Podcast appearances and mentions of Melvin L Rogers

Political Theorist Melvin L. Rogers has a deep and rich new book delving into the work of a host of different African American political thinkers. But this work is much more than an exploration of some of the writings by African American thinkers, it importantly tells the story of America. The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought (Princeton UP, 2023) takes the reader on a journey through distinct work and pieces by David Walker, Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells, Billie Holiday, James Baldwin, and others not in an effort to be exhaustive or completist in examining their work, but in teasing out vital thematic approaches to consider race, democracy, and freedom in the American republic. Rogers starts from a foundation in considering the idea of democracy—what are the habits and sensibilities that are located in the people who compose a democracy, or, more precisely, “who are we?” in the understanding of “we the people” or in the we of “we hold these truths to be self-evident.” While there is attention to the institutions that structure our democracy, Rogers reads many of these authors to expand that focus, to think about what the culture, the societal concepts, and the community define as who we are and who we might hope to be. Thus, as Rogers weaves together chronological approaches to considering these ideas from the authors and artists included in the conversation, he is also toggling together components that are often considered separately: political standing and culture standing, and how individuals, particularly black individuals, are situated in each. The Darkened Light of Faith is deeply engaged with the conceptual duality of a place and an idea – the United States – that is at once mired in the tragic history of enslavement and, at the same time, moving (maybe?) towards the promise of a democracy that holds freedom among its most important qualities. This tension is also the darkened light of faith and hope that the thinkers, activists, and artists wrap themselves and their work in as they consider the opportunities and problematics that are America. Rogers does not confine his analysis to the written word. There is an exploration of anti-slavery pamphlets by abolitionist David Walker, who wrote and advocated against slavery in the 1820s and 1803s. The anti-republican nature of enslavement in the United States is another dimension of the book, examining the conflict inherent in a republican society that incorporates racial domination. Furthering this discussion, Rogers considers the idea of “the people” and how this concept is complicated by the exclusionary nature of slavery and categorization of individuals into groups of citizens who are included and others who are excluded based on race. The second part of the book pivots to the 20th century and expands the dimensions of thinking about these tensions and conflicts that are at the heart of the United States. The Darkened Light of Faith explores not just the extra-judicial nature of lynching, but how this is also a site of invisible laws that make lynching, by white Americans, possible without any threat or potential for penalties. This section weaves together work and advocacy by Ida B. Well, Billie Holiday's song and performances of Strange Fruit, and the NAACP's campaign using images of lynched bodies to focus on the horror of lynching and the undermining of democratic ethos in the U.S. The final sections of the book take up work by W.E.B. Du Bois and James Baldwin as they write about and comment on the complexity of American life, noting that charting a path forward towards the promise of the American experiment cannot leave untold or unknown the history in slavery and domination. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-american-studies

