While the fashion among the majority of Americans of African descent is to be moved by the poetry of “hope” and “change” for America in the election year of 2008, Elaine Brown years ago at Scripps College declared that America must be born again. Her short history of Africans in America is one of the finest and most accessible intellectual rap sessions I have ever heard!

This streaming audio presentation is a must for a powerful introductory, historical, contextual overview of the dominant Black experience. In “Postmodern Blackness,” bell hooks makes a significant effort to remind us to challenge a simplified, essential Black experience. My suggestion here is that when we depart from the ‘traditional essentials’ we must make sure we depart from the place where Elaine Brown is standing.