Jeffrey B. Perry

Review of "Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism, 1883-1918" by the Italian Scholar Alberto Benvenuti in the online German journal "Sehepunkte," Vol. 12, No. 9 (2012)
Click Here!

"Scholars who explore the African American experience have long debated the relative importance of race and class and how black leaders addressed these issues. While W. E. B. Du Bois, Asa Philip Randolph, and Marcus Garvey have received considerable attention in this respect, Hubert Harrison has been curiously neglected. In this thorough account, independentscholar Perry, who preserved and inventoried the Harrison papers at Columbia University, restores Harrison to the pivotal place that he deserves. Harrison, an immigrant from St. Croix (former Danish West Indies), was self-educated and an early street orator in Harlem. A member of the Socialist Party, he broke with the Socialists after 1914 to advocate a race-first position. During WW I, he was, as Perry suggests, the most class conscious of the race radicals and the most race conscious of the class radicals. He advocated a mass-based New Negro Manhood Movement that preceded the Harlem Renaissance and the middle-class arts-based movement usually identified with Alain Locke. This critically important book will do for Harrison what David Levering Lewis did for Du Bois (W. E. B. Du Bois, 2 vols., 1993-2000; vol. 1, CH, May'94, 31-5079) and Arnold Rampersad did for Hughes (The Life of Langston Hughes, 2 vols.; CH, Feb'87; CH, Feb'89, 26-3155). Summing Up: Essential. All levels/​libraries."

For additional reviews see http://www.jeffreybperry.net/bio.htm and www.jeffreybperry.net/disc.htm  Read More 

Book Talk by Jeffrey B. Perry on "Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism, 1883-1918," Sunday, April 24, 2011, 3 PM, Studio Museum in Harlem, 144 W. 125th St., NYC. CLICK HERE

"'Reds at the Blackboard,' Clarence Taylor's superb history of the left-led New York City Teachers' Union (1916-1964), fills a void in the historical record of teacher unionism and education in the United States, providing important background on recurring controversies of curriculum, due process, academic freedom, testing, transfers, community involvement, civil rights, and the need for more Black and Latino teachers. This meticulously researched and insightful history of an important social justice union contributes significantly to our understanding of Civil Rights and left history, and it offers important background on the rise of the United Federation of Teachers and the 1968 New York City teacher strikes and community control struggles. It is a timely contribution to the current climate of growing economic depression, persistent racial disparities, war, educational crises, charter schools, and often fractured teacher union and community relations." — Jeffrey B. Perry, author of "Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism, 1883-1918" -- For more information see http://cup.columbia.edu/book/978-0-231-15268-6/reds-at-the-blackboard/reviews  Read More 

Scott McLemee, Intellectual Affairs Columnist for "Inside Higher Ed" and National Board Member of the National Book Critics Circle, in SocialistWorker.org has recommended "Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism, 1883-1918" as one of two "exceptionally important" biographies for this holiday season. His review of the book can be found at --
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/mclemee/mclemee61
His list of recommendations can be found at --
http://socialistworker.org/2010/12/07/for-the-red-on-your-list
A special 30% off sale of the new paperback edition can be found at --
http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Hubert-Harrison--The-Voice-of-Harlem-Radicalism.html?soid=1101978655946&aid=jjr1s33e_v8
Please encourage public libraries and school libraries to obtain this important book. Read More 

JUST OUT IN PAPERBACK! "HUBERT HARRISON: THE VOICE OF HARLEM RADICALISM, 1883-1918." It makes a wonderful gift.
See http://www.cup.columbia.edu/book/978-0-231-13910-6/hubert-harrison
or Click Here for Information

November 3, 2010 is the scheduled publication date for the paperback edition of "Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism, 1883-1918" -- Click here

Larry A. Greene, review of "Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism, 1883-1918" from the Summer 2010 "New Politics" -- Click here

"Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism, 1883-1918." SPECIAL SALE $18.75. The cost of the cloth biography is reduced because a new paperback edition is coming out. BUY the hardbound now. It is a great gift for a friend, loved one, co-worker,  Read More 

On March 10, 2010 Columbia University Press announced that they will publish a paperback edition of "Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism, 1883-1918," which is scheduled to be available by November 2010.

"Unsung History: Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism, 1883-1918" by Jonathan Gramling, "Capital City Hues," Madison, WI, February 11, 2010 See http://www.capitalcityhues.com/021110Hubertharrison1.html

"This critically important book will do for Harrison what . . . Lewis did for Du Bois . . . [and] Rampersad . . . for Hughes . . . Essential. All levels/libraries."-- W. Glasker Choice, American Library Association.

Google Preview of Jeffrey B. Perry, "Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism, 1883-1918" (Columbia University Press, 2008)

Herb Boyd, "Biography Highlights Harlem Intellectual," review of "Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism, 1883-1918," Amsterdam News, August 21, 2009 (bottom)

Readers are encourged to look at Herb Boyd’s "Neworld Review" review of "Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism, 1883-1918" (see Reviews). Herb Boyd is the author of "Baldwin's Harlem" and "The Harlem Reader," he is a writer and columnist for the "Amsterdam News," and he is managing editor for "One World Today."
Boyd writes, in part:
“[Hubert] Harrison’s incomparable intellect, uncompromising integrity, and the influence he had on the thinkers of his day is gradually emerging from the shadows of obscurity, thanks largely to the yeoman and independent working class scholarship of Jeffrey B. Perry. . . .
Anyone interested in the history of Harlem will find an inexhaustible supply of information in Perry’s chapter “Focus on Harlem.” But it’s hard to single out any one chapter since Harrison’s life was inseparably attached to Harlem where his forums, his paper The Voice, his charisma and his redoubtable socialism made him one of the most compelling men of his times.
Indeed, during those days when he walked the streets of Harlem, or any other part of the city, he was widely acknowledged for his vast storehouse of facts and information, and now through Perry’s prodigious research Harrison’s brilliance can once more engage a generation eager to find inspiration and renewed political spirit.
As the pundits bandy about the possibility we may be living in a post-racial society given the ascendancy of Barack Obama, Perry’s study of Harrison’s life and the redemption of his legacy is never more pertinent than when he writes: “Hubert Harrison understood white supremacy to be central to capitalist rule in the United States.”
Add prophecy to Harrison’s impressive resume."  Read More