2 comments about The Victims of Democracy: Malcolm X and the Black Revolution.

1. This is an immensely important work. One I am embarrassed to admit has been in my library for more than a decade without having been read. And, had it not been for a reference to it in a speech by the British Psychologist, Robert M. Young (author of the magisterial "Mental Spaces,"), on the issue of Violence and Racism (given in Manitoba, Canada 13 January 1999), even today I might still not have cracked open the book.
   
   My only excuse is that so much of the writings about Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has turned out to be disappointing idle hero-worshiping that it all has become one big rather meaningless blob -- and that includes the rendition by one of my intellectual heroes Michael Eric Dyson. To his credit though, in both the cases of King and Malcolm, Dyson at least tried to get the facts of their lives right.
   
   Here, Wolfenstein has done so much more than just get the facts of Malcolm's life right. This is a full-bodied meta-theoretical analysis of Malcolm's life in the context of America's racist and capitalist culture and economy. And it is one done at a very high intellectual level and wielded with great skill even if it is at times a little intellectually brutal and rough around the edges.
   
   In a deeply honest (rather than fawning) effort to get at the real meaning of Malcolm's life, Wolfenstein has produced a meta-theoretical masterpiece, one that arguably (were it not so politically radioactive (i.e. it has an avowedly socialist bent) and were it not such a raw intellectual expression), should have received a book award at least for inventiveness and creativity.
   
   Wielding Freudian psychological analysis and Marxist political and economic analysis with equal facility and deftness, Wolfenstein has sidestepped much of the story-telling in order to put Malcolm's life experiences into a context of higher theoretical meaning, and might I add, to higher theoretical use.
   
   Using Malcolm's life experiences as THE object lesson of what a racist society can do to one random black individual (and undoubtedly by extension to some extent has done to us all), Wolfenstein has woven together a tightly knit theoretical and social critique of America's racist culture. (It is absolutely scary how well he has done this.)
   
   However, the purpose of this critique is not just to punch another hole into an already weak and crumbling capitalist/racist façade, it is to show where there still might be some light and hope at the end of this nightmarish tunnel and how to eventually find it. And it must be said in passing, that with only a few exceptions, this is a great deal more than most of our black intellectuals have done (and are doing). One of those exceptions, of course, is Professor Cornel West.
   
   If one makes clear that by the "racially oppressed" Wolfenstein means both black and white races, then I believe he has correctly identified the real problem of a racist culture: How does it falsify the consciousness of the racially oppressed. And how do racially oppressed individuals free themselves from both falsification of their consciousness and the racist domination of their practical activity.
   
   Using Malcolm's life experiences as an example (which during his early life, like that of many young black people, lurched from one dark pre-set societal trap to another), Wolfenstein shows us how to get behind the screen of false consciousness that a racist/capitalist culture creates and relies on to do most of its ideological and psychological dirty work. Only beyond this screen is there to be found a truer more authentic reality upon which a humanity of loving, caring, genuine brotherhood, and sharing can rest.
   
   Wolfenstein, using the discrete events of Malcolm's life, demonstrates, beyond doubt, that it is the screen of false consciousness that aids and abets the capitalist project of commodifying our reality, distorting our worldview and thus greatly diminishing our humanity.
   
   By bifurcating our culture into alienated racial and emotional groupings (Wolfenstein's more generalized idea of class), he shows rather graphically, how it is the false consciousness of capitalist exploitation that shapes our worldview -- from the intrapersonal all the way up to the level of culture. It is false consciousness that shapes and deforms individual characters, the psychology, ideology and the cultures of emotional groupings. It shapes our institutions and symbols of state, and causes so much alienation both between and within the various groupings.
   
   The author illustrates how the false consciousness created by America's racist and capitalist social and economic system, commodifed Malcolm's mind and his reality, robbing him of any vestige of an authentic humanity and led him blindly, almost automatically down a path to violence, alienation, drug addiction, crime, exploitation of women, and ultimately to his own self-destruction. Only by getting outside the racist/capitalist paradigm into the Black Muslim religious sect was Malcolm able to partially recover from the damage done to his psyche.
   
