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

Book Description

During World War II, African American activists, journalists, and intellectuals argued that independence movements in Africa and Asia were inextricably linked to political, economic, and civil rights struggles in the United States. Marshaling evidence from a wide array of international sources, including government documents and the black press of the time, Penny M. Von Eschen vividly portrays the African diaspora in its international heyday, from the 1945 Manchester Pan-African Congress to early cooperation with the United Nations. By exploring the relationship between transformations in anticolonial politics and the history of the United States during its emergence as the dominant global power, Von Eschen challenges bipolar Cold War paradigms. She argues that the collision of anticolonialism with Cold War liberalism illuminates conflicts central to the reshaping of America.

Customer Reviews:

Limited research, low analysis of Blacks and foreign policy........1998-08-14

Useful because the subject is so little covered, this survey of the role of Afro-Americans in US foreign policy from the '30s through '50s, is limited by its narrow research focus on individuals and by its shallow analysis. The discussion, according to the title, ends in the late '50s, although the author dips into subsequent years. This truncation of the subject removes the most interesting period in whuch U.S. Blacks have affected U.S. foreign policy from the book's scope. Upshot: only historians and specialists are likely to enjoy it. Among key figures missing: cartoonist Ollie Harrington (mentioned only in passing) and Charles Howard, the first and most influential Afro-American journalist to cover the United Nations.

Autobiography of a Blue-Eyed Devil: My Life and Times in a Racist, Imperialist Society

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At Times Difficult To Read But An Essential Viewpoint
I think she just makes some stuff up...
The Unbearable Whiteness of Being
CRITICAL THINKING 101!
Outstanding work, research, passion, power!!!!

Autobiography of a Blue-Eyed Devil: My Life and Times in a Racist, Imperialist Society
Inga Muscio
Manufacturer: Seal Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Discrimination & Racism | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Feminist Theory | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Social History | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1580051197

Book Description

It's just called history, asserts Inga Muscio in her newest book. In fact, the controversial author continues, the so-called history we learn in school is no more than a brand, developed by white men who, often unjustly, won the right to spin their stories as hard facts. With Autobiography of a Blue-Eyed Devil, it's Muscio's turn and she's taking it in order to hip the masses to the truth about the American history they think they know. Whose country is it? Has democracy ever really existed? Why does our culture celebrate certain figures and ignore others? Do schools teach kids to perpetuate white supremacist ideologies? Muscio delves deep to answer these questions, marveling at how personal history is to everyone, while challenging people to expand their thinking on America's past and encouraging them to consider how their own histories might read.

Customer Reviews:

At Times Difficult To Read But An Essential Viewpoint.......2006-11-13

This book was at times difficult to read as any book indictive of both American Domestic and Foriegn policy. History is not a pretty and noble rehash of heroic figures and landmark events. It is ugly and brutal, and the people who are called heroes are usually either not as heroic as we make them out to be or total villians. And the truth is something that we tend to overlook in favor of a continued fantasy. I found the most of the reviews to this book are reactionary and defensive. America isn't good to every American, you go into any military hospital, any street corner and see that. Inga isn't the first white author to voice her opinions and facts about American hedgemony and operational racism. Anybody read Derrick Jensen's The Culture of Make Believe? Anybody read any books by Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky? People don't read enough and what we do read mostly is crap that further advances our misconceptions about what's really going on. And "Amerikkka" term has been in use for years so it's not so "scandalous" It was actually the title of bad 70's movie. But of course if you don't know something you speculate or go with emotion. Whether you agree with Inga or not, you have to read and at least be aware of a different point of view. And don't believe everything you hear, see, or even read. Another point that Inga makes. She doesn't care if you believe her or not, or accept some of the truths she points out. Yes there is still police brutality, Yes our government and system is geared towards people with lots of money and the "right" racial background. Yes there is rampant homophobia, Yes Black and Latino men are heavily discriminated against and it's systematic. By acknowledging these very real problems we can all work towards resolving them. But what I see mostly, (the past reviews) are people burying their heads in the sand and saying everything is all right when it isn't. For certain people this is easy to do, for myself and other minorities, we do not have this luxury.

