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Through the perspectives of mass politics, this book challenges popular misconceptions about Asian Americans as politically apathetic, disloyal, fragmented, unsophisticated and inscrutable by showcasing results of the 2000-01 Multi City Asian American Political Survey. ... Read more

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Designed for secondary school and college student research, The Civil Rights Movement is a one-stop guide that includes clear analysis and ready reference components. Combining narrative description, analytical essays, chronology, biographical profiles, and the text of key primary documents, this work fills a gap in the existing literature. Drawing on the most recent research, Levy, author of the acclaimed Documentary History of the Modern Civil Rights Movement, provides an outstanding introduction to the Civil Rights movement, its development, issues, and leaders. Six essays analyze the crucial aspects of the movement, including a concluding essay that assesses its legacy. Ready reference features include: a chronology of events; lengthy biographical profiles of 20 key civil rights activists; the text of 15 seminal documents valuable for student research; a glossary of selected terms; and an annotated bibliography of recommended further reading and audiovisual materials. ... Read more

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In this account, the author traces the progress of the Civil Rights Movement, from its beginnings - the Supreme Court's 1954 "Brown" decision, the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott, the 1960 Greensboro sit-ins - through the growth of consciousness and confidence, all the way to Selma and beyond. ... Read more

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After the triumphs of Montgomery and Selma, the crusade for civil rights rapidly gathered momentum--until stalling in the heartland of America, Chicago. A vivid account of how the Chicago Freedom Movement of 1965-67 attempted to combat northern segregation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

dull yet informative
James Ralph's account of the Chicago Freedom Movement was very informative, yet just lacked something...interesting details, perhaps, photos maybe...the language is very understandable, yet I still found my self falling asleep after every 10 pages or so.It's valuable foracademia, but not a candidate for a "weekend read." ... Read more

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Thirty years after the Civil Rights Movement transformed America, Weary Feet, Rested Souls brings the landscape of this compelling period of history back to life. Logging 30,000 miles of research and more than 100 hours of interviews with Civil Rights veterans, Townsend Davis has written both a history of the struggle and an indispensable traveler's guidebook to Civil Rights in the Deep South. Ranging from Martin Luther King, Jr.'s childhood neighborhood to Philadelphia, Mississippi, where three Civil Rights workers were murdered, to Selma and Birmingham and scores of other sites, Weary Feet, Rested Souls is a uniquely inspiring and deeply commemorative guide to the Movement and its heroes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Invaluable resource
Weary Feet, Rested Souls: A Guided History of the Civil Rights MovementAn invaluable resource for anyone planning a trip to see sites relating to the Civil Rights Movement.However the trip planner should double check addresses with reliable local sources as I discovered a few frustrating errors on a trip through Alabama.I found that many locals don't have a clue about the history in their cities.

A great tour book for a road trip!
This is a fabulous book to guide you on a "civil rights history tour."If you don't believe me, stop by my web site, Bluejeans' Place, to see all the places I visited by following along in the book.There is even one picture that shows this book in it!I could not have documented all the civil rights sites off the beaten path as I did with this book.

The directions given generally get you right to the door or site you are looking for, even if that site has disappeared over the years and only rubble or an empty lot remains.

There is a lot of detailed information in the book that doesn't seem important until you pull up in front of whereever they are talking about.For example, when you swing around the corner to the location of the funeral home where Emmett Till's body was taken too, you could actually see the same clock above the garage that was shown in a 35 year old picture.In another place, the book pointed out the Neshoba County murder victims worked in an upstairs office on a certain corner in Meridian and the sign shown in the picture is on display in a state museum in Jackson.If you visited both locations, those details were right there plain as day in front of you!This is better than one of the old Fodor's tour books!

