Waiting 'Til the Midnight Hour
A Narrative History of Black Power in America
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $21.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Beresford Bennett
-
By:
-
Peniel E. Joseph
About this listen
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Sword and the Shield
- The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.
- By: Peniel E. Joseph
- Narrated by: Zeno Robinson
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To most Americans, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. represent contrasting ideals. The struggle for Black freedom is wrought with the same contrasts. While nonviolent direct action is remembered as an unassailable part of American democracy, the movement's militancy is either vilified or erased outright. In The Sword and the Shield, Peniel E. Joseph upends these misconceptions and reveals a nuanced portrait of two men who, despite markedly different backgrounds, inspired and pushed each other throughout their adult lives.
-
-
Helpful contribution to civil rights history.
- By Adam Shields on 05-13-20
By: Peniel E. Joseph
-
Stokely: A Life
- By: Peniel E. Joseph
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 15 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stokely Carmichael, the charismatic and controversial Black activist, stepped onto the pages of history when he called for "Black Power" during a speech one humid Mississippi night in 1966. Carmichael’s life changed that day, and so did America’s struggle for civil rights. "Black Power" became the slogan of an era, provoking a national reckoning on race and democracy. In Stokely, preeminent civil rights scholar Peniel E. Joseph presents a groundbreaking biography of Carmichael.
-
-
Black Power icon
- By Adam Shields on 07-20-20
By: Peniel E. Joseph
-
The Third Reconstruction
- America's Struggle for Racial Justice in the Twenty-First Century
- By: Peniel E. Joseph
- Narrated by: Peniel E. Joseph
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Distinguished historian Peniel E. Joseph offers a powerful and personal new interpretation of recent history. The racial reckoning that unfolded in 2020, he argues, marked the climax of a Third Reconstruction: a new struggle for citizenship and dignity for Black Americans, just as momentous as the movements that arose after the Civil War and during the civil rights era. Joseph draws revealing connections and insights across centuries as he traces this Third Reconstruction from the election of Barack Obama to the rise of Black Lives Matter to the failed assault on the Capitol.
-
-
Revealing & powerful.
- By Terry Carmon on 02-08-24
By: Peniel E. Joseph
-
The Fire Next Time
- By: James Baldwin
- Narrated by: Jesse L. Martin
- Length: 2 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At once a powerful evocation of his early life in Harlem and a disturbing examination of the consequences of racial injustice to both the individual and the body politic, James Baldwin galvanized the nation in the early days of the civil rights movement with this eloquent manifesto. The Fire Next Time stands as one of the essential works of our literature.
-
-
Sad and moving and powerful and beautiful
- By Darwin8u on 09-17-15
By: James Baldwin
-
Hammer and Hoe
- Alabama Communists During the Great Depression
- By: Robin D. G. Kelley
- Narrated by: David Sadzin
- Length: 13 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Alabama Communist Party was made up of working people without a Euro-American radical political tradition: devoutly religious and semiliterate Black laborers and sharecroppers, and a handful of Whites, including unemployed industrial workers, housewives, youth, and renegade liberals. In this book, Robin D. G. Kelley reveals how the experiences and identities of these people from Alabama's farms, factories, mines, kitchens, and city streets shaped the Party's tactics and unique political culture.
-
-
I should like this book more
- By bkpiper on 11-17-21
-
Speeches by Malcolm X - The Ultimate Collection
- By: Malcolm X
- Narrated by: Malcolm X
- Length: 17 hrs and 48 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"Any kind of movement for freedom of Black people based solely within the confines of America is absolutely doomed to fail." Speeches and interviews of Malcolm X.
-
-
Confused and disappointed by this book
- By LuvJonz on 06-13-20
By: Malcolm X
-
The Sword and the Shield
- The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.
- By: Peniel E. Joseph
- Narrated by: Zeno Robinson
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To most Americans, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. represent contrasting ideals. The struggle for Black freedom is wrought with the same contrasts. While nonviolent direct action is remembered as an unassailable part of American democracy, the movement's militancy is either vilified or erased outright. In The Sword and the Shield, Peniel E. Joseph upends these misconceptions and reveals a nuanced portrait of two men who, despite markedly different backgrounds, inspired and pushed each other throughout their adult lives.
-
-
Helpful contribution to civil rights history.
- By Adam Shields on 05-13-20
By: Peniel E. Joseph
-
Stokely: A Life
- By: Peniel E. Joseph
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 15 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stokely Carmichael, the charismatic and controversial Black activist, stepped onto the pages of history when he called for "Black Power" during a speech one humid Mississippi night in 1966. Carmichael’s life changed that day, and so did America’s struggle for civil rights. "Black Power" became the slogan of an era, provoking a national reckoning on race and democracy. In Stokely, preeminent civil rights scholar Peniel E. Joseph presents a groundbreaking biography of Carmichael.
-
-
Black Power icon
- By Adam Shields on 07-20-20
By: Peniel E. Joseph
-
The Third Reconstruction
- America's Struggle for Racial Justice in the Twenty-First Century
- By: Peniel E. Joseph
- Narrated by: Peniel E. Joseph
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Distinguished historian Peniel E. Joseph offers a powerful and personal new interpretation of recent history. The racial reckoning that unfolded in 2020, he argues, marked the climax of a Third Reconstruction: a new struggle for citizenship and dignity for Black Americans, just as momentous as the movements that arose after the Civil War and during the civil rights era. Joseph draws revealing connections and insights across centuries as he traces this Third Reconstruction from the election of Barack Obama to the rise of Black Lives Matter to the failed assault on the Capitol.
-
-
Revealing & powerful.
- By Terry Carmon on 02-08-24
By: Peniel E. Joseph
-
The Fire Next Time
- By: James Baldwin
- Narrated by: Jesse L. Martin
- Length: 2 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At once a powerful evocation of his early life in Harlem and a disturbing examination of the consequences of racial injustice to both the individual and the body politic, James Baldwin galvanized the nation in the early days of the civil rights movement with this eloquent manifesto. The Fire Next Time stands as one of the essential works of our literature.
