By SEAN PURDY*
The history of the civil rights and Black Power movement in the United States has, in recent years, aroused interest in Brazil
It is not new that many professors and students at Brazilian universities question the lack of translations of works in other languages that could contribute to their academic education. The fact is that, especially in undergraduate studies, it is very difficult to study certain subjects when there are simply not enough suitable texts in Portuguese, as well as a diverse field of translations of texts in foreign languages.
Several reasons can be cited, such as the difficulties in implementing appropriate language teaching courses and the financial viability of translations in the country's publishing market. This situation has certainly changed in recent years with the greater development of foreign language teaching, the increase in the number of translations available and institutional policies of universities in favor of “internationalization”. In any case, there is consensus on the importance of translation as a link between cultures and universities in a globalized world.
This question has become particularly important in my main area of study: the civil rights and Black Power movements in the United States. For 17 years I have taught general undergraduate courses in History about the United States and have published several books and articles in Portuguese in this area. I have also supervised many postgraduate studies. Even so, as a professor, I noticed early on that the inability of the vast majority of students to use the extensive bibliography specific to the civil rights and Black Power movements in English is a major challenge for me. Black Power and the lack of material in Portuguese were obstacles to adequately developing a specific discipline on the subject. Many in Brazil demonstrate familiarity with elements of the history of black movements in the United States: an understanding of central figures such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks and Malcolm X, the barely veiled racism in the country's history and the international importance of the political advances achieved by these movements.
Obviously, the comparison of the experience of the United States with the history of racism and anti-racism in Brazil has been highlighted. Few, however, are aware of the volume of debates already consecrated in the historiography of the area about periodization, the economic, social and cultural agenda (and not just strictly political) of the black movements, the role of gender and sexuality, the multiple regional and local experiences, the construction of popular memory about the movement, among other issues.
With the increase in translations over the last decade, I finally managed to set up an undergraduate course dedicated to the civil rights movement and Black Power in 2018, which has been offered regularly almost every year. As part of the course assessments, some students translated selected articles and book chapters into English, which were then reviewed by me and other colleagues.
We have, to date, around 30 translations of articles and book chapters, as well as translations of subtitles for several films/documentaries. The process of reviewing and publishing the translations – which involves requests for publication permission from American publishers – is time-consuming, but we have already published half a dozen texts (all included in the Bibliography below). Even the texts and subtitles not yet published have been made available for educational use in the classroom for many colleagues at several Brazilian universities who teach the history of the United States.
Fortunately, in addition to our efforts, the history of the civil rights movement and Black Power in the United States has, in recent years, aroused the interest of other colleagues in Brazil. New translations of classic books and articles by WEB Du Bois and Cedric Robinson are emerging, as well as texts translated by colleagues not only in history, but also in the social sciences, education, and communication and arts. However, this expanding bibliography has not yet been compiled and made available.
The following Bibliography aims to be a contribution to scholars and students of the subject in various areas of knowledge. It does not claim to be exhaustive, but every effort has been made to include translations made in Brazil from the 1960s to the most recent texts covering those published this year.
Bibliography of books and articles in Portuguese on the history of the civil rights and black power movement in the United States
ALEXANDER, Michelle. The New Segregation. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017.
ALVES, Amanda Paloma. From the blues to the civil rights movement: the emergence of “black music” in the United States. Revista de História da UFBA, Salvador, 3, 1, p. 50-70, 2011.
ARANTES, Mariana Oliveira. Marching Singing: Folk Music and Civil Rights in the United States (1945-1960). São Paulo: Almeida, 2016.
BALDWIN, James. Next Time, The Fire. Translated by Nino Rizzi. New York: Routledge, 2024.
BALDWIN, James. Next Time, The Fire. Racism in the United States. Rio de Janeiro: Biblioteca Universal Popular, 1967.
BARRETO, Raquel. Angela Davis and Frederick Douglass: Self-Writing as Activism. Aú Magazine, Rio de Janeiro, v.3, n.3, 2020.
BARRETO, Raquel. The Black Panther Party: Women and Images. Jacarandá, p. 128-149, 2020. https://www.jacarandaarteepoder.com/
BARRETO, Raquel. “It is our duty to fight for our freedom”: on the autobiography of Assata Shakur. SuLiterary Supplement of Pernambuco, Recife, 2020. http://www.suplementopernambuco.com.br/acervo/artigos/2582-%C3%A9-nosso-dever-lutar-por-nossa-liberdade-sobre-a-autobiografia-de-assata-shakur.html
BARRETO, Raquel. Gloria Richardson – the black woman who stopped the US National Guard. Medium, 05/04/2018.
BARRETO, Raquel. The Black Panthers and Brazil: Notes on a History of the Diaspora. Alma Preta, December 14, 2017. https://almapreta.com.br/sessao/quilombo/os-panteras-negras-eo-brasil-notas-sobre-uma-historia-da-diaspora/
BARRETO, Rachel. Blackening Feminism or Feminizing Race: Narratives of Liberation in Angela Davis and Lélia Gonzalez. Master's Degree in History (Dissertation). Pontifical Catholic University of Rio, 2005.