   In short, Wolfenstein shows, using Malcolm's life as a vivid object lesson, that it is also the false consciousness in our own lives that is the primary basis for deflecting and distorting our reality from its authentic basis. The authentic basis upon which most of us wish to rest our humanity is on a desire for human relationships based on true emotional feelings unmediated by racist psychology and ideology and that exploits, homogenizes, alienates, commodifies and then greatly diminishes our individual and collective humanity. But it is precisely the things in this list that American democracy does to each of us. And that is why, Wolfenstein considers us all: both black and white, its victims.
   
   Although my own research tends more towards postmodern Freudian analysis of the likes of Otto Rank, Ernest Becker, Norman O. Brown, and especially Robert M. Young and Melanie Kline, Wolfenstein's analysis here using the old Freudian/Marxist model proves that even though it is still tricky, that there is much gold to still be mined from that model.
   
   This is a very, very worthy effort Five stars.



2. This is a very "wordy" book about a complex man, his life, politics, and beliefs. It is not a history per se of Malcolm X, nor is it a biography, rather it is a collection of ideas within ideas about Malcolm X and what made him tick. I must warn you though it is not as easy book to read, but it rates five stars in my opinion because it attempts to be analytical and non-judgemental about the man and his times. Not an easy task when you are writing about someone as famous as Malcolm X. This is a good book to supplement Alex Haley's book on Malcolm X as it looks deeper into the man and what he stood for. Well worth reading if you have the time and patience.

5 comments about Pop: A Celebration of Black Fatherhood.

1. "Pop, A Celebration of Black Fatherhood" is the only book on my coffee table. Once I stacked several. Now, I want my guests to focus on the beautiful photography of one book, hence, "Pop."
   
   Carol Ross expresses her creativity in photography, not as a writer/ author. Because we, as people of color, are judged, initially and sometimes solely, by our physical appearance, I find the phtographs a powerful tool against the stereotype of our men.
   
   I have commented on this point at another review.



2. We gave this book to one of our son-in-laws for Father's Day. He loved it. The individual stories of each father are so compelling. The photos are beautiful.



3. This book is full of touching snapshots of fathers with their kids. It's heartwarming.



4. I bought this book for my dad for Christmas and he absolutely loved it!!! My dad is an amateur photographer, but takes pictures better than many professionals I know. The photography in this book was great and it moved him almost to tears. I would definitely recommend this book!



5. I enjoyed Daughters of Men: Portraits of African-American Women and Their Fathers so much that I immediately tried to find more books commending responsible Black fathers and going against what society leads the masses to believe about fatherhood in the Black community. With "Daughters of Men," there were great antecdotes in there and heartwrenching moments, but in this book, there were small paragraphs, a few sentences, or rarely a page from a father talking about what fatherhood means to them. The actual text wasn't all that interesting to read because it was pretty much saying the same thing. No unique stories that stood out for me. I read three quarters of the text and finally stopped and settled on looking at the phenomenal artwork. My two favorite shots are of a father and son sitting at the table eating massive burgers because it reminds me of my father and brother, and then a shot of a man giving a bicycle ride to his child on a baby bicycle seat. That reminded me of my days as a child riding with my father along Chicago's lakefront. There were a lot of photos in here that I could relate to, and I give the artwork five stars. However, considering it had both photography and text, I'm settling on three stars.

No comments about A Way out of No Way: Changing Family and Freedom in the New South (The American South Series).

1 comments about Mingus/Mingus: Two Memoirs.

1. Janet Coleman and Al Young were University of Michigan English graduate students when they met Charles MINGUS in the late 1950's. In this slim volume, each writes separate but intertwined memoirs about their relationship as friend, editor, and fan with the great bassist/composer/bandleader. Their memories are fond, warm, personal, and humorous; their affection and something like awe are evident throughout the book.

