Pages from a Black Radical’s Notebook: A James Boggs Reader

417 Pages·2011·7.42 MB·English

by  James Boggs

A James Boggs Reader
PAGES FROM A BLACK RADICAL'S NOTEBOOK
African American Life Series
A complete listing of the books in this series
can be found online at wsupress.wayne.edu
Series Editor
Melba Joyce Boyd
Department of Africana Studies,
Wayne State University
PAGES FROM
A BLACK RADICAL'S
NOTEBOOK
A James Boggs Reader
Edited by Stephen M. Ward
With an Afterword by Grace Lee Bo99s
WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS DETROIT
© 2011 by Wayne State University Press, Detroit, Michigan 48201. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced without formal permission.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
1514131211 54321
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Boggs, James.
Pages from a Black radical's notebook : a James Boggs reader I edited by Stephen M. Ward ;
with an afterword by Grace Lee Boggs.
p. cm. - (African American life series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8143-3256-6 (alk. paper)
1. African Americans-Social conditions-20th century-Sources. 2. African Americans-Civil rights
Sources. 3. Civil rights movements-United States-History-20th century-Sources 4. Black power
United States-History-20th century-Sources. 5. United States-Race relations-Sources.
6. Detroit (Mich.)-History-20th century-Sources. I. Ward, Stephen M., 1970-11. Title.
E185.615.B575 2011
323.1196'073-dc22
2010019760
Designed and typeset by Maya Rhodes
Composed in Avenir and Perpetua
For
Grace Lee Boggs
Sekai and Chaney
and
in memory of Aime J. Ellis (1969-2009)

Contents
Preface xi
Introduction: The Making of a Revolutionist
Part I: Correspondence Newspaper
Introduction to Part I 37
Talent for Sale (1954) 42
Viewing Negro History Week (1954) 43
Negro Challenge (1954) 45
The Paper and a New Society (1954) 46
Sensitivity (1955) 48
The Stage That We Have Reached (1955) 50
A Report on the March on Washington (1957) 52
Who Is for Law and Order? (1957) 54
Who Is for Civilization? (1957) 56
The Weakest Link in the Struggle (1958) 57
Safeguarding Your Child's Future (1959) 59
Land of the Free and the Hungry (1960) 60
The Winds Have Already Changed (1960) 61
What Makes Americans Run (1960) 63
New Orleans Faces We Still Haven't Seen (1960) 65
The First Giant Step (1961) 67
A Visit From the FBI (1961) 69
FBI Asks Me about Rob Williams (1961) 70
Foreword to "Monroe, North Carolina ...
Turning Point in American History" (1962) 72
vii
viii Contents
Part II: The American Revolution:
Pages from a Negro Worker's Notebook
Introduction to Part II 77
Editors' Foreword to The American Revolution:
Pages from a Negro Worker's Notebook 83
Introduction 84
1. The Rise and Fall of the Union 85
2. The Challenge of Automation 100
3. The Classless Society 106
4. The Outsiders 109
5. Peace and War 120
6. The Decline of the United States Empire 126
7. Rebels with a Cause 130
8. The American Revolution 139
Part Ill: Black Power: Promise, Pitfalls, and Legacies
Introduction to Part Ill 147
Liberalism, Marxism, and Black Political Power (1963) 157
The City Is the Black Man's Land (1966) 162
Black Power: A Scientific Concept Whose Time Has Come (1967) 171
Culture and Black Power (1967) 180
The Myth and Irrationality of Black Capitalism (1969) 185
Manifesto for a Black Revolutionary Party (1969) 195
Introduction to the Fifth Printing 196
Preamble 200
1. Racism and Revolution 202
2. Who Will Make the Revolution? 204
3. How Black Power Will Revolutionize America 212
4. The Black Revolutionary Party 220
Conclusion 228
The American Revolution: Putting Politics in Command (1970) 229
Beyond Rebellion (1972) 251
Beyond Nationalism (1973) 253
Think Dialectically, Not Biologically (1974) 264
Contents ix
Toward a New Concept of Citizenship (1976) 274
The Next Development in Education (1977) 284
Liberation or Revolution? (1978) 293
The Challenge Facing Afro-Americans in the 1980s (1979) 306
Part IV: Community Building and Grassroots Leadership
in Post-Industrial Detroit
Introduction to Part IV 317
Letter to Friends and Comrades (1984) 322
Going Where We Have Never Been: Creating New Communities
for Our Future (1986) 324
Community Building: An Idea Whose Time Has Come (1987) 331
Rebuilding Detroit: An Alternative to Casino Gambling (1988) 341
We Must Stop Thinking Like Victims (1990) 347
What Does It Mean to Be a Father? (1990) 349
Why Are We at War with One Another? (1990) 351
A "No" Vote Will Say Detroiters Want to Save What's Left (1991) 353
How Will We Make a Living? (1991) 355
Why Are Our Children So Bored? (1991) 357
What Can We Be That Our Children Can See? (1991) 359
Time to Act Like Citizens, Not Subjects (1992) 361
What Time Is It in Detroit and the World? (1992) 363
We Can Run But We Can't Hide (1993) 365
Beyond Civil Rights (1993) 367
Why Detroit Summer? (1993) 369
Afterword by Grace Lee Boggs 371
Notes 373
Index 387