Any fan of Amistad should read this book
I say that because, at the end of Amistad, John Quincy Adams says something about how the Civil War would be the last battle of the American Revolution. But in fact, you could make the case that the civil rights movement was the conclusion of the Revolution. And this book really beautifully takes you back to the places and people of the Movement. It's still possible to visit many of the places, and many of the participants are still alive. But you don't hear as much about these people and places as you might expect, and this book captures them before they are lost to history. It would be a great book to buy to take the children on a tour of the civil rights movement. ... Read more

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Over the past thirty years, Steven F. Lawson has established himself as one of the nation's leading historians of the black struggle for equality. Civil Rights Crossroads is an important collection of Lawson's writings about the civil rights movement that is essential reading for anyone concerned about the past, present, and future of race relations in America. Lawson examines the movement from a variety of perspectives -- local and national, political and social -- to offer penetrating insights into the civil rights movement and its influence on contemporary society. Civil Rights Crossroads also illuminates the role of a broad array of civil rights activists, familiar and unfamiliar. Lawson describes the efforts of Martin Luther King Jr. and Lyndon Johnson to shape the direction of the struggle, as well as the extraordinary contributions of ordinary people like Fannie Lou Hamer, Harry T. Moore, Ruth Perry, Theodore Gibson, and many other unsung heroes of the most important social movement of the twentieth century. Lawson also examines the decades-long battle to achieve and expand the right of African Americans to vote and to implement the ballot as the cornerstone of attempts at political liberation.

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In One More River to Cross, Professor Nigel I. Malcolm argues that the rhetoric of W.E.B. Du Bois contributed to a sense of individual and group failure among African Americans. Du Bois also created a need to explain the reasons for the failure of the group, as well as that of individuals within the group, specifically those within a segment of the black population deemed _the talented tenth._ Professor Malcolm's work explores not only the root causes of this sense of failure among Blacks, but also the way in which some members of the talented tenth seek to cope with failure.Critiquing the writings of Derrick Bell, Randall Robinson, and Shelby Steele, Professor Malcolm reveals the ways in which these authors explain the choice of an individual or a society between consolation and/or compensation for perceived failures among Blacks. He argues that whether an author emphasizes the past or the present, the spiritual or the material, the self or the society, the inevitable result is a powerful rhetoric with implications for the future of race relations, as well as advancement among Blacks in America. The discussion of rhetoric is tied into the failure of the post-civil rights era and to W.E.B. Du Bois's earlier discussions of the talented tenth and its role among Blacks. ... Read more

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In the decades following the Civil War, white southerners throughout the region created a system of racial segregation designed to perpetuate white supremacy, guarantee white leadership, and keep black southerners "in their place." For over half a century, this brutal, violent, and inhumane system penalized both races educationally, socially, and economically. This collection of speeches examines the conditions that made a Civil Rights Movement necessary, ranging from early supporters of civil rights for African Americans to defenders of segregation, as well as what enabled the movement to triumph. Towns includes many speeches by lesser-known persons, such as Fannie Lou Hamer and James M. Lawson Jr. ... Read more

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Day by day.

Dream by dream.

Victory by victory.

"A book to be handed down—just like a family Bible—to be read by family member after family member, generation after generation." —Hattie Winston

"I've added Freedom Days to my morning ritual of inspirational reading." —Fort Worth Star-Telegram

"Janus Adams dazzles us with her poetic and inspirational interpretation of a critical juncture in our nation's history." —Sharon Robinson Director of Educational Programming, Major League Baseball

"Each of the 365 short chapters in Freedom Days focuses on prominent landmarks along the sometimes torturous, sometimes jubilant journey toward the American dream." —The Bergen Record ... Read more

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Determined to be a U.S. Marine Corps officer, Bruce Yamashita enrolled in Officer Candidate School, where he was the target of persistent racial harassment by officers and staff. After enduring nine weeks of emotional and physical abuse, Yamashita was "disenrolled" in April 1989--kicked out of the Marine Corps because of the color of his skin. Fighting Tradition is Yamashita's own story of his courageous struggle to expose a pattern of racial discrimination against minorities that has existed at various levels of the Corps. With the support of a broad coalition of community and civil rights organizations, the Hawai'i-born law school graduate fought a five-year-long legal, political, and media battle against the military establishment that ended in his commissioning as a captain and the revision of Marine Corps policies and procedures. Fighting Tradition is not only a moving story of personal sacrifice and vision, but contributes also both directly and indirectly to our understanding of the complexities of institutional racism in a politically conservative, demographically shifting society. It is a unique window into the dynamics of race, government, and the law and a stirring reminder of the importance of political mobilization by the individual to achieve justice.

