African American Leadership (Suny Series in Afro-American Studies)

By Ronald W. Walters and Robert C. Smith

Book Overview

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 Title

Written 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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0791441466
• ISBN13: 9780791441466
• Release Date: March 1999
• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.02 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.1"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Contextual view of African American leadership

Today, despite the progress that has been made since the Civil Rights Act, systemic, and often unconscious discrimination persists against African Americans. Why is this the case? I believe Walters and Smith would argue that presently Americans are lack the ability to analyze society in political, economic, and structural terms. The result is that we, as a society, and African Americans, as a minority, are blind to the very obstacles that must be overcome. The value of "African American Leadership" lies in its ability to situate the discussion of African American leadership in the midst of a social, political, and historical exegesis. The weakness of the book rest with its deficiency in theoretical and methodological approaches, as well as its lack of attention to how other societal inequalities besides race (socioeconomic stratification, for instance) should be part of the discussion. Walters and Smith, take on the challenge of educating their audience about the social and historical forces that influence "Negro" and later "Black" leaders' effectiveness throughout history and even today. Towards this end, I feel "African American Leadership" has met the challenge. The contemporary pioneers of the movement towards social equity must build on and learn from Walters' and Smith's discussion.