Political Theorist Melvin L. Rogers has a deep and rich new book delving into the work of a host of different African American political thinkers. But this work is much more than an exploration of some of the writings by African American thinkers, it importantly tells the story of America. The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought (Princeton UP, 2023) takes the reader on a journey through distinct work and pieces by David Walker, Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells, Billie Holiday, James Baldwin, and others not in an effort to be exhaustive or completist in examining their work, but in teasing out vital thematic approaches to consider race, democracy, and freedom in the American republic. Rogers starts from a foundation in considering the idea of democracy—what are the habits and sensibilities that are located in the people who compose a democracy, or, more precisely, “who are we?” in the understanding of “we the people” or in the we of “we hold these truths to be self-evident.” While there is attention to the institutions that structure our democracy, Rogers reads many of these authors to expand that focus, to think about what the culture, the societal concepts, and the community define as who we are and who we might hope to be. Thus, as Rogers weaves together chronological approaches to considering these ideas from the authors and artists included in the conversation, he is also toggling together components that are often considered separately: political standing and culture standing, and how individuals, particularly black individuals, are situated in each. The Darkened Light of Faith is deeply engaged with the conceptual duality of a place and an idea – the United States – that is at once mired in the tragic history of enslavement and, at the same time, moving (maybe?) towards the promise of a democracy that holds freedom among its most important qualities. This tension is also the darkened light of faith and hope that the thinkers, activists, and artists wrap themselves and their work in as they consider the opportunities and problematics that are America. Rogers does not confine his analysis to the written word. There is an exploration of anti-slavery pamphlets by abolitionist David Walker, who wrote and advocated against slavery in the 1820s and 1803s. The anti-republican nature of enslavement in the United States is another dimension of the book, examining the conflict inherent in a republican society that incorporates racial domination. Furthering this discussion, Rogers considers the idea of “the people” and how this concept is complicated by the exclusionary nature of slavery and categorization of individuals into groups of citizens who are included and others who are excluded based on race. The second part of the book pivots to the 20th century and expands the dimensions of thinking about these tensions and conflicts that are at the heart of the United States. The Darkened Light of Faith explores not just the extra-judicial nature of lynching, but how this is also a site of invisible laws that make lynching, by white Americans, possible without any threat or potential for penalties. This section weaves together work and advocacy by Ida B. Well, Billie Holiday's song and performances of Strange Fruit, and the NAACP's campaign using images of lynched bodies to focus on the horror of lynching and the undermining of democratic ethos in the U.S. The final sections of the book take up work by W.E.B. Du Bois and James Baldwin as they write about and comment on the complexity of American life, noting that charting a path forward towards the promise of the American experiment cannot leave untold or unknown the history in slavery and domination. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Political Theorist Melvin L. Rogers has a deep and rich new book delving into the work of a host of different African American political thinkers. But this work is much more than an exploration of some of the writings by African American thinkers, it importantly tells the story of America. The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought (Princeton UP, 2023) takes the reader on a journey through distinct work and pieces by David Walker, Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells, Billie Holiday, James Baldwin, and others not in an effort to be exhaustive or completist in examining their work, but in teasing out vital thematic approaches to consider race, democracy, and freedom in the American republic. Rogers starts from a foundation in considering the idea of democracy—what are the habits and sensibilities that are located in the people who compose a democracy, or, more precisely, “who are we?” in the understanding of “we the people” or in the we of “we hold these truths to be self-evident.” While there is attention to the institutions that structure our democracy, Rogers reads many of these authors to expand that focus, to think about what the culture, the societal concepts, and the community define as who we are and who we might hope to be. Thus, as Rogers weaves together chronological approaches to considering these ideas from the authors and artists included in the conversation, he is also toggling together components that are often considered separately: political standing and culture standing, and how individuals, particularly black individuals, are situated in each. The Darkened Light of Faith is deeply engaged with the conceptual duality of a place and an idea – the United States – that is at once mired in the tragic history of enslavement and, at the same time, moving (maybe?) towards the promise of a democracy that holds freedom among its most important qualities. This tension is also the darkened light of faith and hope that the thinkers, activists, and artists wrap themselves and their work in as they consider the opportunities and problematics that are America. Rogers does not confine his analysis to the written word. There is an exploration of anti-slavery pamphlets by abolitionist David Walker, who wrote and advocated against slavery in the 1820s and 1803s. The anti-republican nature of enslavement in the United States is another dimension of the book, examining the conflict inherent in a republican society that incorporates racial domination. Furthering this discussion, Rogers considers the idea of “the people” and how this concept is complicated by the exclusionary nature of slavery and categorization of individuals into groups of citizens who are included and others who are excluded based on race. The second part of the book pivots to the 20th century and expands the dimensions of thinking about these tensions and conflicts that are at the heart of the United States. The Darkened Light of Faith explores not just the extra-judicial nature of lynching, but how this is also a site of invisible laws that make lynching, by white Americans, possible without any threat or potential for penalties. This section weaves together work and advocacy by Ida B. Well, Billie Holiday's song and performances of Strange Fruit, and the NAACP's campaign using images of lynched bodies to focus on the horror of lynching and the undermining of democratic ethos in the U.S. The final sections of the book take up work by W.E.B. Du Bois and James Baldwin as they write about and comment on the complexity of American life, noting that charting a path forward towards the promise of the American experiment cannot leave untold or unknown the history in slavery and domination. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

Political Theorist Melvin L. Rogers has a deep and rich new book delving into the work of a host of different African American political thinkers. But this work is much more than an exploration of some of the writings by African American thinkers, it importantly tells the story of America. The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought (Princeton UP, 2023) takes the reader on a journey through distinct work and pieces by David Walker, Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells, Billie Holiday, James Baldwin, and others not in an effort to be exhaustive or completist in examining their work, but in teasing out vital thematic approaches to consider race, democracy, and freedom in the American republic. Rogers starts from a foundation in considering the idea of democracy—what are the habits and sensibilities that are located in the people who compose a democracy, or, more precisely, “who are we?” in the understanding of “we the people” or in the we of “we hold these truths to be self-evident.” While there is attention to the institutions that structure our democracy, Rogers reads many of these authors to expand that focus, to think about what the culture, the societal concepts, and the community define as who we are and who we might hope to be. Thus, as Rogers weaves together chronological approaches to considering these ideas from the authors and artists included in the conversation, he is also toggling together components that are often considered separately: political standing and culture standing, and how individuals, particularly black individuals, are situated in each. The Darkened Light of Faith is deeply engaged with the conceptual duality of a place and an idea – the United States – that is at once mired in the tragic history of enslavement and, at the same time, moving (maybe?) towards the promise of a democracy that holds freedom among its most important qualities. This tension is also the darkened light of faith and hope that the thinkers, activists, and artists wrap themselves and their work in as they consider the opportunities and problematics that are America. Rogers does not confine his analysis to the written word. There is an exploration of anti-slavery pamphlets by abolitionist David Walker, who wrote and advocated against slavery in the 1820s and 1803s. The anti-republican nature of enslavement in the United States is another dimension of the book, examining the conflict inherent in a republican society that incorporates racial domination. Furthering this discussion, Rogers considers the idea of “the people” and how this concept is complicated by the exclusionary nature of slavery and categorization of individuals into groups of citizens who are included and others who are excluded based on race. The second part of the book pivots to the 20th century and expands the dimensions of thinking about these tensions and conflicts that are at the heart of the United States. The Darkened Light of Faith explores not just the extra-judicial nature of lynching, but how this is also a site of invisible laws that make lynching, by white Americans, possible without any threat or potential for penalties. This section weaves together work and advocacy by Ida B. Well, Billie Holiday's song and performances of Strange Fruit, and the NAACP's campaign using images of lynched bodies to focus on the horror of lynching and the undermining of democratic ethos in the U.S. The final sections of the book take up work by W.E.B. Du Bois and James Baldwin as they write about and comment on the complexity of American life, noting that charting a path forward towards the promise of the American experiment cannot leave untold or unknown the history in slavery and domination. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