"A valuable account of one person's fight against racial profiling and the inexcusable damage to civil liberties and self-worth that result from it." --- Dennis Ogawa, University of Hawai'i ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

FOR Asian American marines,BY an Asian American marine a must READ!
I am aAmerican marine and served as an 0311 rifleman in the Marine Corps 5th infantry regiment and i would like to say I love this book. I am currently receiving my GI BILL and my major is Asian American Studies. I am writing my senior paper on Asian American Marines. This book is a real realistic and honest look into modern racism in the Marines. REAL marines that have seen a combat deployment will be able to decypher fact from fiction and this is the real deal. Asian America needs REAL patriots like this author, and some SELLOUTS who remain nameless need to go home with their fictional world of a level playing field. YOU sir are a good marine!
Semper FI

I was there too
There was no tradition of discriminating against Asians in the USMC...I would refer you to Navy Cross recipient Maj Chew-Een Lee USMC - what do you think he underwent being a AA Marine officer in the 50s!I was at OCS the same time Bruce was there...no big deal - some racial remarks but nothing I would call institutionalized discrimination.I and a Vietnamese-American graduated the same summer he was there - why weren't we dropped?Maybe because we performed to acceptable standards while Bruce did not.OCS is meant to subject candidates to mental and physical stress - if you can't hack someone calling you names - how will you take combat??Most of my Sgt Instructors were minorities themselves -if anything I think they were glad to see that a minority was becoming an officer.I've been a Marine officer for 15 years and can only say - I think he's made himself famous at the expense of other AA Marine officers who have graduated OCS without having to file a lawsuit.
Semper Fidelis ... Read more

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A comprehensive history of the African American fight for racial equality from the standpoint of the civil rights movement in South Carolina, Democracy Rising examines the struggle from the end of the Civil War through the modern civil rights movement of the 1960s. In an effort to broaden our understanding of civil rights and democracy in America, Peter F. Lau describes how conflicts born of the state’s history of racial exclusion and discrimination continue to shape the social problems and promises of our time.

At the center of the book is the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Lau focuses on the interplay between the national organization and its local affiliates, demonstrating the impact each had on the other in shaping the outcome of grassroots social and political change. ... Read more

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In the years since the climactic passage of the Civil Rights Act, African-American women have contemplated the struggle for racial justice in an outpouring of significant novels. This insightful book offers new interpretations of 18 of these novels, examining how they relate to the movement and to its failure to achieve equality. ... Read more

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In December 1982, a congressionally created commission concluded that the incarceration of 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry during World War II was the result of racism, war hysteria, and failed political leadership. This book offers a case study of the political, institutional, and external factors that led to the passage of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which demanded redress for the surviving internees. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Fascinating and Engaging
Hatamiya has put together a book that is educational but doesn't skimp on the passion. It's an analysis of the factors that came together that led to passage of the 1988 Civil Liberties Act which apologized to the JapaneseAmericans who were interned during WWII. Besides an official letter ofapology from the President, every surviving internee received a $20,000payment. The payment was meaningless in terms of the freedoms taken away(not to mention businesses and real financial losses), but of greatsymbolic importance. Hatamiya examines the crucial question of how, with aconservative President and a time of economic down turn (the latter half ofReagan's second term, leading into Bush's Administration), did a bill whichled to payments of $20,000 to a special segment of the population could bepassed. Hatamiya also draws out the various factions among JapaneseAmericans who disagreed over tactics to win redress, as well as the variouscommunities (Asian Americans more widely, WWII veterans, US Senate andCongress) who stood on either side of the debate.

