Author Archives: Anthony Monteiro
RACE, CLASS AND CIVILIZATION: ON MUNFORD’S RACE AND REPARATIONS
Clarence J. Munford’s Race and Reparation: A Black Perspective for the 21st Century is important both for what it says and who says it. Munford is a major, if not well-known, historian of the African Diaspora. This work thinks in … Continue reading
Time, Space and Race: On Clarence J. Munford’s Race and Civilization
RACE AND CIVILIZATION: Rebirth of Black Centrality (2001) is Clarence J. Munford’s sequel to Race and Reparation: A Black Perspective for the 21st Century (1996). He says of this current project, “I strive to weave together the scattered strands of … Continue reading
THE EXISTENTIAL CRISIS OF US CAPITALISM: A MOMENTO MORI
In 2006—2009 the US financial system and economy came close to systemic collapse. Had it occurred most of the world would have gone down with it. Karl Marx famously described events like these as “momenti mori”, reminders of systemic death. … Continue reading
PAUL ROBESON A HEROIC FIGURE AND MARTIN DUBERMAN’S FAILED BIOGRAPHY
Paul Robeson was one of the extraordinary figures of our time. He was a man of exceptional intellect and perception, unshakable courage and boundless love for and generosity towards African Americans, working people and the colonized masses. His life and … Continue reading
OBAMA AND THE CRISIS OF NEO-LIBERAL BLACK INTELLECTUALS
Charles Pete Banner-Haley’s book From Du Bois to Obama: African American Intellectuals in the Public Forum (2010) is a history of African American intellectuals from the standpoint of Barack Obama ‘s presidency. From his Obama post racial dream-world, Banner-Haley tells … Continue reading
LOGIC. EMPIRICISM AND SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY
Logic, as a “logic of investigation” [Popper] or a “logic of science” [Carnap] is, in the history of logic, a recent development. Prior to the emergence of the empirical sciences logic had been associated with Aristotlean syllogisms. However, the rise … Continue reading
Race and Empire: W. E. B. Du Bois and the US State
THE EVENTS OF SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 did not begin the transformation of the US state. They accelerated processes that had for almost three decades been taking shape, transforming the US state and political system towards an authoritarian right-wing democracy (see … Continue reading
JOSEPH STIGLITZ’ ANALYSIS OF THE CURRENT CRISIS AND THE WAY OUT
Nobel prize winner in economics Joseph Stiglitz’s book Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy surveys the devastation wrought by finance capital on the nation and the role the George W Bush and Obama Administrations and … Continue reading
BEING AN AFRICAN IN THE WORLD: THE DU BOISIAN EPISTEMOLOGY
While completing research and studies at Harvard and the University of Berlin, W.E.B Du Bois boldly projected the possibility of subjecting to scientific scrutiny the problem of race in the modern world. He would contend, more forcefully over succeeding years, … Continue reading
SCIENCE AND RADICALISM: DU BOIS’ LEGACY
This essay was written and published in 1994 in the progressive journal Political Affairs. It attempts to show Du Bois as a radical thinker, socialist and ultimately a communist. At a time when many only wish to see Du Bois in the context of liberal reform , this essay seeks to show him as a radical opponent of racism and the economic system of capitalism. Continue reading
