- Hardcover: 308 pages
- Publisher: Grove Pr (December 1997)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 080211623X
- ISBN-13: 978-0802116239
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 16.3 x 2.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 567 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,796,554 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
When African American writers come together to discuss the cultural importance of Minister Louis Farrakhan, says editor Amy Alexander, "loving him or hating him is not really the issue." The fact of the matter is, Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam (NOI) have had a demonstrable impact on American society, particularly African American society, which any assessment of his worth must acknowledge.
The essays here approach Farrakhan from varying standpoints. Some contributors, such as Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Michael Eric Dyson, try for total journalistic or academic objectivity. Others, recounting their personal experiences in NOI, have generally positive things to say about the minister and (most of) his teachings. (As the more ambivalent Louis Pitts Jr. observes, "Of course, I don't agree with everything he says" is a euphemistic way of saying, "Of course, he gets really crazy sometimes about the Jews.") And some authors are explicitly negative: Stanley Crouch labels Farrakhan's rhetoric as a "political medicine show," and Irene Monroe tears into the misogynistic and homophobic elements of NOI doctrine as elaborated by the minister. Although The Farrakhan Factor can't tell you what to think about one of the late 20th century's most prominent African American leaders, it will certainly give you plenty of food for thought. --Ron Hogan --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
From Library Journal
Black journalist Alexander has collected a series of essays on Farrakhan by African American writers ranging from famed New York culture critic Stanley Crouch to teacher and writer Derrick Bell and Harvard graduate student Irene Monroe. The essays vary in tone from qualified praise to unqualified condemnation. Editor Alexander, for example, argues that "the idea of Farrakhan as Dangerous...[is] a ridiculous proposition"; instead, she sees him as "a familiar and handy repository for all that we [blacks] cannot vocalize." Journalist Leonard Pitts says blacks must get beyond the rage Farrakhan symbolizes. All the essayists admit that Farrakhan's in-your-face rhetoric is appealing, especially to younger black males. Recommended for most libraries.?Anthony O. Edmonds, Ball State Univ., Muncie, Ind.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
This is how one woman I know, a former member of the Black Panther Party, responded when I asked her to write for this book: "I don't have anything to say about Louis Farrakhan. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
This is how one woman I know, a former member of the Black Panther Party, responded when I asked her to write for this book: "I don't have anything to say about Louis Farrakhan. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Farrakhan Factor: African-American Writers on...,
By Daniel Pipes, Middle East Forum, Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Farrakhan Factor: African-American Writers on Leadership, Nationhood, and Minister Louis Farrakhan (Paperback)
Alexander has assembled a potpourri of seventeen pieces about Farrakhan, ranging from the scholarly (by Ernest Allen, Jr. on the evolution of the Nation of Islam-the single best quick survey of this subject, incidentally) to the hysterical (by Leonard Pitts, Jr. on Farrakhan's ability to incense white Americans). The short articles also range from the enthusiastic (Aminah B. McCloud lauds his "realistic road to solutions") 182 to the condescending (the editor: "I find the idea of Farrakhan as Dangerous Black Leader a ridiculous proposition") 14 to the outraged (Itabari Njeri considers him "the worst thing that could happen to Black people at the dawn of the twenty-first century"). 240 If no consistency can be found in their approach or their views, one generalization can be hazarded. Few of the authors, not even the several Muslims among them, take Farrakhan's Islamic aspirations very seriously. Repeatedly, they stress that his unique place in the life of American blacks has been won despite the outlandishness of his cosmology and the severity of his way of life. They see him rising to his current position of importance due to an ability to organize and to articulate African-American resentments, plus his perverse ability to alarm whites; 105 they attribute little role to the quasi-Islamic content of his mission. Middle East Quarterly: Islam in the United States December, 1998
1.0 out of 5 stars
Don't be misled...,
This review is from: The Farrakhan Factor: African American Writers on Leadership, Nationhood, and Minister Louis Farrakhan (Hardcover)
This book was written by someone who obviously does not have an open mind and may not have even heard Farrakhan actually speak.I was disappointed...
5.0 out of 5 stars
Jabbo speaks -- and speaks, and speaks and speaks!,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Farrakhan Factor: African American Writers on Leadership, Nationhood, and Minister Louis Farrakhan (Hardcover)
Foolish enough to have dropped a dollar into the cup of a blind man? Don't feel too bad -- over a million other benighted souls did the same thing! Listening to a million dollars rattle sounds a lot like a diamondback on his last lurch forward. Great ideas have never come at such a discount and this book tells you why.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Ethnic & National > African-American & Black
- Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > African
- Books > Nonfiction > Politics > Practical Politics
- Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Special Groups > African-American Studies
- Books > Religion & Spirituality > Islam
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