I think she just makes some stuff up..........2006-10-23

I liked this book for the most part. She can be a tad dramatic at times (talking to the ocean, etc.) and I think she thinks she's being mindblowingly scandalous by calling America "Amerikka," but for the most part it was good. Except for one thing: I think she just makes some stuff up. Go on any comprehensive search engine you can find and see if you find any results about the pregnant Puerto Rican police officer who rescued people from Ground Zero. Email Inga and ask her about the pregnant Puerto Rican police officer who rescued people from Ground Zero. Nothing. I'm pretty sure she just made that up. Which is pretty corny.

Also, Ice Cube put out a CD 16 years ago titled Amerikkka's Most Wanted. In one of the songs he contemplates kicking a girl who's seven months pregnant in the stomach. Why? So he won't have to pay child support. I feel that anyone who consistently calls America "Amerikkka" can't be all that logical or bright.

The Unbearable Whiteness of Being.......2006-10-12

It is time for white people (and particularly someone who lives in Portland, Oregon, American's whitest large city) to get over this ridiculously juvenile infatuation for self-loathing, guilt, and self-hatred (the unbearable whiteness of being). No intelligent person who actually knows about the real history of the U.S. denies that America IS, to be sure, a racist and imperialist society, but writing 500 + pages that make the same claim (history is told from the standpoint of the victors; we've all been brainwashed by the history taught in schools) over and over again is not going to improve or promote racial understanding. Furthermore, any intelligent person knows that prior to Columbus's 'discovery' indigenous people did not live in 'complete harmony' so people who quote Chomsky, Zinn, et al. endlessly are just as brainwashed as people who do not read revisionist history. It is time to focus on the many positive accomplishments minorities have made and all the progress that has come (and still needs to come). Finally, anyone who spells America 'Amerikkka' does not deserve to have her work taken seriously. Enough said.

CRITICAL THINKING 101!.......2006-08-03

If one is about the business of seeking justice and correctness in life, particularly in america, then this author's book is worth the price and time to read. The author puts regurgitates and puts forth images and currently presented societal evidence of what can be considered world history by europeanized standards. While there is the current trend to put forth the alternative view of this amalgam called american history and all the people's contribution, the question of personal responsibility, solutions to the mess that was created and next steps has been missing. This author does a competent job in letting the reader do the critical thinking necessary to further prove and or dispute what is known about who's who and what's what in regards to history. Be prepared to deal with some unhealed wounds.

Outstanding work, research, passion, power!!!!.......2006-05-20

Inga Muscio takes our imperalist, racist, sexist, ecocidal and genocidal culture to task once again in her latest book. Heartfelt, passionate, right-on and meticulously researched, Autobiography of a Blue-Eyed Devil focuses intently upon white supremacist culture and its devastating, malignant repercussions. It is a must-have for folks trying to get a firm grasp on what's wrong with our civilization. Muscio has a gift for being so very real and honest in her work, and her amazing personality shines through in this book, giving the reader an intimate portrait of the author's struggle and pain in the face of such enormously mind-numbing and heart-ripping history. I have nothing but admiration for Muscio and nothing but praise for this latest work of hers.