Political Theorist Melvin L. Rogers has a deep and rich new book delving into the work of a host of different African American political thinkers. But this work is much more than an exploration of some of the writings by African American thinkers, it importantly tells the story of America. The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought (Princeton UP, 2023) takes the reader on a journey through distinct work and pieces by David Walker, Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells, Billie Holiday, James Baldwin, and others not in an effort to be exhaustive or completist in examining their work, but in teasing out vital thematic approaches to consider race, democracy, and freedom in the American republic. Rogers starts from a foundation in considering the idea of democracy—what are the habits and sensibilities that are located in the people who compose a democracy, or, more precisely, “who are we?” in the understanding of “we the people” or in the we of “we hold these truths to be self-evident.” While there is attention to the institutions that structure our democracy, Rogers reads many of these authors to expand that focus, to think about what the culture, the societal concepts, and the community define as who we are and who we might hope to be. Thus, as Rogers weaves together chronological approaches to considering these ideas from the authors and artists included in the conversation, he is also toggling together components that are often considered separately: political standing and culture standing, and how individuals, particularly black individuals, are situated in each. The Darkened Light of Faith is deeply engaged with the conceptual duality of a place and an idea – the United States – that is at once mired in the tragic history of enslavement and, at the same time, moving (maybe?) towards the promise of a democracy that holds freedom among its most important qualities. This tension is also the darkened light of faith and hope that the thinkers, activists, and artists wrap themselves and their work in as they consider the opportunities and problematics that are America. Rogers does not confine his analysis to the written word. There is an exploration of anti-slavery pamphlets by abolitionist David Walker, who wrote and advocated against slavery in the 1820s and 1803s. The anti-republican nature of enslavement in the United States is another dimension of the book, examining the conflict inherent in a republican society that incorporates racial domination. Furthering this discussion, Rogers considers the idea of “the people” and how this concept is complicated by the exclusionary nature of slavery and categorization of individuals into groups of citizens who are included and others who are excluded based on race. The second part of the book pivots to the 20th century and expands the dimensions of thinking about these tensions and conflicts that are at the heart of the United States. The Darkened Light of Faith explores not just the extra-judicial nature of lynching, but how this is also a site of invisible laws that make lynching, by white Americans, possible without any threat or potential for penalties. This section weaves together work and advocacy by Ida B. Well, Billie Holiday's song and performances of Strange Fruit, and the NAACP's campaign using images of lynched bodies to focus on the horror of lynching and the undermining of democratic ethos in the U.S. The final sections of the book take up work by W.E.B. Du Bois and James Baldwin as they write about and comment on the complexity of American life, noting that charting a path forward towards the promise of the American experiment cannot leave untold or unknown the history in slavery and domination. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history

Political Theorist Melvin L. Rogers has a deep and rich new book delving into the work of a host of different African American political thinkers. But this work is much more than an exploration of some of the writings by African American thinkers, it importantly tells the story of America. The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought (Princeton UP, 2023) takes the reader on a journey through distinct work and pieces by David Walker, Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells, Billie Holiday, James Baldwin, and others not in an effort to be exhaustive or completist in examining their work, but in teasing out vital thematic approaches to consider race, democracy, and freedom in the American republic. Rogers starts from a foundation in considering the idea of democracy—what are the habits and sensibilities that are located in the people who compose a democracy, or, more precisely, “who are we?” in the understanding of “we the people” or in the we of “we hold these truths to be self-evident.” While there is attention to the institutions that structure our democracy, Rogers reads many of these authors to expand that focus, to think about what the culture, the societal concepts, and the community define as who we are and who we might hope to be. Thus, as Rogers weaves together chronological approaches to considering these ideas from the authors and artists included in the conversation, he is also toggling together components that are often considered separately: political standing and culture standing, and how individuals, particularly black individuals, are situated in each. The Darkened Light of Faith is deeply engaged with the conceptual duality of a place and an idea – the United States – that is at once mired in the tragic history of enslavement and, at the same time, moving (maybe?) towards the promise of a democracy that holds freedom among its most important qualities. This tension is also the darkened light of faith and hope that the thinkers, activists, and artists wrap themselves and their work in as they consider the opportunities and problematics that are America. Rogers does not confine his analysis to the written word. There is an exploration of anti-slavery pamphlets by abolitionist David Walker, who wrote and advocated against slavery in the 1820s and 1803s. The anti-republican nature of enslavement in the United States is another dimension of the book, examining the conflict inherent in a republican society that incorporates racial domination. Furthering this discussion, Rogers considers the idea of “the people” and how this concept is complicated by the exclusionary nature of slavery and categorization of individuals into groups of citizens who are included and others who are excluded based on race. The second part of the book pivots to the 20th century and expands the dimensions of thinking about these tensions and conflicts that are at the heart of the United States. The Darkened Light of Faith explores not just the extra-judicial nature of lynching, but how this is also a site of invisible laws that make lynching, by white Americans, possible without any threat or potential for penalties. This section weaves together work and advocacy by Ida B. Well, Billie Holiday's song and performances of Strange Fruit, and the NAACP's campaign using images of lynched bodies to focus on the horror of lynching and the undermining of democratic ethos in the U.S. The final sections of the book take up work by W.E.B. Du Bois and James Baldwin as they write about and comment on the complexity of American life, noting that charting a path forward towards the promise of the American experiment cannot leave untold or unknown the history in slavery and domination. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