The book is also agood introduction into the personal side of legislation and lawmaking, howand why representatives do what they do. I use it for a class onAsian/Pacific American legal issues and the book is great both for itssubject matter as well as its general analysis of factors involved insuccessful legislation. Japanese Internment is not just a JapaneseAmerican, or even an Asian American issue. The fundamental injusticesinvolved in the relocation of loyal citizens for no other reason than skincolor is a vivid lesson that our Constitutional freedoms are not protectedby the document itself, but by the sentiment and agreement of all thepeople who live under it. This is a necessary object lesson for allAmericans. ... Read more

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"Nearly fifty years after being incarcerated by their own government, Japanese American concentration camp survivors succeeded in obtaining redress for the personal humiliation, family dislocation, and economic ruin caused by their ordeal. An inspiring story of wrongs made right as well as a practical guide to getting legislation through Congress, "Achieving the Impossible Dream" tells how members of this politically inexperienced minority group organized themselves at the grass-roots level, gathered political support, and succeeded in obtaining a written apology from the president of the United States and monetary compensation in accordance with the provisions of the 1988 Civil Liberties Act." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A dramatic retelling of a great moment in U.S. History
Drs Maki, Kiano, and Berthold have done a tremendous service to U.S. historians and future generations of Americans with their well-documented account of the redress movement for Americans of Japanese ancestry who wereincarcerated in concentration camps during World War II. Besides offering atheoretical policy model to explain the successful passage of the redressinitiative, the authors provide a dramatic retelling of how thousands ofAmerican citizens, groups, and ultimately, U.S. congressmen from differentracial and political backgrounds joined together in their attempt toacknowledge one of the most terrible miscarriages of justice in U.S.history.Especially, the passages describing the former interneetestimonies and final fight for the bill in the Congress is the stuff ofhigh drama and speaks to the nobility and courage of our country's citizensand leaders. An exceptional book, which I hope, will finally refute anyreal objections to the redress bill and make clear in some increasinglyisolated critics' minds, the distinction between the the WWII JapaneseMilitary -- and loyal Americans of Japanese ancestry who fought hard forthe survival and principals of this country.

Excellent !Excellent ! Excellent !
This is a great book detailing how the case for redress was formed.It contains great info for those studying the great tragedy that hit the Japanese American community during WWII --their internment in AmericanConcentration Camps.And it serves as a reminder for us all that we needto live in harmony in order for our great country the United States tocontinue to succeed both socially and economically in the future.

Lesson for All to Learn
This is "the" book on the behind the scenes action of how redress was finally achieved for all Japanese Americans, who were illegally incarcerated in concentration camps for crimes they did not commit.Thefact that these camps were unconstitional has been proven countless times(refer:President Reagan's apology in 1988).The credibility of the bookis proven by the academic careers of the university professors who wrotethis tell-tale book (as opposed to the national enquirer level writing ofthe person who wrote the book mentioned in the below review) and its use asa textbook in the finest universities in America (Harvard, UCLA,UCBerkeley, to name a few).A must reading for those with an interest inethnic studies and American history/policy.

A biased view of a troubled time with 20/20 hindsight.
I would have followed the intended emotional path had I not also done some research of other sources. Americans are quick to punish themselves now days without really getting the facts.I suggest reading "DishonoringAmerica" by Lilian Baker,or make an internet visit to the San FrancisoMuseum website for actual, unaltered information. ... Read more

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Running for Freedom, 3rd edition charts the monumental struggle for African-American civil rights and the impact of that movement in transforming the American political system in the South and nationwide from 1941 to 2008.

