Reviews

Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition by Cedric J. Robinson

skull_in_connemara's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

v_neptune's review against another edition

way too dense

toffishay's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

A very dense, thorough and extremely informative exploration of Black Marxism ideology and practice. I learned so much that I did not know and even more about things that I thought I knew. Take your time with this; I read it in parts over the course of 2022. 

terryjstokes's review against another edition

challenging informative slow-paced

4.5

this book could have been at least 100 pages shorter, if not 200. the entire first half, while interesting and important, is not truly necessary in service of his ultimate project. but his essential argument distinguishing the Black Radical Tradition from other radical traditions, as well as his expositions of Du Bois, James, and Wright, are fantastic.

cloudqt's review

challenging informative slow-paced

5.0

gibles0207's review against another edition

4.0

Very insightful history of the black radical tradition. Traces the history of racism and Marxism. Very dense and hard to understand but still very enlightening as a whole

natoushki's review against another edition

4.0

Incredibly thorough (but dense) critique of Marxism - Robinson introduces the concept of racial capitalism (capitalism has relied on racialization and racial hierarchies since its beginning), outlines Marxism's shortcomings in addressing and theorizing race and racial inequity, and details the long and rich history of Black radicalism that has always existed outside and apart from Western (and Marxist) traditions. I learned a ton of history related to Black resistance (to slavery, colonialism, and neocolonialism), a history that has so often been erased, and I also learned a ton about the Eurocentrism of traditional Marxism. Overall, his book was incredibly insightful and detailed, but also incredibly dense, which made it a bit of a slog to finish (I confess I gave up on reading all the endnotes - there were almost 90 pages of small-text notes & citations). However, definitely worth the read & really foundational in establishing theories of racial capitalism.

andreaschari's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.0

marsverrone's review against another edition

4.0

lol i usually don't write reviews but for any1 interested - this book was extremely dense as far as the breadth of its historical scope and theoretical analysis (and i have never actually read marx shh...) but i would say if you are at all interested in the history of the Black radical tradition / confused about why Black radicalism and Western socialism often conflict ideologically - reading just the introduction and conclusion of this book will be VERY helpful in condensing centuries of the histories of capitalism/colonialism/imperialism and forms of resistance to these systems. (but also warning that this book fails to include gender in its analysis of race/class yikes)

ssquish's review against another edition

5.0

I wouldn’t have been able to read this without the prior reading I’ve done, but I’m so happy i finally got to this point. I also wouldn’t have been able to read it without the computer voice audiobook on YouTube and the book club I attended that provided such enlightening discussion I couldn’t wait for the next weeks meeting (except for when I spent the 14+ hours following the audiobook along with the text)

Life is much better because of it. I am so happy this book found its way into my life (I originally got the recommendation from ItsWalela on Instagram, and so far with their reading list, they do not miss).

So I’d recommend everyone read this book but it may be a bit tough.