-
-
Sad and moving and powerful and beautiful
- By Darwin8u on 09-17-15
By: James Baldwin
-
Hammer and Hoe
- Alabama Communists During the Great Depression
- By: Robin D. G. Kelley
- Narrated by: David Sadzin
- Length: 13 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Alabama Communist Party was made up of working people without a Euro-American radical political tradition: devoutly religious and semiliterate Black laborers and sharecroppers, and a handful of Whites, including unemployed industrial workers, housewives, youth, and renegade liberals. In this book, Robin D. G. Kelley reveals how the experiences and identities of these people from Alabama's farms, factories, mines, kitchens, and city streets shaped the Party's tactics and unique political culture.
-
-
I should like this book more
- By bkpiper on 11-17-21
-
Speeches by Malcolm X - The Ultimate Collection
- By: Malcolm X
- Narrated by: Malcolm X
- Length: 17 hrs and 48 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"Any kind of movement for freedom of Black people based solely within the confines of America is absolutely doomed to fail." Speeches and interviews of Malcolm X.
-
-
Confused and disappointed by this book
- By LuvJonz on 06-13-20
By: Malcolm X
-
Allow Me to Retort
- A Black Guy's Guide to the Constitution
- By: Elie Mystal
- Narrated by: Elie Mystal
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is an easily digestible argument about what rights we have, what rights Republicans are trying to take away, and how to stop them. Mystal explains how to protect the rights of women and people of color instead of cowering to the absolutism of gun owners and bigots. He explains the legal way to stop everything from police brutality to political gerrymandering, just by changing a few judges and justices. He strips out all of the fancy jargon conservatives like to hide behind and lays bare the truth of their project to keep America forever tethered to its slaveholding past.
-
-
Informative and Entertaining
- By Kindle Customer on 03-06-22
By: Elie Mystal
-
The Condemnation of Blackness
- Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America
- By: Khalil Gibran Muhammad
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 12 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lynch mobs, chain gangs, and popular views of black Southern criminals that defined the Jim Crow South are well known. We know less about the role of the urban North in shaping views of race and crime in American society. Chronicling the emergence of deeply embedded notions of black people as a dangerous race of criminals by explicit contrast to working-class whites and European immigrants, this fascinating book reveals the influence such ideas have had on urban development and social policies.
-
-
For a very select audience
- By Andrew on 12-28-17
-
Stamped from the Beginning
- The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America
- By: Ibram X. Kendi
- Narrated by: Christopher Dontrell Piper
- Length: 19 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Some Americans cling desperately to the myth that we are living in a post-racial society, that the election of the first Black president spelled the doom of racism. In fact, racist thought is alive and well in America - more sophisticated and more insidious than ever. And as award-winning historian Ibram X. Kendi argues in Stamped from the Beginning, if we have any hope of grappling with this stark reality, we must first understand how racist ideas were developed, disseminated, and enshrined in American society.
-
-
Fabulous book, poor reader
- By EBMason on 11-15-17
By: Ibram X. Kendi
-
They Want to Kill Americans
- The Militias, Terrorists, and Deranged Ideology of the Trump Insurgency
- By: Malcolm Nance
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They Want to Kill Americans is the first detailed look into the heart of the active Trump-led insurgency, setting the stage for a second nation-wide rebellion on American soil. This is a chilling and deeply researched early warning to the nation from a counterterrorism intelligence professional: America is primed for a possible explosive wave of terrorist attacks and armed confrontations that aim to bring about a Donald Trump led dictatorship.
-
-
It's informative and frightening
- By Amazon Customer on 07-17-22
By: Malcolm Nance
-
America on Fire
- The Untold History of Police Violence and Black Rebellion Since the 60's
- By: Elizabeth Hinton
- Narrated by: Shayna Small
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Elizabeth Hinton demonstrates in America on Fire the events of 2020 had clear precursors - and any attempt to understand our current crisis requires a reckoning with the recent past. Black rebellion, America on Fire powerfully illustrates, was born in response to poverty and exclusion, but most immediately in reaction to police violence. Presenting a new framework for understanding our nation’s strife, America on Fire is also a warning: Rebellions will surely continue until an oppressive system is finally remade on the principles of justice and equality.
-
-
Giant leaps of logic
- By Aaron Rudroff on 08-10-21
By: Elizabeth Hinton
-
Black Theology and Black Power
- By: James H. Cone, Cornel West - introduction
- Narrated by: Leon Nixon
- Length: 6 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First published in 1969, Black Theology and Black Power is the first systematic presentation of black theology that also introduced the voice of a young theologian who would shake the foundations of American theology. Relating the militant struggle for liberation with the gospel message of salvation, James Cone laid the foundations for an interpretation of Christianity from the perspective of the oppressed that retains its urgency and challenge today.
-
-
Powerful Theologic Warning to the Organized White Church From Black Theologian
- By Carl on 12-29-23
By: James H. Cone, and others
-
The New Huey P. Newton Reader
- By: Huey P. Newton, David Hilliard - editor, Donald Weise - editor
- Narrated by: Ryan Vincent Anderson, Larry Herron, Joniece Abbott-Pratt
- Length: 14 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first comprehensive collection of writings by the Black Panther Party founder and revolutionary icon of the Black liberation era, The Huey P. Newton Reader combines now-classic texts ranging in topic from the formation of the Black Panthers, African Americans and armed self-defense, and FBI infiltration of civil rights groups with never-before-published writings from the Black Panther Party archives and Newton’s private collection, including articles on President Nixon, prison martyr George Jackson, Pan-Africanism, affirmative action, Cuba, and more.
