This collection demonstrates the strong influence that humanism and free-thought had in developing the history and ideals of black intellectualism. Most people are quick to note the profound influence that religion has played in African-American history: consoling the downtrodden slave or inspiring the abolitionists, the underground railroad, and the civil rights movement. But few are aware of the role humanism played in shaping the black experience: developing the thought and motivating the actions of powerful African-American intellectuals.
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YA-- A timely, scholarly collection that focuses on the important and often overlooked role humanism has played in shaping the lives of African Americans. In his introduction, Allen challenges readers to acknowledge the humanistic, nontheistic beliefs of blacks who have made history in addition to their more well-known religious beliefs. The book features 21 individuals, offering biographical essays, writings by black American and African humanists, and transcripted interviews conducted by the editor. Richard Wright, Zora Neale Hurston, W. E. B. DuBois, and Norman Hill are among those included. Because the selections vary in degree of difficulty, with many requiring a strong background in philosophy, religion, and political and literary theory, the anthology is for sophisticated readers. The views presented often challenge or question established religious positions or practices. An important addition to collections on African-American culture and thought. --Virgil R. Davala, Thomas Jefferson Sci-Tech, Fairfax County, VA
Copyright 1991 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
To Be Human, To Be Thoughtful, To Be Curious,
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This review is from: African-American Humanism: An Anthology (Paperback)
"As for me, I do not pretend to read God's mind. If He has a plan for the universe worked out to the smallest detail, it would be a folly of me to presume to revise it. That, to me, seems the highest form of sacrilege. So I do not pray. I accept the means at my disposal for working out my destiny. It seems to me that I have been given a mind and will-power for that very purpose. I do not expect God to single me out and grant me advantages over my fellow men. Prayer is for those who need it. Prayer seems to me a cry of weakness, and an attempt to avoid, by trickery, the rules of the game as laid down. I do not choose to admit weakness. I accept the challenge of responsibility. Life, as it is, does not frighten me, since I have made my peace with the universe as I find it, and bow to its laws." ~ Zora Neale Hurston
This text takes an awful great deal of consideration. I had a moment of pause as I was choosing which star rating to afford it. I am generous in my system. I have rarely ever chosen and read a "bad" book though there is one current read which will be be given no leniency for overwhelming grammatical error and dialogue suited only for caricature, but this book needs pause and reflection. Even as I read back over some of my favorite passages, new insights arrive to me while studying the words of such brilliant humanist social critiques as Zora Neale Hurston's "On Religion" from her biography Dust Tracks on a Road or Langston Hughes' "Salvation" from The Big Sea. They display remarkable journeys not simply from the religious to irreligious, but a journey from seeking to enfold oneself in the shroud of faith to a full and emboldened to desire to know and engage with a wider sphere of humanity. Their own writing speaks to this artistic instinct. I think the artist is better equipped than most other professional (or personal) endeavors to recognize the breadth and depth of the human experience and the need to transcend any aspect of one's own personal inflexibility if you wish to engage this broader audience. They are not the only stars here. One in particular whom has become my personal icon is Hubert Henry Harrison, a most remarkable thinker, theorist, lecturer and educator during the period of the Harlem Renaissance whom greatly influenced the intellectual arc of the Messenger Group as initiated by A. Philip Randolph and Chandler Owen. Incidentally, he also influenced Garvey which is odd since the two groups later went on to become rivals. His legacy is a most unfortunate victim of American nativism and the numerous "Communist/Red Scare" periods into which American has fallen. Harrison was a Socialist and while it seems that most other nations can accept even begrudgingly that there are individuals who don't ascribe to the greatness of capitalism in the modern world, we still find need and desire to suppress these ideas lest they become a populist uproar for a new way of working. Even when I found myself disliking an essay, as was the case with "Richard Wright: Beyond Naturalism?" by Michael Fabre which I found far to technical for its own good, I could not deny that I had at least learned something novel about the subject in question particularly that Richard Wright was/is an incredibly complex figure and it is no wonder that Baldwin needed an entire book of essays to exorcise those demons of a "Native Son". The construct of race in our culture has created a confusing number of formalities and ways of dancing around discussions of race. Wright was a son of this era and Baldwin was determined not die in that same box. In fact in that first section of essays, I must not forget to note the philosophical arc which runs stray through Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. DuBois and Hubert Henry Harrison. All of those men understood that under natural and equal human conditions there would be no need of separate action on the part of Black people, but until their White contemporaries could prove that there was not created a distinct set of disadvantages to being Black, no one was in a position to offer criticism of their methods. An exciting and enlightening read through and through.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A FASCINATING, AND EYE-OPENING COLLECTION OF WRITINGS,
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This review is from: African-American Humanism: An Anthology (Paperback)
At the time this 1991 collection of writings was published, Norm R. Allen Jr. was "an editorial associate at Free Inquiry magazine and the executive director of African Americans for Humanism, a subcommittee of the Council for Democratic and Secular Humanism (CODESH)."
He writes in the Introduction, "This collection has been compiled to highlight a grossly neglected side of black thought and history. Before the history of black people can be understood, the ENTIRE history must first be made known---including the history of black freethinkers." Here are some quotations from the book: "(W.E.B.) DuBois dissented from orthodox Marxism and the Communist party. He argued that Marxists fundamentally erred by assuming the interracial solidarity of the working class. The irrational prejudice of white workers prevented them from uniting with blacks to fulfill the universal promise of economic democracy." (Pg. 31) "For instance, there were the Moors, who invaded Europe in 711 A.D. and were the dominant power there for the next 500 years. Writings and paintings of those times show them as jet black and wooly-haired. The Moors gave Europe one of its finest civilizations and rescued it from the Dark Ages." (Pg. 59) (Frederick Douglass): "Indeed, I can see no reason, but the most deceitful one, for calling the religion of this land Christianity... I am filled with unutterable loathing when I contemplate the religious pomp and show, together with the horrible inconsistencies, which everywhere surround me... The man who wields the blood-clotted cowskin during the week fills the pulpit on Sunday, and claims to be a minister of the meek and lowly Jesus." (Pg. 110) (Zora Neale Hurston) "So I do not pray. I accept the means at my disposal for working out my destiny. It seems to me that I have been given a mind and willpower for that very purpose. I do not expect God to single me out and grant me advantages over my fellow men. Prayer is for those who need it. Prayer seems to me a cry of weakness, and an attempt to avoid, by trickery, the rules of the game as laid down. I do not choose to admit weakness. I accept the challenge of responsibility." (Pg. 154) "It is virtually impossible to name ten famous black men without naming at least five clergymen. Religion has been the catalyst that has motivated black people to take part in the social and political process that controls their lives." (Pg. 176)
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