"[C]ontinues the elder Robeson's tradition of speaking out thoughtfully and frankly, and sketches a vision of American history where Black Americans, from slavery forward, have been forced to live a separate reality'from white Americans."-Publishers Weekly

"The language of the Declaration of Independence could not have used the wordfreedom without directly confronting the issue of slavery as the ultimate denial of liberty," writes black American writer Paul Robeson Jr. in the opening pages of this powerful and forward-looking indictment of contemporary American politics. Thereafter, Robeson writes, "liberty meant the privileges to which the elite minority was entitled." And as for freedom, we are still waiting for it.

In the tradition of James Baldwin's Notes of a Native Son, Robeson's A Black Way of Seeingmelds history and analysis in a sweeping panorama, scathing in its understanding of why black empowerment has failed and prescient in its articulation of what it will take for black Americans to finally cross over to the status of fully empowered citizens and what the ramifications of this change can be for the country as a whole.

Paul Robeson Jr.is the author of Paul Robeson, Jr. Speaks to America: The Politics of Multiculturalism and The Undiscovered Paul Robeson: An Artist's Journey. An esteemed cultural critic, he has lectured across the United States and has appeared on radio and television programs around the globe. Son of the legendary Paul Robeson, he served for more than twenty years as his father's close aide and personal representative.

Paul Robeson Jr., son of the legendary Paul Robeson, served for more than 20 years as his father's close aide and personal representative. An esteemed cultural critic, he has lectured across the United States and England and appeared on radio and television programs across the globe. This is his third book.