-
-
Insightful
- By Anonymous User on 07-20-20
By: Huey P. Newton, and others
-
Malcolm X
- A Life of Reinvention
- By: Manning Marable
- Narrated by: G. Valmont Thomas
- Length: 22 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Of the great figure in 20th-century American history perhaps none is more complex and controversial than Malcolm X. Constantly rewriting his own story, he became a criminal, a minister, a leader, and an icon, all before being felled by assassins' bullets at age 39. Through his tireless work and countless speeches he empowered hundreds of thousands of black Americans to create better lives and stronger communities while establishing the template for the self-actualized, independent African American man.
-
-
invites further reading on Malcolm X
- By connie on 05-14-11
By: Manning Marable
-
American Psychosis
- A Historical Investigation of How the Republican Party Went Crazy
- By: David Corn
- Narrated by: Steven Jay Cohen
- Length: 17 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A fast-paced, rollicking, behind-the-scenes account of how the GOP since the 1950s has encouraged and exploited extremism, bigotry, and paranoia to gain power, American Psychosis offers listeners a brisk, can-you-believe-it journey through the netherworld of far-right irrationality and the Republican Party’s interactions with the darkest forces in America.
-
-
Important history poorly read
- By A. Hawley on 09-16-22
By: David Corn
-
Pillar of Fire
- America in the King Years, 1963-65
- By: Taylor Branch
- Narrated by: Joe Morton, C.C.H. Pounder
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the second volume of his three-part history, a monumental trilogy that began with Parting the Waters, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, Taylor Branch portrays the Civil Rights Movement at its zenith, recounting the climactic struggles as they commanded the national stage. Beginning with the Nation of Islam and conflict over racial separatism, Pillar of Fire takes the listener to Mississippi and Alabama: Birmingham, the murder of Medgar Evers, the "March on Washington," the Civil Rights Act, and more.
-
-
the audio does not match with the book
- By Katie on 10-09-14
By: Taylor Branch
-
Black Against Empire
- The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party
- By: Joshua Bloom, Waldo E. Martin Jr.
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Oakland, California, in 1966, community college students Bobby Seale and Huey Newton armed themselves, began patrolling the police, and promised to prevent police brutality. Unlike the Civil Rights Movement that called for full citizenship rights for blacks within the US, the Black Panther Party rejected the legitimacy of the US government and positioned itself as part of a global struggle against American imperialism.
-
-
the explanation of rise and fall Black Panther
- By Antwine Hurst on 03-24-17
By: Joshua Bloom, and others
-
A Voice That Could Stir an Army
- Fannie Lou Hamer and the Rhetoric of the Black Freedom Movement
- By: Maegan Parker Brooks
- Narrated by: Kristyl Dawn Tift
- Length: 13 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A sharecropper, a warrior, and a truth-telling prophet, Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977) stands as a powerful symbol not only of the 1960s Black freedom movement, but also of the enduring human struggle against oppression. This is a rhetorical biography that tells the story of Hamer's life by focusing on how she employed symbols - images, words, and even material objects such as the ballot, food, and clothing - to construct persuasive public personae, to influence audiences, and to effect social change.
-
-
A rhetorical biography of Fannie Lou Hamer.
- By Adam Shields on 04-27-23
Critic reviews
"Once in a while a book comes along that projects the spirit of an era; this is one of them....Vibrant and expressive....A well-researched and well-written work." (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
Related to this topic
-
Black Against Empire
- The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party
- By: Joshua Bloom, Waldo E. Martin Jr.
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Oakland, California, in 1966, community college students Bobby Seale and Huey Newton armed themselves, began patrolling the police, and promised to prevent police brutality. Unlike the Civil Rights Movement that called for full citizenship rights for blacks within the US, the Black Panther Party rejected the legitimacy of the US government and positioned itself as part of a global struggle against American imperialism.
-
-
the explanation of rise and fall Black Panther
- By Antwine Hurst on 03-24-17
By: Joshua Bloom, and others
-
Malcolm X
- A Life of Reinvention
- By: Manning Marable
- Narrated by: G. Valmont Thomas
- Length: 22 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Of the great figure in 20th-century American history perhaps none is more complex and controversial than Malcolm X. Constantly rewriting his own story, he became a criminal, a minister, a leader, and an icon, all before being felled by assassins' bullets at age 39. Through his tireless work and countless speeches he empowered hundreds of thousands of black Americans to create better lives and stronger communities while establishing the template for the self-actualized, independent African American man.
-
-
invites further reading on Malcolm X
- By connie on 05-14-11
By: Manning Marable
-
The Sword and the Shield
- The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.
- By: Peniel E. Joseph
- Narrated by: Zeno Robinson
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To most Americans, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. represent contrasting ideals. The struggle for Black freedom is wrought with the same contrasts. While nonviolent direct action is remembered as an unassailable part of American democracy, the movement's militancy is either vilified or erased outright. In The Sword and the Shield, Peniel E. Joseph upends these misconceptions and reveals a nuanced portrait of two men who, despite markedly different backgrounds, inspired and pushed each other throughout their adult lives.
-
-
Helpful contribution to civil rights history.
- By Adam Shields on 05-13-20
By: Peniel E. Joseph
-
The Defender
- How the Legendary Black Newspaper Changed America; from the Age of the Pullman Porters to the Age of Obama
- By: Ethan Michaeli
- Narrated by: William Hughes
- Length: 22 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Giving voice to the voiceless, the Chicago Defender condemned Jim Crow, catalyzed the Great Migration, and focused the electoral power of black America. Robert S. Abbott founded the Defender in 1905, smuggled hundreds of thousands of copies into the most isolated communities in the segregated South, and was dubbed a "Modern Moses", becoming one of the first black millionaires in the process.
-
-
There's an unexpected genius here
- By Porter on 01-19-19
By: Ethan Michaeli
-
The Black History of the White House
- By: Clarence Lusane
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 16 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Black History of the White House presents the untold history, racial politics, and shifting significance of the White House as experienced by African Americans, from the generations of enslaved people who helped to build it or were forced to work there to its first black first family, the Obamas.