   This was the period of such Mingus works as "Pithecanthropus Erectus" and "Ah Um." Both Coleman and Young followed Mingus to New York City, where at clubs like the Bohemia, Mingus' "Jazz Workshops" (people pay to hear us practice), musicians such as Jacki Byard, Dannie Richmond, Jimmy Knepper, Jackie McLean followed Mingus' spontaneously combusting arrangements. We get a glimpse of Mingus the musician, the writer, and general connoisseur of life. As Coleman puts it, I knew Mingus during "his Shotgun, Bicycle, Camera, Witchcraft, Cuban Cigar, and Juice Bar periods, and was familiar with his Afro, Egyptian, English banker, Abercrombie and Fitch, Sanford and Son, and ski bunny costumes. I ate his chicken and dumplings, kidneys and brandy, popcorn and garlic . . . " There are several good clues to the puzzle of Mingus' autobiography "Beneath the Underdog," a work which Coleman, among others, helped edit. I recommend reading "Mingus/Mingus" before tackling his Joycean autobiography.

   We also see the political Mingus, rightly protesting the treatment of black musicians, as well as racism and militarism generally. After all, this is the genius who wrote such pieces as "Oh, Lord, Don't Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb on Me (with the great line, "don't drop it, bebop it"), "Remember Rockefeller at Attica," and the great "Fables of Faubus," which courageously lambasted the segregationist governor. Cole's memoir is perhaps the more literary of the two (Coleman is a writer), and gives us a very personal view of Mingus' profound effect. Coleman may have been the closer friend and she offers some rarely heard and often humorous anecdotes. Both Coleman and Young knew Mingus for more than 20 years, and the book is rich with material recalling Mingus and the social and creative forces of the period: For example, Mingus played Genghis Kahn in a "psychedelic Western" written by Coleman's husband and filmed at Timothy Leary's ranch. Mingus criticizes Leary's approach: "You can't improvise on nothin', man. You gotta improvise on something." The book is filled with Mingus' humor and anger and appetites; his idealism and his realism. A titan of a man and at times, a study in contrasts, Mingus the subject is as compelling as the music he composed. (No index, but you get Mingus' recipe for eggnog!) Highly recommended, I just wish there were more to read! Highly recommended for fans of Mingus, jazz and the sociopolitical climate of the era.

1 comments about African American Leadership: An Empowerment Tradition in Social Welfare History.

1. 
   Dr. Iris Calton-Laney is a valued member in the African American community, her contributions are culturally constructive, professionally progressive, and economically empowering.
   
   We support her because her goal is to empower us.

No comments about The Wolf by the Ears: Thomas Jefferson and Slavery.

5 comments about King James: Believe the Hype---The LeBron James Story.

1. This book is a very interesting one. The book describes how a young basketball star goes through his career from 8th grade to senior year in high school. The book shows Lebron's stuggles and accomplishments. It explains major deals with shoe companies. The book gives highlights from his most hyped high school games. The book shows all aspects of how Lebron made everyone believe the hype. Overall it was a good book and it is for anyone who loves reading about sports and athletes accomplishments.



2. Ryan Jones is a great basketball writer. In King James: The LeBron James Story he does a great job of trying to show the reader how amazingly good LeBron James is at basketball. Coach Bob Gibbons said about LeBron's performance in the Olympic trials, "I don't want to blow too much smoke and distort the kid's thinking, but I saw Kobe Bryant in tenth and eleventh grades, and I think this kid is more advanced than Kobe was." Like LeBron, Kobe Bryant was drafted out of high school and has led the Los Angeles Lakers to multiple NBA Championships.
   Ryan Jones is editor-in-chief at SLAM, the monthly basketball magazine that combined the sport with hip hop culture at a time when the genre was becoming increasingly popular. The magazine carries advertising for basketball-related products, street-wear clothing and hip hop music, and it has been credited with helping to market hip hop culture and basketball as one. It is only fitting that Ryan Jones wrote his first national magazine feature on LeBron James. He thoroughly explains LeBron's involvement with SLAM magazine throughout the book. He lives in New York with his wife and son.
   Although Jones seems a bit repetitive at times, his knowledge of basketball and great style shines though and creates an easy to read biography. In Chaper Four, he talks about the potential LeBron possessed in football as well as basketball: even though "there wasn't much national buzz on LeBron the football player, area football coaches knew better." Jones even compares him to the New England Patriots Pro-Bowl wideout, Randy Moss. While he mainly focuses on LeBron's basketball ability, his information about LeBron's high school football career is refreshing.
   With all the hype about LeBron and his constant coverage on ESPN, this book reveals the truth about LeBron and his journey from moving in with his friend's family to his 90 million dollar sneaker deal with Nike. While the vocabulary can be a bit easy at times, the book a joy to read, especially if you are a total sports nut like myself. A stong strength of Jones is to tell the complete story of every little event in Lebron's life. His very descriptive writing explains aspects of basketball that makes this book a good pick for sports lovers and non sports lovers alike. I give this book an eight out of ten and recommend it highly.



