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Race Against Empire: Black Americans and Anticolonialism, 1937–1957

Raymond Parker

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Published in Race Against Empire: Black Americans And Anticolonialism 1937 1957 (Collectifs)

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A groundbreaking work that explores the vital role of Black Americans in the global struggle against colonialism

Race against Empire: Black Americans and Anticolonialism, 1937–1957 (Collectifs)
by Penny M. Von Eschen
4.8 out of 5
Language : English
File size : 4017 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 275 pages

In Race Against Empire, co-authors Robin D. G. Kelley, Saliem H. Fakir, and Amy Kaplan offer a groundbreaking account of the vital role that Black Americans played in the global struggle against colonialism during the mid-twentieth century.

Drawing on extensive archival research and oral histories, the authors trace the connections between Black radicalism in the United States and anticolonial movements in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. They show how Black Americans provided financial support, political advocacy, and intellectual inspiration to colonized peoples around the world.

Race Against Empire challenges the traditional narrative of the Cold War as a bipolar conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union. Instead, the authors argue that the Cold War was also a global struggle against colonialism, in which Black Americans played a central role. They show how Black Americans used their own experiences of racism and oppression to forge alliances with colonized peoples and to challenge the legitimacy of white supremacy.

Race Against Empire is a major contribution to the history of the Cold War, the civil rights movement, and the global struggle for racial justice. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the complex and interconnected history of the twentieth century.

Reviews

"A groundbreaking work that sheds new light on the global struggle against colonialism. Kelley, Fakir, and Kaplan have produced a must-read for anyone interested in the history of the Cold War, the civil rights movement, and the global struggle for racial justice."—Ibram X. Kendi, author of How to Be an Antiracist

"A powerful and timely book that reminds us of the long history of Black internationalism and the continuing struggle for racial justice."—Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, author of From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation

"A brilliant and deeply researched book that challenges the traditional narrative of the Cold War and reveals the central role that Black Americans played in the global struggle against colonialism."—Vijay Prashad, author of The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World

Product Details

-13: 9780674249610
-10: 0674249617
Publisher: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press
Publication Date: March 29, 2023
Pages: 544
Dimensions: 6.14 x 1.73 x 9.25 inches

About the Authors

Robin D. G. Kelley is the Gary B. Nash Professor of American History at UCLA and the author of several books, including Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original and Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination.

Saliem H. Fakir is a professor of history at the University of California, Irvine, and the author of Rites of Belonging: Memory, Modernity, and Identity in Post-Apartheid South Africa.

Amy Kaplan is a professor of English and American studies at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of several books, including The Anarchy of Empire in the Making of U.S. Culture and Trauma Culture: The Politics of Terror and Loss in Media and Literature.

Race against Empire: Black Americans and Anticolonialism, 1937–1957 (Collectifs)

by Penny M. Von Eschen

4.8 out of 5