Prophet of Discontent: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Critique of Racial Capitalism

by Jared A. Loggins, Andrew J. Douglas

This book is openly available in digital formats thanks to a generous grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Many of today’s insurgent Black movements call for an end to racial capitalism. They take aim at policing and mass incarceration, the racial partitioning of workplaces and residential communities, the expropriation and underdevelopment of Black populations at home and abroad. Scholars and activists increasingly regard these practices as essential technologies of capital accumulation, evidence that capitalist societies past and present enshrine racial inequality as a matter of course.

In Prophet of Discontent , Andrew J. Douglas and Jared A. Loggins invoke contemporary discourse on racial capitalism in a powerful reassessment of Martin Luther King Jr.’s thinking and legacy. Like today’s organizers, King was more than a dreamer. He knew that his call for a “radical revolution of values” was complicated by the production and circulation of value under capitalism. He knew that the movement to build the beloved community required sophisticated analyses of capitalist imperialism, state violence, and racial formations, as well as unflinching solidarity with the struggles of the Black working class. Shining new light on King’s largely implicit economic and political theories, and expanding appreciation of the Black radical tradition to which he belonged, Douglas and Loggins reconstruct, develop, and carry forward King’s strikingly prescient critique of capitalist society.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, Race, Theory, Social Justice, Philosophy

150 pages, Paperback

Published September 15, 2021

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting work highlighting King's radical ideological heritage, emphasizing his connections and differences with Marxist thought and his engagement with Hegelian philosophy in the vein of Cedric Robinson's concept of racial capitalism and the black radical tradition.

Aside from being relatively short, I fear certain parts of the work are couched in language that is far too theoretical and may be inaccessible to the average reader, but this work is certainly worth the read as well as a foundation for further study of King's ideological contradictions and contributions.

[Charles Earl · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is precious little scholarship on the profoundly transformative, revolutionary, and visionary work that Martin Luther King, Jr. committed himself to during the last years of his life. When we look at today’s calls for redistribution of wealth, for demilitarization, for an end to the perniciousness of predatory capitalism, we can trace a line to the Poor People’s Campaign of 1968.

Dr. Douglas and Dr. Loggins in this enthralling work highlight the prescient connections between King’s work and the framework of racial capitalism. That is, the understanding that racism, patriarchy, and other forms of domination are intimately connected with the economic and political systems that always operate to blunt aspirations of freedom.

It is an accessible and engrossing text, and is essential reading in understanding the evolution of the arc of justice.

[Noah Schu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great read. I gained a deeper understanding of Dr. King as a dialectical thinker from this book. There is a lot to grasp within these pages, and the author's do a great job demystifying the often sanitized versions of Dr. King that are presented to us by mainstream education/media. This is one of those works you get a lot from after the first time reading, however I feel like when I read it again i'll pick up on things I didn't catch the first time. Definitely would recommend!

[Ilianita · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was referred to this book from F.D Signifier's YT channel. The book is immensely important. I only wish that it were more... comprehensible to the layman. It will be worth a second read once I know more about MLK Jr.'s life and writings.