Vol. 92, Issue 4
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Book Review
The Disappearance of Black Leadership
by Earl Ofari Hutchinson
The Disappearance of Black Leadership by Earl Ofari Hutchinson speaks on several issues that concern the black community.
Hutchinson’s other writings include titles such as Let your Motto Be Resistance, The Assassination of the Black Male Image, and Betrayed: Presidential Failure to Protect Black Lives.
Warning!! This book isn’t light reading, serious comers, only. This isn’t a book one reads for ‘fun.’
The book’s essays discuss black ministers lack of leadership, the negative leadership of Jessie Jackson and other black politicians and the way the American public tries to ‘sell’ Malcolm X. Hutchinson does a great job of dissecting exactly what’s wrong with black leadership today.
An example of bad leadership is in the chapter “The Shameful Silence of Too Many Black Ministers.”
Hutchinson tells how many black ministers no longer make public noise on issues such as police violence, the HIV/AIDS crisis, or personal corruption within the ministerial fold.
The author spares no one--not even Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his son, Martin Luther King, III. Hutchinson also spends a good deal of time lambasting Jessie Jackson for posing for the media.
In the chapter “The Jessie Factor,” Hutchinson questions Jacksons’ “leadership modus operandi” which include finding a hot public issue, “blow[ing] into town, leading a demonstration or deliver a fiery speech at a rally, make vague promises to create a lasting campaign, do a little or no personal organizing, and then quickly move on.”
Hutchinson makes several good points on every issue he brings up, which can be misleading to the reader.
Hutchinson claims he will tell who fits the roles of black leaders, and how they can re-emerge. But he doesn’t. He gets so caught up in what’s wrong , that he never tells how to be (or become) a good black leader. people
All in all, I would have to say that this is an interesting book to read, but not to buy … this is one you want to borrow from a friend.
—By Ta-Mela Jeffries
Echo Staff Writer