In this exhaustively researched book, Gerald Horne sketches the apparent paradox of some African Americans turning to armed struggle at a time when it appeared that Jim Crow was retreating. He draws critical distinctions between armed propaganda, armed self-defense—and armed struggle— all of which he places in a global context of anti-war activism, the Cold War and African liberation.

Gerald Horne is a prolific Marxist historian and author considered “one of the great historians of our time” (Cornel West). Raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Horne received his undergraduate education at Princeton, received his Ph.D. from Columbia University, and a J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. He is currently the John J. and Rebecca Moores Chair of History and African American Studies at the University of Houston. Dr. Horne has written nearly 40 books -- including these at SFPL -- dealing with the confluence of African American History, Communist History, the struggle for liberation, internationalism, imperialism, colonialism, racism, white supremacy, and fascism.

Justin Desmangles is chairman of the Before Columbus Foundation, administrator of the American Book Award.

Co-presented by the African American Center of the San Francisco Public Library and the Before Columbus Foundation.