Stokely: A Life

by Peniel E. Joseph

Overview

From the author of The Sword and the Shield, this definitive biography of the Black Power activist Stokely Carmichael offers "an unflinching look at an unflinching man" (Daily Beast). 

Stokely Carmichael, the charismatic and controversial Black activist, stepped onto the pages of history when he called for "Black Power" during a speech one Mississippi night in 1966. A firebrand who straddled both the American civil rights and Black Power movements, Carmichael would stand for the rest of his life at the center of the storm he had unleashed. In Stokely, preeminent civil rights scholar Peniel E. Joseph presents a groundbreaking biography of Carmichael, using his life as a prism through which to view the transformative African American freedom struggles of the twentieth century. 

A nuanced and authoritative portrait, Stokely captures the life of the man whose uncompromising vision defined political radicalism and provoked a national reckoning on race and democracy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780465065585
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	02/09/2016
Edition description:	First Trade Paper Edition
Pages:	432
Sales rank:	489,969
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Peniel E. Joseph is the Barbara Jordan Chair in Ethics and Political Values, Founding Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy, and Associate Dean for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and Professor of History at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of award-winning books on African American history, including The Sword and the Shield and The Third Reconstruction. He lives in Austin, Texas.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Prologue 1

Chapter 1 The Chocolate Fred Astaire June 29, 1941-February 1960 5

Chapter 2 Howard and NAG February 1960-June 1961 19

Chapter 3 Finding a Way in New Worlds June 29, 1961-January 1962 35

Chapter 4 "The Movement Was My Fate" January 1962-August 1963 45

Chapter 5 The Local Organizer September 1963-August 1964 63

Chapter 6 A Struggle for Democracy August 1964-March 1965 75

Chapter 7 Lowndes County: New Directions April 1965-May 1966 87

Chapter 8 The Meredith March May 8-June 29, 1966 101

Chapter 9 The Magnificent Barbarian July-September 1966 125

Chapter 10 "A New Society Must Be Born" September-December 1966 149

Chapter 11 "Hell No, We Won't Go!" January-July 10, 1967 173

Chapter 12 The World Stage: London, Cuba, and Vietnam July 13-September 5, 1967 197

Chapter 13 The World Stage: Africa September 6-December 11, 1967 213

Chapter 14 Black Panther December 11, 1967-April 3, 1968 231

Chapter 15 The Prime Minister of Afro-America April 4-December 28, 1968 253

Chapter 16 "The Revolution Is Not About Dying. It's About Living" December 28, 1968-November 15, 1998 277

Epilogue: From Stokely Carmichael to Kwame Ture 319

Acknowledgments 329

Notes 333

Sources and Bibliography 367

Index 385

Editorial Reviews

An insightful, highly engaging and fluently written biography.”—New York Times Book Review

“Joseph's account of Carmichael's life is well-written and well-researched, providing persuasive explanations for his appeal.... Joseph's biography fills a huge void and is a welcome addition to the scholarly literature on the civil rights movement.”—Washington Post

“This is at its heart a book of ideas — ideas about power, freedom, and identity — and of a life, the author writes, that ‘took shape against the backdrop of a domestic war for America's very soul.’”—Boston Globe

“Mr. Joseph’s detail rich biography delves into the life of a political activist turned icon while not forgetting to show us his human side.”—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“Peniel E. Joseph’s newly published biography of Black liberation activist Stokely Carmichael not only takes its rightful place next to Taylor Branch’s epic trilogy The King Years, but also to one of the most powerful autobiographies by any American: Stokely Carmichael’s own Ready For Revolution.... Stokely: A Life is a quality read. By highlighting the life of one of the US civil rights/black liberation most important organizers and thinkers, Peniel E. Joseph has done a great service to history and to the people Stokely fought for. Furthermore, Peniel’s text has lifted Carmichael out of an obscurity he not only didn't deserve, but which also prevented a more complete understanding of a man who, with Malcom X and Martin Luther King, Jr., deserves to be recognized as one of the great leaders of one of the greatest grassroots movements for liberation in history: the Black freedom struggle in the United States.”—Counter-Punch

