nationbooksprojectofnation
large_book

Buy It Online
    Amazon >
    Barnes & Noble >
    Booksense.com >
    Powells.com >

The Head Negro in Charge Syndrome

The Dead End of Black Politics

Norman Kelley
June 2004     ISBN: 1560255846

Norman Kelley argues that Al Sharpton's entrance into the 2004 Democratic presidential race is the most recent evidence of a decaying black political culture where ego trumps politics. What Sharpton covets is the sobriquet The Head Negro in Charge (HNIC), a symbolic political mobilization that replaces effective politics and organizing. Kelley identifies the HNIC syndrome as a response to the failings of the civil rights and black power movements since the 1960s and a symptom that black politics has reached a dead end with regard to ideas, policies and programs.

What readers are saying

"Kelley does not spare anyone or any segment of U.S. culture and politics in his books."

--Counterpunch

"Discusses in full the paralysis and ineffectiveness of Black politics today�and explains the historical causes of why a new movement has not yet materialized."

--International Socialist Review

About the Authors

Norman Kelley has written for The Nation, the Village Voice, New York Press, New Politics, Black Renaissance/Noir and Newsday. He is also the author of the "noir soul" mystery series Black Heat, The Big Mango, A Phat Death and Rhythm and Business: The Political Economy of Black Music.

signup

for our FREE e-mail newsletter, a monthly dispatch of events, excerpts, commentary by Nation Books and Nation Institute writers.



Clive Stafford Smith Testifies at an Open Hearing About the Treatment of Guantanamo Detainees

May 20 | 2 pm Room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515
Listen to human rights lawyer, Nation Books author and lawyer for more than 40 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, testify before the Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight at an open hearing.

May 21
How to Rule The World Book Tour
(Across the United States)
Nation Books author Mark Engler is currently on a multi-city book tour that ends on May 21 to promote his new book, How to Rule The World. MORE

May 24 | 2 pm
Ask Jonathan Schell A Question About Nuclear Danger
(Northwestern University, Evanston campus, IL)
Ask a question Senior Fellow Jonathan Schell talk about "the new shape of nuclear danger" at the Q&A presented by the North Suburban Peace Initiative, a free event. MORE

June 3 | 7 pm
True Crimes: The Untold Story Behind the Devastation of Iraq
(Town Hall, 123W 43rd St, New York NY 10036)
Listen to Institute Fellows Chris Hedges and Jeremy Scahill in conversation with journalist Laila Al-Arian and Seymour Hersh about the war in Iraq, the plight of Iraqi civilians and the role of private mercenaries on the ground. MORE