THE W. E. B. DU BOIS LECTURES
Cover: Blacks In and Out of the Left, from Harvard University PressCover: Blacks In and Out of the Left in HARDCOVER

Blacks In and Out of the Left

“Dawson offers a fresh interpretation of the largely unknown and often misrepresented history of black radicalism in an effort to chart a progressive path forward that will effectively challenge racial injustice, economic inequality, and imperialism. This provocative and enlightening book creatively fuses analytical history with political theory to diagnose what has ailed the American Left for decades. But it is not a pessimistic book. Rather, in the spirit of hope and possibility, it calls for utopian yet pragmatic political thinking that regards independent black political organizing not as a balkanizing force or distraction from the ‘universal’ fight for a democratic society, but as an indispensable element of any viable Left-wing politics.”—Tommie Shelby, author of We Who Are Dark: The Philosophical Foundations of Black Solidarity