Tommy J. Curry is a Professor of Philosophy and holds a Personal Chair (Distinguished Professorship) of Africana Philosophy and Black Male Studies at the University of Edinburgh. He is the past president of Philosophy Born of Struggle, and the recipient of the USC Shoah Foundation 2016–2017 A.I. and Manet Schepps Foundation Teaching Fellowship. He is the author of Another White Man’s Burden: Josiah Royce’s Quest for a Philosophy of Racial Empire and the editor of The Philosophical Treatise of William H. Ferris: Selected Readings from The African Abroad or, His Evolution in Western Civilization.
"Tommy Curry has written a cool, brilliant defense of the
men who are the pariahs of American society: the ones who,
regardless of class, find themselves at the bottom of every
hierarchy; the ones whose demographics and statistics in terms of
the criminal justice, health care, and other systems are
abysmal. Countless billions have been made from the portrayal
of Black males as Boogeymen. The Man-Not is heavy work,
but the general reader will find its arguments well worth the time
and effort. This book is controversial. Those who've dogged and
stalked Black men in the academy and popular culture for the past
few decades are sure to have their critical knives out. I know. But
it's rare for an American intellectual to step up, regardless of
the fallout. This book is the one that I've been waiting
for. Curry has taken a bullet for the brothers."—Ishmael
Reed, Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley,
and Visiting Scholar at the California College of the Arts
"In a bold—indeed, fearless—intervention in the ongoing
race/gender/sexual orientation debates, Tommy Curry challenges the
cozy consensus among self-conceived progressives in the humanities.
The oppression of black men has been conceptually erased, he
argues, by theoretical frameworks indifferent to the social science
data that refute them. Sure to ignite a firestorm of
controversy, The Man-Not is an impassioned protest
against orthodoxies, both mainstream and radical, white and black.
It is required reading for anyone interested in understanding
oppression or having unquestioned assumptions put to the test."
—Charles W. Mills, Distinguished Professor at the City University
of New York Graduate Center
"The Man-Not introduces a progressive black male studies that
is decidedly nonfeminist, and the book demands a radical rethinking
of the category of 'gender' itself.... It is impressive to watch
Curry build arguments and the seamless manner in which the
philosopher moves between sources across disciplines.... (It is)
refreshing to read a book that has little time for academic
pleasantries and is so eager to transcend the boundaries of
traditional gender theorizing.... (R)eaders from diverse academic
backgrounds can still learn much in its pages." —Men and
Masculinities
"This book reads as a spiritual successor to W.E.B. Dubois's 1906
keynote speech delivered during the second annual Niagara Movement
Conference.... Curry echoes the same sentiment that Black men have
been subjugated due to systemic violence, denial of rights, and
oppression. The author is open and candid that this is as much an
emotional book as an academic one.... It is an impassioned plea for
justice and legitimation that is often read in books but rarely
felt.... The book is an incredible piece of scholarship for Black
Male Studies and completely convincing in its claim that there is
not only a need for Black Male Studies but a need to study it
across multiple disciplines, particularly at the intersection of
race, masculinity, law, politics, and class. His ability to deliver
scholarship that is part literature review, part critique, part
analysis, and part biography makes this book an important piece of
work set to help steer Black Male Studies into a new, exciting
direction."—Sociology of Race and Ethnicity
"Curry offers a provocative discussion of black masculinity by
critiquing both the social and academic treatment of killings of
black men and boys in the US. The author forces readers to
reevaluate the interpretations and stereotypes the media uses. He
argues that gender studies has disadvantaged black men by imposing
and supporting negative historical stereotypes and ignoring the
diversity of black boys and men and by falsely aligning black
masculinity with white masculinity.... The present book is an
attempt to fill the gap by presenting a philosophical theory on
black masculinity that Curry claims is nonexistent in
philosophy.... (A)n excellent basis for discussions of the academic
constructs of legitimacy in research. Many readers may find this
book an uncomfortable read, and that is the very reason it should
be read....Summing Up: Highly recommended." —Choice
"The Man-Not is an impressive book, sure to upset
scholars invested in static gender theory based on racial myths
reproduced in the academy in lieu of empirical
debates addressing the impossibility of Black
patriarchy amid anti-Black achievement policies that
disproportionately affect Black
males.... The Man-Not exemplifies the deep,
risky criticism that all scholars should aspire to, particularly as
Curry’s call
for the institutionalization of Black male
studies is compelling.... Curry’s argument is contentious yet
indispensable amid the oftentimes deadly systemic
oppressions that Black males encounter."--Women's Studies in
Communication
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