Cedric J. Robinson is a Professor of Black Studies and Political Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His published works include Black Marxism (1983) and The Terms of Order (1980).

"...stimulating...synthesis of African American protest...Robinson's framework forces one to consider black social movements from interesting perspectives." -- Rich Newman, The Historian"Robinson's writing is crisp and his meaning is always crystal clear." -- Journal of American History"Robinson...offers a compelling, concise look at the history of black activism in the U.S. Exploring nearly 400 years of this under-examined subject, Robinson reveals little-known, fascinating events in black activism, from pre-Revolutionary War America to the Civil War to the civil-rights movement era...a thoughtful, well-written work." -- Booklist

• CONTENTS: 1. The Coming to America; Blacks and Colonial English America; The Early Black Movements of Resistance; Marronage in North America; Diverging Political Cultures; 2. Slavery and Constitutions; Three American Revolutions; Documenting Indifference and Interest; The Slave's Revolution Continues; 3. Free Blacks and Resistance; Abolition and Free Blacks; The Black Abolitionist; Black Sovereignty; Insurrection; 4. The Civil War and Its Aftermaths; Opposing Objectives: Accumulation vs. Liberty; The Black's War; White Reconstruction and Black Deconstruction; 5. The Nadir and Its Aftermath; Black Agrarians; The Antilynching Movement; The First World War; Black Self-Determination; 6. The Search for Higher Ground; The Second World War and Black Struggles; The Cold War and the Race War; Civil Rights and Mass Struggle; Civil Rights and the Rituals of Oppression; The Negations of the Movement