Imprisoned Intellectuals

Reviews / Votes

The notion of 'political prisoners' is not widely accepted in the United States, and yet this country has had them. This extraordinary collection brings us their voices, their ideas, which have been muffled too long. These writers see American society with an acute understanding that people on the outside have a hard time matching. -- Howard Zinn, author of A People's History of the United States and professor emeritus of Political Science, Boston University The Jail is meant to be Cavernous, Bestial, Silence. Still the voices of imprisoned intellectuals leak out. Joy James' excellent volume demands our involvement in the struggle. -- Vijay Prashad, George and Martha Kellner Chair in South Asian History and Professor of International Studies, Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut An important collection. In these troubling times it is more important than ever to discover the subversive intellectualism of the incarcerated. -- Zillah Eisenstein A unique and very significant contribution. -- Bettina Aptheker, University of California, Santa Cruz A superb collection-both instructive and inspiring. Joy James is to be complimented for this book and for her thoughtful introductory essay. -- Dennis Brutus, poet and former political prisoner of South African Apartheid In this extraordinary volume, James brings together the powerful voices of prison resistance, past and present, providing the intellectual foundations for a comparative approach to our understanding of criminal justice as a tool for political repression. Imprisoned Intellectuals creates a critical scholarly resource for interpreting criminal justice and its impact on race, gender, and class hierarchies of power. -- Manning Marable, M. Moran Weston/Black Alumni Council Professor of African-American Studies, Columbia University A bracing, poignant, and finally edifying colloquy of voices whose power and eloquence speak nobly against the forces that unfairly imprison them. As this book makes clear, men and women unjustly imprisoned by the state may ultimately hold the key to our moral freedom through their courageous witness and brilliant analysis. In a society hell-bent on locking up some of its greatest citizens, Imprisoned Intellectuals is an inspiring intervention in a conversation that is critical to our very survival. -- Michael Eric Dyson, author of <I>Open Mike: Reflections on Philosophy, Race, Sex, Culture, and Religion<I> The voices in Imprisoned Intellectuals tear apart common assumptions about the impossibility of resistance and survival. * San Francisco Bay Guardian Literary Supplement * James's book reminds the reader about the preciousness and tenuousness of freedom and liberty ... -- James E. Smith, University of Wyoming