Ronald J. Stephens – författare

In 1912, white land developers founded Idlewild, an African American resort community in western Michigan. Over the following decades, the town became one of the country’s foremost vacation destinations for the black middle class, during its peak drawing tens of thousands of visitors annually and hosting the era’s premier entertainers, such as The Four Tops, Della Reese, Brook Benton, and George Kirby. With the civil rights movement and the resulting expansion of recreation options available to African Americans, Idlewild suffered a sharp social and economic decline, and by the early 1980s the town had become a struggling retirement community in the midst of financial and political crises. Meticulously researched and unearthing never-before-seen historical material, Ronald J. Stephens’s book examines the rapid rise and decline of this pivotal landmark in African American and leisure history, in the process exploring intersections among race, class, tourism, entertainment, and historic preservation in the United States. Featuring a wealth of fieldwork on contemporary Idlewild, the book also takes a candid look at recent revitalization efforts and analyzes the possibilities for a future resurgence of this national treasure.

Arguing that the accomplishments of Jamaican activist Marcus Garvey and his followers have been marginalized in narratives of the black freedom struggle, this volume draws on decades of overlooked research to reveal the profound impact of Garvey’s post–World War I black nationalist philosophy around the world and across the twentieth century. These essays examine the influence of Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in Africa, Australia, North America, and the Caribbean. They highlight the poorly recognized work of many Garveyite women and show how the UNIA played a key role in shaping labor unions, political organizations, churches, and schools. They also trace the imprint of the movement on long-term developments such as decolonization in Africa and the Caribbean, the civil rights and Black Power movements in the United States, and the radical pan-African movement.Rejecting the idea that Garveyism was a brief and misguided phenomenon, this volume exposes its scope, significance, and endurance. Together, contributors assert that Garvey initiated the most important mass movement in the history of the African diaspora, and they urge readers to rethink the emergence of modern black politics with Garveyism at the center.

Illuminating the global impact of Marcus Garvey's Black nationalist philosophy Arguing that the accomplishments of Jamaican activist Marcus Garvey and his followers have been marginalized in narratives of the Black freedom struggle, this volume builds on decades of overlooked research to reveal the profound impact of Garvey’s post–World War I Black nationalist philosophy around the globe and across the twentieth century. These essays point to the breadth of Garveyism’s spread and its reception in communities across the African diaspora, examining the influence of Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in Africa, Australia, North America, and the Caribbean. They highlight the underrecognized work of many Garveyite women and show how the UNIA played a key role in shaping labor unions, political organizations, churches, and schools. In addition, contributors describe the importance of grassroots efforts for expanding the global movement—the UNIA trained leaders to organize local centers of power, whose political activism outside the movement helped Garvey’s message escape its organizational bounds during the 1920s. They trace the imprint of the movement on long-term developments such as decolonization in Africa and the Caribbean, the pan-Aboriginal fight for land rights in Australia, the civil rights and Black Power movements in the United States, and the radical pan-African movement. Rejecting the idea that Garveyism was a brief and misguided phenomenon, this volume exposes its scope, significance, and endurance. Together, contributors assert that Garvey initiated the most important mass movement in the history of the African diaspora, and they urge readers to rethink the emergence of modern Black politics with Garveyism at the center. Contributors: Ronald J. Stephens | Adam Ewing | Keisha N. Blain | Nicole Bourbonnais | José Andrés Fernández Montes de Oca | John Maynard | Erik S. McDuffie | Frances Peace Sullivan | Robert Trent Vinson | Michael O. West

Williams was a compassionate man. He was an intelligent American citizen and Korean war veteran, who claimed his right of American citizenship. Acutely aware of the broken promises of the US government, he remained fully invested in the rights, privileges, and responsibilities the Constitution guaranteed all of its citizens. As many of his contemporaries now confess, Williams’s strength and appeal, as explained by his second son, John Williams, was his uncompromising stance and determination to act on the American dream he imagined for social, economic, and political equality for African Americans. The skills he acquired as a journalist and propaganda specialist were key to his political development, evolution, and transnational collaborations with Cuba and China, which he used to challenge domestic policies in the United States, were way beyond the imagination of his supporters in the United States. Williams ultimately used these strengths, strategies, and collaborations to deliver liberting messages of freedom, resistance, and social and economic equality on behalf of the rights of African Americans. Williams significantly contributed to the Black freedom struggle and should not be forgotten. Robert Franklin Williams Speaks: A Documentary History includes a collection of interviews, speeches, and writings by and about Williams as an internationalist, pragmatist, and civil and human rights champion.