• Explores the interplay between the local and the national dimensions of the civil rights story, between grassroots activists and federal officials, and between the North and South
• New edition includes new material on the Clinton Administration, the controversial 2000 and 2004
  presidential elections, and the disaster that Hurricane Katrina wrought on New Orleans
• Right up-to-date, it also describes the rise to power of Barack Obama and the achievement of black political legitimacy
• Ideal for students: short, teachable, and accessibly written; visually engaging with new photographs and maps

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Customer Reviews (4)

A Long Overdue Study of Race Relations in the West
In Whitaker's heavily researched and well-documented study of the struggle for African American equality and rights in Phoenix, he proves without a doubt that racial discrimination was not confined to the South and some Northern cities during the latter half of the twentieth century as is commonly believed, but thrived in the West as well.
However, Whitaker's study does not focus on activist groups or civil rights legislation as one might expect.Instead he looks at the "race work" of the Ragsdales, a wealthy and influential black Phoenician couple who had achieved their career goals against all odds and through their own perseverance.Whitaker chronicles their rise to prominence, but more importantly, examines their contributions to their community and to the civil rights movement, as well as the influence and knowledge they imparted on colleagues and activists.
Their personal experiences along with that of other black Phoenicians provide compelling, but disturbing evidence of racial discrimination in Phoenix from the 1940s through the 1990s in areas such as housing, employment, and public accommodations.Whitaker also includes some discussion of the controversial MLK Holiday issue that earned Arizona the reputation as a racist state during the late '80s and early '90s (as a Californian, I know that Arizona continues to have this reputation in the minds of many people here today).
Dr. Whitaker's book not only helps to fill a gap in the literature on the Western civil rights movements, it also expands the discussion of civil rights from the activists and ministers to other members of the black (and sometimes Hispanic and Jewish) communities who generally do not get recognized for the efforts.
Whitaker cannot discuss every aspect of civil rights and race relations in Arizona during the late twentieth century, but his book is an excellent place to start.Hopefully "Race Work" will encourage more scholars to research this relatively unexplored area of inquiry and expand on the issues Whitaker brings up.Perhaps even more significantly, "Race Work," if read widely, also has the potential to cause many Arizonans, and Americans in general, to re-examine their own attitudes and feelings about race, if they have even examined them at all.

African American Struggle and the New American West
This is the most important book on African Americans in the West in recent years and builds excellently on the scholarship of Quintard Taylor and others.
Dr. Whitaker shows how the Ragsdale's livelihood came through the mortuary business, but was not a dead end for the family, in fact it infused them and the African American community in Phoenix with the lifeblood of cultural and economic resistance and eventually the Valley with changes of integration. The Ragsdale's lives read as a textbook example of change and struggle as their stories are so intertwined with the national narrative for racial equality. Both Lincoln and Eleanor grew up with strong notions of "race work" the idea that you have a responsibility not only to succeed, but to help others in your community succeed too. Lincoln was a Tuskegee airmen and later part of an experiment to see about the integration of the Air force before following in the footsteps of his parents and entering the funereal business. Eleanor was a schoolteacher, prior to leaving her paying work to raise children and focus on the family's business interests.
As the Ragsdale's tried to break into the Phoenix economy and community they found closed doors and prohibitive racial barriers at every corner in the form of segregation and institutional racism. Through "education, entrepreneurship, political activism, integrationism, and philosophy of non-violent protest" the Ragsdale's helped to desegregate businesses, schools and social institutions throughout Phoenix and the Valley of the Sun. This was largely achieved through their social activism and leadership in groups like the NAACP, again tying them to the larger US historical narrative.
This work is very important as it dispels the historiographical myth that African Americans were not Westerners. Instead, it shows how African Americans fought the same kinds of racism and segregation as their counterparts in other regions, but with much less national support. The fight for the Ragsdales was carried out through the strong personalities of a few individuals in the Phoenix Valley, using tactics of national organizations within community associations.
This is an outstanding work and should be used in classrooms of the US West and courses dealing with race relations, as well as community histories. This work is both impressive and comprehensive and is a must own for general readers and scholars alike!

Race Work Review
Race Work fills a much needed void on the topic of civil rights in the American West.Dr. Whitaker has written a very readable and insightful book on this topic.Arizona has been overlooked for its trailblazing in the areas of school desegregation, and integration of housing and public facilities.This book is a tribute to Dr. Lincoln Ragsdale, and his wife Eleanor.This is a must read for anyone interested in civil rights, historical perspectives of the American West, and biographies.