Female Circumcision and the Politics of Knowledge: African Women in Imperialist Discourses

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Female Circumcision and the Politics of Knowledge: African Women in Imperialist Discourses

Manufacturer: Praeger Paperback
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Customs & Traditions | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

African Studies | Africa | History | Subjects | Books

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Female Genital Mutilation: A Practical Guide to Worldwide Laws & Policies
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Genital Cutting and Transnational Sisterhood: DISPUTING U.S. POLEMICS

ASIN: 0897898656

Book Description

Heated debates about and insurgencies against female circumcision are symptoms of a disease emanating from a mindset that produced hierarchies of humans, conquered colonies, and built empires. The loss of colonies and empires does not in any way mitigate the ideological underpinnings of empire-building and the knowledge construction that subtends it. The mindset finds its articulation at points of coalescence. Female circumcision provided a point of coalescence and impetus for the articulation. Insisting that the hierarchy on which the imperialist project rests is not bipolar but multi-layered and more complex, the contributions show how imperialist discourses complicate issues of gender, race, and history. Nnaemeka gives voice to the silenced and marginalized, and creates space for them to participate in knowledge construction and theory making. The papers in this volume trace the travels' of imperial and colonial discourses from antecedents in anthropology, travel writings, and missionary discourse to modern residues and configurations in films, literature, and popular culture. In a significant way, the volume has implications for transnational feminism and development in the sense that it interrogates foreign, or Western, modus operandi and interventions in the so-called Third World and shows how the resistance they generate can impede development work and undermine the true collaboration and partnership necessary to promote transnational feminist agenda. The contributors succeed in presenting these complex ideas and arguments with great clarity and in simple, accessible language.

The Imperialist Imagination: German Colonialism and Its Legacy (Social History, Popular Culture, and Politics in Germany)

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The Imperialist Imagination: German Colonialism and Its Legacy (Social History, Popular Culture, and Politics in Germany)

Manufacturer: University of Michigan Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Popular Culture | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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Enlightenment or Empire: Colonial Discourse in German Culture (Modern German Culture and Literature)

ASIN: 047206682X

Book Description

"Race relations" are a controversial topic in today's Germany. Have Germans learned from the past? How far back must one go to understand the tensions, prejudices, and strategies that have marked race relations in the recently unified nation? The Imperialist Imagination explores the German preoccupation with racial and ethnic differences throughout the past two centuries, in a colonial and "postcolonial" context.

Germany's belated national unification in 1870, its short colonial period (1884-1918), and the loss of its colonies as a consequence of World War I, rather than through wars of liberation, generated very different colonial and postcolonial conditions from those in Britain and France. This volume's sixteen essays investigate how, as a consequence of these conditions, Germans imagined their relationship to racial and ethnic others: how they supported and contested colonization during the colonial period, how their colonial fantasies fed into the Nazis' racial and expansionary policies after the loss of German colonies, and how they represent their relationship to German minorities and "foreigners" within and outside Germany today.

The contributors include scholars in literature, history, art history, political science, philosophy, ethnography, film, popular culture, photography, and theater. The anthology will appeal not only to Germanists but to all those interested in postcolonial and cultural studies.

Sara Friedrichsmeyer is Professor of German, University of Cincinnati. Sara Lennox is Professor of German, University of Massachusetts. Susanne Zantop is Professor of German and Comparative Literature, Dartmouth College.

No Surrender: Writings From An Anti-Imperialist Political Prisoner

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A clear, strong voice from an important man
a great, informative book

No Surrender: Writings From An Anti-Imperialist Political Prisoner
David Gilbert
Manufacturer: Abraham Guillen Press/Arm the Spirit
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Criminology | Crime & Criminals | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

SDS/WUO, Students For A Democratic Society And The Weather Underground Organization
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ASIN: 1894925262

