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Reflections on Blackness and Our Political Future
by Brandi Collins-Dexter
For fans of Bad Feminist and The Sum of Us, Black Skinhead sparks a radical conversation about Black America and political identity.
In Black Skinhead, Brandi Collins-Dexter, former Senior Campaign Director for Color Of Change, explores the fragile alliance between Black voters and the Democratic party. Through sharp, timely essays that span the political, cultural, and personal, Collins-Dexter reveals decades of simmering disaffection in Black America, told as much through voter statistics as it is through music, film, sports, and the baffling mind of Kanye West.
While Black Skinhead is an outward look at Black votership and electoral politics, it is also a funny, deeply personal, and introspective look at Black culture and identity, ultimately revealing a Black America that has become deeply disillusioned with the failed promises of its country.
"Political activist Collins-Dexter debuts with an immersive and insightful look at the Black community's fraying relationship with the Democratic Party...Collins-Dexter spotlights a diverse range of Black political thinkers...Seamlessly balancing the personal, political, and cultural, and enlivened with a sharp sense of wit, these standout pieces strike an essential note of warning for Democrats." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Featuring a vivid mix of hard data, anecdotal details, and scholarly research, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in politics and Black lives in America. A remarkable work that leaves us feeling hopeful for change." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"In her powerful essays, Collins-Dexter—an influential media commentator and former senior campaign director for Color of Change—explores the fragile alliance between the Democratic Party and Black voters in a mix of memoir, research, and analysis. Recommended for everyone interested in the U.S. political landscape, Black lives, and identity in America." - Booklist
"How can the most reliable Democratic voters be the most dissatisfied with the Democratic Party? Why does the political class obsess over the shifting loyalties of white voters but ignore Black voters who are experiencing the same doubts? To explain why—and what to do about it—Brandi Collins-Dexter seamlessly weaves political analysis with cultural criticism, historical perspectives with deeply personal stories. She not only shows us what Black voters are yearning for, she tells us what will happen if we do not pay attention." - Heather McGhee, New York Times bestselling author of The Sum of Us
"Black Skinhead is the story we need, right now, of how Black civil society is disintegrating―and how we ignore it at our peril. Sharp, witty, poignant and honest, Black Skinhead is a tale of our generation, and points to what we might do to stop ourselves from careening off a cliff of nihilism. In this political age, there is no more important task." - Alicia Garza, principal of Black Futures Lab, co-creator of #BlackLivesMatter, and author of The Purpose of Power
"Brandi Collins-Dexter has written the book I wanted to read about Black politics in America not just in the wake of Donald Trump's presidency, but after the elections of Barack Obama and Joe Biden failed to deliver material results for Black people. With nuance, pathos, and an unflinching honesty, Collins-Dexter carefully explores the "unsatisfied" and "unsettled" relationship between the Democratic Party and the Black voters (and would-be voters) it takes for granted. She seamlessly and deftly weaves between what she's learned from thinking partners as different as Kanye West, his mother Donda West, historian Leah Wright Rigueur, activist Kwame Ture, Black Trump supporters, radio host Charlamagne tha God, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and―most personally―her late, basketball-dribbling father. The essays of Black Skinhead will haunt you, inspire you and make you consider contemporary Black politics in America in profoundly new ways." - Steven W. Thrasher, PhD, author of The Viral Underclass
This information about Black Skinhead was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Brandi Collins-Dexter is the former Senior Campaign Director at Color Of Change, where she oversaw the media, culture, and economic justice departments. She led a number of successful corporate accountability campaigns ranging from getting R. Kelly dropped from RCA to pressuring financial companies to pull funding from over 100 hate groups. She has testified in front of Congress on issues related to race, technology and corporate accountability. Brandi is a regular commentator in the media on racial justice and was named a 2017 "person to watch" by The Hill and one of the 100 most influential African Americans by The Root in 2019. She holds a B.A. in history from Agnes Scott College, and a J.D. from University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School. She is a visiting fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy. Brandi comes from a long line of South Side Chicagoans and currently lives in Baltimore with her husband David and their cat, Ella.
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