-
-
From Quarries to the Oval Office - Unforgettable
- By Susie on 07-14-16
By: Clarence Lusane
-
At Canaan's Edge
- America in the King Years 1965-68
- By: Taylor Branch
- Narrated by: Joe Morton
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At Canaan's Edge concludes America in the King Years, a three-volume history that will endure as a masterpiece of storytelling on American race, violence, and democracy. Pulitzer Prize-winner and best-selling author Taylor Branch makes clear in this magisterial account of the civil rights movement that Martin Luther King, Jr., earned a place next to James Madison and Abraham Lincoln in the pantheon of American history.
-
-
I hate abridged books
- By Four Bears on 10-19-10
By: Taylor Branch
-
Black Against Empire
- The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party
- By: Joshua Bloom, Waldo E. Martin Jr.
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Oakland, California, in 1966, community college students Bobby Seale and Huey Newton armed themselves, began patrolling the police, and promised to prevent police brutality. Unlike the Civil Rights Movement that called for full citizenship rights for blacks within the US, the Black Panther Party rejected the legitimacy of the US government and positioned itself as part of a global struggle against American imperialism.
-
-
the explanation of rise and fall Black Panther
- By Antwine Hurst on 03-24-17
By: Joshua Bloom, and others
-
Malcolm X
- A Life of Reinvention
- By: Manning Marable
- Narrated by: G. Valmont Thomas
- Length: 22 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Of the great figure in 20th-century American history perhaps none is more complex and controversial than Malcolm X. Constantly rewriting his own story, he became a criminal, a minister, a leader, and an icon, all before being felled by assassins' bullets at age 39. Through his tireless work and countless speeches he empowered hundreds of thousands of black Americans to create better lives and stronger communities while establishing the template for the self-actualized, independent African American man.
-
-
invites further reading on Malcolm X
- By connie on 05-14-11
By: Manning Marable
-
The Sword and the Shield
- The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.
- By: Peniel E. Joseph
- Narrated by: Zeno Robinson
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To most Americans, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. represent contrasting ideals. The struggle for Black freedom is wrought with the same contrasts. While nonviolent direct action is remembered as an unassailable part of American democracy, the movement's militancy is either vilified or erased outright. In The Sword and the Shield, Peniel E. Joseph upends these misconceptions and reveals a nuanced portrait of two men who, despite markedly different backgrounds, inspired and pushed each other throughout their adult lives.
-
-
Helpful contribution to civil rights history.
- By Adam Shields on 05-13-20
By: Peniel E. Joseph
-
The Defender
- How the Legendary Black Newspaper Changed America; from the Age of the Pullman Porters to the Age of Obama
- By: Ethan Michaeli
- Narrated by: William Hughes
- Length: 22 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Giving voice to the voiceless, the Chicago Defender condemned Jim Crow, catalyzed the Great Migration, and focused the electoral power of black America. Robert S. Abbott founded the Defender in 1905, smuggled hundreds of thousands of copies into the most isolated communities in the segregated South, and was dubbed a "Modern Moses", becoming one of the first black millionaires in the process.
-
-
There's an unexpected genius here
- By Porter on 01-19-19
By: Ethan Michaeli
-
The Black History of the White House
- By: Clarence Lusane
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 16 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Black History of the White House presents the untold history, racial politics, and shifting significance of the White House as experienced by African Americans, from the generations of enslaved people who helped to build it or were forced to work there to its first black first family, the Obamas.
-
-
From Quarries to the Oval Office - Unforgettable
- By Susie on 07-14-16
By: Clarence Lusane
-
At Canaan's Edge
- America in the King Years 1965-68
- By: Taylor Branch
- Narrated by: Joe Morton
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At Canaan's Edge concludes America in the King Years, a three-volume history that will endure as a masterpiece of storytelling on American race, violence, and democracy. Pulitzer Prize-winner and best-selling author Taylor Branch makes clear in this magisterial account of the civil rights movement that Martin Luther King, Jr., earned a place next to James Madison and Abraham Lincoln in the pantheon of American history.
-
-
I hate abridged books
- By Four Bears on 10-19-10
By: Taylor Branch
-
Antifa
- The Anti-Fascist Handbook
- By: Mark Bray
- Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As long as there has been fascism, there has been anti-fascism - also known as "antifa." Born out of resistance to Mussolini and Hitler in Europe during the 1920s and '30s, the antifa movement has suddenly burst into the headlines amid opposition to the Trump administration and the alt-right. In a smart and gripping investigation, historian and former Occupy Wall Street organizer Mark Bray provides a detailed survey of the full history of anti-fascism from its origins to the present day - the first transnational history of postwar anti-fascism in English.
-
-
Not on my watch
- By michael on 10-15-20
By: Mark Bray
-
The Third Reconstruction
- America's Struggle for Racial Justice in the Twenty-First Century
- By: Peniel E. Joseph
- Narrated by: Peniel E. Joseph
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Distinguished historian Peniel E. Joseph offers a powerful and personal new interpretation of recent history. The racial reckoning that unfolded in 2020, he argues, marked the climax of a Third Reconstruction: a new struggle for citizenship and dignity for Black Americans, just as momentous as the movements that arose after the Civil War and during the civil rights era. Joseph draws revealing connections and insights across centuries as he traces this Third Reconstruction from the election of Barack Obama to the rise of Black Lives Matter to the failed assault on the Capitol.
-
-
Revealing & powerful.
- By Terry Carmon on 02-08-24
By: Peniel E. Joseph
-
The Communist
- Frank Marshall Davis: The Untold Story of Barack Obama's Mentor
- By: Paul Kengor
- Narrated by: Pete Larkin
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his memoir, Barack Obama omits the full name of his mentor, simply calling him "Frank." Now, the truth is out: Never has a figure as deeply troubling and controversial as Frank Marshall Davis had such an impact on the development of an American president. Although other radical influences on Obama - from Jeremiah Wright to Bill Ayers-have been scrutinized, the public knows little about Davis, a card-carrying member of the Communist Party USA, cited by the Associated Press as an "important influence" on Obama....
