The Black Power Movement

Peniel Joseph has compiled a wonderful collection of essays pertaining to the Black Power Movement (BPM) and how the BPM was much more than a struggle by mostly male leaders at a national level. Instead, this collection argues, it was a coalition of people that joined together to press for Black Power.Most of the essays pertain exclusively to the Black Power Movement, but there are plenty of tantalizing sidebars that tie well into the BPM, such as an essay regarding Kwanzaa, and (my personal favorite) an essay entitled "Rainbow Radicalism". Rainbow Radicalism focuses on how the BPM affected other ethnic groups, such as the Chicano/as in the Southwest, Native Americans, Asian Americans, and even Southern Whites.Overall, this collection is a spectacular grouping and is well worth reading, whether simply for self-edification or as part of an educational exercise. Highly recommended to anyone interested in the history of Civil Rights America or African-American history.

This book was purchased for a class, but has become one of my favorite historical books. The text covers all the black social movements, but in particular it avoids most of the mainstream Martin Luther King Jr. moments, instead concentrating on the inner city problems and racial tension that had been ongoing since the Emancipation Proclamation. An excellent read to keep from forgetting America's sordid past.

Excellent

Alhough it's relatively twisted, and the author sometimes jump from one idea to another, but it's compelling, it reconceptualizes the Afro-Americans in the late 20th century and shed light to some key points that were ignored