Race Rebels Culture Politics & the Black Working Class

"In a prose that is clear, full of real-world illustrations and sometimes outright funny, [Kelley] does something increasingly rare: he maintains political commitment while appreciating various kinds of aesthetic, social and political differences (rebel, rebel)." Quarterly Black Review

"A wide-ranging, challenging book that deserves attention by anyone seriously interested in African American culture." Choice

Darlene Clark Hine author of andlt;Iandgt;The State of Afro-American History: Past, Present and Future Race Rebelsandlt;/Iandgt; is African American history at its challenging and transformative best. Robin D. G. Kelley's exquisite interweaving of cultural and political dynamics illuminates obscure and unseen sites of Black working-class resistance throughout the 20th century. This is an extraordinary and provocative book.

andlt;Iandgt;Monthly Reviewandlt;/Iandgt; It is not too much or too early to call Robin D. G. Kelley, barely thirty years old, a leading black historian of the age. But it may not be enough...His work, seen in a certain light, is less about the past than the future...To listen carefully to the voices of discontent is not our only mission, but it may curiously be our most difficult. Kelley helps us open our eyes (and our heart) to the task.

andlt;Iandgt;The Dallas Weeklyandlt;/Iandgt; This book is smart, noble, and potentially restorative. Read it, we need to.

Cornel West Robin Kelley is the preeminent historian of black popular culture writing today.

Many black strategies of daily resistance have been obscured--until now. Race rebels, argues Kelley, have created strategies of resistance, movements, and entire subcultures. Here, for the first time, everyday race rebels are given the historiographical attention they deserve, from the Jim Crow era to the present.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 301-338) and index.

andlt;Bandgt;Robin D.G. Kelleyandlt;/Bandgt; is a professor of history and American studies and ethnicity at the University of Southern California. From 2003-2006, he was the William B. Ransford Professor of Cultural and Historical Studies at Columbia Univeristy. From 1994-2003, he was a professor of history and Africanaandnbsp;Studies at New York Universityandnbsp;as well the chairman of NYU's history department from 2002-2003. andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;One of the youngest tenured professors in a full academic discipline--at the age of 32--Kelley has spent most of his career exploring American and African-American history with a particular emphasis on African-American musical culture, including jazz and hip-hop.

andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Bandgt;Contentsandlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Foreword by George Lipsitzandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Introduction: Writing Black Working-Class History from Way, Way Belowandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Bandgt;PART I. "WE WEAR THE MASK": HIDDEN HISTORIES OF RESISTANCEandlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;1. Shiftless of the World Unite!andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;2. "We Are Not What We Seem": The Politics and Pleasures of Communityandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;3. Congested Terrain: Resistance on Public Transportationandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;4. Birmingham's Untouchables: The Black Poor in the Age of Civil Rightsandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Bandgt;PART II. TO BE RED AND BLACKandlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;5. "Afric's Sons With Banner Red": African American Communists and the Politics of Culture, 1919-1934andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;6. "This Ain't Ethiopia, But It'll Do": African Americans and the Spanish Civil Warandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Bandgt;PART III. REBELS WITHOUT A CAUSE?andlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;7. The Riddle of the Zoot: Malcolm Little and Black Cultural Politics During World War IIandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;8. Kickin' Reality, Kickin' Ballistics: "Gangsta Rap" and Postindustrial Los Angelesandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Afterwordandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Notesandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Bibliographyandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Acknowledgmentsandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Index