Book Description

A founder of Columbia University SDS, and a veteran of the Civil Rights and anti-Vietnam War Movements, David Gilbert joined the Weather Underground Organization in the late í60's. After more than 10 years of clandestine resistance, he was captured in the course of an armed action in 1981. Gilbert has been a revolutionary political prisoner for 22 years, continuing his work as an AIDs activist, and author from behind the walls. This first collection of David Gilbert's prison writings is a unique contribution to our understanding of the most ambitious and audacious attempts by white anti-imperialists to build an underground movement "within the belly of the beast." With unsparing honesty (and unfailing humor), he discusses the errors and successes of the WUO and their allies; the pitfalls of racism, sexism and ego in revolutionary organizations; and the possibilities and perils facing today's growing anti-imperialist resistance. Includes forewords by political prisoners Marilyn Buck and Sundiata Acoli. "This book stands alone in the growing number of books about the 1960s, the anti-Vietnam War Movement, and the Weather Underground Organization because of David's willingness to own it and analyze it. His discussion of the strength's and weaknesses of this history, the role of armed struggle, the rise of terrorism, the continued aggression of the U.S. government speak directly to the concerns of everyone working for justice anywhere. David's discussion of these topics is freer, more alive, and more honest than any I have read. This book should stimulate learning from our political prisoners, but more importantly it challenges us to work to free them, and in doing so take the best of our history forward." [Susan Rosenberg, former U.S. political prisoner] "David Gilbert is a warrior in the most profound sense of the term. Imbued with a near-crystalline clarity of principle, the indomitable courage to live his life in accordance with the values he holds true, and, most importantly, his every action guided by the immensity of his love for the wretched of this earth, he is truly an inspiration. Predictably, given the strength of Gilbert's character, his writings are offered as tools -- nay, WEAPONS -- in the ongoing struggle for liberation. They are thus of incalculable value to each of us who aspires to the attainment of freedom, justice and dignity for ALL people." [Ward Churchill

Customer Reviews:

A clear, strong voice from an important man.......2005-03-07

Since 1981 David Gilbert has been in prison in upstate New York, down on felony murder charges after driving a getaway car in a Black Liberation Army armored car robbery that went terribly wrong. After 23 years locked up you might think he'd be a broken man, but he has remained politically active inside, and a look at some of the writing collected in this book (or a listen to some of his prison interviews) provides much inspiration. Gilbert's writing remains not just lucid and alive but relevant, engaged, energetic and interesting.

No Surrender is an anthology of pieces, some quite brief, which David Gilbert has published over the course of his years locked up. Quite a few are book reviews, thematically organized here, and I was compelled to pick up a few works both old and new after reading D.G.'s recommendations. He also includes here a number of essays previously only available in pamphlet/zine format. The one I found most useful was "Looking at the White Working Class Historically" -- an essay written to socialist/leftist activists in the '90s who are negotiating the political tension between the white working class and movements led by people of color. How does the white working class fit into american political change now? A really useful essay. Other longer pieces include reports of his work as a peer educator early in the HIV epidemic in the U.S. prison population, interviews with representatives of various political groups about what it means to be an anti-imperialist activist, and an essay about the Weather Underground, of which he was a member.

No Surrender is not an autobiography, though it has a couple of autobiographical segments -- early in the book he describes his political coming of age as a young student at Columbia University, visiting Harlem, inspired by the civil rights movement, seeing Malcolm X speak and becoming more and more opposed to the war in Vietnam. Later he writes a tribute to his friend Ted Gold, a fellow member of the WUO who died in the 1970 accidental New York townhouse explosion. You get touches of David's personal and interior life. His theory has been his practice, so he's a feminist, anti-racist, anti-imperialist direct action political prisoner who's been struggling all his life.

What you don't get are more of the details you may seek about what life was like in the Weather Underground, or how he became a young mover and shaker in Columbia's Students for a Democratic Society, or why exactly he and his partner Kathy Boudin didn't re-emerge from underground when the other members of the WUO were doing so. These belong in a personal autobiography, which I hope D.G. will be able to put out eventually, despite the frustrations he must experience trying to write in prison.

No Surrender is a great book for leftist activists, people interested in the work and legacy of SDS/the Weather Underground, men exploring what it means to be feminist, and anyone curious about what it means to be an anti-imperialist in today's world. Strongly recommended.

a great, informative book.......2005-02-25

this book, gilbert's first, collects his writings from the more twenty years of his incarceration. everything from book reviews to interviews to reflective pieces fill this wonderful book.

many people will remember gilbert from sam green's documentary on the weather underground. his warmth and grace came through the screen, and he brings the same humility, passion for social justice, and sharp intellect to this book. he self-critically analyzes the movements he was a part of while still offering hope that progressive change can happen. a powerful and important book. may be available from independent distributors such as AK Press, if you can't find it here.

