The Challenge of Blackness: The Institute of the Black World and Political Activism in the 1970s

285 Pages·2011·14.112 MB·English

by  Derrick E. White

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The Challenge
HISTORY/AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES
of BlaCkness
“This is the definitive account of the Institute of the Black World, the most important
Black Freedom Movement organization to emerge in the aftermath of the assassina-
tion of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Derrick White poignantly chronicles the rise and fall
of the IBW and assesses its role as progenitor of radical scholarship, Black Studies, and
the African Diaspora. Written in provocative yet accessible prose, this book is sure to
spark debate on the intense relationship between Black Power, Marxism, and anti-
colonial politics during the long seventies.”—Paul Ortiz, University of Florida
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“Tells the previously untold story of the Institute of the Black World and its attempt
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to mold a new political vision out of the civil rights and Black Power movements. e
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This important book discusses the challenges faced by a visionary organization as it C
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struggled with the turbulent 1970s. An excellent contribution to Black Power Studies ah
and social movement research.”—Fabio Rojas, University of Indiana Ca
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a THINk TANk based in Atlanta, the Institute of the Black World sought to answer e
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Martin Luther King Jr.’s question “Where do we go from here?” Its pragmatic solu-
s
g
tion was to organize a broad array of leading Black activists, scholars, and intellectuals
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to develop academic, political, and cultural strategies designed to expand the Black

Freedom Struggle into a new decade.

Throughout the 1970s, debates over race and class in the Unites States grew
increasingly hostile, and the IBW was ultimately unable to challenge the growing
conservatism. By using the IBW as the lens through which to view these tumultuous
years, Derrick White provides an exciting new interpretation—and one of the first
intellectual histories—of the immediate post–civil rights movement years in America.
Derrick E. White is associate professor of history at Florida Atlantic University and
contributor to “We Shall Independent Be”: African American Place-Making and the
Struggle to Claim Space in the United States.
A volume in the series Southern Dissent, edited by Stanley Harrold and
Randall M. Miller
Front: Vincent Harding (left) and William Strickland (right) at the Summer Research Symposium,
August 19, 1971. Institute of the Black World Photograph Collection. Photographs and Prints Divi-
sion, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox,
and Tilden Foundations.
University Press of Florida
ISBN 978-0-8130-3735-6
www.upf.com
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The Challenge of Blackness
Southern Dissent
University Press of Florida
Florida A&M University, Tallahassee
Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton
Florida Gulf Coast University, Ft. Myers
Florida International University, Miami
Florida State University, Tallahassee
New College of Florida, Sarasota
University of Central Florida, Orlando
University of Florida, Gainesville
University of North Florida, Jacksonville
University of South Florida, Tampa
University of West Florida, Pensacola

The Challenge
of BlaCkness
The Institute of the Black World
and Political activism in the 1970s
Derrick e. White
Foreword by Stanley Harrold and Randall M. Miller
University Press of Florida
Gainesville · Tallahassee · Tampa · Boca Raton
Pensacola · Orlando · Miami · Jacksonville · Ft. Myers · Sarasota
Copyright 2011 by Derrick E. White
Printed in the United States of America. This book is printed on Glatfelter
Natures Book, a paper certified under the standards of the Forestry
Stewardship Council (FSC). It is a recycled stock that contains 30 percent
post-consumer waste and is acid-free.
All rights reserved
16 15 14 13 12 11 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
White, Derrick E.
The challenge of blackness : the Institute of the Black World and political
activism in the 1970s / Derrick E. White ; foreword by Stanley Harrold and
Randall M. Miller.
p. cm.—(Southern dissent)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8130-3735-6 (alk. paper)
1. Institute of the Black World—History. 2. African Americans—Study and
teaching—History—20th century. 3. Blacks—Study and teaching—History—
20th century. 4. African American intellectuals—History—20th century.
5. African Americans—Intellectual life—20th century. 6. African
Americans—Social conditions—20th century. I. Title.
E184.7.W44 2011
305.896'073—dc22
2011011175
The University Press of Florida is the scholarly publishing agency for the
State University System of Florida, comprising Florida A&M University,
Florida Atlantic University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida
International University, Florida State University, New College of Florida,
University of Central Florida, University of Florida, University of North
Florida, University of South Florida, and University of West Florida.
University Press of Florida
15 Northwest 15th Street
Gainesville, FL 32611-2079
http://www.upf.com
This work is dedicated to my inner circle, my mother and father,
Joyce and H. E. White, my brother, Jerome,
and my loving wife, Stephanie.
Your love and support gave me the perseverance to write this book.

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
List of Abbreviations xi
Foreword xiii
Acknowledgments xvii
Introduction 1
1. “The Challenge of Blackness”: The IBW and the Black Studies
Movement 19
2. “Liberated Grounds”: The IBW’s Independence and
Reorganization 59
3. “Toward a Black Agenda”: The IBW and a Black Political Agenda
for the Seventies 102
4. “Collective Scholarship”: Developing and Promoting Synthetic
Analyses 136
5. “The Tapes Were the Heart of the Matter”: The IBW’s Infiltration and
Decline 166
Epilogue: The IBW’s Closing and Legacy 192
Appendix 203
Notes 213
Bibliography 241
Index 255

Illustrations
Illustrations follow page 50
1. IBW offices
2. Students in an IBW seminar
3. C.L.R. James delivering public lecture during SRS ’71
4. Vincent Harding and St. Clair Drake at SRS ’71
5. Vincent Harding and William Strickland at SRS ’71
6. Walter Rodney lecturing at SRS ’74
7. Janet Douglass at IBW-sponsored conference
8. Howard Dodson and Grace Lee Boggs at IBW-sponsored conference