The Rise of the Black Leadership Class - Book Report/Review Example

? Chicago NAACP and the Rise of the Black Leadership The Chicago NAACP and the Rise of Black Leadership 1910-1966 is a very interesting book that goes to extended lengths to assist in the identification of Chicago’s history. NAACP is an abbreviation for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The book, written in 1997, reveals the issues that the region went through in relation to the widespread issues on racism at the beginning of the 20th century. It also extends to reveal the efforts that the people in the state made to ensure that they were free from any oppression and the manner through which their lives would improve. The association was very implemental in the achieving of freedom and thus the noticed achievements. The author of the book, Christopher Robert Reed, is recognized in the field of the Black Movement and this is a factor that led to the increased sales of the book. Christopher Robert Reed is a native Chicago after being born in the area on 11 January 1942. The fact that his grandfather was a very renowned activist was very important as he learnt a lot from the man. The member of the family was very insightful part of his growing up because many are the stories that he heard from a firsthand basis. His father was also very important in his development as he was able to teach him about the struggle that the colored people in Chicago had to go through. The fact that Reed after growing up became a professor of Black Studies in the University of Chicago ensured that he had increased access to information and resources that were very implemental in the writing of his book. The fact that he was also a member of various clubs such as the Martin Luther King movement also gave him a chance to encounter other people with a similar notion and aim in mind. In the movements, they had the ability to discuss among each other and rather gain a significant amount of information for the development of Chicago. Reeds also attended Roosevelt University where he majored in teaching history around the year 1987. This was very imperative as he was able to get in touch with the students who were also in not only school to learn, but they also served as a conference where they could share numerous ideas on the manner through which the black people were being treated. The book was published in the year 1997 for the first time. This was after Mr. Reed had completed his professional life as lecturer in the various universities. The publisher of the book is the Indiana University Press (Reeds 1). The publication method was very important in that the students of the University had the advantage of having a one on one gathering with the professor during the time of the launch of the book for the very first time. The book had not edited and hence it was an original production from the professor. The book had its publication made in Indiana and hence the natives got a one on one hearing with the book writer who had a lot to teach the people. Moreover, the fact that he talked to them one on one gave him a feeling of essence because he knew that the people were interested with his work of art. This was a very important fact in that he was able to gain the push that he required to lead him to offer more publications. The book focuses on Chicago and the manner in which the people, the blacks specifically, had a hard time gaining independence. This was because there was a lot of problems that came with being a colored person in the United States at the time of the publications. The author talks about the vastness of the discrimination to a point where they used to have different stores for different races when it came to purchasing food. The discrimination was even in the offices. The white people actually considered the elite and hence the jobs that they had were very reputable. The white people were the ones promoted first and then the issues of the few successful black people could come later. Christopher is a black person and hence the manner in which he expresses the issues in the book is very captivating. He offers his feelings towards the issue and this is one way that the book made its way to becoming one of the author’s bestseller books. In the book, the major point that he tends to bring to the leaders was the actual participation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in the eradication of all forms of racism. Racism was an issue of the past and that it brought no help to the people in their day-to-day endeavors. The association searched for opportunities where it could get a hearing with the major people in administration of Chicago to try to ease the tension between the two races. This is because the higher administration, the political ones were the ones that had the power to draw attention to the rest of the white community and had they insisted on the end of racism, this could have been the case. The book through the author goes a long way to state the important points and themes being oppression and mockery to have widespread in the area (Reeds 148). In the development of the plot and main themes, Christopher is very influential and states the important people that helped in the registration and the success of the book. He goes ahead to commend the state archive of Illinois for its assistance with the various information that he uses in the book. The various teachers and lecturers in his former university were also very influential in the success of the book and hence they receive their due credit. Some of his students also assisted in the success of the book and hence identified. The review of the society in a deep and comprehensive manner was one good source of information. The fact that there still existed some people in the society with information about the movement is also very imperative. As stated, the archives and museums were very important in that there are very important historical documents that assisted in further exploration of the issues the blacks faced in their earlier years. Another credible source was the school library. The Roosevelt University came in handy, as people there had received many donations from the organization when it was in its active years. Being a lecturer at the university gave him the much-needed access to the information and thus the development of the plot came in very effectively. The New York Times is one of the publications that praise the book largely. This is from the fact that it states the book to be one of the largest landmines in the expression of the political and social conditions in Chicago. The fact that the book explores the various issues that the people tried resolving and the methods used is a very touching issue. Jeremy Edwards is the reviewer credited with doing this and the fact that the New York Times credited the book is a very large boost to the book as very many readers are interested in the credit got in the book for them to gain an interest in reading it. Kenneth Goings of the University of Memphis is another important character in the review of the book. Kenneth states that the book was well written though with a little more effort it would have done better in the market. He states that the author could have improved the book by having the issues focused to an extended manner that the issues of the adjacent states could have been focused on. This was very important in that a comparison could have assisted and gone a long way in ensuring that the efforts made by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People really extended. Putting the efforts alongside others was very important in that an appreciation of the efforts made by the organization could have been in order. H-Net review is a website that was very important in understanding the various issues presented in the book and the review it offered was very impressive. The website in association with Amazon stated that the efforts were very necessary and thus the benefits accrued from reading the book would assist people appreciate the efforts made by the people. A personal evaluation of the book reveals that the book was written in a clear and concise manner through which people of any kind could understand it. The book expresses the views of Christopher as not only a lone writer, but also using the views of others as he cites them in his work. It is very imperative that the issue presented in the book gain notice to be wide covering as Chicago is one of the places worst hit by racism at the time. It is also noted that the people in the book have been stated to be hardworking as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was successful in the struggle. The book clearly defines the paths through which the association went through and states them to be a very effective manner in the resolution of such social problems even in the future without the need of bringing up unnecessary violence. Moreover, the fact that the book states all the names of leaders of the association in their hierarchy assists in identifying their efforts to the community. This moreover makes it rather commendable for them and their families for work well done. Work Cited Reed, Christopher. Chicago NAACP and the Rise of the Black Leadership Class. Chicago: Indiana University Press, 1997. Print Read More