Counter - Colonial Criminology: A Critique of Imperialist Reason.(Book review): An article from: African Studies Quarterly

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Counter - Colonial Criminology: A Critique of Imperialist Reason.(Book review): An article from: African Studies Quarterly
Mark Christian
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from African Studies Quarterly, published by Thomson Gale on March 22, 2006. The length of the article is 866 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Counter - Colonial Criminology: A Critique of Imperialist Reason.(Book review)
Author: Mark Christian
Publication: African Studies Quarterly (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 22, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 8 Issue: 3 Page: 56(2)

Article Type: Book review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Dismantling the imperialist discourse shadowing Mexican immigrant children.: An article from: International Journal of Educational Policy, Research and Practice

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Dismantling the imperialist discourse shadowing Mexican immigrant children.: An article from: International Journal of Educational Policy, Research and Practice
Lisa L. Miller
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Mexico | Americas | History | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from International Journal of Educational Policy, Research and Practice, published by Thomson Gale on January 1, 2006. The length of the article is 6106 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Dismantling the imperialist discourse shadowing Mexican immigrant children.
Author: Lisa L. Miller
Publication: International Journal of Educational Policy, Research and Practice (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 7 Page: 35(14)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Evaluating Multiple Narratives: Beyond Nationalist, Colonialist, Imperialist Archaeologies

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Evaluating Multiple Narratives: Beyond Nationalist, Colonialist, Imperialist Archaeologies

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Book Description

At the end of the 20th Century, archaeologists from non-Anglo-American countries started to become vocal about the "traditional" interpretations of history that archaeology was making. The "traditional" archaeology came from the predominantly white, male archaeologists from England and the United States going to other countries and interpreting the material culture from their point of view. This, of course, is still happening but is becoming less acceptable nor accepted by the global world of archaeology.

The goal of this volume is to use archaeological case studies from around the world to evaluate the implications of providing alternative interpretations of the past. These cases also address key questions such as: Can multivocality (multiple interpretations of the past) be separate from the theory of contemporary Anglo-American archaeology; is multivocality relevant to local residents and non-Anglo-American archaeologists; and can the close examination of alternative interpretations contribute to a deeper understanding of subjectivity and objectivity of archaeological interpretation.

The contributors are at the forefront of archaeological theory research and the commentators are eminent archaeological theoreticians. This volume will also contribute to the debate about the social and political implications of archaeological practice.

The Imperialist Imaginary: Visions of Asia and the Pacific in American Culture (Re-Encounters With Colonialism)

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The Imperialist Imaginary: Visions of Asia and the Pacific in American Culture (Re-Encounters With Colonialism)
John Eperjesi
Manufacturer: Dartmouth
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

Popular Culture | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1584654341

Book Description

Tracing the construction of an American Pacific.

The imperialist war on terrorism and the responsibility of cultural studies.(Commentaries: the world at large: war, terror, freedom): An article from: Arena Journal

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The imperialist war on terrorism and the responsibility of cultural studies.(Commentaries: the world at large: war, terror, freedom): An article from: Arena Journal
E., Jr. San Juan
Manufacturer: Arena Printing and Publications Pty. Ltd.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Arena Journal, published by Arena Printing and Publications Pty. Ltd. on January 1, 2002. The length of the article is 4933 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The imperialist war on terrorism and the responsibility of cultural studies.(Commentaries: the world at large: war, terror, freedom)
Author: E., Jr. San Juan
Publication: Arena Journal (Refereed)
Date: January 1, 2002
Publisher: Arena Printing and Publications Pty. Ltd.
Issue: 20 Page: 45

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