Race Work is fresh, astute and long overdue!
Scholars are finally beginning to recognize that African American history, the history of the civil rights movement, and the intersection of race, class and gender in U.S. history, can be examined in areas west of the Mississippi River!Whitaker's work is the latest in a growing body of literature in this area.His book is original, well-researched, and readible.More importantly, it truly offers readers a dramatic and colorful history of African Americans and "race work" in the American west...a region still ripe for further study. ... Read more

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When Lauryn Hill stepped forward to accept her fifth Grammy Award in 1999, she paused as she collected the last trophy, and seeming somewhat startled said, "This is crazy, 'cause this is hip hop music.'"Hill's astonishment at receiving mainstream acclaim for music once deemed insignificant testifies to the explosion of this truly revolutionary art form.Hip hop music and the culture that surrounds it—film, fashion, sports, and a whole way of being—has become the defining ethos for a generation.Its influence has spread from the state's capital to the nation's capital, from the Pineapple to the Big Apple, from 'Frisco to Maine, and then on to Spain.

But moving far beyond the music, hip hop has emerged as a social and cultural movement, displacing the ideas of the Civil Rights era.Todd Boyd maintains that a new generation, having grown up in the aftermath of both Civil Rights and Black Power, rejects these old school models and is instead asserting its own values and ideas.Hip hop is distinguished in this regard because it never attempted to go mainstream, but instead the mainstream came to hip hop.

The New H.N.I.C., like hip hop itself, attempts to keep it real, and challenges conventional wisdom on a range of issues, from debates over use of the "N-word," the comedy of Chris Rock, and the "get money" ethos of hip hop moguls like Sean "P. Diddy" Combs and Russell Simmons, to hip hop's impact on a diverse array of figures from Bill Clinton and Eminem to Jennifer Lopez.

Maintaining that Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech is less important today than DMX's It's Dark and Hell is Hot, Boyd argues that Civil Rights as a cultural force is dead, confined to a series of media images frozen in another time.Hip hop, on the other hand, represents the vanguard, and is the best way to grasp both our present and future. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Just a Good Read
Although I am not impressed w/ the "N" word, as does the author, one has to respect Todd Boyd for being one of few from the older generation for analysing the so called Hip Hop generation and contemporay Black American youth in general from a historical standpoint.

No one can deny that the Civil Rights Movement became less relevant among Black Youth during the rise of the 1970 Pro Black Power Era (The Black Panthers, Nation Of Islam, 5 Percenters, Malcom X, ect.) Even Martin Luther King recognized the presence of SNCC, and even moved beyond race matters to engage in international affairs (Vietnam, Aparthied, Biafra Civil Wars).

However, very little, if anything, has been mentioned about how the Pro Black Era was instrumental in influencing Hip Hop w/ the decline of the "We Shall Overcome" assimilation fantasies. Nothing cited about the popularity of featuring Black Nationalism speeches over hard core production (Ava Muhammad, Malcon X, Louis Farrakhan), the raised consciousness of Garveyism, the African Medallions or how many White journalist were caught off gaurd for attempting to challenge artist they thought were "stupid" (Chuck D., Sistah Souljah, Wise Intelligent). Not even any mention about social activism w/ P.Diddy's Daddy's House, Russell Simmons and LL Cool J's SUCCESFUL campaign for Black youth to speak out againsts outdated school books in New York, or how Jay-Z donated THOUSANDS of dollars in procedes from his concert to families of Columbine victims (of which will never reach newspapers). More also could have been addressed on Hip Hop's presence from a global prespective such as it's influence on the Black youth of South Africa-Post Aparthied or Africa in general.

He does address a few points, such as the critics of Hip Hop who blame it for the ills of society while turning a blind eye on comprimising Knee-Grow "leadership" and church curruption that has done a great job (unfortunately)of turning many Black Americans into "Sheep-ple", or differences on how White Americans are offered a free pass as individuals for equal immoral acts Black Americans (who are *not* monolithic) are often made to pay as a group.

