Defending the Spirit
A Black Life in America
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
Randall Robinson's Defending The Spirit is a personal account of his rise from poverty in the segregated south to a position as one of the most distinguished and outspoken political activists of our time. In 1977, Robinson founded TransAfrica, the first organization to lobby for the interests of African and Caribbean peoples. TransAfrica was instrumental in the release of Nelson Mandela from prison in South Africa and the reinstatement of President Aristide in Haiti. Robinson's thoughtful and provocative memoir paints a vivid picture of racism in the hallowed halls of Harvard, where he went to law school, as well as the corridors of power in Washington, D.C. He also recounts in fascinating detail his trips to troubled African and Caribbean nations; more than anyone else, he has raised awareness of the problems in those countries. Defending The Spirit also gives a devastating commentary on America's foreign policy endeavors in African and Caribbean nations, and an impassioned call to African-Americans for new leadership and activism to fight racism all over the world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Best known for his leadership in the fight to force the U.S. to impose sanctions on apartheid South Africa, Robinson emerges from this forceful memoir as little encouraged by the battles he has won. From his youth in Richmond, Va., to his army service to his student years at Harvard Law School, the American (and world) racial divide has shadowed him. His briskly episodic narrative, full of dialogue, tells of his proud Southern family and his emerging political consciousness. In 1981, as director of TransAfrica (an organization established to promote the interests of African and Caribbean nations), he was leaked classified State Department documents regarding policy toward South Africa, which, when made public, began a wave of protests resulting in numerous arrests at the South African embassy. Some of the memoir seems facile, as when Robinson erroneously claims that black students on black college campuses did not protest the Vietnam War, or explains that TransAfrica ignored black Africa because the U.S. media ignored it, or fails to acknowledge the other fighters for sanctions. Robinson now seems legitimately embittered toward black South African leaders who have embraced the U.S. establishment. Weary but unbowed, he is still fighting for democracy in Nigeria and the Caribbean. His wisdom is hard earned: it is not quiet meetings but "staged demonstrations" that will shake the media and political firmament, he stresses.