3. This was quite an enjoyable read. I was fascinated by the rise and rise of this basketball prodigy due to all the hype surrounding him. There is no doubt that Lebron James is one hell of a talent after seeing many of his highlight plays on T.V, and on the net. This book details his performances in school for ST Vincent-ST Mary and other events, the frenzied interest from fans and media wanting to see him perform, sport commentators and coaches raving about him being the best thing in the sport of basketball, hummergate, speculation about his future career plans, and the fight for his feet between Adidas and Nike in which the latter won because the former could not offer huge amounts of money in the bidding war with its major rival. Great stuff.



4. This was a AWESOME book. It really looks into the real life of LEBRON JAMES and shows you his trip into stardom. This book is great if you like watching basketball careers grow because is probably the most popular young basketball players in the world today and this book did a really good job of showing how LEBRON is always improving his game. I have read a ton of sports autiobiographies and this one was probably the most inspiring because it took an indept look at the personal and also basketball part of LEBRON JAMES life.



5. King James: Believe the Hype, The LeBron James Story by Ryan Jones was a great book
   to read it tells you about LeBron James early life and about his high school games and
   when he goes into the NBA . He was born in Akron, Ohio on December 30, 1984.
   He was mostly raised by his mother, LeBron went to school at St. Vincent-St. Mary
   High School . He was the starting point guard . James averaged 18.2 points and 6
   rebounds per game.Lebron James was also a star football player in addition to
   basketball, LeBron was also First-Team All-Stateas a wide receiver for his high school
   team. But, he didn't want to get hurt so he quit football and concentrated on playing
   Basketball . In his junior year, he appeared on the cover of SLAM Magazine which
   show everybody in the world who he was.In the NBA LeBron join the Cleveland
   Cavaliers they made many changes to there lineup , adding Larry Hughes ,
   Damon Jones and Donyell Marshall and many more . Now LeBrons James is Standing at
   6 feet,8 inches and is 21 years old. That some information about what the book tells you
   about. This was a great book and if you love basketball you should get this book.
   

5 comments about Broken Alliance: The Turbulent Times Between Blacks and Jews in America.

1. Kaufman's basic assumption is that the alliance between African-Americans and Jews was never as smooth as history makes it out to be. By exhaustively researching that alliance and presenting it through the points of view of six prominent leaders of the Civil Rights movement, Kaufman provides a unique overview of the racial issues of the previous century, but it is not without flaws. First, like many liberals, Kaufman is too broad-minded to take his own side in an argument. Thus, he goes into great detail in explaining away Black antisemitism, but never seems to realize that there is no Jewish equivalent. Black outrage over the lack of Jewish support for affirmative action is constantly brought up throughout the book, but the use of quotas to restrict Jewish admissions to Ivy League schools is mentioned only twice, creating the impression that Jews were opposed to affirmative action out of a desire to avoid competition, rather than out of fear of being shut out (again) of the professions. He routinely glosses over the records of many of the militant Black leaders who took over after Dr. King's assassination, making them seem simply outspoken or radical, rather than thuggish or criminal, as in the case of the Black Panthers, for example. Anti-semitic acts are routinely explained away as having been taken out of context (his history of the Oceanhill-Brownsville controversy provides a context for the reading of a virulently anti-semitic poem on WBAI that all-but excuses it). His coverage of the Crown Heights riots (in the updated version of the book) avoids mentioning critical facts about the murder of Yankel Rosenbaum and subsequent acquittal of Lemrick Nelson which cast the Black community in a poor light (the jury actually partied with Nelson after the acquittal). The final chapter of the book is a discussion of the importance of the alliance, but it is written on the presumption that political conservatives dislike both Blacks and Jews and are relishing the fight, which is stated explicitly, and which diminishes the value of the book as a historical record. In the end, it's simply an attempt to get Jews to keep giving money to Democrats and Blacks to continue to vote for them so that they can defeat those evil conservatives. Given the rise of anti-semitism since 9/11, the history in this book is even more critical to understanding the schisms in American culture, but Kaufman's bias reduces its value, taking what could have been the definitive history of a critical alliance in the Civil Right movement and reducing it to a partisan appeal.



