lewis r gordon fear of black consciousness

Gordon is a thinker whose reflections on race have produced singular illuminations on our times. Kelley, author of Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original Gordon doesn’t just dissect race, racism, and racial thinking he also offers a clarion call to embrace Black consciousness, to take political responsibility for decolonizing and transforming the world as it is.” With surgical precision, laser-sharp wit, and the eye of an artist, Lewis R. “Reading Fear of Black Consciousness had me nodding so often and so vigorously, I got a mild case of whiplash. Davis, Distinguished Professor Emerita, History of Consciousness and Feminist Studies at University of California, Santa Cruz “Lewis Gordon’s expansive philosophical engagement with the current moment-its histories and globalities, its politics and protests, its visual and sonic cultures-reminds us that the ultimate aim of Black freedom quests is, indeed, universal liberation.” It is sure to provoke, challenge, and inspire.

Informed by Gordon’s upbringing in Jamaica and the Bronx, and taking as touchstones the pandemic and the uprisings against police violence, Fear of Black Consciousness is a groundbreaking book that positions Black consciousness as a political commitment and creative practice, richly layered through art, love, and revolutionary action. But for many if not most blacks, living an ordinary life in a white-dominated society is an extraordinary achievement. More than being privileged or entitled, they act with a license to do as they please.

He illuminates the different forms of invisibility that define black life, and he exposes the bad faith at the heart of many discussions about race and racism, not only in North America but also across the globe, including in countries where discussants regard themselves as “colorblind.” Gordon reveals that these lies about race and its supposed irrelevance confer upon many white people an inherited sense of being extraordinary.

Gordon, one of the leading scholars of Black existentialism and antiblackness, takes the reader on a journey through the historical development of racialized blackness, the problems racialization produces, and the many creative responses from black and nonblack communities in contemporary struggles for dignity and freedom.Īs he skillfully navigates the difficult and traumatic terrain, Gordon cuts through the mist of white narcissism and the versions of consciousness it perpetuates. Gordon’s Fear of Black Consciousness is a groundbreaking account of Black consciousness by a leading philosopher.įear of Black Consciousness is an original and a bold intervention in the cultural and political conversation about systemic racism.

Lewis r gordon fear of black consciousness