Transcending the Talented Tenth

by Joy James, Lewis Gordon (Foreword)

In Transcending the Talented Tenth, Joy James provocatively examines African American intellectual responses to racism and the role of elitism, sexism and anti-radicalism in black leadership politics throughout history. She begins with Du Bois' construction of "the Talented Tenth" as an elite leadership of race managers and takes us through the lives and work of radical women in the anti-lynching crusades, the civil rights and black liberation movements, as well as explores the contemporary struggles among black elites in academe.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Race, African American

248 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Joy James is the John B. and John T. McCoy Presidential Professor of Humanities and College Professor in Political Science at Williams College. She is the author of Resisting State Violence: Radicalism, Gender, and Race in U.S. Culture, and her edited works on incarceration and human rights include States of Confinement: Policing, Detention, and Prisons and Imprisoned Intellectuals: America's Political Prisoners Write on Life, Liberation, and Rebellion.

Reviews

[Zach Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another phenomenal collection here from Dr. Joy James. I learned a lot about Du Bois, his evolution from his construction of the Talented Tenth to his class-based refutation of it years later, but also about the current state of Black leadership and the revival of the Tenth in modern American politics. It's unsparing, well-researched, and urgent in its critique of elitism and intellectualism as they relate to the academy and social movements.