Ready for Revolution The Life & Struggles of Stokely Carmichael Kwame Ture

Head of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. Honorary prime minister of the Black Panther Party. Bestselling author. Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture) is an American legend, one whose work as a civil rights leader fundamentally altered the course of history -- and our understanding of Pan-Africanism today. andlt;BRandgt; andlt;Iandgt;Ready for Revolutionandlt;/Iandgt; recounts the extraordinary course of Carmichael's life, from his Trinidadian youth to his consciousness-raising years in Harlem to his rise as the patriarch of the Black Power movement. andlt;BRandgt; In his own words, Carmichael tells the story of his fight for social justice with candor, wit, and passion -- and a cast of luminaries that includes James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Bayard Rustin, Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Ho Chi Minh, and Fidel Castro, among others. Carmichael's personal testimony captures the pulse of the cultural upheavals that characterize the modern world. This landmark, posthumously published autobiography reintroduces us to a man whose love of freedom fueled his fight for revolution to the end.

"Stokely Carmichael is the most courageous and consistent black revolutionary of his generation. Long live his spirit!"andlt;BRandgt; -- Cornel West, professor, Princeton University

andlt;Iandgt;"Ready for Revolutionandlt;/Iandgt; captures Carmichael's electrifying moments in the national spotlight and his emblematic journey."andlt;BRandgt; -- andlt;Iandgt;The New York Times Book Reviewandlt;/Iandgt;

"Maybe the single best autobiography to come out of the Movement struggles....Carmichael turns out to be a wonderful storyteller with a marvelous ear for dialogue."andlt;BRandgt; -- andlt;Iandgt;Bookforumandlt;/Iandgt;

"Carmichael's magnetism seeps through. The courage, warmth, and compassion of the man, the sharp intellect and devilish sense of humor. All are there."andlt;BRandgt; -- andlt;Iandgt;The Washington Postandlt;/Iandgt;

"Be prepared to revise your understanding of civil rights....andlt;Iandgt;Ready for Revolutionandlt;/Iandgt; [allows] Carmichael to tell his story and finally take his rightful place in history."andlt;BRandgt; -- andlt;Iandgt;Chicago Sun-Timesandlt;/Iandgt;

The astonishing personal and political autobiography of Stokely Carmichael, the legendary civil rights leader, Black Power architect, Pan-African activist, and revolutionary thinker and organizer known as Kwame Ture.
Head of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. Honorary prime minister of the Black Panther Party. Bestselling author. Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture) is an American legend, one whose work as a civil rights leader fundamentally altered the course of history--and our understanding of Pan-Africanism today. Ready for Revolution recounts the extraordinary course of Carmichael's life, from his Trinidadian youth to his consciousness-raising years in Harlem to his rise as the patriarch of the Black Power movement.
In his own words, Carmichael tells the story of his fight for social justice with candor, wit, and passion--and a cast of luminaries that includes James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Bayard Rustin, Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Ho Chi Minh, and Fidel Castro, among others. Carmichael's personal testimony captures the pulse of the cultural upheavals that characterize the modern world. This landmark, posthumously published autobiography reintroduces us to a man whose love of freedom fueled his fight for revolution to the end.

andlt;Bandgt;Stokely Carmichaelandlt;/Bandgt; died in Guinea in 1998.andlt;Bandgt;Ekwueme Michael Thelwell,andlt;/Bandgt; professor of Afro-American Studies at the University of Massachusetts, is the author of the classic novel andlt;Iandgt;The Harder They Comeandlt;/Iandgt; and numerous influential articles on politics and literature.

Contents

Collaborator's Note

Introduction

I. Oriki: Ancestors and Roots

II. The House at the Forty-Two Steps

III. A Tale of Two Cities

IV. "A Better Neighborhood"

V. Bronx Science: Young Manhood

VI. Howard University: Everything and Its Opposite

VII. NAG and the Birth of SNCC

VIII. Nonviolence -- Apprenticeship in Struggle

IX. The Great Leap Forward: The Freedom Rides

X. Nashville: A New Direction

XI. To School or Not to School

XII. The Hearts and Minds of the Student Body

XIII. Mississippi (1961-65): Going Home

XIV. A Band of Brothers, a Circle of Trust

XV. Of Marches, Coalitions, Dreams, and Ambulance Chasing

XVI. Summer '64: Ten Dollars a Day and All the Sex You Can Handle

XVII. They Still Didn't Get It

XVIII. The Unforeseen Pitfalls of "Success" American Style

XIX. Selma: Crisis, Chaos, Opportunity

XX. Lowndes County: The Roar of the Panther

XXI. "Magnified, Scrutinized, Criticized..."

XXII. "We Gotta Make This Our Mississippi"

XXIII. Black Power and Its Consequences

XXIV. Around the World in Eighty Days

XXV. Mother Africa and Her Suffering Children

XXVI. In That Ol' Brier Patch

XXVII. Conakry, 1968: Home to Africa

XXVIII. Cancer Brings Out the Best in People

XXIX. A Struggle on Two Fronts

Postscript

Afterword: In the Tradition

Acknowledgments

Index