Synopses & Reviews
"Sol Dollinger's remembrance of UAW's early days are juicy and provocative. His recall of those goofy internecine political battles within the union is tragic-comic. Yet they, united, even though hollering at each other, made GM, Ford, et al,recognize the union. The sequence involving Genora Johnson Dollinger, the heroine of the 1937 sit-down strike, is deeply moving and inspiring."
--Studs Terkel
"Should be read by every labor person who takes the principles of trade union history seriously. . . . Brings the history of the UAW up for a new survey of the events to include the men and women who would otherwise be unsung heroes or written out of history totally."
--David Yettaw President, UAW Buick Local 599, 1987-1996
This story of the birth and infancy of the United Auto Workers, told by two participants, shows how the gains workers made were not easy or inevitable-not automatic-but required strategic and tactical sophistication as well as concerted action.
Sol Dollinger recounts how workers, especially activists on the political left, created an auto union and struggled with one another over what shape the union should take. In an oral history conducted by Susan Rosenthal, Genora Johnson Dollinger tells the gripping tale of her role in various struggles, both political and personal.
Review
"This story of Black social movements in the U.S., as seen from the inside by a theoretically sophisticated and committed analyst, is mandatory reading for those who don't know this story, which is most of us."-Immanuel Wallerstein,
Review
"This story of Black social movements in the U.S., as seen from the inside by a theoretically sophisticated and committed analyst, is mandatory reading for those who don't know this story, which is most of us." - Immanuel Wallerstein
Review
"In broad strokes, Bush takes readers from the early challenges to the accommodationism of Booker T. Washington through the tumultuous years of the 1960s." -Choice,
Review
"A crucially important and incisive work on the Black Power movement, its aftermath and its antecedents. By not treating race and class as an 'either/or' proposition . . . Bush has given us one of the most comprehensive analyses of the current crisis of Black leadership that I've read in a very long time, on par with Harold Cruse's classic Crisis of the Negro Intellectual and Cedric Robinson's Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition." -Robin D. G. Kelley,
Review
"A crucially important and incisive work on the Black Power movement, its aftermath and its antecedents. By not treating race and class an an 'either/or' proposition, Rod Bush offers a new perspective on the class basis of antiracist and Black nationalist movements. Bush has given us one of the most comprehensive analyses of the current crisis of Black leadership that I've read in a very long time."-Robin D. G. Kelley,
Synopsis
An Indispensable Book of The Black World Today website
A fresh new look at the Black Power movement and its leaders
Much has been written about the Black Power movement in the United States. Most of this work, however, tends to focus on the personalities of the movement. In We Are Not What We Seem, Roderick D. Bush takes a fresh look at Black Power and other African American social movements with a specific emphasis on the role of the urban poor in the struggle for Black rights.
Bush traces the trajectory of African American social movements from the time Booker T. Washington to the present, providing an integrated discussion of class. He addresses questions crucial to any understanding of Black politics: Is the Black Power movement simply another version of the traditional American ethnic politics, or does it have wider social import? What role has the federal government played in implicitly grooming social conservatives like Louis Farrakhan to assume leadership positions as opposed to leftist, grassroots, class-oriented leaders? Bush avoids the traditional liberal and social democratic approaches in favor of a more universalistic perspective that offers new insights into the history of Black movements in the U.S.
Synopsis
An "Indispensable" Book of The Black World Today website
Much has been written about the Black Power movement in the United States. Most of this work, however, tends to focus on the personalities of the movement. In We Are Not What We Seem, Roderick D. Bush takes a fresh look at Black Power and other African American social movements with a specific emphasis on the role of the urban poor in the struggle for Black rights.
Bush traces the trajectory of African American social movements from the time Booker T. Washington to the present, providing an integrated discussion of class. He addresses questions crucial to any understanding of Black politics: Is the Black Power movement simply another version of the traditional American ethnic politics, or does it have wider social import? What role has the federal government played in implicitly grooming social conservatives like Louis Farrakhan to assume leadership positions as opposed to leftist, grassroots, class-oriented leaders? Bush avoids the traditional liberal and social democratic approaches in favor of a more universalistic perspective that offers new insights into the history of Black movements in the U.S.
About the Author
Sol Dollinger served in the merchant marines before and during the Second World War and worked in the 1940s and 1950s at the Hudson Motor Car Company, Budd Wheel Motor Products, and Briggs Manufacturing Company in Detroit, as well as the Chevrolet assembly plant in Flint, Michigan.
Genora Johnson Dollinger (1913-1995) played a leading role in organizing women during the Flint sit-down strike of 1936-1937. Her actions were the subject of two award-winning documentaries, The Great Sit-Down Strike and With Babies and Banners.