Political Theorist Melvin L. Rogers has a deep and rich new book delving into the work of a host of different African American political thinkers. But this work is much more than an exploration of some of the writings by African American thinkers, it importantly tells the story of America. The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought (Princeton UP, 2023) takes the reader on a journey through distinct work and pieces by David Walker, Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells, Billie Holiday, James Baldwin, and others not in an effort to be exhaustive or completist in examining their work, but in teasing out vital thematic approaches to consider race, democracy, and freedom in the American republic. Rogers starts from a foundation in considering the idea of democracy—what are the habits and sensibilities that are located in the people who compose a democracy, or, more precisely, “who are we?” in the understanding of “we the people” or in the we of “we hold these truths to be self-evident.” While there is attention to the institutions that structure our democracy, Rogers reads many of these authors to expand that focus, to think about what the culture, the societal concepts, and the community define as who we are and who we might hope to be. Thus, as Rogers weaves together chronological approaches to considering these ideas from the authors and artists included in the conversation, he is also toggling together components that are often considered separately: political standing and culture standing, and how individuals, particularly black individuals, are situated in each. The Darkened Light of Faith is deeply engaged with the conceptual duality of a place and an idea – the United States – that is at once mired in the tragic history of enslavement and, at the same time, moving (maybe?) towards the promise of a democracy that holds freedom among its most important qualities. This tension is also the darkened light of faith and hope that the thinkers, activists, and artists wrap themselves and their work in as they consider the opportunities and problematics that are America. Rogers does not confine his analysis to the written word. There is an exploration of anti-slavery pamphlets by abolitionist David Walker, who wrote and advocated against slavery in the 1820s and 1803s. The anti-republican nature of enslavement in the United States is another dimension of the book, examining the conflict inherent in a republican society that incorporates racial domination. Furthering this discussion, Rogers considers the idea of “the people” and how this concept is complicated by the exclusionary nature of slavery and categorization of individuals into groups of citizens who are included and others who are excluded based on race. The second part of the book pivots to the 20th century and expands the dimensions of thinking about these tensions and conflicts that are at the heart of the United States. The Darkened Light of Faith explores not just the extra-judicial nature of lynching, but how this is also a site of invisible laws that make lynching, by white Americans, possible without any threat or potential for penalties. This section weaves together work and advocacy by Ida B. Well, Billie Holiday's song and performances of Strange Fruit, and the NAACP's campaign using images of lynched bodies to focus on the horror of lynching and the undermining of democratic ethos in the U.S. The final sections of the book take up work by W.E.B. Du Bois and James Baldwin as they write about and comment on the complexity of American life, noting that charting a path forward towards the promise of the American experiment cannot leave untold or unknown the history in slavery and domination.

