The Political Worlds of Slavery and Freedom

Public talks at universities are vehicles to present gestating ideas and arguments, and in many ways Steven Hahn’s new book The Political Worlds of Slavery and Freedom, drawn from a lecture series at Harvard, is much the same. However, the kind of shift in the framing of American and African-American history that he calls for makes this collection well worth reading. Amongst many provocative suggestions, Hahn requests a study of the UNIA outside the long shadow of Garvey to understand the intellectual character and engagement of people who joined one of the largest black political movements. I look forward to work to that takes up Hahn’s charge.