Joseph, Peniel E.

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Joseph, Peniel E.

PERSONAL:

Education: Temple University, Ph.D., 2000.

ADDRESSES:

Home—NY. Office—Department of Africana Studies, SUNY-Stony Brook, S-245 Social and Behavioral Sciences, Stony Brook, NY 11794-4340. Agent—Gloria Loomis, Watkins Loomis Agency Inc. 133 E. 35th St., New York, NY 10016. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

State University of New York at Stony Brook, member of faculty.

WRITINGS:

Waiting 'til the Midnight Hour: A Narrative History of Black Power in America, Henry Holt (New York, NY), 2006.

(Editor) The Black Power Movement: Rethinking the Civil Rights-Black Power Era, Routledge (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor of scholarly articles to various publications. Guest editor for two issues, Black Scholar.

SIDELIGHTS:

Peniel E. Joseph teaches in the Department of Africana Studies at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He is considered a leading scholar in African American history. His primary areas of research interest include Radial Tradition, Pan-Africanism, Black Social Movements, African American feminism, and a fresh perspective on the Black Power Movement that looks at grass root struggles, national protests, and international viewpoints on African efforts toward independence, with an eye toward uniting them. In addition to teaching, Joseph writes frequently on African American social, political, and cultural issues, contributing reviews, essays, and commentary to a number of publications. He also served as guest editor for two special issues of the Black Scholar.

Joseph's first book, Waiting 'til the Midnight Hour: A Narrative History of Black Power in America, takes a fresh look at the Black Power era, particularly the decade leading up to it and the decade following its pinnacle, in an attempt to clarify the details of the period. Joseph includes information garnered from interviews, historical documents, FBI files, and private papers, and looks at historical figures, both political and not, who might not normally be considered part of the movement, but who nevertheless participated in a meaningful way. Scott Saul, in a review for Harper's, wrote: "One of the rewards of Joseph's catholic definition of Black Power is that it provides room for people and events that otherwise tend to fall out of standard accounts of the black freedom movement." Vernon Ford, in a review for Booklist, called the book "a more complete overview of this era." A contributor for Kirkus Reviews wrote that the book "vividly illuminates the personalities and politics of a turbulent time." Joseph followed up this effort with The Black Power Movement: Rethinking the Civil Rights-Black Power Era, for which he served as editor.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, July 1, 2006, Vernon Ford, review of Waiting 'til the Midnight Hour: A Narrative History of Black Power in America, p. 13.

Diverse Issues in Higher Education, September 21, 2006, "Just in Time for the Black Panther Birthday Party," review of Waiting 'til the Midnight Hour, p. 7.

Harper's, December, 2006, Scott Saul, "On the Lower Frequencies: Rethinking the Black Power Movement," review of Waiting 'til the Midnight Hour, p. 92.

Kirkus Reviews, June 1, 2006, review of Waiting 'til the Midnight Hour, p. 558.

Library Journal, July 1, 2006, Emily-Jane Dawson, review of Waiting 'til the Midnight Hour, p. 90.

Publishers Weekly, May 15, 2006, review of Waiting 'til the Midnight Hour, p. 57.

Reference & Research Book News, November, 2006, review of Waiting 'til the Midnight Hour.