Political Theorist Melvin L. Rogers has a deep and rich new book delving into the work of a host of different African American political thinkers. But this work is much more than an exploration of some of the writings by African American thinkers, it importantly tells the story of America. The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought (Princeton UP, 2023) takes the reader on a journey through distinct work and pieces by David Walker, Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells, Billie Holiday, James Baldwin, and others not in an effort to be exhaustive or completist in examining their work, but in teasing out vital thematic approaches to consider race, democracy, and freedom in the American republic. Rogers starts from a foundation in considering the idea of democracy—what are the habits and sensibilities that are located in the people who compose a democracy, or, more precisely, “who are we?” in the understanding of “we the people” or in the we of “we hold these truths to be self-evident.” While there is attention to the institutions that structure our democracy, Rogers reads many of these authors to expand that focus, to think about what the culture, the societal concepts, and the community define as who we are and who we might hope to be. Thus, as Rogers weaves together chronological approaches to considering these ideas from the authors and artists included in the conversation, he is also toggling together components that are often considered separately: political standing and culture standing, and how individuals, particularly black individuals, are situated in each. The Darkened Light of Faith is deeply engaged with the conceptual duality of a place and an idea – the United States – that is at once mired in the tragic history of enslavement and, at the same time, moving (maybe?) towards the promise of a democracy that holds freedom among its most important qualities. This tension is also the darkened light of faith and hope that the thinkers, activists, and artists wrap themselves and their work in as they consider the opportunities and problematics that are America. Rogers does not confine his analysis to the written word. There is an exploration of anti-slavery pamphlets by abolitionist David Walker, who wrote and advocated against slavery in the 1820s and 1803s. The anti-republican nature of enslavement in the United States is another dimension of the book, examining the conflict inherent in a republican society that incorporates racial domination. Furthering this discussion, Rogers considers the idea of “the people” and how this concept is complicated by the exclusionary nature of slavery and categorization of individuals into groups of citizens who are included and others who are excluded based on race. The second part of the book pivots to the 20th century and expands the dimensions of thinking about these tensions and conflicts that are at the heart of the United States. The Darkened Light of Faith explores not just the extra-judicial nature of lynching, but how this is also a site of invisible laws that make lynching, by white Americans, possible without any threat or potential for penalties. This section weaves together work and advocacy by Ida B. Well, Billie Holiday's song and performances of Strange Fruit, and the NAACP's campaign using images of lynched bodies to focus on the horror of lynching and the undermining of democratic ethos in the U.S. The final sections of the book take up work by W.E.B. Du Bois and James Baldwin as they write about and comment on the complexity of American life, noting that charting a path forward towards the promise of the American experiment cannot leave untold or unknown the history in slavery and domination. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Political Theorist Melvin L. Rogers has a deep and rich new book delving into the work of a host of different African American political thinkers. But this work is much more than an exploration of some of the writings by African American thinkers, it importantly tells the story of America. The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought (Princeton UP, 2023) takes the reader on a journey through distinct work and pieces by David Walker, Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells, Billie Holiday, James Baldwin, and others not in an effort to be exhaustive or completist in examining their work, but in teasing out vital thematic approaches to consider race, democracy, and freedom in the American republic. Rogers starts from a foundation in considering the idea of democracy—what are the habits and sensibilities that are located in the people who compose a democracy, or, more precisely, “who are we?” in the understanding of “we the people” or in the we of “we hold these truths to be self-evident.” While there is attention to the institutions that structure our democracy, Rogers reads many of these authors to expand that focus, to think about what the culture, the societal concepts, and the community define as who we are and who we might hope to be. Thus, as Rogers weaves together chronological approaches to considering these ideas from the authors and artists included in the conversation, he is also toggling together components that are often considered separately: political standing and culture standing, and how individuals, particularly black individuals, are situated in each. The Darkened Light of Faith is deeply engaged with the conceptual duality of a place and an idea – the United States – that is at once mired in the tragic history of enslavement and, at the same time, moving (maybe?) towards the promise of a democracy that holds freedom among its most important qualities. This tension is also the darkened light of faith and hope that the thinkers, activists, and artists wrap themselves and their work in as they consider the opportunities and problematics that are America. Rogers does not confine his analysis to the written word. There is an exploration of anti-slavery pamphlets by abolitionist David Walker, who wrote and advocated against slavery in the 1820s and 1803s. The anti-republican nature of enslavement in the United States is another dimension of the book, examining the conflict inherent in a republican society that incorporates racial domination. Furthering this discussion, Rogers considers the idea of “the people” and how this concept is complicated by the exclusionary nature of slavery and categorization of individuals into groups of citizens who are included and others who are excluded based on race. The second part of the book pivots to the 20th century and expands the dimensions of thinking about these tensions and conflicts that are at the heart of the United States. The Darkened Light of Faith explores not just the extra-judicial nature of lynching, but how this is also a site of invisible laws that make lynching, by white Americans, possible without any threat or potential for penalties. This section weaves together work and advocacy by Ida B. Well, Billie Holiday's song and performances of Strange Fruit, and the NAACP's campaign using images of lynched bodies to focus on the horror of lynching and the undermining of democratic ethos in the U.S. The final sections of the book take up work by W.E.B. Du Bois and James Baldwin as they write about and comment on the complexity of American life, noting that charting a path forward towards the promise of the American experiment cannot leave untold or unknown the history in slavery and domination. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/book-of-the-day

Frederick Douglass's 1852 speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July” is notoriously fiery. No doubt part of what's gripping about it is its internal tension. Douglass begins by sincerely praising the founders and their philosophical principles, and then turns to a devastating critique of the hypocrisy of the United States. Underlying Douglass's argument is a commitment to the democratic project in the United States that one imagines could be sustained only with extraordinary effort. What prevented Douglass from embracing the understandable, warranted pessimism that the democratic experiment in the United States had failed – or perhaps had never really been taken up? In The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought (Princeton University Press, 2023), Melvin Rogers takes his reader on a journey through the efforts of African American philosophers, social critics, and artists to make sense of the United States. Robert Talisse is the W. Alton Jones Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-american-studies

