois That essay explored the clash between the two different approaches and ideas of the men and their supporters I was surprised at how manipulative some of Washington s actions were but than most politicians were and are of any color race gender or creed Many of the others I was not as familiar with and that is my fault for not being informed but this is the type of book that fills in those gaps of knowledge I was particularly interested in the essay dealing with Black women Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest opinion 9780231215657
This book presents the trailblazing political scientist Martin L Kilson s essays on leading Black intellectuals of the twentieth century Kilson examines the ideas and careers of several key thinkers placing their intellectual odysseys in the context of the dynamics that shaped the Black intelligentsia broadly He argues that the trajectory of twentieth century Black intellectuals was determined by the interplay between formal ideas and Black egalitarian struggle. Beginning with the tension between W E B DuBois s civil rights activism and Booker T Washington s accommodationism Kilson explores the formation and evolution of Black intellectuals and activists across generations Chapters consider Horace Mann Bond s career in higher education political scientist John Aubrey Davis s transition from civil rights activist to federal policy technocrat Ralph Bunche s writings on European colonial rule in Africa Harold Cruse s classic polemic The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual E Franklin Frazier s analysis of the Black bourgeoisie Adelaide M Cromwell s studies of the challenges facing elite Black women and Ishmael Reed and Cornel West s advocacy as public intellectuals amid a conservative turn Offering timely and engaging insights into the lives and work of pivotal Black intellectuals and activists this book sheds new light on the abiding questions and debates in Black political thought Black Intellectuals and Black Society
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