-
-
So that's where Obama got many of his ideas!
- By Mike on 09-17-12
By: Paul Kengor
-
The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution: 1763-1789
- By: Robert Middlekauff
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 26 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first book to appear in the illustrious Oxford History of the United States, this critically-acclaimed volume - a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize - offers an unsurpassed history of the Revolutionary War and the birth of the American republic.
-
-
Strong History Rich With Behind The Scenes Details
- By John on 10-06-11
-
Pillar of Fire
- America in the King Years, 1963-65
- By: Taylor Branch
- Narrated by: Joe Morton, C.C.H. Pounder
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the second volume of his three-part history, a monumental trilogy that began with Parting the Waters, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, Taylor Branch portrays the Civil Rights Movement at its zenith, recounting the climactic struggles as they commanded the national stage. Beginning with the Nation of Islam and conflict over racial separatism, Pillar of Fire takes the listener to Mississippi and Alabama: Birmingham, the murder of Medgar Evers, the "March on Washington," the Civil Rights Act, and more.
-
-
the audio does not match with the book
- By Katie on 10-09-14
By: Taylor Branch
-
A Voice That Could Stir an Army
- Fannie Lou Hamer and the Rhetoric of the Black Freedom Movement
- By: Maegan Parker Brooks
- Narrated by: Kristyl Dawn Tift
- Length: 13 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A sharecropper, a warrior, and a truth-telling prophet, Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977) stands as a powerful symbol not only of the 1960s Black freedom movement, but also of the enduring human struggle against oppression. This is a rhetorical biography that tells the story of Hamer's life by focusing on how she employed symbols - images, words, and even material objects such as the ballot, food, and clothing - to construct persuasive public personae, to influence audiences, and to effect social change.
-
-
A rhetorical biography of Fannie Lou Hamer.
- By Adam Shields on 04-27-23
-
Hitler's American Friends
- The Third Reich's Supporters in the United States
- By: Bradley W. Hart
- Narrated by: Chris Ciulla
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hitler's American Friends, by Bradley W. Hart, is an audiobook examining the strange terrain of Nazi sympathizers, nonintervention campaigners, and other voices in America who advocated on behalf of Nazi Germany in the years before World War II. Americans who remember World War II reminisce about how it brought the country together. The less-popular truth behind this warm nostalgia: Until the attack on Pearl Harbor, America was deeply, dangerously divided.
-
-
Excellent Information
- By Laura on 05-09-19
By: Bradley W. Hart
-
Set the Night on Fire
- L.A. in the Sixties
- By: Mike Davis, Jon Wiener
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 25 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Los Angeles in the '60s was a hotbed of political and social upheaval. The city was a launchpad for Black Power - where Malcolm X and Angela Davis first came to prominence and the Watts uprising shook the nation. The city was home to the Chicano Blowouts and Chicano Moratorium, as well as being the birthplace of “Asian American” as a political identity. It was a locus of the antiwar movement, gay liberation movement, and women’s movement, and, of course, the capital of California counterculture.
-
-
An amazingly comprehensive story of a critical decade.
- By Manifesta on 11-29-20
By: Mike Davis, and others
-
Into the Bright Sunshine
- Young Hubert Humphrey and the Fight for Civil Rights (Pivotal Moments in American History Series)
- By: Samuel G. Freedman
- Narrated by: Mike Lenz
- Length: 17 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
During one sweltering week in July 1948, the Democratic Party gathered in Philadelphia for its national convention. The most pressing and controversial issue facing the delegates was not whom to nominate for president—the incumbent, Harry Truman, was the presumptive candidate—but whether the Democrats would finally embrace the cause of civil rights and embed it in their official platform. On the convention's final day, Hubert Humphrey, the relatively obscure mayor of the midsized city of Minneapolis, ascended the podium.
-
-
Civil Rights for All not just limited segments of society.
- By Patricia A Gustafson on 06-02-24
-
Bearing the Cross
- Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
- By: David J. Garrow
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 34 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Winner of the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Biography and the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award, this is the most comprehensive book ever written about the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. David J. Garrow had unrestricted access to Martin Luther King's personal papers, to thousands of pages of newly released FBI documents and more than 700 interviews with King's closest friends and enemies.
-
-
great but long
- By Thomas on 04-29-10
By: David J. Garrow
-
The Corrosion of Conservatism
- Why I Left the Right
- By: Max Boot
- Narrated by: Max Boot
- Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Warning that the Trump presidency presages America’s decline, Max Boot, the political commentator, recounts his extraordinary journey from lifelong Republican to vehement Trump opponent. As nativism, xenophobia, vile racism, and assaults on the rule of law threaten the very fabric of our nation, The Corrosion of Conservatism presents an urgent defense of American democracy.
-
-
Not an intellectual tour de force!
- By Wayne on 07-14-19
By: Max Boot
-
The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Sixties
- By: Jonathan Leaf
- Narrated by: Rick Silversmith
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this blast from the past, Leaf exposes the lies and busts the myths propagated by the liberal establishment. Did you know that the civil-rights movement did little to improve the lives of average African Americans and that most Americans actively supported the Vietnam War and the draft?
-
-
Biased reviews much?
- By Thomas G on 12-06-20
By: Jonathan Leaf
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Eyes on the Prize
- America's Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965
- By: Juan Williams, Julian Bond - introduction
- Narrated by: Sean Crisden
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr., to lesser-known figures such as Barbara Rose Johns and Jim Zwerg, each man and woman made the decision that something had to be done to stop discrimination. These moving accounts of the first decade of the civil rights movement are a tribute to the people, black and white, who took part in the fight for justice and the struggle they endured.
-
-
This is a must in every household.
