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The Resource What truth sounds like : Robert F. Kennedy, James Baldwin, and our unfinished conversation about race in America, Michael Eric Dyson

What truth sounds like : Robert F. Kennedy, James Baldwin, and our unfinished conversation about race in America, Michael Eric Dyson

Creator
Author
Summary
"In 1963 Attorney General Robert Kennedy sought out James Baldwin to explain the rage that threatened to engulf black America. Baldwin brought along some friends, including playwright Lorraine Hansberry, psychologist Kenneth Clark, and a valiant activist, Jerome Smith. It was Smith's relentless, unfiltered fury that set Kennedy on his heels, reducing him to sullen silence. Kennedy walked away from the nearly three-hour meeting angry--that the black folk assembled didn't understand politics, and that they weren't as easy to talk to as Martin Luther King. But especially that they were more interested in witness than policy. But Kennedy's anger quickly gave way to empathy, especially for Smith. "I guess if I were in his shoes...I might feel differently about this country." Kennedy set about changing policy--the meeting having transformed his thinking in fundamental ways. There was more: every big argument about race that persists to this day got a hearing in that room. Smith declaring that he'd never fight for his country given its racist tendencies, and Kennedy being appalled at such lack of patriotism, tracks the disdain for black dissent in our own time. His belief that black folk were ungrateful for the Kennedys' efforts to make things better shows up in our day as the charge that black folk wallow in the politics of ingratitude and victimhood. The contributions of black queer folk to racial progress still cause a stir. BLM has been accused of harboring a covert queer agenda. The immigrant experience, like that of Kennedy--versus the racial experience of Baldwin--is a cudgel to excoriate black folk for lacking hustle and ingenuity. The questioning of whether folk who are interracially partnered can authentically communicate black interests persists."
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Edition
First edition.
Extent
294 pages
Contents
  • The martyrs
  • The meeting
  • The politicians: whiteness and the state
  • The artists: dangerous intersections
  • The intellectuals: black on black minds
  • The activists 1: policy and witness
  • The activists 2: bad niggers
  • After the meeting: resurrection for RFK
  • Even if: Wakanda. Forever
Isbn
9781250199416
Instance
Label
What truth sounds like : Robert F. Kennedy, James Baldwin, and our unfinished conversation about race in America
Title
What truth sounds like
Title remainder
Robert F. Kennedy, James Baldwin, and our unfinished conversation about race in America
Statement of responsibility
Michael Eric Dyson
Title variation
Robert F. Kennedy, James Baldwin, and our unfinished conversation about race in America
Creator
Author
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
"In 1963 Attorney General Robert Kennedy sought out James Baldwin to explain the rage that threatened to engulf black America. Baldwin brought along some friends, including playwright Lorraine Hansberry, psychologist Kenneth Clark, and a valiant activist, Jerome Smith. It was Smith's relentless, unfiltered fury that set Kennedy on his heels, reducing him to sullen silence. Kennedy walked away from the nearly three-hour meeting angry--that the black folk assembled didn't understand politics, and that they weren't as easy to talk to as Martin Luther King. But especially that they were more interested in witness than policy. But Kennedy's anger quickly gave way to empathy, especially for Smith. "I guess if I were in his shoes...I might feel differently about this country." Kennedy set about changing policy--the meeting having transformed his thinking in fundamental ways. There was more: every big argument about race that persists to this day got a hearing in that room. Smith declaring that he'd never fight for his country given its racist tendencies, and Kennedy being appalled at such lack of patriotism, tracks the disdain for black dissent in our own time. His belief that black folk were ungrateful for the Kennedys' efforts to make things better shows up in our day as the charge that black folk wallow in the politics of ingratitude and victimhood. The contributions of black queer folk to racial progress still cause a stir. BLM has been accused of harboring a covert queer agenda. The immigrant experience, like that of Kennedy--versus the racial experience of Baldwin--is a cudgel to excoriate black folk for lacking hustle and ingenuity. The questioning of whether folk who are interracially partnered can authentically communicate black interests persists."
Biography type
contains biographical information
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Dyson, Michael Eric
Dewey number
305.800973
Index
no index present
LC call number
E185.61
LC item number
.D996 2018
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Kennedy, Robert F
  • Baldwin, James
  • Smith, Jerome
  • African Americans
  • Cocktail parties
  • African American civil rights workers
  • Civil rights movements
  • Intercultural communication
  • United States
Label
What truth sounds like : Robert F. Kennedy, James Baldwin, and our unfinished conversation about race in America, Michael Eric Dyson
Instantiates
Publication
Copyright
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 283-294)
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
The martyrs -- The meeting -- The politicians: whiteness and the state -- The artists: dangerous intersections -- The intellectuals: black on black minds -- The activists 1: policy and witness -- The activists 2: bad niggers -- After the meeting: resurrection for RFK -- Even if: Wakanda. Forever
Dimensions
21 cm
Edition
First edition.
Extent
294 pages
Isbn
9781250199416
Lccn
2018017174
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
System control number
(OCoLC)on1021070386
Label
What truth sounds like : Robert F. Kennedy, James Baldwin, and our unfinished conversation about race in America, Michael Eric Dyson
Publication
Copyright
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 283-294)
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
The martyrs -- The meeting -- The politicians: whiteness and the state -- The artists: dangerous intersections -- The intellectuals: black on black minds -- The activists 1: policy and witness -- The activists 2: bad niggers -- After the meeting: resurrection for RFK -- Even if: Wakanda. Forever
Dimensions
21 cm
Edition
First edition.
Extent
294 pages
Isbn
9781250199416
Lccn
2018017174
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
System control number
(OCoLC)on1021070386

Subject

Genre

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