"A dazzling array of essays that vastly expands our understanding of the role of the media and popular culture in the politics of race. From Andy Griffith to Amiri Baraka, from Leadbelly's blues to "Sweet Sweetback's Baaadassss Song," this is a brilliant and irreplaceable collection."--Timothy B. Tyson, University of Wisconsin-Madison, author of Radio Free Dixie: Robert F. Williams and the Roots of Black Power

Stimulating and insightful, these essays on the relationship among the media, popular culture, and the postwar African American freedom struggle offer new perspectives...

The Making of Martin Luther King and The Civil Rights Movement incorporates the changing focus of civil rights movement studies to focus on communities and leaders heretofore ignored or under-represented, and thereby challenges many of the agendas established by civil rights scholarship of the past twenty-five years. We learn from essays on communities in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Montgomery that key centers of black life, such as unions, schools, teachers, businessmen, and masonic lodges played important roles in the movement. We learn of the importance of influential local leaders such as...