What truth sounds like : Robert F. Kennedy, James Baldwin, and our unfinished conversation about race in America
Book
First edition.
"In 1963 Attorney General Robert Kennedy sought out James Baldwin to explain the rage that threatened to engulf black America. Baldwin brought along some friends, including playwright Lorraine Hansberry, psychologist Kenneth Clark, and a valiant activist, Jerome Smith. It was Smith's relentless, unfiltered fury that set Kennedy on his heels, reducing him to sullen silence. Kennedy walked away from the nearly three-hour meeting angry - that the black folk assembled didn't understand politics, and that they weren't as easy to talk to as Martin Luther King. But especially that they were more interested in witness than policy. But Kennedy's anger quickly gave way to empathy, especially for Smith. "I guess if I were in his shoes...I might feel differently about this country." Kennedy set about changing policy - the meeting having transformed his thinking in fundamental ways. There was more: every big argument about race that persists to this day got a hearing in that room. Smith declaring that he'd never fight for his country given its racist tendencies, and Kennedy being appalled at such lack of patriotism, tracks the disdain for black dissent in our own time. His belief that black folk were ungrateful for the Kennedys' efforts to make things better shows up in our day as the charge that black folk wallow in the politics of ingratitude and victimhood. The contributions of black queer folk to racial progress still cause a stir. BLM has been accused of harboring a covert queer agenda. The immigrant experience, like that of Kennedy - versus the racial experience of Baldwin - is a cudgel to excoriate black folk for lacking hustle and ingenuity. The questioning of whether folk who are interracially partnered can authentically communicate black interests persists."
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| Location | Call Number / Shelving Location |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Bedford Hills Free Library | 305.8 D (Text) Nonfiction |
31003151479851 |
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| Briarcliff Manor Public Library | 305.8 DYSON (Text) Nonfiction |
31036150869250 |
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| Bronxville Public Library | 305.8 D (Text) Nonfiction |
31004151597247 |
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| Chappaqua Library | 305.8 DYSON (Text) Nonfiction |
31005600030698 |
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| Croton Free Library | 305.8009 D (Text) Nonfiction |
31006151682309 |
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| Eastchester Public Library | 305.8 D (Text) Nonfiction |
31008152292047 |
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| Greenburgh Public Library | 305.8 D (Text) Nonfiction |
31009154533412 |
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| Harrison Public Library | 305.8 D (Text) Nonfiction |
31010300151752 |
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| Hendrick Hudson Free Library | 305.8 D (Text) Nonfiction |
31016151644035 |
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| John C. Hart Memorial Library | 305.8 D (Text) Nonfiction |
31030154790364 |
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| Larchmont Public Library | 305.8009 D (Text) Nonfiction |
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| Mamaroneck Public Library District | 305.8 DYS (Text) Nonfiction |
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| Mount Kisco Public Library | 305.8 DYSON (Text) Nonfiction |
31017151851448 |
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| Mount Vernon Public Library | 305.8 D (Text) Nonfiction |
31018155195204 |
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| New Rochelle Public Library | 305.8 D (Text) Nonfiction |
31019155946133 |
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| Ossining Public Library | 305.8 D (Text) Nonfiction |
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| Port Chester-Rye Brook Public Library | 305.8 D (Text) Nonfiction |
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| Pound Ridge Library District | 305.8 DYS (Text) Available In Storage |
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| Scarsdale Public Library | 305.8 D (Text) Nonfiction |
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| The Field Library | 305.8 D (Text) Nonfiction |
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| Warner Library | 305.8 D (Text) Nonfiction |
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| White Plains Public Library | 305.8 D (Text) Nonfiction |
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| Yonkers Crestwood Library | 305.8 D (Text) Nonfiction |
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| Yonkers Riverfront Library | HS 305.8 D (Text) Reference |
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| 100 | 1 | . | ‡aDyson, Michael Eric, ‡eauthor. ‡0nr 93018968 ‡0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/nr93018968 |
| 245 | 1 | 0. | ‡aWhat truth sounds like : ‡bRobert F. Kennedy, James Baldwin, and our unfinished conversation about race in America / ‡cMichael Eric Dyson. |
| 246 | 3 | 0. | ‡aRobert F. Kennedy, James Baldwin, and our unfinished conversation about race in America |
| 250 | . | ‡aFirst edition. | |
| 264 | 1. | ‡aNew York : ‡bSt. Martin's Press, ‡c[2018] | |
| 300 | . | ‡a294 pages ; ‡c21 cm | |
| 336 | . | ‡atext ‡btxt ‡2rdacontent | |
| 337 | . | ‡aunmediated ‡bn ‡2rdamedia | |
| 338 | . | ‡avolume ‡bnc ‡2rdacarrier | |
| 504 | . | ‡aIncludes bibliographical references (pages [283]-294). | |
| 520 | . | ‡a"In 1963 Attorney General Robert Kennedy sought out James Baldwin to explain the rage that threatened to engulf black America. Baldwin brought along some friends, including playwright Lorraine Hansberry, psychologist Kenneth Clark, and a valiant activist, Jerome Smith. It was Smith's relentless, unfiltered fury that set Kennedy on his heels, reducing him to sullen silence. Kennedy walked away from the nearly three-hour meeting angry - that the black folk assembled didn't understand politics, and that they weren't as easy to talk to as Martin Luther King. But especially that they were more interested in witness than policy. But Kennedy's anger quickly gave way to empathy, especially for Smith. "I guess if I were in his shoes...I might feel differently about this country." Kennedy set about changing policy - the meeting having transformed his thinking in fundamental ways. There was more: every big argument about race that persists to this day got a hearing in that room. Smith declaring that he'd never fight for his country given its racist tendencies, and Kennedy being appalled at such lack of patriotism, tracks the disdain for black dissent in our own time. His belief that black folk were ungrateful for the Kennedys' efforts to make things better shows up in our day as the charge that black folk wallow in the politics of ingratitude and victimhood. The contributions of black queer folk to racial progress still cause a stir. BLM has been accused of harboring a covert queer agenda. The immigrant experience, like that of Kennedy - versus the racial experience of Baldwin - is a cudgel to excoriate black folk for lacking hustle and ingenuity. The questioning of whether folk who are interracially partnered can authentically communicate black interests persists." | |
| 596 | . | ‡a3 5 7 8 9 10 12 14 15 20 21 22 23 24 26 27 30 31 33 34 36 38 39 40 42 43 44 45 46 54 | |
| 600 | 1 | 0. | ‡aKennedy, Robert F., ‡d1925-1968 ‡xFriends and associates. ‡0BSLW 276596 ‡0(WEST)192719 |
| 600 | 1 | 0. | ‡aBaldwin, James, ‡d1924-1987 ‡xInfluence. ‡0BSLW 189490 |
| 600 | 1 | 0. | ‡aSmith, Jerome ‡c(Freedom Rider), ‡d1949- ‡xInfluence. ‡0n 2018021329 |
| 651 | 0. | ‡aUnited States ‡xRace relations. ‡0BSLW 49453 | |
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| 650 | 0. | ‡aIntercultural communication ‡zUnited States ‡vCase studies. ‡0BSLW 100813 | |
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