Darkening Blackness
Race, Gender, Class, and Pessimism in 21st-Century Black Thought
Afropessimism focuses not on Black individuals but on the challenges white society faces in overcoming its own negrophobia and the skepticism towards white narratives of inclusivity. It questions whether what we consider progressive ideas are merely a new guise for racism. In the context of movements like Black Lives Matter, the ongoing dehumanization and violence against Black people underpin our civilization. Additionally, an anti-Black collective sentiment often lurks beneath the surface, obscured by doctrines seen as liberating. This work critiques the oversimplified and comforting elements of contemporary African-American thought and proposes alternatives to dominant frameworks like intersectionality, poststructuralism, and radical democracy in analyzing race, gender, and class. The emergence of Afropessimism and Black Male Studies, led by thinkers such as Tommy J. Curry and Frank Wilderson, represents new, independent approaches to understanding Black rage against systemic racism. This book presents a unique genealogy of the evolving landscape in Black thought, offering a historically informed and politically engaged critique of innovative theories and strategies that aim to radically rethink the future of Black lives globally.
