When Africa Awakes

by Hubert H. Harrison

Hubert Henry Harrison's When Africa Awakes is an important collection of essays and articles written by one of America's great, but seldom noted intellectuals. The collection, originally published in 1920, provides valuable insight on the PanAfrican world of Harrison's time and sheds considerable light on the state of the contemporary African world. Harrison uses the term Africa to signify the unity of Black people throughout the world.  In his lifetime, Harrison (1883-1927) worked diligently toward the unity and enlightenment of his community. A labor leader, editor, teacher, and author, Harrison is at once the contemporary social critic and wise prophet speaking to us across generations. In the article "The New Politics," Harrison, who was an advocate for revolutionary change, calls for a political agenda with an independent Black political thrust. He provides a clear and early call for Blacks to work in their own political interest.

Genres: History, Politics, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published August 1, 1920

About the author

Hubert Henry Harrison was a West Indian-American writer, orator, educator, critic, and race and class conscious political activist and radical internationalist based in Harlem, New York.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubert_...

Reviews

[Nicole Gervasio · Rating 4 out of 5]

This practically unknown text in early 20th century, U.S. black radicalism should be read more often. Harrison is incisive and intimidatingly brilliant, especially regarding his nonpareil knowledge of civil rights and decolonization movements abroad. He may not be utopic in his progressiveness (his views of women generally leave something to be desired), but his international way of thinking anticipates a lot of radical pan-Africanism that doesn't become part of the philosophical tradition until the 1950s (Fanon, Cesaire, etc.).

[Muhammad · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll never be the same again after reading these articles.

[Glenn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Harrison's heart is certainly in the right place, but his head is not. His speeches and writings are led by the heart, bearing good strong convictions and confident demands, but they also suffer from this overly-moral approach and draw weak conclusions from it.

His espousal of the 'race first' approach is built on a false foundation (it turns out, on page 82, he picked up this error from the Socialist Party of America), taking race as a fixed biological category and neglecting the historical origin of race in the emergence of capitalism, and thus draws sorely mistaken conclusions. Moreover, he neglects the partially petty-bourgeois character of this approach.

That black people may experience racial oppression before, or more strongly/clearly than, class oppression does not change the fact that the roots of this oppression (the 'color line', the 'color-caste system', and so on) originate in the class system of capitalism, and thus only class unity can tackle them.

Sadly, Harrison's excellent speech 'What Socialism means to us', in which he articulates this class unity position in his own down-to-earth style, is missing from the collected articles in this book.

As for the book itself: it's clearly a rather amateur attempt, with uncomfortably small margins, full of odd formatting and spelling errors, and over 60 pages of pretty unhelpful endnotes.

[Born Uhuru · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hubert Henry Harrison! He's the forgotten revolutionary truth speaker that many of us "African" people need to focus on. But who is really going to read this? Who will overstand this and apply it? Hubert Harrison was the Kwame Ture of the Harlem Renaissance. Speaking directly at the root of the issue and infamously ignored. His suggestion of "Race First" still has some of us lingering the Roman temples trying to discover our position. Boastfully ashamed to admit it and tagging along as Walter Rodney puts it "as dirty versions of whites."
It's shameful to quote Hubert Harrison when he says "The handicaps placed on us in America are too great to allow us to ignore the help which we can get from that education which we get out of school for ourselves--the only one that is really worth while." So many of our great thinkers suggest this and decade by decade we as African people IGNORE IT. Foolishly chasing unachievable dreams because of our fear.

When will Africa Awaken?

[ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Harrison, unsung Hero!

This is a look at the socio-economic, cultural and racial climate of the early 1900s in the US. It provides the unique perspective of a Negro critic that though himself invested is able to objectively analyze and prescribe with logic and whit. Most of its truths are still relevant today, which may lead people to say Harrison was ahead of his time. I think he was just when he was supposed to be and though his particular causes and work have a degree of anonymity, his influence can be seen in the undercurrents of the Negro movement, the success of which says more about the entrenchment of white supremacy than their merit or power. This is a fair, concise treatment of the roll of the individual Negro in his own emancipation from racial and economic bondage then and now, while offering a peak at a particular piece of the history of Negro oppression.

[Erica Caines · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first Hubert H Harrison book and I am too eager to read more! This collection displays the political will of a man who vehemently believed in the self determination of Africans. His unrelenting lashing of his critics made me think of how far we have not come as colonized Africans if we are finding ourselves trapped in these same intracommunal debates about the best ways forward. When Africa Awakes is an important collection of essays and articles written by one of the greatest yet seldom noted African intellectuals.

[Alicia Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice collection of essays.

[Jeffrey B. Perry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent