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Fear of a Black Nation: Race, Sex, and Security in Sixties Montreal
Ten years since the release of Fear of a Black Nation, the second edition positions Black radical political thought and action in Canada within the global Movement for Black Lives. Black Lives Matter activists have exposed the harsh realities of police violence and state surveillance in their communities and fought to expose the roots of white supremacy at the heart of contemporary politics. In this expanded tenth anniversary edition, author David Austin draws a political timeline spanning 60 years, linking contemporary debates about Black liberation to its historical antecedents. Austin offers a transnational study of Black activism in 1960s Montréal against the backdrop of Québecois, Canadian, and Caribbean nationalism, as well as Black power movements in the United States.
The new edition emphasizes the historical continuum that links anti-racist organizing from the past to current iterations. In 1968, the Congress of Black Writers at McGill University hosted prominent Black intellectuals and activists from Canada, the United States, Africa, and the Caribbean, such as C.L.R. James, Stokely Carmichael, Miriam Makeba, Rocky Jones, and Walter Rodney. Months later, Black-led protests at Concordia (then Sir George Williams University), caused a stir in the national press about the security of the state and the fomenting of Black radical thought and action. Today, calls to dismantle the prison industrial complex coalesce with more nuanced understandings of how power influences activism, namely through more articulated expressions of class, race, national identity, sexuality, and gender.
Featuring a new introduction by the author that charts responses to the book and situates it within events of the last ten years, a map of significant political and historical sites in Montréal and the Caribbean, as well as an afterword in the form of an interview with the author by Peter Hudson and a shorter interview with the author by the late Aziz Choudry, the second edition grows and enriches the conversation on Black organising and movement building in Canada and internationally. As the Movement for Black Lives today popularizes calls to defund, disarm, and abolish the police, Fear of a Black Nation (winner of the 2014 Casa de las Americas Prize) provides an invaluable historical perspective on Canadian policing and surveillance of Black activism and a compelling political analysis of social movements that is more relevant now than ever.
The new edition emphasizes the historical continuum that links anti-racist organizing from the past to current iterations. In 1968, the Congress of Black Writers at McGill University hosted prominent Black intellectuals and activists from Canada, the United States, Africa, and the Caribbean, such as C.L.R. James, Stokely Carmichael, Miriam Makeba, Rocky Jones, and Walter Rodney. Months later, Black-led protests at Concordia (then Sir George Williams University), caused a stir in the national press about the security of the state and the fomenting of Black radical thought and action. Today, calls to dismantle the prison industrial complex coalesce with more nuanced understandings of how power influences activism, namely through more articulated expressions of class, race, national identity, sexuality, and gender.
Featuring a new introduction by the author that charts responses to the book and situates it within events of the last ten years, a map of significant political and historical sites in Montréal and the Caribbean, as well as an afterword in the form of an interview with the author by Peter Hudson and a shorter interview with the author by the late Aziz Choudry, the second edition grows and enriches the conversation on Black organising and movement building in Canada and internationally. As the Movement for Black Lives today popularizes calls to defund, disarm, and abolish the police, Fear of a Black Nation (winner of the 2014 Casa de las Americas Prize) provides an invaluable historical perspective on Canadian policing and surveillance of Black activism and a compelling political analysis of social movements that is more relevant now than ever.
298 pages, Paperback
Published May 2, 2023
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About the author
David Austin
169 books3 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name.
Other authors publishing under this name are:
David Austin, British rose breeder
David Austin, Professor of archaeology
David Austin, Professor of mathematics
David Austin, 1759-1831
David Austin
David Austin, British cartoonist
David Austin
David Austin, Computers & Internet
David Austin, Illustrator
David Austin, American Medical doctor, member of Doctors Without Borders
David Austin, Music
Other authors publishing under this name are:
David Austin, British rose breeder
David Austin, Professor of archaeology
David Austin, Professor of mathematics
David Austin, 1759-1831
David Austin
David Austin, British cartoonist
David Austin
David Austin, Computers & Internet
David Austin, Illustrator
David Austin, American Medical doctor, member of Doctors Without Borders
David Austin, Music
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 21, 2023
An essential read addressing important historical and social issues…
How did the book make me feel/think?
David Austin’s “Fear of a Black Nation” is an essential read addressing important historical and social issues, particularly racism and its impact on Montreal in the 1960s. Austin’s work sheds light on the divisive and destructive nature of racism and its connections to late-stage capitalism and greed.
The book serves as a warning against the dangers of maintaining systems that perpetuate divisions and inequalities, with the potential for these systems to erode the very foundations of society eventually. “Fear of a Black Nation” is a powerful, thought-provoking read that urges readers to reflect on the need for significant changes in how we live, think, and perceive the world.
“Fear of a Black Nation” is a vital tool for raising awareness and prompting discussions about social issues and the need for positive change, emphasizing the importance of addressing these issues to avoid marginalization and division in society.
WRITTEN: 21 October 2023
How did the book make me feel/think?
David Austin’s “Fear of a Black Nation” is an essential read addressing important historical and social issues, particularly racism and its impact on Montreal in the 1960s. Austin’s work sheds light on the divisive and destructive nature of racism and its connections to late-stage capitalism and greed.
The book serves as a warning against the dangers of maintaining systems that perpetuate divisions and inequalities, with the potential for these systems to erode the very foundations of society eventually. “Fear of a Black Nation” is a powerful, thought-provoking read that urges readers to reflect on the need for significant changes in how we live, think, and perceive the world.
“Fear of a Black Nation” is a vital tool for raising awareness and prompting discussions about social issues and the need for positive change, emphasizing the importance of addressing these issues to avoid marginalization and division in society.
WRITTEN: 21 October 2023
Displaying 1 of 1 review