Frederick Douglass's 1852 speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July” is notoriously fiery. No doubt part of what's gripping about it is its internal tension. Douglass begins by sincerely praising the founders and their philosophical principles, and then turns to a devastating critique of the hypocrisy of the United States. Underlying Douglass's argument is a commitment to the democratic project in the United States that one imagines could be sustained only with extraordinary effort. What prevented Douglass from embracing the understandable, warranted pessimism that the democratic experiment in the United States had failed – or perhaps had never really been taken up? In The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought (Princeton University Press, 2023), Melvin Rogers takes his reader on a journey through the efforts of African American philosophers, social critics, and artists to make sense of the United States. Robert Talisse is the W. Alton Jones Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Frederick Douglass's 1852 speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July” is notoriously fiery. No doubt part of what's gripping about it is its internal tension. Douglass begins by sincerely praising the founders and their philosophical principles, and then turns to a devastating critique of the hypocrisy of the United States. Underlying Douglass's argument is a commitment to the democratic project in the United States that one imagines could be sustained only with extraordinary effort. What prevented Douglass from embracing the understandable, warranted pessimism that the democratic experiment in the United States had failed – or perhaps had never really been taken up? In The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought (Princeton University Press, 2023), Melvin Rogers takes his reader on a journey through the efforts of African American philosophers, social critics, and artists to make sense of the United States. Robert Talisse is the W. Alton Jones Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/philosophy

Frederick Douglass's 1852 speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July” is notoriously fiery. No doubt part of what's gripping about it is its internal tension. Douglass begins by sincerely praising the founders and their philosophical principles, and then turns to a devastating critique of the hypocrisy of the United States. Underlying Douglass's argument is a commitment to the democratic project in the United States that one imagines could be sustained only with extraordinary effort. What prevented Douglass from embracing the understandable, warranted pessimism that the democratic experiment in the United States had failed – or perhaps had never really been taken up? In The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought (Princeton University Press, 2023), Melvin Rogers takes his reader on a journey through the efforts of African American philosophers, social critics, and artists to make sense of the United States. Robert Talisse is the W. Alton Jones Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

Frederick Douglass's 1852 speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July” is notoriously fiery. No doubt part of what's gripping about it is its internal tension. Douglass begins by sincerely praising the founders and their philosophical principles, and then turns to a devastating critique of the hypocrisy of the United States. Underlying Douglass's argument is a commitment to the democratic project in the United States that one imagines could be sustained only with extraordinary effort. What prevented Douglass from embracing the understandable, warranted pessimism that the democratic experiment in the United States had failed – or perhaps had never really been taken up? In The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought (Princeton University Press, 2023), Melvin Rogers takes his reader on a journey through the efforts of African American philosophers, social critics, and artists to make sense of the United States. Robert Talisse is the W. Alton Jones Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history

Frederick Douglass's 1852 speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July” is notoriously fiery. No doubt part of what's gripping about it is its internal tension. Douglass begins by sincerely praising the founders and their philosophical principles, and then turns to a devastating critique of the hypocrisy of the United States. Underlying Douglass's argument is a commitment to the democratic project in the United States that one imagines could be sustained only with extraordinary effort. What prevented Douglass from embracing the understandable, warranted pessimism that the democratic experiment in the United States had failed – or perhaps had never really been taken up? In The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought (Princeton University Press, 2023), Melvin Rogers takes his reader on a journey through the efforts of African American philosophers, social critics, and artists to make sense of the United States. Robert Talisse is the W. Alton Jones Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

Frederick Douglass's 1852 speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July” is notoriously fiery. No doubt part of what's gripping about it is its internal tension. Douglass begins by sincerely praising the founders and their philosophical principles, and then turns to a devastating critique of the hypocrisy of the United States. Underlying Douglass's argument is a commitment to the democratic project in the United States that one imagines could be sustained only with extraordinary effort. What prevented Douglass from embracing the understandable, warranted pessimism that the democratic experiment in the United States had failed – or perhaps had never really been taken up? In The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought (Princeton University Press, 2023), Melvin Rogers takes his reader on a journey through the efforts of African American philosophers, social critics, and artists to make sense of the United States. Robert Talisse is the W. Alton Jones Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University.

Frederick Douglass's 1852 speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July” is notoriously fiery. No doubt part of what's gripping about it is its internal tension. Douglass begins by sincerely praising the founders and their philosophical principles, and then turns to a devastating critique of the hypocrisy of the United States. Underlying Douglass's argument is a commitment to the democratic project in the United States that one imagines could be sustained only with extraordinary effort. What prevented Douglass from embracing the understandable, warranted pessimism that the democratic experiment in the United States had failed – or perhaps had never really been taken up? In The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought (Princeton University Press, 2023), Melvin Rogers takes his reader on a journey through the efforts of African American philosophers, social critics, and artists to make sense of the United States. Robert Talisse is the W. Alton Jones Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Melvin Rogers – author of the new book The Darkened Light of Faith. Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought – introduces the thinkers he has studied and explains why he chose to engage with their ideas; discusses the normative vision of African American thinkers and what makes that vision distinctive; clarifies his own approach and analytical vocabulary; reflects on his inspirations and the connections between his recent books; and suggests critical responsiveness as an essential element of democracy.Melvin Rogers is Professor of Political Science and Associate Director of the Center for Philosophy, Politics, and Economics atBrown University. The Darkened Light of Faith. Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought is published by Princeton University Press.