- By victor mercer on 07-12-19
By: Juan Williams, and others
-
Fatal Decision
- The Freeman Files Series, Book 1
- By: Ted Tayler
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gus Freeman is a retired detective inspector who has spent the past three years alone. Freeman’s wife, Tess, died from a brain aneurysm six months to the day after his retirement. He is still coming to terms with his enforced solitary existence. His old boss wants Gus to head up a Crime Review Team investigating cold cases. Old witness statements plus fresh clues, and the hunt would be on. But Freeman wonders whether his superiors need his old-style methods.
-
-
New Author to Read
- By LuvBks on 03-21-23
By: Ted Tayler
-
The Family Next Door
- The Heartbreaking Imprisonment of the 13 Turpin Siblings and Their Extraordinary Rescue
- By: John Glatt
- Narrated by: Shaun Grindell
- Length: 8 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On January 14, 2018, a 17-year-old girl climbed out of the window of her Perris, California home and dialed 911 with shaking fingers. Struggling to stay calm, she told the operator that she and her 12 siblings - ranging in age from two to 29 - were being abused by their parents. When the dispatcher asked for her address, the girl hesitated. "I've never been out," she stammered.
-
-
Sloppy Journalism
- By R. Squyres on 08-21-19
By: John Glatt
-
The Confidential Agent
- By: Graham Greene
- Narrated by: Patrick Tull
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Trusted by no one, trusting nobody, the Confidential Agent is sent to England. But before his mission has barely begun, he comes face to face with an agent from the other side. As the car he is driving is run down in the fog, a thought strikes him: "It isn't probable - not in England, but it seems to be true, nonetheless - they're going to kill me."
-
-
approach it as a fable
- By connie on 10-18-08
By: Graham Greene
-
The Sword and the Shield
- The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.
- By: Peniel E. Joseph
- Narrated by: Zeno Robinson
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To most Americans, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. represent contrasting ideals. The struggle for Black freedom is wrought with the same contrasts. While nonviolent direct action is remembered as an unassailable part of American democracy, the movement's militancy is either vilified or erased outright. In The Sword and the Shield, Peniel E. Joseph upends these misconceptions and reveals a nuanced portrait of two men who, despite markedly different backgrounds, inspired and pushed each other throughout their adult lives.
-
-
Helpful contribution to civil rights history.
- By Adam Shields on 05-13-20
By: Peniel E. Joseph
-
Enduring Vietnam
- An American Generation and Its War
- By: James Wright
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 15 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Vietnam War is largely recalled as a mistake, either in the decision to engage there or in the nature of the engagement. Or both. Veterans of the war remain largely anonymous figures, accomplices in the mistake. Critically recounting the steps that led to the war, this book does not excuse the mistakes, but it brings those who served out of the shadows. Enduring Vietnam recounts the experiences of the young Americans who fought in Vietnam and of families who grieved those who did not return.
-
-
Great
- By Rebecca Delgado on 03-20-23
By: James Wright
-
Eyes on the Prize
- America's Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965
- By: Juan Williams, Julian Bond - introduction
- Narrated by: Sean Crisden
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr., to lesser-known figures such as Barbara Rose Johns and Jim Zwerg, each man and woman made the decision that something had to be done to stop discrimination. These moving accounts of the first decade of the civil rights movement are a tribute to the people, black and white, who took part in the fight for justice and the struggle they endured.
-
-
This is a must in every household.
- By victor mercer on 07-12-19
By: Juan Williams, and others
-
Fatal Decision
- The Freeman Files Series, Book 1
- By: Ted Tayler
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gus Freeman is a retired detective inspector who has spent the past three years alone. Freeman’s wife, Tess, died from a brain aneurysm six months to the day after his retirement. He is still coming to terms with his enforced solitary existence. His old boss wants Gus to head up a Crime Review Team investigating cold cases. Old witness statements plus fresh clues, and the hunt would be on. But Freeman wonders whether his superiors need his old-style methods.
-
-
New Author to Read
- By LuvBks on 03-21-23
By: Ted Tayler
-
The Family Next Door
- The Heartbreaking Imprisonment of the 13 Turpin Siblings and Their Extraordinary Rescue
- By: John Glatt
- Narrated by: Shaun Grindell
- Length: 8 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On January 14, 2018, a 17-year-old girl climbed out of the window of her Perris, California home and dialed 911 with shaking fingers. Struggling to stay calm, she told the operator that she and her 12 siblings - ranging in age from two to 29 - were being abused by their parents. When the dispatcher asked for her address, the girl hesitated. "I've never been out," she stammered.
-
-
Sloppy Journalism
- By R. Squyres on 08-21-19
By: John Glatt
-
The Confidential Agent
- By: Graham Greene
- Narrated by: Patrick Tull
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Trusted by no one, trusting nobody, the Confidential Agent is sent to England. But before his mission has barely begun, he comes face to face with an agent from the other side. As the car he is driving is run down in the fog, a thought strikes him: "It isn't probable - not in England, but it seems to be true, nonetheless - they're going to kill me."
-
-
approach it as a fable
- By connie on 10-18-08
By: Graham Greene
-
The Sword and the Shield
- The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.
- By: Peniel E. Joseph
- Narrated by: Zeno Robinson
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To most Americans, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. represent contrasting ideals. The struggle for Black freedom is wrought with the same contrasts. While nonviolent direct action is remembered as an unassailable part of American democracy, the movement's militancy is either vilified or erased outright. In The Sword and the Shield, Peniel E. Joseph upends these misconceptions and reveals a nuanced portrait of two men who, despite markedly different backgrounds, inspired and pushed each other throughout their adult lives.
-
-
Helpful contribution to civil rights history.
