In Body and Soul, Alondra Nelson combines careful research, deep political insight, and passionate commitment to tell the little-known story of the Black Panther Party's health activism in the late 1960s. In doing so, and in showing how the problems of poverty, discrimination, and access to medical care remain hauntingly similar more than forty years later, Nelson reminds us that the struggle continues, particularly for African Americans, and that social policies have profound moral implications.—Rebecca Skloot, author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
This book is a revelation. Alondra Nelson uncovers two remarkable histories in Body and Soul. First, she provides the deep context for our current conversation about the health disparities that plague the African-American community and that are, as she puts it, ‘quite literally sickening.’ Second, she adds immeasurably to our knowledge of the Black Panther Party, complicating its commonplace designation as a radical, militant organization to unearth its dedication and hard work in advocating for and providing equal and quality health care for even the most underserved African Americans. Nelson is the first scholar I know of to bring these two histories into dialogue with each other, and she does so with spectacular results. This is a tremendously important book.—Henry Louis Gates Jr., Harvard University
The activities of the Black Panther Party have long been reduced to stories of violent police confrontations and empty propaganda. By taking seriously the claims and the practices of the Black Panthers with respect to the health of Black people, Alondra Nelson has provided a critical corrective to earlier studies. More importantly, this is a brilliant analysis of a significant moment in the long tradition of health advocacy on the part of African Americans. Body and Soul is a major achievement.—Evelynn Hammonds, Harvard University
In her revisionist account, Nelson insightfully guides the reader through the range of campaigns by which the Black Panther Party paved the way to broad efforts to promote biomedical inclusion and democratize access to medical knowledge and practice.—Steven Epstein, author of Inclusion: The Politics of Difference in Medical Research
Nelson, a professor of sociology at Columbia University, reports exhaustively on the Black Panther Party's role in the radical health movement of the 1970s, positioning the BPP as important players in the long tradition of civil rights health activism. She discusses the social function and day-to-day activities of the free health clinics each BPP chapter was obliged to maintain, as well as the party's campaign to fight sickle-cell anemia, a genetic disease primarily affecting African-Americans (and one that was largely ignored by the medical community). Nelson gives an in-depth explanation of how the BPP's anti–sickle cell fight became a means of highlighting racially biased medical neglect. The most exciting part of the book comes toward the end, where Nelson explains the BPP's (ultimately successful) challenge to the formation of the UCLA Center for the Study and Reduction of Violence, a group whose research programs hypothesized that violence was "the product of the inherent pathology of individuals (black men, in particular) and not a political or social phenomenon." Chillingly, several of the center's researchers were advocates for psychosurgical manipulation of the brain as a means of curtailing violent behavior. Nelson's writing is dry and repetitive, but her work deserves commendation for its thoughtfulness and thoroughness. (Oct.)
The Black Panther Party, while famous for its militant activism on behalf of black Americans, also contributed much to improving their health care. Nelson (sociology, Columbia Univ.) presents a sympathetic, scholarly account of this lesser-known aspect of Panther activism, describing how the organization demanded—and provided—accessible health care for black Americans while challenging abusive, coercive, and discriminatory care. The first two chapters offer context with brief histories of the Black Panther Party and medical discrimination against black Americans. The remaining chapters focus on three areas of Panther activity in health care: founding free medical clinics, raising awareness of and testing for sickle-cell anemia, and lobbying against a proposed research center on the biological origins of violence. Nelson draws on interviews with former Panthers as well as an extensive list of secondary sources, emphasizing the political, social, and theoretical underpinnings of the Panthers' work. VERDICT By focusing on the health-related activities of the Black Panthers, Nelson makes a valuable contribution to the literature, but excessive redundancy may frustrate the reader. Recommended for academic readers in sociology, medical and social history, and African American studies.—Janet A. Crum, City of Hope Lib., Duarte, CA