Slave Culture: Nationalist Theory and the Foundations of Black America

i liked: (i) how newly arrived slaves from different parts of east africa forged a common identity. (ii) how folk tales (b'rer rabbit and his fiddle, eg) held a deeper meaning that masters could not begin to comprehend. (iii) how slaves blended native religions with christianity without becoming 'christian' - esp the myth of the lonely big 'vulture' - doomed to wander and see everything on earth, but cannot communicate with the living and knows not of any other vulture - a horrible but just fate for a traitor. i did not like: suggestions (i) that religious symbolism like rebirth by water and a farewell wake were unique to african religions when they are universal ,(ii) that ring dancing (ring shout) were also unique to africa, when likewise universal. I esp did not like: the author repeated the same theme to the point of boredom: (i) Why such a disjointed recollection of Paul Robeson's youth? He was truly unique. i expected a more critical appraisal of his accomplishments, not his travails . Wilson was president of President of Princeton Univ at the time so you would expect the town to be sleepily southern. (ii) did Dubois long to be a bolshevik? he would have found himself in a gulag with other intellectuals - ask any survivor of the red terror. (iii) little mention of Washington or Douglas - why? Before you can preach theoretical you first need to put the bread on the table so that your children can survive to become educated. It takes generations for a stigmatized people to rise from oppression. the first step may have to be nationalistic, but segregation in any form becomes self-destructive (cf rev Thurman and MLK).

For my son in grad school and while a bit of a problem - all worked out well