- By Adam Shields on 05-13-20
By: Peniel E. Joseph
-
Enduring Vietnam
- An American Generation and Its War
- By: James Wright
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 15 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Vietnam War is largely recalled as a mistake, either in the decision to engage there or in the nature of the engagement. Or both. Veterans of the war remain largely anonymous figures, accomplices in the mistake. Critically recounting the steps that led to the war, this book does not excuse the mistakes, but it brings those who served out of the shadows. Enduring Vietnam recounts the experiences of the young Americans who fought in Vietnam and of families who grieved those who did not return.
-
-
Great
- By Rebecca Delgado on 03-20-23
By: James Wright
-
The Dating Game Killer
- The True Story of a TV Dating Show, a Violent Sociopath, and a Series of Brutal Murders
- By: Stella Sands
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1978, Rodney Alcala was a contestant on the The Dating Game, one of America's most popular television shows at the time. Handsome, successful, and romantic, he was embraced by the audience - and chosen as the winner by the beautiful bachelorette. To viewers across the country, Rodney seemed like the answer to every woman's dreams. Until they learned the truth about his once and future crimes.
-
-
Like listening to a news report
- By E.J. in Pa. on 09-18-18
By: Stella Sands
-
When Affirmative Action Was White
- An Untold History of Racial Inequality in Twentieth-Century America
- By: Ira Katznelson
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this "penetrating new analysis" ( New York Times Book Review), Ira Katznelson fundamentally recasts our understanding of 20th century American history and demonstrates that all the key programs passed during the New Deal and Fair Deal era of the 1930s and 1940s were created in a deeply discriminatory manner. Through mechanisms designed by southern democrats that specifically excluded maids and farm workers, the gap between blacks and whites actually widened despite postwar prosperity.
-
-
Absolute Must Read
- By Andrew on 01-02-18
By: Ira Katznelson
-
Stokely: A Life
- By: Peniel E. Joseph
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 15 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stokely Carmichael, the charismatic and controversial Black activist, stepped onto the pages of history when he called for "Black Power" during a speech one humid Mississippi night in 1966. Carmichael’s life changed that day, and so did America’s struggle for civil rights. "Black Power" became the slogan of an era, provoking a national reckoning on race and democracy. In Stokely, preeminent civil rights scholar Peniel E. Joseph presents a groundbreaking biography of Carmichael.
-
-
Black Power icon
- By Adam Shields on 07-20-20
By: Peniel E. Joseph
-
Brain Food
- The Surprising Science of Eating for Cognitive Power
- By: Lisa Mosconi PhD
- Narrated by: Norah Tocci
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dr. Lisa Mosconi, whose research spans an extraordinary range of specialties including brain science, the microbiome, and nutritional genomics, notes that the dietary needs of the brain are substantially different from those of the other organs, yet few of us have any idea what they might be. Her innovative approach to cognitive health incorporates concepts that most doctors have yet to learn. Busting through advice based on pseudoscience, Dr. Mosconi provides recommendations for a complete food plan, while calling out noteworthy surprises.
-
-
Lack of scientific research
- By Jane on 07-06-18
By: Lisa Mosconi PhD
-
Healing After Loss
- Daily Meditations for Working Through Grief
- By: Martha Whitmore Hickman
- Narrated by: Lorna Raver
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After the loss of a loved one, once the services are over and the relatives and friends have gone home, we are left to enter a strange new land, where someone who has given meaning to our life is gone. Drawing on her own experience as well as that of others, author Martha Whitmore Hickman presents a year's worth of meditations for people dealing with this profound loss, offering solace and illuminating a way forward. From January 1 to December 31, each day's meditation considers a meaningful quotation or passage on grief or suffering....
-
-
Excellent if you are dealing with a loss...
- By Sandra on 02-24-13
-
The New Jim Crow
- Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, 10th Anniversary Edition
- By: Michelle Alexander
- Narrated by: Karen Chilton
- Length: 16 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seldom does a book have the impact of Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow. Since it was first published in 2010, it has been cited in judicial decisions and has been adopted in campus-wide and community-wide reads; it helped inspire the creation of the Marshall Project and the new $100 million Art for Justice Fund; it has been the winner of numerous prizes, including the prestigious NAACP Image Award; and it has spent nearly 250 weeks on the New York Times best seller list.
-
-
Shocking, Important and Brilliant
- By Tim on 10-06-14
What listeners say about Waiting 'Til the Midnight Hour
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- platypusrex256
- 09-26-23
Great surface level analysis
If you read only one book about the civil rights movement, this might not be the best place to start. It offers surface level analysis which is only valuable if you are already familiar with the characters and events that take place. Much more valuable book once you’re familiar with MLK, Malcom X, Stokely Carmichael, Huey Newton and Eldridge Cleaver.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- BD2
- 07-16-15
Wonderful at providing context
Fantastic historic timeline of the events and personalities of the Black Power Movement. The Movement is placed into detailed social, political, cultural and historical context providing amazing insight!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Grover
- 07-29-14
Decent Introduction, not thorough at all
Is there anything you would change about this book?
A book about Black Power that spends hardly any time on George Padmore, James Boggs, Franz Fanon or the Revolutionary Action Movements is pretty surprising. On the whole, this book is just barely deeper than the last chapter of most books on the civil rights movement. For the most part, the book focused on the big luminaries and their personal political trajectory rather than the practical application of Black Power in communities across the country. Why dedicate a chapter to Huey P Newton's trial, while barely touching on the work done by the BPP in the community.
This book is a great introduction to the casual reader who has no knowledge of the Black Power movement, but will be a very unsatisfactory read for any student of Black Power, Civil Rights, or the era in general.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michelle
- 03-30-16
Missing key figures.