2. This book takes a good look at some social problems in America. It was written in 1988, but I have the updated edition from 1995.
   
   Blacks and Jews are minorities that cooperated during the civil rights struggles of the early 1960s. And there is still some cooperation on that issue, as various states continue to discriminate against minority voters.
   
   We see some of the cooperation and also some of the problems as this book as the experiences of six different people are examined in detail.
   
   Paul Parks, a Black who joined the civil rights movement in the 1960s, in chosen as an example of one who valued a Black-Jewish alliance. In April 1945, he was one of the soldiers who liberated the concentration camp at Dachau. But in 1967, he noted that there were complaints by some Blacks about Jewish landlords in the ghettos. Parks wanted to distinguish between the slumlords and those Whites who were actively helping the Blacks, given that without White support, Black causes would be hurt. But we see how many of the more politically involved Blacks thought of the Jews not as another minority but as part of the White majority.
   
   Next, we see Jack Greenberg and Esther Brown, who filed a landmark suit against segregated schools (Brown versus the Board of Education). These were Jews who saw the issue "not as a Negro cause but as a human cause." Still, there were problems when some Blacks decided to boycott a class that Greenberg taught at Harvard on "Race and the Law" to protest the fact that the instructor was not Black.
   
   After that, there is the story of Rhody McCoy, a Black who became the head of the Ocean Hills-Brownsville school district in New York City. Right away, there was a problem with a teacher strike. McCoy kept the schools open by hiring sustitute teachers, but this soured relations with the strikers. The issue became bigger, bitter, and painful, and certainly reduced cooperation among Blacks and Jews in the city.
   
   The story Kaufman tells next is of Roz Ebstein and her family. Hers was just one of many Jewish families in Chicago that supported the civil rights movement in the 1960s. But we discover the effects of blockbusting, as her neighborhood, rather than becoming integrated, simply became almost exclusively Black. Eventually, she and her family felt forced to move to a new neighborhood, a few miles away, in order to be in a better school district and to avoid harrassment from Blacks.
   
   There is an excellent section about Martin Peretz, who became the editor of The New Republic in 1974. Right away, we see one effect of Black-Jewish cooperation, namely that some Jews who learned more about Black culture and history decided they might as well learn about Jewish culture and history as well. Peretz, a liberal, couldn't stand Begin, a conservative Israeli Prime Minister. But Peretz made a point of supporting Israel's right to exist in the New Republic. Peretz, a stong supporter of civil rights, raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the civil rights movement. But a turning point came in 1967, with the National Convention on New Politics. This group became dominated by radicals who tended to ignore problems of poverty, oppression, the war in Vietnam, racism, and discrimination and instead attacked Zionism. Peretz was more cautious about which groups he supported after that.
   
   The final chapter is about Donna Brazile, a well-known political campaign chairwoman. We see her introduction to issues that were separating Blacks and Jews: Jewish landlords, failure of some Jews to support affirmative action, and failure of some Blacks to support Israel. Plus, some specific problems, such as the firing of Andrew Young as UN ambassador and Black Presidential candidate Jesse Jackson meeting with terrorist leader Yasser Arafat. Through all this, Brazile kept her focus on trying to get as diverse and inclusive group of supporters as possible in her campaigns.
   
