February 2024 MBR The Political Science Shelf

The Political Science Shelf

The Darkened Light of Faith
Melvin L. Rogers
Princeton University Press
https://press.princeton.edu
9780691219134, $35.00, HC, 400pp

https://www.amazon.com/Darkened-Light-Faith-Democracy-Political/dp/06912191=
33

Synopsis: Could the African American political tradition save American demo=
cracy? African Americans have had every reason to reject America's democrat=
ic experiment. Yet African American activists, intellectuals, and artists w=
ho have sought to transform the United States into a racially just society =
have put forward some of the most original and powerful ideas about how to =
make America live up to its democratic ideals.

With the publication of "The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and =
Freedom in African American Political Thought", Melvin Rogers provides a bo=
ld new account of African American political thought through the works and =
lives of individuals who built this vital tradition -- a tradition that is =
urgently needed today.

"The Darkened Light of Faith" reexamines how figures as diverse as David Wa=
lker, Frederick Douglass, Anna Julia Cooper, Ida B. Wells, W.E.B. Du Bois, =
Billie Holiday, and James Baldwin thought about the politics, people, chara=
cter, and culture of a society that so often dominated them.

Sharing a light of faith darkened but not extinguished by the tragic legacy=
 of slavery, these and others resisted the conclusion that America would al=
ways be committed to white supremacy. They believed that democracy is alway=
s in the process of becoming and that they could use it to reimagine societ=
y. But they also saw that achieving racial justice wouldn't absolve us of t=
he darkest features of our shared past, and that democracy must be measured=
 by how skillfully we confront a history that will forever remain with us.

An ambitious account of the profound ways African Americans have reimagined=
 democracy, "The Darkened Light of Faith" offers invaluable lessons about h=
ow to grapple with racial injustice and make democracy work.

Critique: A seminal and ground-breaking study that is informative enhanced =
for the reader's benefit with the inclusion of seventy-six pages of Notes a=
nd a thirteen page Index, "The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, an=
d Freedom in African American Political Thought" is a key and unreservedly =
recommended addition to personal, professional, community, and college/univ=
ersity library Political Philosophy, History, and Theory collections, and C=
ontemporary African American Studies curriculum lists. It should be noted f=
or students, academia, political activists, and governmental policy makers =
that "The Darkened Light of Faith" is also readily available in a digital b=
ook format (Kindle, $19.25) as well.

Editorial Note: Melvin L. Rogers (https://vivo.brown.edu/display/mrogers4) =
is Professor of Political Science and Associate Director of the Center for =
Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Brown University. He is also the aut=
hor of "The Undiscovered Dewey: Religion, Morality, and the Ethos of Democr=
acy", as well as co-editor of "African American Political Thought: A Collec=
ted History, and editor of John Dewey's The Public and Its Problems".

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