To write a book about the black power movement and not even mention Assata Shukur is mind boggling. How do you mention Tupac Shakur and not his Aunt Assata? And Mumia Abu-Jamal, also absent. A very brief mention of Fred Hampton in regards to his assassination is a disservice. The BPP's stance on capitalism and imperialism was not explored nearly enough. Much more attention to the tremendously successful social programs implemented by the BPP was necessary. Also, COINTELPRO and its pivotal role was glossed over. Not enough time was given to the misogyny and patriarchy the Black Power movement was steeped in, as well as homophobia. Elaine Brown deserved more attention and Eldridge Cleaver less. His unapologetic stance on the women he raped should never be overlooked. What about MOVE? The book started out on the right path but veered off around the Black Panthers. The book ended up being a disappointment.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kathy
- 11-21-12
Excellent overview of under addressed era
There are far too few audiobooks addressing African-American history, especially those not focused on Dr. King and the mid 60s era. For me, who is coming to this genre with only general knowledge, it really whets my appetite for more. I was afraid that by calling it a "narrative history," that the author would more or less just link quotes together, but it is presented as a chronological history that is more helpful to novices such as myself. The author presents the material in a relatively objective manner, which adds to the book's accessibility. A very valuable work.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ralph
- 12-01-18
An important study of the Black Power Movement.
I was born in 1948. I lived through most of the history depicted in this book. Malcom X, Muhammad Ali, and Stokely Carmichael were 3 of my greatest inspirations. This book in my opinion is the most accurate and objective account of these events. Important listening for all who want to understand this era of African American history. R. H.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- burnsobright1
- 09-02-16
Poor editing
Book is good, but the editing is pretty poor. There are moments when the narrator is trying to figure out how to say a phrase that should have been edited out, and chapters just bleed into each other without any sort of pause.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- John Gathly
- 02-03-17
bad editing. weak coverage
Is there anything you would change about this book?
There are audio mistakes left in the finished product. That's not the narrator's fault. The publisher shows a lack of professionalism here.
The author doesn't cover enough of the history of black power in America. A great deal is glossed over or simply missing.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Joseph Caldwell
- 07-10-19
Great Work Compelling in the Way It is Told
Outstanding history of the Black Power Movement the weaves the movement together without obscuring its diversity.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Adam Shields
- 03-15-23
Editing not complete, but book worth reading
Waiting 'Til the Midnight Hour is the third book I have read by Peniel Joseph, but it was Joseph's first book, published in 2006. And as you would expect from an academic historian, his books tend to concentrate on overlapping characters and eras. He is a historian of the mid-20th century civil rights era, concentrating on the Black Power movement. I recommend his biography of Stokley Carmichael and the joint biography of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.
I purchased the kindle book Waiting 'Til the Midnight Hour about four years ago but did not get around to reading it until I picked up the audiobook for free as part of the Audible member Plus catalog. The audiobook was not well edited. The narration was fine, but it felt like the editing was not complete. There were many places with long pauses where it appears that the narrator was intentionally putting in a pause for editing purposes that the editor did not remove. And one where the narrator took seven or eight attempts at a name before saying it correctly and naturally in context, and obviously, the editing should have removed that. There were other places where the audio had short repetitions.
Those editing errors (except for the pauses) were all in the book's first half. So I wonder if the audiobook editing influenced my complaints about the disjointedness of the book's first part. And that may be the case. But the book felt like it took a while to really come together. The earlier portions of the book were more context of the development of the Black Power movement, which was also the part of the story I was most familiar with. So again, I may have been influenced by being more interested in the later sections of the book, where I was mostly hearing history that I was less familiar with.
I had three main takeaways from the book. First, I think the development of the Black Power movement was significantly influenced by white backlash to the civil rights movement. Stokley Carmichael's use of Black Power during the 1966 march in Mississippi in response to the James Meredith shooting was not the term's first use. (Richard Wright had a book in 1954 titled Black Power, and others used the phrase before Carmichael, but it was Carmichael's use that popularized it.) By 1966, Brown v Board of Ed had been decided 12 years earlier, and much of the country was still segregated. The 1964 Civil Rights act (making it illegal to discriminate on the basis of race in restaurants or hotels, or other public settings) and the 1965 Voting Rights Act had both passed, but the march in Mississippi proved that the federal government was still reluctant to enforce the law. MLK Jr's assassination less than two years later gave further power to the frustrations of how civil rights were increasingly being thwarted through less overt means.
My second takeaway is that the Black Power movement had some level of sexism within the movement. SNCC, as an organization, identified sexism as a problem within traditional civil rights organizations early on. Ella Baker worked to design SNCC as a more egalitarian organization (both in gender and organizational structure) in response to the more authoritarian and leader-driven organizations like NAACP and SCLC. But as SNCC started to struggle internally, it appeared to become more oriented toward male leadership. Later, groups like the Black Panthers were even more hierarchical, and leaders like Huey Newton and Eldrige Cleaver were accused or convicted of rape. That is not to say that women were not involved in the Black Power movement or that it was an inherently sexist structure, but the sexism that did exist within the Black Power movement influenced the rise of Womanist thought as a reaction. Movements arise not just out of pure ideology but in response to events and as a reaction to earlier lines of thought.
Third, the cultural strength of Black Power as a set of ideals likely has had a more lasting impact than the organizations around the Black Power movement. The Black Panthers were not just about rejecting non-violence as the primary means of achieving civil rights but also about self-empowerment. There was an embrace of radical politics but also conservative ideas as well. And the role of the FBI and the federal and local governments actively planting agents to compromise the group's organizational structures and to create distrust among leaders played a role in weakening the sustainability of the organizations over the long term.
"Cointelpro would eventually include 360 operations designed to disrupt black nationalist organizing and, ultimately, would represent a watershed event in American history as it curtailed the FBI’s long-practiced policy of requiring a connection between domestic dissidents and foreign agents to justify bureau activity. Its secret war against Black Power activists would be marked by unprecedented abuses of federal power that featured the systematic, illegal harassment, imprisonment, and, at times, death, of black militants."
As with much of civil rights history, there has been a flattening of the history of the black power movement until it has become more caricature than nuanced history. Peneil Joseph has helpfully contextualized the black power movement, strengths and weaknesses, to help recover that transitional history from the earlier civil rights movement to the more recent history of a racialized United States.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!