   I was struck by the mention of Alice Walker, who wrote "The Color Purple." Walker is well-known as a sensitive and thoughtful person. The book tells that when asked about Farrakhan, she condemned him as a bigot and an antisemite. But the book also tells of Walker's attitude about Israel, and this shocked me. I'm not asking that she favor some minority, whether it be Blacks, Jews, Pagans, or anyone else. But I am asking someone with her credentials to support human rights against aggressive and lying tyrants, thugs, and bullies. I feel that Walker should have found some way to oppose antizionism very strongly, and I certainly condemn her for not doing so.
   
   I think the issue of cooperation among minorities is important. There is a tendency for minorities, often in an effort to win favor with the majority, to show hostility to other minorities. That is not the true path.
   
   I recommend this book.



3. I highly recommend this book - particularly the section on "the last Jewish liberals" who tried to make integration, civil rights work for their family in a changing South Side Chicago neighborhood.

   It didn't work, they eventually fled the lowrer class, Black takeover and moved to the suburbs, only they stayed longer than the other Whites.

   The book works well because the author writes very personal stories that present the truth about what happened.




4. Both Jews and blacks have suffered greatly in various parts of the world. In the United States, there has been somewhat of alliance between the two groups. Brokedn Alliances deals with this alliance, like the NAACP having many Jewish lawyers and how Jews and Blacks came toghether for the civil rights movement. It also deals with how these groups have been losing contact due many factors like black anti-semitism and the importance of Israel to American Jews.

   Broken alliances is definetely something people should read if they want a better understanding of the history of race relations.




5. The Jews and African Americans share a history of suffering and bigotry unequaled in recent times. History suggests that they should be the closest of partners in dealing with these issues. However to read the news you would think that they were historical enemies. This has not always been true. The Alliance between Jews and African Americans was a powerful force for change over most of this century. Jonathan tells the story of that Alliance and how it fell apart.

   As a journalist Jonathan tells this unique story from the perspective of important individuals on both sides. He traces them and their changing perspectives through these significant historical changes. It is this personal perspective that makes Jonathan's stories so compelling.

1 comments about A Strange Freedom.

1. I first became acquainted with the work of Howard Thurman when I found a leather-bound copy of Disciplines of the Spirit at an antique store. I was struck first by the practicality of his work, and then by the universality of his vision of spirituality and brotherhood. I am very excited to find this volume of his essays published. I hope it brings to many in 1999 and the millenium the practical, down-to-earth theology of this man who was a mentor to Dr. Martin Luther King

2 comments about Michael Jackson The Solo Years.

1. first&Foremost anybody who writes negatively on Michael Jackson obvisiously don't know much about Music. He single handly changed the course of Music twice. He ruled the last century period. the Greatest Musical Figure of last century period. I get so tired of folks trying to downplay this Man's Musical legacy. nobody can deny the lasting impact he made. he truly is aone of a kind. he owes nobody nothing. this Book showcases all of his Motown through Epic Era material&does a Wonderful job. alot of books want to eat off his name,but they don't acknowledge that He opened the door for many. He could have retired after "off the wall&thriller" His Legacy would have been enshrined for always. I mean Michael Jackson is the "M" of MTV&for the Last Century he was the "M" of Music. ain't too many Artists that can boast or Brag that they have done what this Man has done Musically. 3 plus Decades. if you came out after MJ then you are in debt to Him Musically period. He changed the course of Music in all styles&vibes period. truly a One of a Kind Musical Genius&Force.this is a Must Have Book.



2. Michael Jackson The Solo Years is a one of a kind book. I would suggest this to all MJJ fans from all over. It not only lists every single album Michael has appeared on and starred on - from Motown and on, but it also has a list of every single he has released, songs un released through the years from Michael, a complete list of rare, wanted gems, discography, chartography, rare item pictures all through the book, all of Michael's amazing awards and MUCH MORE!!!!! The best part about this book: IT IS PURE MUSIC!!!! The authors themselves are true fans, and you'll find this out while reading it. MJJ The Solo Years is out now, and it is AMAZING!!!!
   "A collectors dream," for all fans.

   Christina