The darkened light of faith : race, democracy, and freedom in African American political thought / Melvin L. Rogers.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rogers, Melvin L., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

African Americans--Politics and government--Philosophy.

African Americans.

Democracy--Moral and ethical aspects--United States.

Democracy.

Political science--United States--Philosophy.

Political science.

African Americans--Intellectual life.

African Americans--Civil rights--Philosophy.

African American leadership--Philosophy.

African American leadership.

African American leadership--United States.

Democracy--Moral and ethical aspects.

Political science--Philosophy.

United States.

Physical Description:

xi, 380 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Other Title:

Race, democracy, and freedom in African American political thought

Place of Publication:

Princeton : Princeton University Press, [2023]

Summary:

"Could the African American political tradition save American democracy? African Americans have had every reason to reject America’s democratic experiment. Yet African American activists, intellectuals, and artists who have sought to transform the United States into a racially just society have put forward some of the most original and powerful ideas about how to make America live up to its democratic ideals. In The Darkened Light of Faith, Melvin Rogers provides a bold new account of African American political thought through the works and lives of individuals who built this vital tradition—a tradition that is urgently needed today. The book reexamines how figures as diverse as David Walker, Frederick Douglass, Anna Julia Cooper, Ida B. Wells, W.E.B. Du Bois, Billie Holiday, and James Baldwin thought about the politics, people, character, and culture of a society that so often dominated them. Sharing a light of faith darkened but not extinguished by the tragic legacy of slavery, they resisted the conclusion that America would always be committed to white supremacy. They believed that democracy is always in the process of becoming and that they could use it to reimagine society. But they also saw that achieving racial justice wouldn’t absolve us of the darkest features of our shared past, and that democracy must be measured by how skillfully we confront a history that will forever remain with us. An ambitious account of the profound ways African Americans have reimagined democracy, The Darkened Light of Faith offers invaluable lessons about how to grapple with racial injustice and make democracy work."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

My judgment makes me political : David Walker's transformative appeal

Living an anti-slavery life: Walker on the demandingness of freedom

Being a slave of the community : race, domination, and Republicanism

The people's two bodies

Lynching and the horrific : from Ida B. Wells to Billie Holiday

Propaganda and rhetoric : on W. E. B. Du Bois's "Criteria of Negro Art"

Calling the people to a higher vision : on The Souls of Black Folk

James Baldwin's gift

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Rogers, Melvin L. Darkened light of faith

ISBN:

9780691219134

0691219133

OCLC:

1355581713