Description
Book SynopsisHubert Harrison (18831927) was a brilliant writer, orator, educator, critic, and activist who combined class consciousness and anti-white-supremacist race consciousness into a potent political radicalism. In this second volume of his acclaimed biography, Jeffrey B. Perry traces the final decade of Harrison's life, from 1918 to 1927.
Trade ReviewThis long-awaited final volume guides us through the last decade of Harrison’s life, when he played a major role in the political upheavals and cultural transformations that shaped Harlem in the wake of the First World War. Thanks to Perry’s definitive portrait, it will no longer be possible to overlook the fierce and flinty polymath who was arguably the most brilliant Black radical intellectual of his generation. -- Brent Hayes Edwards, author of
The Practice of Diaspora: Literature, Translation, and the Rise of Black InternationalismJeffrey B. Perry’s much-anticipated second volume on Hubert Harrison forces scholars to rethink the history of the Black radical tradition, the New Negro movement, and African American social movements. Through this magnificent exploration of Harrison’s life, Perry establishes Harrison’s centrality to early twentieth-century Black nationalist, pan-African, and socialist thought. -- Ousmane Power-Greene, author of
Against Wind and Tide: The African American Struggle Against the Colonization MovementThis book offers an unparalleled explication of Harrison’s courageous journalism, perspicacious theoretical writings, electric oratory, wide-ranging political activity, persistent organization building, expansive mentorship and influence, and radical commitment to Black and working-class liberation. Equal in rigor, insight, and erudition to the first volume, this book completes the biography that the father of Harlem radicalism demands and deserves. -- Charisse Burden-Stelly, coauthor of
W. E. B. Du Bois: A Life in American HistoryPerry’s magnificent achievement reaffirms that the life and work of Hubert Harrison stood at the center of the New Negro movement, the Harlem Renaissance, and American life and thought in general. This excellent book should broaden the prevailing conceptions of the history of ideas, sociology of knowledge, and intellectual history. Anyone who peruses this biography will experience a revelation, with respect to content, interpretation, and methods, and an epiphany respecting the professional ethos. -- Wilson J. Moses, author of
Thomas Jefferson: A Modern PrometheusThe brilliant radical educator and activist Hubert Harrison has found in Jeffrey B. Perry a meticulous and indefatigable champion. Perry serves as both a perceptive guide to Harrison’s immense literary output and as Harrison’s partner in setting the historical record straight. For scholars who want to understand this once-hidden parent of Harlem radicalism, Perry’s work is the essential starting point. -- Brian Jones, author of
The Tuskegee Student Revolt: Black Power on Booker T. Washington's CampusHubert Harrison was a profoundly prolific writer and activist with a bottomless reservoir of insight. Perry, in this second volume, continues his deep dive into Harrison’s work, surfacing with fresh illumination of his legacy. J. A. Rogers said Harrison worked tirelessly to enlighten others, and those words characterize Perry’s pursuit. -- Herb Boyd, author of
Baldwin’s Harlem: A Biography of James BaldwinHubert Harrison is one of those historical transformative figures who demands full revelation. Perry’s meticulous scholarship continues that process from which future studies can only benefit. -- Carole Boyce Davies, author of
Left of Karl Marx: The Political Life of Black Communist Claudia JonesPerry’s book symbolically captures the heavy weight of history. His close and meticulous examination of Harrison’s life sheds light on this ‘renaissance man,’ restoring Harrison’s career and removing it from the shadow of Marcus Garvey’s legacy. Perry lifts the veil off the face of history and documents the genius of a man. -- E. Ethelbert Miller, author of
If God Invented Baseball: PoemsReading
When Africa Awakes as an undergrad introduced me to Hubert Harrison. I have remained an ardent fan of Harrison since, motivated by his insistence, in When Africa Awakes, we should study Africa and Africans because they have much to teach us. Jeffrey B. Perry's two-volume biography of this activist-intellectual and polyglot rewards, and even exceeds, why many of us have been so drawn to Harrison's life and work. Harrison's political and intellectual acumen made him a multiverse, skilled at numerous things, packaged into one exceptionally gifted individual, all brought to life in Perry's deeply researched and carefully-written volumes, reintroducing Harrison to a new generation who will no doubt become awestruck as I did many years ago. -- Kwasi Konadu, author of
Our Own Way in This Part of the World: Biography of an African Community, Culture, and Nation[Hubert Harrison: The Struggle for Equality, 1918-1927] ultimately illustrates the continued relevance of Harrison's insights on various topics including race, class, and social change. * Princeton Alumni Weekly *
Jeffrey B Perry has done a great service with his epic, two-part biography. * International Socialism *
Table of ContentsA Note on Usage
Introduction
Part I: “New Negro Movement” Editor and Activist1. Return to Harlem and Resurrection of
The Voice (July–December 1918)
2. Political Activities in Washington and Virginia (January–July 1919)
3.
New Negro Editor and Agitator (July–December 1919)
Part II: Editor of the Negro World4. Reshaping the
Negro World and Comments on Garvey (December 1919–May 1920)
5
. Debate with
The Emancipator (March–April 1920)
6. Early
Negro World Writings (January–July 1920)
7. The 1920 UNIA Convention and Influence on Garvey (August–November 1920)
8. Post-Convention Meditations, Writings, and Reviews (September–December 1920)
9. Early 1921
Negro World Writings and Reviews (January–April 1921)
10. The Liberty League, Tulsa, and Mid-1921 Writings (May–September 1921)
11.
Negro World Writings and Reviews (September 1921–April 1922)
12. The Period of Garvey’s Arrest (October 1921–March 1922)
Part III: “Free-lance Educator”13. Lecturer, Book Reviewer, and Citizenship (March 1922–June 1923)
14. The KKK, Garvey’s Conviction, Speaking, Virgin Islands, and Reviews (1923)
15.
Boston Chronicle, Board of Ed, and the
New Negro (January–June 1924)
Part IV: The Struggle for International Colored Unity16. ICUL, Midwest Tour, Board of Ed, NYPL, and 1925 (March 1924–December 1925)
17. NYC Talks, Workers School, and
Modern Quarterly (January–September 1926)
18. Lafayette Theatre Strike,
Nigger Heaven, and Garvey Divorce (June–December 1926)
19. The
Pittsburgh Courier and the
Voice of the Negro (January–April 1927)
20. Last Months and Death (May–December 1927)
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Notes
Index
