Cry freedom! -- CAUTION: THEORY AT WORK

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Subject: Cry freedom!

Author:
Matt

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Date Posted: 20:27:24 12/02/02 Mon

I found _Freedom Dreams_ to be a very interesting book. It provided me with a lot of background that I didn't have before, even though I'm somewhat familiar with many of the Civil Rights movements in the US. I was particularly fascinated by the influence of Marxism on black activists. The more I thought about this, the more it made sense to me and the more I was able to identify Marxist ideas in the positions that I am familiar with. And the more I read it, the funnier the existence of Woodrow Wilson Jefferson in _Mumbo Jumbo_ became. After learning that some of the most radical black activists were influenced by Marx, I came to a new understanding of how preposterous it would have been for Van Vompton to think he could use Jefferson as a Talking Android. Of course, this view is complicated by the fact that Jefferson didn't understand all of the ideas very well and was mostly responding to the rhetoric. But perhaps this is a criticism of the black leaders who didn't (and don't?) understand exactly what they're supporting. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Reed was criticizing everyone involved. One of the great things about _Mumbo Jumbo_ is that the more theory I read the more the novel makes sense.

I also enjoyed _Freedom Dreams_ because it was well written and easy to understand. One thing that I could not get a very good feel for was which parts were *historical facts* and which were Kelly's interpretations of what was going on. I think this is largely due to my overwhelming ignorance of many of these topics, but I think it's also due to his writing style. He presents an interpretation of history that offers little room for differing interpretations. Since I don't know much about this, I am forced to take his opinion as fact. As an introduction to this realm of history, I am more than content to accept his interpretations unless they just don't make sense to me, but I would like to read and learn more from other scholars so that I can better understand exactly what was going on and why. Hopefully other people in the class will have background knowledge that will help me better understand the book.

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Replies:

Subject	Author	Date
FREEDOM!	Dave	13:32:25 12/03/02 Tue