“Meticulously-researched and painstakingly-detailed, Stokely: A Life is a fast-flowing, informative read which intimately follows its subject from the cradle to the grave in absorbing fashion. In the process, this powerful portrait effectively re-positions him as an uncompromising prophet who played a pivotal role in the struggle for black equality.”—Afro-American

“A thorough and engaging account of one of the most important figures of the civil rights movement. Stokely achieves its primary goal of restoring Carmichael to his rightful place in the pantheon of influential Americans.... Offers delicious details, thoughtful analysis and a good amount of drama concerning this enigmatic figure.... Joseph’s landmark book is the best portrait yet of this important, complicated man and the America he so wanted to love but could not.”—Post & Courier

“An unflinching look at an unflinching man.”—Daily Beast

“A thought-provoking biography.... A brilliant bio with plenty of brio.”—Amsterdam News

From the Publisher

…an insightful, highly engaging and fluently written biography…[Carmichael's] life, as this biography so adroitly establishes, is central to understanding the primary lesson of the 1960s for black America. It was the point at which the country came to a moral fork in the road and opted to go straight.

The New York Times Book Review - William Jelani Cobb

12/23/2013
This stunningly thorough appraisal of this radical activist, 50 years after the "heroic period" of the civil rights movement, is both timely and relevant. Excavating a multifaceted and constantly evolving political personality "poised between Malcolm's sword and Martin's shield," Tufts Univ. professor of history Joseph presents an analysis of Carmichael's lifelong international political career. Citing a wealth of primary material, especially speeches and essays, and with an eye for detail that uses specifics such as fashion choices to paint a nuanced image of his public persona, Joseph explores how Carmichael thought and how he was perceived in each moment of his philosophical evolution. He is particularly interested in restoring the memory of Carmichael as a master speaker, a "professorial rhetorician" and "public intellectual," in addition to the "symbol of defiance" that popularized Black Power. Amid Carmichael's career of public action, his personal life seems nearly nonexistent, referenced only rarely, in connection to his marriage to singer Miriam Makeba. Still, his personality remains in focus throughout, even among the panoramic wealth of contextual historical information, a quality that recalls his own "rock star" ability to command attention throughout his life. It's not casual armchair reading, but should surely be considered required material for a fuller understanding of a critical, and ongoing, American struggle. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

2013-12-14
Joseph (History/Tufts Univ.; Dark Days, Bright Nights: From Black Power to Barack Obama, 2010, etc.) introduces a Stokely Carmichael (1941–1998) few white people ever knew in the 1960s, a man who dared to speak truth to power. "Before leaving America," writes the author, "Stokely reigned as Black Power's glamorous enfant terrible: telegenic, brash, equal parts angry and gregarious…a ‘hipster hero' whose easy grace allowed him to consort effortlessly with both the dignified and the damned." A brilliant student and forceful, persuasive speaker, Carmichael spent his college summers working to "change the world." He began working for civil rights as a student at historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C., in 1961 and never stopped. Close to Martin Luther King Jr. and many other significant civil rights leaders, he devoted himself to more than civil rights. He developed into a true idealist, seeking more than just voting rights; he wanted equality and not just for blacks. Carmichael knew that blacks were not the only suppressed group in America, and he welcomed whites and minorities of all kinds to work for self-determination. The author mentions that women were not a large part of the movement but goes on to name many, like Septima Clark--often considered the grandmother of the civil rights movement--whose influence was known only to insiders. Reform was never enough for Carmichael; he was fighting the systemic phenomenon of institutional racism. As he grew, he sought a radical democracy, rejecting communism and socialism since they only addressed class differences, not racism. This is a man who stood out in the civil rights movement, the man who defined Black Power and whose quest for Pan-African democracy led him to express radical ideas that successfully frightened the powers that be. Joseph showcases the brilliance of the man, his exceptional ideals and his pursuit of an equality that was years ahead of his time.

Kirkus Reviews