This is just a good read and necessary for a good discussion on Hip Hop and the parities between the current generation and thier parents.

i really really wanted to like this book
unfortunately, it's a really superficial analysis of an important movement. it doesn't go into the ambiguities of hip hop (like its issue with sexism) or even why, exactly, the civil rights movement is no longer relevant. there are no stats, no citations, no nothing. it's a very long, very passionate essay written by someone who really just had enough solid research to write a 3 pager but stretched it out over a few chapters.

i was really, incredibly disappointed -- i really wanted this book to go into hip hop as a political force, to discuss the mtv rock the vote campaign, and the emergence of nh2ed, and instead it was like "thugs are cool! mlk is lame! wheeeeeeeeeee!"

Hip Hop Today, Hip Hop Tomorrow, Hip Hop Forever
In this well-written and highly entertaining tomb, Boyd provides commentary that is both insightful and thought-provoking on a subject whose popularity continues to baffle mainstream America.While there are many who wish hip hop would simply vanish the way of disco and the dinosaur, the art form once dubbed "the voice of the street" has instead become more popular than ever with no sign of slowing.Like it or hate it, hip hop is here to stay and the implications deserves closer inspection.Boyd does so here with gusto, delving into issues of class and race that desperately need to be delved into, especially as we move into an era where racial issues are still as omnipresent as ever, but have become increasingly more complex.All in all a great read.

Manifesto of Hip-Hop Culture
Dr. Boyd's book is not really like his other publications, "Am I Black Enough For You" is a scholarly investigation, "Young Black Rich and Famous" more of a standard non-fiction subject history approach.The New HNIC however is a manifesto.You won't find Boyd's words appended with footnotes and references.You won't find him carefully elaborating a declaration or assumption.He delineates his arena--drawing the line in the sand, putting the chip on the shoulder--in the entertaining introduction and that sets up how he'll play this game.This is one long rap.It's not a tome of scholarly resonance, it's Boyd telling things the way he sees it.It is his worldview, his opinions he doesn't back them up or justify them with the onerous works of other scholars that have approved tired old opinions.This feels fresh and vibrant.I disagree with some or a lot of what Boyd has to say, but his flow is so good that he makes you think and engage his words, ideas, rap.I'm not bound down trying to understand him having to sift through layers of obfuscation or completing missing a point because it's been clarified and backed up sixty times in one paragraph. No Boyd flows from one idea to the next, his flow is smooth and his position elegant enough to make it compelling, even to someone like me who would have disagreed with almost all of his positions before reading the book, but I can at least now understand them better having taken in this manifesto.

In the end I was left thinking this: When I dismiss hip-hop for cultural reasons--because I'm uncomfortable with the drugs, crime, language, bashing, sexism etc--when I hold these things in contempt and refuse to understand them I am committing the same cultural crime of the 'great' white settlers and crusaders of old whose creed was intolerance and dominance.If I look on what was done to Native Americans and other indigenous people treated as 'savages' with revulsion, wondering how man could do such a thing I need to examine myself and understand the potential within myself for that to carry on.I have come away with a better understanding and appreciation of what hip-hop is and its importance as a culture to be valued.Hip-hop should not feared because it is different--the other--because it refuses to assimilate to our expected cultural standards.Hip-hop should be embraced as an expression of diversity of American culture.

Self-serving drivel
This book is great for anyone with a thin knowledge of hip-hop culture.Boyd drops a lot of names and poses hard but doesn't leave the thoughtful reader with very much by way of hard analysis.He doesn't even really explain what his thesis is beyond solipsistically refering to a generation's hunger to "get paid."The fact that NYU Press published this book and sanctioned it as "scholarly" work is a sad commentary on how deeply the ethos of entertainment and racial posturing have permeated contemporary American life.Boyd will certainly live to regret the title of this book. ... Read more