Ronald W. Walters - Böcker

Compiled in this volume is the most significant accumulation of works on the subject of African American leadership to date. As the field of leadership studies continues to grow, this timely work contributes to an understanding of the activities of those people and organizations that have been leaders of people of African descent and have contributed to the cultural and political affairs of the black community, as well as the representation of the black community in mainstream American life. The annotated entries cover a variety of works on subjects such as dedicated black leadership studies, local descriptions and analyses, biographies, leadership organizations, and audio-visual materials. This reference is an important contribution to the field of leadership studies in general, and African American leadership in particular, and will serve as a valuable research tool for educators and practitioners alike.The entries are organized into six sections, which offer a broad overview of the various aspects of African American leadership. Part I, Critical Studies and Appraisals, focuses on the history of works dedicated to both national and local leaders and their politically relevant activities. The next section, Local Leadership Studies, is organized around black leaders who served local communities and the various issues they addressed. Part III looks at relevant social movements and ideologies that have highlighted the activities of black leaders. Individual leaders who have made contributions to the political life of the black community are included in Part IV, while leadership organizations are highlighted in Part V. The concluding section of the volume looks at available audio-visual materials. A thorough index rounds out the bibliography.

This new four-volume collection from Routledge brings together critical assessments of some key African American political leaders. The collection focuses on figures including Frederick Douglass (1818–95); Booker T. Washington (1856–1915); Marcus Garvey (1887–1940); Dr Martin Luther King (1929–68); the Rev. Jesse Jackson (b. 1941); and Barack Obama (b. 1961), the 44th President of the United States, and the first African American to hold the office.The canonical and cutting-edge research gathered here explores in particular the qualities such leaders possess, as well as the events that led them into public prominence. Another key theme of the collection is how African American leaders interact with majority power, not least to begin to redress the historic injustices done to—and the continuing inequalities suffered by—the African American community.With a comprehensive introduction, newly written by the editor, Ronald W. Walters, one of the field’s leading scholars, which frames the collected material in its historical and intellectual context, African American Leaders is an essential work of reference. It is destined to be valued by political scientists and historians—as well as by leadership specialists—as a vital one-stop research tool.

This book contributes substantially to urban affairs and public policy literature by presenting an introduction to the complex politics and public policy issues of Washington, D.C. The uniqueness of the city, as elaborated in this volume, provides background for understanding the non-traditional congressional relationship with the city and the way in which this establishes and perpetuates the continuing fight for congressional representation, real home rule and equitable federal benefits for citizens of the District of Columbia.Usually becoming a mayor, member of a city council, or agency head in a major city could become a stepping stone to higher office. In Washington, D.C. however, this has not been the case. Contests for political leadership operate in a unique political climate because Washington, D.C is the capital of the U.S., subject to congressional oversight, has a majority African American population, and has a majority Democratic population. Those who become mayor are therefore, confined to play a local with rare opportunities for a national role.One Objective of this volume is to highlight the difficulties of experiencing political democracy and adequate policy distribution by citizens of the District of Columbia. These analyses conclude that one of the major obstacles to these objectives is the manner in which home rule was constructed and persists, leading to the conclusion that the desire of citizens and their leaders for change is well founded.

Black voters can make or break a presidential election—look at the close electoral results in 2000 and the difference the disenfranchised Black vote in Florida alone might have made. Black candidates can influence a presidential election—look at the effect that Jesse Jackson had on the Democratic party, the platform, and the electorate in 1984 and 1988, and the contributions to the Democratic debates that Carol Moseley Braun and Al Sharpton made in 2004. American presidential politics can't get along without the Black vote—witness the controversy over candidates' appearing (or not) at the NAACP convention, or the extent to which candidates court (or not) the Black vote in a variety of venues. It all goes back to the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which formally gave African Americans the right to vote, even if after all these years that right is continuously contested. In Freedom Is Not Enough (a quote from Lyndon Johnson's 1965 commencement address to Howard University just before he signed the Voting Rights Act), Ronald W. Walters traces the history of the Black vote since 1965, celebrates its fortieth anniversary in 2005, and shows why passing a law is not the same as ensuring its enforcement, legitimacy, and opportunity.

Written by two of the nation's preeminent scholars on the topic, this book provides a panoramic overview of black leadership in the United States.CHOICE 2000 Outstanding Academic TitleWritten by two preeminent scholars of the subject, this book provides a panoramic view of the theory, research, and praxis of African American leadership. Walters and Smith offer a great deal to students of black leadership, as well as important strategy and policy recommendations for black leaders. The book first presents a comprehensive assessment of the social science research literature on black leadership. It finds that older studies (1930s to 1960s) dealt with the nascent formation of leadership theory, where blacks were located predominantly in the context of southern politics and had to adopt a conservative to moderate leadership style. The authors also review and evaluate research on black leadership from the 1970s to the present and suggest attention be given to studies of leadership that involve community level leadership, female leaders, black mayors, and black conservatives.African American Leadership also focuses on the practice of black leadership. It begins with an analysis of the roles of black leadership and historical analysis of strategies or "strategy shift." The authors then provide illustrative case studies of the styles of black leadership. They examine the continued utilization of mass mobilization in the form of boycotts, direct action, and mass demonstrations and marches. The issue of collective black leadership or the framework of unity-an illusive but necessary form of community organization-is also explored, and serious attention is given to issues, recruitment, and deployment.

Based on original materials gathered from extensive international travel, hundreds of interviews and empirical field research, thims text studies Pan-African organizations and their political activities inside black communities.

The rise of the Conservative movement in the United States over the last two decades is evident in current public policy, including the passage of the Welfare Reform Act, the weakening of affirmative action, and the approval of educational vouchers for private schooling. At the same time, new rules on congressional redistricting prohibit legislators from constructing majority black congressional districts, and blacks continue to suffer disproportionate rates of incarceration and death-penalty sentencing. In this significant new study, the distinguished political scientist Ronald W. Walters argues that the Conservative movement during this period has had an inordinate impact on American governing institutions and that a strong, though very often unstated, racial hostility drives the public policies put forth by Conservative politicians. Walters traces the emergence of what he calls a new White Nationalism, showing how it fuels the Conservative movement, invades the public discourse, and generates policies that protect the interests of white voters at the expense of blacks and other nonwhites. Using historical and contemporary examples of White Nationalist policy, as well as empirical public opinion data, Walters demonstrates the degree to which this ideology exists among white voters and the negative impact of its policies on the black community. White Nationalism, Black Interests terms the current period a ""second Reconstruction,"" comparing the racial dynamics in the post-Civil Rights era to those of the first Reconstruction following the end of the Civil War. Walters's analysis of contemporary racial politics is uniquely valuable to scholars and lay readers alike and is sure to spark further public debate.