Freedom Dreams The Black Radical Imagination

“. . . [a] bold and provocative celebration of the black radical imagination in the 20th century.” —The New York Times Book Review

Kelley unearths freedom dreams in this exciting history of renegade intellectuals and artists of the African diaspora in the twentieth century.

Focusing on the visions of activists from C. L. R. James to Aime Cesaire and Malcolm X, Kelley writes of the hope that Communism offered, the mindscapes of Surrealism, the transformative potential of radical feminism, and of the four-hundred-year-old dream of reparations for slavery and Jim Crow. From “the preeminent historian of black popular culture” (Cornel West), an inspiring work on the power of imagination to transform society.

“Based on Kelleys belief that to make a better world we must first imagine it, this brilliantly conceived and written book recounts the accomplishments of black activists and thinkers over the past century who have been committed to remaking the world.” —Library Journal

Robin D. G.Kelley is professor of history and Africana studies at New York University and author of Hammer and Hoe, Race Rebels, and Yo Mamas Disfunktional! (Beacon / 0941-5 / $14.00 pb). He lives in New York City.

Kelley unearths freedom dreams in this exciting history of renegade intellectuals and artists of the African diaspora in the twentieth century. Focusing on the visions of activists from C. L. R. James to Aime Cesaire and Malcolm X, Kelley writes of the hope that Communism offered, the mindscapes of Surrealism, the transformative potential of radical feminism, and of the four-hundred-year-old dream of reparations for slavery and Jim Crow. From'the preeminent historian of black popular culture' (Cornel West), an inspiring work on the power of imagination to transform society.

'Based on Kelley's belief that to make a better world we must first imagine it, this brilliantly conceived and written book recounts the accomplishments of black activists and thinkers over the past century who have been committed to remaking the world.' --Library Journal