If We Must Die - by Karin L Stanford (Paperback)

About the Book

If We Must Die is a narrative and compilation of commentaries by African American leaders, intellectuals, and average citizens on wars fought by the United States. The book uses the rich material of political and social commentary as it seeks to articulate the concerns, mood, ...

Book Synopsis

If We Must Die is a narrative and compilation of commentaries by African American leaders, intellectuals, and average citizens on wars fought by the United States. The book uses the rich material of political and social commentary as it seeks to articulate the concerns, mood, and memory of African Americans in the context of global political realities. Organized chronologically, by America's major wars, If We Must Die offers an impressively wide array of viewpoints from such diverse figures as Molly Pitcher, Phyllis Wheatley, Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells, Paul Robeson, Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Barack Obama, and more.

Review Quotes

This book . . . highlights a profound historical contradiction: for although African Americans' sacrifices have earned them the right to claim the full measure of freedom at home, their pursuit of freedom has been complicated by domestic race politics, even as black soldiers were, and are, fighting and dying on the battlefield.

This startling collection of wise, funny, angry, and ultimately human reactions of black Americans on the issues of war and peace demands the widest exposure possible. This historic map of black opinion with Dr. Stanford's brilliant introductions is timely and a singular contribution for which due praise is admirably deserved.

This volume collects an impressively diverse array of African American thought and rhetoric on the major wars of the U.S. . . . Stanford has performed an outstanding service with this volume. . . . Essential.

About the Author

Karin L. Stanford is associate professor of pan African studies and African American politics at California State University, Northridge.