Black Power: A Record of Reactions in a Land of Pathos

by Richard Wright

Richard Wright shares his incredible experiences and keen observations from his 1953 journey to Africa.

"The reader will be grateful...for many fascinating, and even illuminating glimpses of primitive tribal life in a country marked out for precocious political development."

--New York Times

Genres: Nonfiction, History

358 pages, Hardcover

Published January 14, 1974

About the author

Richard Nathaniel Wright was an African-American author of powerful, sometimes controversial novels, short stories and non-fiction. Much of his literature concerned racial themes. His work helped redefine discussions of race relations in America in the mid-20th century.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[pattrice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wright's 1954 account of his travels through what is now Ghana when it was on the brink of independence. Well-worth reading for Wright's precise descriptions of scenes and conversations, all of which are rendered with the skill of the powerful novelist that he was. The book is strongest where Wright stayed with observation and weakest where he strayed from setting down the facts, veering into long-winded expositions of his dated (psychoanalysis, anyone?) and pedantic opinions about every topic under the African sun. Wright was dead-on in his depictions of white attitudes towards Africans but almost comically unaware of the degree to which his own attitude of superiority leaked onto the page. The patronizing tone of his closing letter of advice to Kwame Nkrumah is almost beyond endurance. Yet and still, as a documentary of a time and place (and a record of Wright's own character), this book is well worth reading. If you're tempted to set the book down when Wright starts opining, don't; instead just flip forward to where he picks the narrative back up. You won't be sorry you took the trip.

[Brad · Rating 5 out of 5]

A neglected classic of travel writing.

[Craig Werner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part travel narrative, part reflection on the role of Africa in the "modern" world, "Black Power" recounts Richard Wright's visit to the Gold Coast as it was preparing for independence (reclaiming the quasi-traditional name of Ghana). Wright brought a great deal of political, intellectual and philosophical baggage with him; he had rejected both Christianity and Marxist materialism and had left the United States for a home base in Paris, where he had forged a set of tense connections with existentialists (including Sartre and deBeauvoir) and expatriates. He was unsure of the relationship between American Negroes and Africans, rapidly concluding that he was very much a man of the modern West, baffled by much of what he encountered in what was clearly not a homeland. The strength of Black Power is Wright's honesty; he refuses to fall back on cliches, nostalgia, or ideology, immersing himself in the contradictory emotions stirred by what he perceives as a primitive, superstitious African culture. Much of what he writes is likely to make a 21st century reader cringe; he comes back again and again to images of African nakedness and irrationality. He's certainly not an apologist for the British (or any other colonial force), but he's not sanguine about the potential for true African independence. The more you know about African culture and philosophy--you can start with Robert Farris Thompson's Flash of the Spirit for a quick clear primer--the more trouble you're likely to have with Wright's engagement. Important as a document of a particularly moment, but unless you're ready to cut a lot of slack and work to place Wright in context, probably not one to put on your list.

[Noel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned much about the Gold Coast and its people. Not only did I learned much about this particular history, I also learned much about the person of Richard Wright. I am a fan of his novels: Native Son, Black Boy, and The Outsider. Each one describes in fiction the worldview, the fear and the humanity of being Black in America. Each character deals with his social condition and relationship to the issues of race,class and sex. Wright in this non-fiction book describes his journey through the Goldcoast before Ghana became an Independent country. He visits and documents different African peoples like the Ashanti peoples, the Akra people and experiences their worldview. I am myself of Aboriginal ancestry, and much of his descriptions of the Africans' worldview in terms of religion is similar to my own indigenous ancestors belief systems, here in North America.

[Kajah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve only read one of the the books in this compilation but this is my first exposure to the non-fiction of Richard Wright who is one of my favorite black authors of the 20th Century and -as Cornel West puts it in the forward- one of the few great secular voices of the African American literary world. Reminded me in some ways of the second part of Black Boy where we see Wright deal with life as a black socialist and secular man in the north. Looking forward to exploring the other titles in this compilation.

[A L]

The political lens is past shelf date but it's so beautifully observed, and he has a lot of personal blind spots but at least he puts it all there for you to see.