Political theorists Melvin Rogers and Jack “Chip” Turner have produced a truly magisterial edited volume centering the work by African American thinkers over the past centuries. With thirty contributed chapters, ranging across time, place, and person, this Collected History opens up the dialogue among theorists, writers, students, and scholars to explore the work that has often been considered vital to understanding African American political thought specifically, and American political thought in general. As the authors note in their introduction, they intentionally chose to focus each chapter on an individual and that individual’s work as a thinker, moving away from other approaches that often pull together thinkers and activists under broad topics or approaches. African American Political Thought: A Collected History (University of Chicago Press, 2021) is both a reference, providing insight into one or more African American thinkers, and also an education, since the depth and span of the included work are so substantial. Rogers and Turner, and their contributing authors, wanted to bring out the complexity of individual black thinkers, thus the organization of the collection is one that provides the reader with an overview of each thinker, an analysis of their work, and the context in which to consider that work. In their introduction and in our conversation, Rogers and Turner explain the way that many of the black intellectuals and thinkers included in the collection act, in certain ways, like the original truth teller, Socrates, who emphasized the ugliness of truth, especially within democracy, but also the important need to know and understand the truth. Many of the thinkers included in this volume are truth tellers, but they are thinking and writing with great beauty, through their words, their poetry, even their music. As the editors note, this is a keen paradox of black political thought, ugly truths explained or expressed through great beauty. This extraordinary collected history will be of interest to many students, scholars, and researchers, across myriad disciplines. Lilly J. Goren is professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012), as well as co-editor of Mad Men and Politics: Nostalgia and the Remaking of Modern America (Bloomsbury Academic, 2015). Email her comments at lgoren@carrollu.edu or tweet to @gorenlj. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Political theorists Melvin Rogers and Jack “Chip” Turner have produced a truly magisterial edited volume centering the work by African American thinkers over the past centuries. With thirty contributed chapters, ranging across time, place, and person, this Collected History opens up the dialogue among theorists, writers, students, and scholars to explore the work that has often been considered vital to understanding African American political thought specifically, and American political thought in general. As the authors note in their introduction, they intentionally chose to focus each chapter on an individual and that individual's work as a thinker, moving away from other approaches that often pull together thinkers and activists under broad topics or approaches. African American Political Thought: A Collected History (University of Chicago Press, 2021) is both a reference, providing insight into one or more African American thinkers, and also an education, since the depth and span of the included work are so substantial. Rogers and Turner, and their contributing authors, wanted to bring out the complexity of individual black thinkers, thus the organization of the collection is one that provides the reader with an overview of each thinker, an analysis of their work, and the context in which to consider that work. In their introduction and in our conversation, Rogers and Turner explain the way that many of the black intellectuals and thinkers included in the collection act, in certain ways, like the original truth teller, Socrates, who emphasized the ugliness of truth, especially within democracy, but also the important need to know and understand the truth. Many of the thinkers included in this volume are truth tellers, but they are thinking and writing with great beauty, through their words, their poetry, even their music. As the editors note, this is a keen paradox of black political thought, ugly truths explained or expressed through great beauty. This extraordinary collected history will be of interest to many students, scholars, and researchers, across myriad disciplines. Lilly J. Goren is professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012), as well as co-editor of Mad Men and Politics: Nostalgia and the Remaking of Modern America (Bloomsbury Academic, 2015). Email her comments at lgoren@carrollu.edu or tweet to @gorenlj. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-american-studies

Political theorists Melvin Rogers and Jack “Chip” Turner have produced a truly magisterial edited volume centering the work by African American thinkers over the past centuries. With thirty contributed chapters, ranging across time, place, and person, this Collected History opens up the dialogue among theorists, writers, students, and scholars to explore the work that has often been considered vital to understanding African American political thought specifically, and American political thought in general. As the authors note in their introduction, they intentionally chose to focus each chapter on an individual and that individual’s work as a thinker, moving away from other approaches that often pull together thinkers and activists under broad topics or approaches. African American Political Thought: A Collected History (University of Chicago Press, 2021) is both a reference, providing insight into one or more African American thinkers, and also an education, since the depth and span of the included work are so substantial. Rogers and Turner, and their contributing authors, wanted to bring out the complexity of individual black thinkers, thus the organization of the collection is one that provides the reader with an overview of each thinker, an analysis of their work, and the context in which to consider that work. In their introduction and in our conversation, Rogers and Turner explain the way that many of the black intellectuals and thinkers included in the collection act, in certain ways, like the original truth teller, Socrates, who emphasized the ugliness of truth, especially within democracy, but also the important need to know and understand the truth. Many of the thinkers included in this volume are truth tellers, but they are thinking and writing with great beauty, through their words, their poetry, even their music. As the editors note, this is a keen paradox of black political thought, ugly truths explained or expressed through great beauty. This extraordinary collected history will be of interest to many students, scholars, and researchers, across myriad disciplines. Lilly J. Goren is professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012), as well as co-editor of Mad Men and Politics: Nostalgia and the Remaking of Modern America (Bloomsbury Academic, 2015). Email her comments at lgoren@carrollu.edu or tweet to @gorenlj. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

