Fear of Black Consciousness
-
-
5.0 • 1 Rating
-
-
- £5.99
-
- £5.99
Publisher Description
'Important . . . powerful . . . . an explanation of why Black protest is such a dangerous prospect to the white power structure' Kehinde Andrews, Guardian
Where is the path to racial justice? In this ground-breaking book, philosopher Lewis R. Gordon ranges over history, art and pop culture - from ancient African languages to the film Get Out - to show why the answer lies not just in freeing Black bodies from the fraud of white supremacy, but in freeing all of our minds. Building on the influential work of Frantz Fanon and W. E. B. Du Bois, Fear of Black Consciousness is a vital contribution to our conversations on racial politics, identity and culture.
'Expansive . . . reminds us that the ultimate aim of Black freedom quests is, indeed, universal liberation' Angela Y. Davis
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Philosopher Gordon (Bad Faith and Antiblack Racism) draws in this probing and accessible study a distinction between the kind of "racialized black consciousness" shaped by white supremacy and a "liberatory Black consciousness" that refuses "to apologize for Black lives having value." Interweaving autobiographical details about his childhood in Jamaica and the Bronx in the 1960s and '70s with historical sketches of Black liberation movements and incisive discussions of the links between neoliberalism, racism, and the coronavirus pandemic, Gordon argues that the U.S. and other societies "devoted to blocking black people's access to citizenship" are "fundamentally antipolitical and antidemocratic," and argues that the fight against racism is "ultimately a fight for democracy." He delves into the history of racialized thought in Australia, Brazil, South Africa, and the U.S., and shows how anti-Black views get perpetuated even within the Black community, where "the opportunities available to lighter-skinned blacks are greater than those for darker-skinned blacks." The contrast between his lack of racial awareness as a child in Jamaica, where the leading public figures were all Black, and his Bronx elementary school, where he learned the meaning of the n-word, is enlightening, as is his discussion of Black Panther, which analyzes how the film "distinguishes legitimate force from violence" and "rais the question of what Africa could offer the world if it were seen with open eyes." The result is an essential, up-to-the-minute reckoning with racism.
