Reviews
John Stauffer, Chair, History of American Civilization at Harvard and the author of Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln and The Black Hearts of Men "Peniel Joseph, the preeminent scholar of African American culture in the postwar period, shows us in Dark Days, Bright Nights how and why Black Power transformed American culture and made possible the election of Barack Obama. Brilliantly conceived and elegantly written, it highlights the possibilities and limits of remaking society and achieving democracy. It thus is a vital, necessary book, one that every American should read." Manning Marable, M. Moran Weston and Black Alumni Council Professor of African-American Studies at Columbia University "Peniel Joseph's Dark Days, Bright Nights explores the contours of black leadership and politics over the past half century as it examines the strengths and contradictions of black activism and black power. Joseph's insights and deep knowledge of modern Black Nationalism provide powerful new perspectives on recent African-American History. Dark Days, Bright Nights represents contemporary history at its best." Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University Professor at Harvard University "Scholarship on the Civil Rights Movement often takes a holistic approach to the era, submerging individual moments in the successes or failures of the movement as a whole. But Peniel Joseph wisely isolates the Voting Rights Act of 1965 as a crucial moment for both the movement and American history-not as the crowning achievement of the movement to that point but as the starting point for the (previously unacknowledged) inroads made by black radicalism, which ultimately led to the historic Presidential election of 2008. Joseph tells the story of the moment and of the individuals who shaped it and were shaped by it with rare insight and vitality. This book adds luster to his stature as a rising star in the field of African American history." Publisher's Weekly "A much needed discussion of black power's successes and its contributions to the civil rights movement... [Joseph] makes a persuasive and stimulating case for Obama's election as a vindication for black power, and his book is a vivid and welcome recasting of the history-and the myriad interpretations-of the movement.", John Stauffer, Chair, History of American Civilization at Harvard and the author ofGiants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham LincolnandThe Black Hearts of Men "Peniel Joseph, the preeminent scholar of African American culture in the postwar period, shows us inDark Days, Bright Nightshow and why Black Power transformed American culture and made possible the election of Barack Obama. Brilliantly conceived and elegantly written, it highlights the possibilities and limits of remaking society and achieving democracy. It thus is a vital, necessary book, one that every American should read." Manning Marable, M. Moran Weston and Black Alumni Council Professor of African-American Studies at Columbia University "Peniel Joseph'sDark Days, Bright Nightsexplores the contours of black leadership and politics over the past half century as it examines the strengths and contradictions of black activism and black power. Joseph's insights and deep knowledge of modern Black Nationalism provide powerful new perspectives on recent African-American History.Dark Days, Bright Nightsrepresents contemporary history at its best." Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University Professor at Harvard University "Scholarship on the Civil Rights Movement often takes a holistic approach to the era, submerging individual moments in the successes or failures of the movement as a whole. But Peniel Joseph wisely isolates the Voting Rights Act of 1965 as a crucial moment for both the movement and American history-not as the crowning achievement of the movement to that point but as the starting point for the (previously unacknowledged) inroads made by black radicalism, which ultimately led to the historic Presidential election of 2008. Joseph tells the story of the moment and of the individuals who shaped it and were shaped by it with rare insight and vitality. This book adds luster to his stature as a rising star in the field of African American history.", John Stauffer, Chair, History of American Civilization at Harvard and the author of Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln and The Black Hearts of Men "Peniel Joseph, the preeminent scholar of African American culture in the postwar period, shows us in Dark Days, Bright Nights how and why Black Power transformed American culture and made possible the election of Barack Obama. Brilliantly conceived and elegantly written, it highlights the possibilities and limits of remaking society and achieving democracy. It thus is a vital, necessary book, one that every American should read." Manning Marable, M. Moran Weston and Black Alumni Council Professor of African-American Studies at Columbia University "Peniel Joseph's Dark Days, Bright Nights explores the contours of black leadership and politics over the past half century as it examines the strengths and contradictions of black activism and black power. Joseph's insights and deep knowledge of modern Black Nationalism provide powerful new perspectives on recent African-American History. Dark Days, Bright Nights represents contemporary history at its best."
