The Essential Harold Cruse A Reader [Paperback]

In 1967, as the movement for civil rights was turning into a bitter, often violent battle for black power, Harold Cruse'sThe Crisis of the Negro Intellectualburst onto the scene. It was a lacerating attack on integration, and set the agenda for black cultural, social, and political autonomy. A classic of African American social thought, the book and its author went on to influence generations of activists, artists, and scholars. Cruse's intelligence, independence, and breadth of vision virtually defined what it meant to be a black intellectual in modern America. In this first anthology of Cruse's writing, William Jelani Cobb provides a powerful introduction to Cruse's wide body of work, including published material such as excerpts fromCrisis, as well as unpublished essays, speeches, and correspondence.The Essential Harold Cruseis certain to become standard reading for anyone interested in race in American society.

William Jelani Cobb's writings appear regularly in theWashington Post,Washington City Paper, andAfricana.com. He received his Ph.D. in American History from Rutgers University. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.

The anthology of Harold Cruse's work is essential reading for anyone interested in American letters. Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Yo' Mama's DisFunktional!: Fighting the Culture Wars in Urban America

I enthusiastically applaud the publication ofThe Essential Harold Cruse...Where Malcolm X was the intellectual inspiration of Black Power and Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Tur?) was its principal ideological architect, Cruse was without question its definitive critical interlocutor. Adolph Reed, Jr., New School University

Eloquent, passionate, forceful -- Harold Cruse has had an electrifying impact on an entire generation of African American intellectuals. Gerald Home, author of Race Woman