There is too much to say. At the same time, there is a marked simplicity to convey. Black Marxism: the Making of the Black Radical Tradition is both a sprawling investigation and also hums a singular refrain. To convey these rhythms, this brief piece will attempt to both entice readers to indulge in the immensity of the work, while also distilling the core of Robinson’s hope to one single note.
How to begin? When this text was selected for this round of the Past and Present Reading Group, a lynching had just occurred. Ensuing days produced: protests, riots, police suppression, media furor, think pieces, political dogwhistles, community organization, celebrity concern, etc; white activists on social media perked up and began lamenting “everything that’s going on,” while black activists etched “YOU HAVE STOLEN MORE THAN WE COULD EVER LOOT” on brick canvas. We are here confronted with disjunction and conjunction. The disjunction speaks to the sense that this “everything that’s going on” is not an aberration, despite the aforementioned white consciousness sensing it as such. The conjunction centripetally pulls toward the message on the brick wall: this is not simply an historical moment, and it cannot be ignored.