When Don Rhodes took his seat not far behind Michael Jackson at the funeral of the “Godfather of Soul” on December 30, 2006, it marked the close of a forty-year friendship. In Say It Loud! Rhodes pays tribute to James Brown and his storied career, with a close and comprehensive look at the life of the legendary singer at his home in Augusta, Georgia, and the family he left behind. From the evolution of Brown’s fiery, uniquely rhythmic musical style to his social activism, world travels, run-ins with the law, and four marriages (and uncertain number of affairs), Rhodes provides a sensitive but candid look at the life of the man behind such hits as “I Feel Good,” “Please, Please, Please,” “Sex Machine,” and “Say It Loud—I’m Black and I’m Proud.” He takes us back to the 1960s, when James Brown and other American soul and rock artists were relieved to find that they had nothing to fear from the Beatles and other British artists taking America by storm—indeed, as some of the Brits acknowledged, the Americans had inspired them. Mick Jagger, whose dance steps were influenced by Brown, once said of him, “His show didn’t just have to do with the artist but had to do with the audience. . . . Their reaction was always . . . like being in a church.” Unlike his friend Elvis Presley, James Brown went on to be a frequent global traveler, adored by fans throughout the world. Say It Loud! bears out the reputation of the man with the famous cape as “the hardest-working man in show business,” bringing us the full story of a conscientious performer and consummate professional with a fascinating and controversial personal life. Never-before-published photos, as well as anecdotes from an enduring friendship and details of Brown’s life at home, will further ensure that music fans of all ages will cherish this tribute to an American icon by a longtime friend.

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR • A collection of provocative essays exploring the key social justice issues of our time—from George Floyd to antiracism to inequality and the Supreme Court. Kennedy is "among the most incisive American commentators on race" (The New York Times). Informed by sharpness of observation and often courting controversy, deep fellow feeling, decency, and wit, Say It Loud! includes: The George Floyd Moment: Promise and Peril • Isabel Wilkerson, the Election of 2020, and Racial Caste • The Princeton Ultimatum: Anti­racism Gone Awry • The Constitutional Roots of “Birtherism” • Inequality and the Supreme Court • “Nigger”: The Strange Career Contin­ues • Frederick Douglass: Everyone’s Hero • Remembering Thurgood Marshall • Why Clar­ence Thomas Ought to Be Ostracized • The Politics of Black Respectability • Policing Ra­cial Solidarity In each essay, Kennedy is mindful of com­plexity, ambivalence, and paradox, and he is always stirring and enlightening. Say It Loud! is a wide-ranging summa of Randall Kennedy’s thought on the realities and imaginaries of race in America.

First Published in 2002. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Following Say It Plain, a collection of speeches that provides “a sweeping perspective on evolving issues of black identity in the struggle for equality” (Booklist). In “full-throated public oratory, the kind that can stir the soul”, Say It Plain collected and transcribed speeches by some of the twentieth century’s leading African American cultural, literary, and political figures. Many of the speeches were never before available in printed form (Minneapolis Star-Tribune). Following the success of that groundbreaking volume, the Say It Loud! book adds new depth to the history of the modern struggle for racial equality and civil rights—focusing directly on the pivotal questions black America grappled with during the past four decades of resistance. With recordings unearthed from libraries and sound archives, and made widely available here for the first time, Say It Loud! includes powerful speeches by Malcolm X, Angela Davis, Martin Luther King Jr., James H. Cone, Toni Morrison, Colin Powell, and many others. Bringing the rich immediacy of the spoken word to a vital historical and intellectual tradition, Say It Loud! illuminates the diversity of ideas and arguments pulsing through the black freedom movement.

Mark Whitaker “writes with the eye of a journalist and ear of a poet” (The Boston Globe) to tell the story of the momentous year that redefined the civil rights movement as a new sense of Black identity, expressed in the slogan “Black Power,” challenged the nonviolent philosophy of Martin Luther King, Jr. and John Lewis. In “crisp prose” (The New York Times) and novelistic detail Saying It Loud tells the story of how the Black Power phenomenon began to challenge the traditional civil rights movement in the turbulent year of 1966. Saying It Loud takes you inside the dramatic events in this seminal year, from Stokely Carmichael’s middle-of-the-night ouster of moderate icon John Lewis as a chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to Carmichael’s impassioned cry of “Black Power!” during a protest march in rural Mississippi. From Julian Bond’s humiliating and racist ouster from the Georgia state legislature because of his antiwar statements to Ronald Reagan’s election as California governor riding a “white backlash” vote against Black Power and urban unrest. From the founding of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale in Oakland, California, to the origins of Kwanzaa, the Black Arts Movement, and the first Black studies programs. From Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.’s ill-fated campaign to take the civil rights movement north to Chicago to the wrenching ousting of the white members of SNCC. Deeply researched and widely reported, Saying It Loud offers brilliant portraits of the major characters in the yearlong drama and provides new details and insights from key players and journalists who covered the story. It also makes a compelling case for why the lessons from 1966 still resonate in the era of Black Lives Matter and the fierce contemporary battles over voting rights, identity politics, and the teaching of Black History.

Volume contains: 145 NY 601 (Matter of Brugh) Unreported Case (Matter of Brugh) Unreported Case (Matter of Brugh)

A comprehensive reference that provides a history of African Americans based on documents from authors, musicians, artists, politicians and more.