Political theorists Melvin Rogers and Jack “Chip” Turner have produced a truly magisterial edited volume centering the work by African American thinkers over the past centuries. With thirty contributed chapters, ranging across time, place, and person, this Collected History opens up the dialogue among theorists, writers, students, and scholars to explore the work that has often been considered vital to understanding African American political thought specifically, and American political thought in general. As the authors note in their introduction, they intentionally chose to focus each chapter on an individual and that individual’s work as a thinker, moving away from other approaches that often pull together thinkers and activists under broad topics or approaches. African American Political Thought: A Collected History (University of Chicago Press, 2021) is both a reference, providing insight into one or more African American thinkers, and also an education, since the depth and span of the included work are so substantial. Rogers and Turner, and their contributing authors, wanted to bring out the complexity of individual black thinkers, thus the organization of the collection is one that provides the reader with an overview of each thinker, an analysis of their work, and the context in which to consider that work. In their introduction and in our conversation, Rogers and Turner explain the way that many of the black intellectuals and thinkers included in the collection act, in certain ways, like the original truth teller, Socrates, who emphasized the ugliness of truth, especially within democracy, but also the important need to know and understand the truth. Many of the thinkers included in this volume are truth tellers, but they are thinking and writing with great beauty, through their words, their poetry, even their music. As the editors note, this is a keen paradox of black political thought, ugly truths explained or expressed through great beauty. This extraordinary collected history will be of interest to many students, scholars, and researchers, across myriad disciplines. Lilly J. Goren is professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012), as well as co-editor of Mad Men and Politics: Nostalgia and the Remaking of Modern America (Bloomsbury Academic, 2015). Email her comments at lgoren@carrollu.edu or tweet to @gorenlj. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history

Political theorists Melvin Rogers and Jack “Chip” Turner have produced a truly magisterial edited volume centering the work by African American thinkers over the past centuries. With thirty contributed chapters, ranging across time, place, and person, this Collected History opens up the dialogue among theorists, writers, students, and scholars to explore the work that has often been considered vital to understanding African American political thought specifically, and American political thought in general. As the authors note in their introduction, they intentionally chose to focus each chapter on an individual and that individual’s work as a thinker, moving away from other approaches that often pull together thinkers and activists under broad topics or approaches. African American Political Thought: A Collected History (University of Chicago Press, 2021) is both a reference, providing insight into one or more African American thinkers, and also an education, since the depth and span of the included work are so substantial. Rogers and Turner, and their contributing authors, wanted to bring out the complexity of individual black thinkers, thus the organization of the collection is one that provides the reader with an overview of each thinker, an analysis of their work, and the context in which to consider that work. In their introduction and in our conversation, Rogers and Turner explain the way that many of the black intellectuals and thinkers included in the collection act, in certain ways, like the original truth teller, Socrates, who emphasized the ugliness of truth, especially within democracy, but also the important need to know and understand the truth. Many of the thinkers included in this volume are truth tellers, but they are thinking and writing with great beauty, through their words, their poetry, even their music. As the editors note, this is a keen paradox of black political thought, ugly truths explained or expressed through great beauty. This extraordinary collected history will be of interest to many students, scholars, and researchers, across myriad disciplines. Lilly J. Goren is professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012), as well as co-editor of Mad Men and Politics: Nostalgia and the Remaking of Modern America (Bloomsbury Academic, 2015). Email her comments at lgoren@carrollu.edu or tweet to @gorenlj. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

 Co-presented with Pacifica Archives Join us for a live broadcast (on KPFK 90.7 FM) dedicated to the voice of author and civil rights activist James Baldwin. Brian DeShazor, host of From the Vault radio program will air rare recordings of Baldwin from 1963-1968, including: an oration called the Artist’s Struggle for Integrity; a reading from Giovanni’s Room; Baldwin’s fiery speech after the murder of four girls in Birmingham, Alabama; and his introduction of Dr. Martin Luther King (taped in the home of Marlon Brando) weeks before King’s assassination. DeShazor is joined by two writers who’ve thought deeply about Baldwin’s work—novelist Nina Revoyr and Melvin L. Rogers, Associate Professor of Political Science and African-American Studies at UCLA—to reflect on Baldwin’s impact on literature and society. Click here for photos from the program.