African American Political Thought
A Collected History
- Contents
- Review Quotes
Table of Contents

Contents
Political Theorizing in Black: An Introduction
1 Phillis Wheatley and the Rhetoric of Politics and Race
2 David Walker: Citizenship, Judgment, Freedom, and Solidarity
3 Martin Delany’s Two Principles, the Argument for Emigration, and Revolutionary Black Nationalism
4 Harriet Jacobs: Prisoner of Hope
5 Frederick Douglass: Nonsovereign Freedom and the Plurality of Political Resistance
6 Alexander Crummell’s Three Visions of Black Nationalism
7 Booker T. Washington and the Politics of Deception
8 Anna Julia Cooper: Radical Relationality and the Ethics of Interdependence
Carol Wayne White
9 Ida B. Wells on Racial Criminalization
10 W. E. B. Du Bois: Afro-modernism, Expressivism, and the Curse of Centrality
11 Marcus Garvey: The Black Prince?
12 A. Philip Randolph: Radicalizing Rights at the Intersection of Class and Race
13 Zora Neale Hurston’s Radical Individualism
14 George S. Schuyler: Post-Souls Satirist
15 C. L. R. James: Race, Revolution, and Black Liberation
16 Langston Hughes’s Ambivalent Political Expressivism
17 Thurgood Marshall: The Legacy and Limits of Equality under the Law
18 Richard Wright: Realizing the Promise of the West
19 Bayard Rustin: Between Democratic Theory and Black Political Thought
20 Ralph Ellison: Democratic Theorist
21 James Baldwin: Democracy between Nihilism and Hope
22 Malcolm X: Dispatches on Racial Cruelty
23 Martin Luther King: Strategist of Force
24 Toni Morrison and the Fugitives’ Democracy
25 Audre Lorde’s Politics of Difference
26 Stokely Carmichael and the Longing for Black Liberation: Black Power and Beyond
27 Huey P. Newton and the Last Days of the Black Colony
28 Angela Y. Davis: Abolitionism, Democracy, Freedom
29 Clarence Thomas: Race Pessimism and Black Capitalism
30 Cornel West and the Black Prophetic Tradition
Acknowledgments
Index
Contributors
Melvin L. Rogers and Jack Turner
1 Phillis Wheatley and the Rhetoric of Politics and Race
Vincent Carretta
2 David Walker: Citizenship, Judgment, Freedom, and Solidarity
Melvin L. Rogers
3 Martin Delany’s Two Principles, the Argument for Emigration, and Revolutionary Black Nationalism
Robert Gooding-Williams
4 Harriet Jacobs: Prisoner of Hope
Nick Bromell
5 Frederick Douglass: Nonsovereign Freedom and the Plurality of Political Resistance
Sharon R. Krause
6 Alexander Crummell’s Three Visions of Black Nationalism
Frank M. Kirkland
7 Booker T. Washington and the Politics of Deception
Desmond Jagmohan
8 Anna Julia Cooper: Radical Relationality and the Ethics of Interdependence
Carol Wayne White
9 Ida B. Wells on Racial Criminalization
Naomi Murakawa
10 W. E. B. Du Bois: Afro-modernism, Expressivism, and the Curse of Centrality
Paul C. Taylor
11 Marcus Garvey: The Black Prince?
Michael Dawson
12 A. Philip Randolph: Radicalizing Rights at the Intersection of Class and Race
Michael McCann
13 Zora Neale Hurston’s Radical Individualism
Farah Jasmine Griffin
14 George S. Schuyler: Post-Souls Satirist
Jeffrey B. Ferguson
15 C. L. R. James: Race, Revolution, and Black Liberation
Anthony Bogues
16 Langston Hughes’s Ambivalent Political Expressivism
Jason Frank
17 Thurgood Marshall: The Legacy and Limits of Equality under the Law
Daniel Moak
18 Richard Wright: Realizing the Promise of the West
Tommie Shelby
19 Bayard Rustin: Between Democratic Theory and Black Political Thought
George Shulman
20 Ralph Ellison: Democratic Theorist
Danielle Allen
21 James Baldwin: Democracy between Nihilism and Hope
John E. Drabinski
22 Malcolm X: Dispatches on Racial Cruelty
Nikhil Pal Singh
23 Martin Luther King: Strategist of Force
David L. Chappell
24 Toni Morrison and the Fugitives’ Democracy
Lawrie Balfour
25 Audre Lorde’s Politics of Difference
Jack Turner
26 Stokely Carmichael and the Longing for Black Liberation: Black Power and Beyond
Brandon M. Terry
27 Huey P. Newton and the Last Days of the Black Colony
Cedric G. Johnson
28 Angela Y. Davis: Abolitionism, Democracy, Freedom
Neil Roberts
29 Clarence Thomas: Race Pessimism and Black Capitalism
Corey Robin
30 Cornel West and the Black Prophetic Tradition
Mark D. Wood
Acknowledgments
Index
Contributors
Review Quotes
Charles W. Mills, The City University of New York
“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.”
Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Princeton University
“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.”
Deva Woodly, The New School
“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.”
For more information, or to order this book, please visit https://press.uchicago.edu
Google preview here
Political Science: Political and Social Theory | Race and Politics
You may purchase this title at these fine bookstores. Outside the USA, see our international sales information.