The most comprehensive account available of the rise and fall of the Black Power Movement and of its dramatic transformation of both African-American and larger American culture. With a gift for storytelling and an ear for street talk, William Van Deburg chronicles a decade of deep change, from the armed struggles of the Black Panther party to the cultural nationalism of artists and writers creating a new aesthetic. Van Deburg contends that although its tactical gains were sometimes short-lived, the Black Power movement did succeed in making a revolution-one in culture and consciousness-that...

In the wake of the Kennedy era, a new kind of ethnic hero emerged within African-American popular culture. Uniquely suited to the times, burgeoning pop icons projected the values and beliefs of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, and reflected both the possibility and the actuality of a rapidly changing American landscape.
In "Black Camelot," William Van Deburg examines the dynamic rise of these new black champions, the social and historical contexts in which they flourished, and their powerful impact on the African-American community.
"Van Deburg manages the enviable feat of...

Martin Luther King Jr. Malcolm X. Muhammad Ali. When you think of African American history, you think of its heroes individuals endowed with courage and strength who are celebrated for their bold exploits and nobility of purpose. But what of black "villains"? Villains, just as much as heroes, have helped define the black experience.
Ranging from black slaveholders and frontier outlaws to serial killers and gangsta rappers, "Hoodlums" examines the pivotal role of black villains in American society and popular culture. Here, William L. Van Deburg offers the most extensive treatment to date...

In this ambitious work, William L. Van Deburg offers the first inter-disciplinary survey of American popular culture and its historical attitudes toward slavery and race. Spanning more than three centuries, from the colonial era to the present, Van Deburg's overview analyzes the works of American historians, dramatists, novelists, poets, lyricists, and filmmakers, and exposes, through those artists' often disquieting perceptions, the cultural underpinnings of our current racial attitudes and divisions. Anyone interested in American history, Afro-American studies, slavery, mass culture, or...

Since its dramatic growth under Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association during the 1920s, black nationalism has played a central role in American political and intellectual life. In Modern Black Nationalism, William L. Van Deburg has collected the most influential speeches, pamphlets, and articles that trace the development of black nationalism in the 20th century.

Beginning with Marcus Garvey, the acknowledged father of the 20th-century movement, William L. Van Deburg here provides a showcase of the work of more than fifty prominent thinkers including Louis...

Martin Luther King Jr. Malcolm X. Muhammad Ali. When you think of African American history, you think of its heroes--individuals endowed with courage and strength who are celebrated for their bold exploits and nobility of purpose. But what of black villains? Villains, just as much as heroes, have helped define the black experience.

Ranging from black slaveholders and frontier outlaws to serial killers and gangsta rappers, Hoodlums examines the pivotal role of black villains in American society and popular culture. Here, William L. Van Deburg offers the most extensive...