What constitutes black studies and where does this discipline stand at the end of the twentieth century? In this wide-ranging and original volume, Manning Marable -- one of the leading scholars of African American history -- gathers key materials from contemporary thinkers who interrogate the richly diverse content and multiple meanings of the collective experiences of black folk.

Introduction: Black Studies and the Black Intellectual Tradition, by Manning Marable One: Theorizing the Black World: Race in the Postcolonial, Post-Civil Rights Era 1. Toward an Effective Antiracism, by Nikhil Pal Singh 2. The Political Moment in Jamaica: The Dimensions of the Hegemonic Dissolution, by Brian Meeks 3. Sandoms and Other Exotic Women: Prostitution and Race in the Caribbean, by Kamala Kempadoo 4. Race and Revolution in Cuba: African-American Perspectives, by Manning Marable 5. The Fire This Time: Harlem and Its Discontents at the Turn of the Century, by Johanna Fernandez 6. Crack Cocaine and Harlem's Health., by Beverly Xaviera Watkins and Mindy Thompson Fullilove Two: Mapping African-American Studies 7. African-American Studies and the "Warring Ideals": The Color Line Meets the Borderlands, by Johnnella E. Butler 8. The Future of Black Studies: Political Communities and the "Talented Tenth", by Joy James 9. Black Studies and the Question of Class, by Bill Fletcher Jr. 10. Black Studies: A Critical Reassessment, by Maulana Karenga 11. Black Studies Revisited, by Martin Kilson 12. Theorizing Black Studies: The Continuing Role of Community Service in the Study of Race and Class, by James Jennings 13. A Debate on Activism in Black Studies, by Henry Louis Gates Jr. & Manning Marable Three: Afrocentrism and Its Critics 14. Afrocentrism, Race, and Reason., by Molefi Kete Asante 15. Afrocentrics, Afro-elitists, and Afro-eccentrics: The Polarization of Black Studies Since the Students Struggles of the Sixties, by Melba Joyce Boyd 16. Reclaiming Culture: The Dialectics of Identity, by Leith Mullings 17. Afrocentrism, Culture Nationalism, and the Problem with Essentialist Definitions of Race, Gender, and Sexuality, by Barbara Ransby 18. Afrocentricity and the American Dream, by Lee D. Baker 19. Multinational, Multicultural America Versus White Supremacy, by Amiri Baraka Four: Race And Ethnicity in American Life 20. The Problematic of Ethnic Studies, by Manning Marable 21. Prophetic Alternatives: A Conversation with Cornel West 22. Race in American Life: A Conversation with John Hope Franklin

Marable has brought together incisive minds who display a willingness to be forhtright in their criticisms, yet who are clearly deeply invested in the future of African American Studies... An essential read for those committed to maintaining a black racial presence on campuses in the US as well as elsewhere. Ethnic and Racial Studies

What constitutes black studies and where does this discipline stand at the end of the twentieth century? In this wide-ranging and original volume, Manning Marable-one of the leading scholars of African American history-gathers key materials from contemporary thinkers who interrogate the richly diverse content and multiple meanings of the collective experiences of black folk.