The Essential Harold Cruse A Reader

by Cruse, Howard; Cobb, William Jelani; Crouch, Stanley

• ISBN13: 9780312293963
• ISBN10: 0312293968
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-02-23
• Publisher: Griffin

Summary

In 1967, as the movement for civil rights was turning into a bitter, often violent battle for black power, Harold Cruse's The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual burst 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introduction to Cruse's wide body of work, including published material such as excerpts from Crisis , as well as unpublished essays, speeches, and correspondence. The Essential Harold Cruse is certain to become standard reading for anyone interested in race in American society.

Author Biography

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

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	ix
Blues for Brother Cruse	xi
Stanley Crouch
What Is Left? An Introduction	xv
PART ONE Early Writing
ESSAYS
Salute to Josephine Baker, Magnificent Negro Artist (Daily Worker, March 14, 1951; Rebellion or Revolution, 1968)	3	(4)
A Negro Looks at Cuba (Unpublished, 1960)	7	(14)
Race and Bohemianism in Greenwich Village (The Crisis, January 1960)	21	(6)
James Baldwin, the Theater and His Critics (Unpublished, 1963)	27	(9)
CORRESPONDENCE
Letter to the Amsterdam News (April 19, 1956)	36	(7)
Open Letter to Harry Belafonte (Unpublished, November, 1956)	43	(6)
PART TWO From The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual (1967)
Individualism and the ``Open Society''	49	(8)
Cultural Leadership and Cultural Democracy	57	(14)
Negroes and Jews---The Two Nationalism and the Bloc(ked) Plurality	71	(22)
PART THREE Black Power Era
ESSAYS
On Explaining 20th Century Negro History (Negro Digest, July, 1967)	93	(8)
The Fire This Time?: Eldridge Cleaver: Post-Prison Speeches and Writings (New York Review of Books, May 8, 1969)	101	(16)
The Integrationist Ethic as a Basis for Scholarly Endeavors (Speech given to Yale University Black Student Alliance, 1969)	117	(8)
The Little Rock National Black Political Convention (Black World, October 1974)	125	(16)
PART FOUR From Rebellion or Revolution? (1968)
Rebellion or Revolution? I	141	(21)
Rebellion or Revolution? II	162	(10)
Marxism and the Negro	172	(15)
PART FIVE Post-Black Power Writings
ESSAYS
The Racial Origins of American Theater: A Response to Robert Brustein (Unpublished)	187	(12)
The New Negro History of John Hope Franklin---Promise and Progress (Unpublished)	199	(12)
Amilcar Cabral and the Afro-American Reality (Black World, October 1975)	211	(8)
The Pan-African Constituency and the Black Electorate (Black World, January 1975)	219	(7)
Review of the Paul Robeson Controversy (First World, 1979)	226	(12)
CORRESPONDENCE AND LATE ESSAY
``Letter to Ralph Story'' (Unpublished, September 10, 1986)	238	(6)
Interludes with Duke Ellington (Unpublished, 1982)	244	(6)
Letter to Adolph Reed (Unpublished, June 11, 1986)	250	(7)
PART SIX From Plural But Equal (1987)
Conclusions	257	(24)
PART SEVEN Interview with Harold Cruse
An Interview with Harold Cruse (Conducted by Van Gosse, Radical History Review, May 1997)	281	(18)
Index	299