BLANCHETTE, TG and BARRETO, Raquel. Trouble Every Day: 1968 in the United States. Eco-Post Journal, Rio de Janeiro, 21 (1), p. 30-70, 2018.
BRISKIEVICZ, Danilo Arnaldo. The 60 Years of Little Rock and the Common World in Hannah Arendt. Educ. Soc., Campinas, v.40, e0179909, 2019.
CARMICHAEL, Stokely; PEREIRA, Amauri M. (Org.). Black Power. Belo Horizonte: Ed. Nandyala, 2017.
CAVALCANTE, Sávio. WEB Du Bois: Marx, Marxism and Communism. Marxist Critique, Campinas, n.53, 2022.
CHAPPELL, David. A Stone of Hope: Prophetic Faith, Liberalism, and the Death of Jim Crow Laws. Tempo, Niteroi, vol.13, n.25, 2008.
COLLINS, Patricia Hill. Black Feminist Thought. São Paulo: Boitempo, 2019.
DA SILVA, Matheus Cardoso, From local anti-racism to global anti-fascism: The transnationalization of the black movement in the USA between the two world wars. Anphlac Electronic Journal, n.27, p.144-184, Aug./Dec., 2019.
D'AVILA, Daiara Suellen Gabriel. Civil Rights and Black Female Activism in the Self-Writings of Rosa Parks and Nina Simone, 1950s-1960s. Master's Dissertation, Department of History, University of São Paulo, 2022.
DÁVILA, Jerry. Race, Memory and Education in the National Formation of the United States. History of Education, Santa Maria, RS, August 2021.
DAVIS, Angela. The Meaning of Freedom. New York: Routledge, 2022.
DAVIS, Angela. An Autobiography. New York: Routledge, 2019.
DAVIS, Angela. Freedom is a constant struggle. São Paulo: Boitempo, 2018.
DAVIS, Angela. Women, Culture and Politics. New York: Routledge, 2017.
DAVIS, Angela. Women, Race and Class. New York: Routledge, 2016.
DAVIS, Mike. Quartz City: Brushing the Future in Los Angeles. São Paulo: Boitempo, 2009.
DILAWAR, Arvind. James Baldwin's Socialism. Jacobina, São Paulo, 02/08/2023. Translated by Sofia Schurig. https://jacobin.com.br/2023/08/o-socialismo-de-james-baldwin/
DOWD-HALL, Jacqueline. The Long Civil Rights Movement and the Political Uses of the Past. The Journal of American History, Vol. 91, No. 4, March, 2005. (Trans. Sean Purdy, unpublished manuscript).
DU BOIS, WEB The Souls of the Black People. Rio de Janeiro: Lacerda, 1999.
DU BOIS, WEB “Socialism and the Negro Problem” (1913). Trans. Sávio Cavalcante; “Karl Marx and the Negro” (1933) Trans. Sávio Cavalcante; “Marxism and the Negro Problem” (1933) Trans. João Gilberto W. Melato and Sávio Cavalcante; “Application for Membership in the Communist Party of the USA” (1961) Trans. Sávio Cavalcante. Marxist Criticism, Campinas, SP, n.53, 2022.
FAIRCLOUGH, Adam. Was Martin Luther King a Marxist? History Workshop, London, no. 15, p. 117-125, Spring 1983. Trans. Andrew Santiago. https://www.academia.edu/78251987/Adam_Fairclough_Martin_Luther_King_era_um_marxista_1983_
FARIA, João Paulo Martins. FBI, Black Movement and Cold War: investigations into Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr (1953-1968). Master's Dissertation, Department of History, USP, 2021.
FIELDS, Barbara Jeanne. Slavery, Race and Ideology. New Left Review, London, I/181, May-June 1990. Trans. Pedro Ribeiro. https://www.academia.edu/78250937/Barbara_Fields_Escravid%C3%A3o_Ra%C3%A7a_e_Ideologia_1990_2007_
FORTAS, Abe. On the right to dissent and civil disobedience. Trans. Norah Levy. Rio de Janeiro: Cruzeiro, 1968.
FRANCISCO, Flavio Thales Ribeiro. The new black in a transnational perspective. Afro-American representations of Brazil and France in the newspaper Chicago Defender (1916-1940). Doctoral Thesis, Department of History, USP, 2014.
FRANCISCO, Flavio Thales Ribeiro. Elements of Black Conservatism in the United States: George Schuyler Against the Civil Rights Movement (1950–1968). History Magazine, São Paulo, n.180, 2021.
FRANCISCO, Flavio Thales Ribeiro. The end of Latin American racial fraternities in the African-American imagination: George Schuyler's journey through Latin America (1948). TOPOI, Rio de Janeiro, v. 21, p. 657-681, 2020.
FRANCISCO, Flavio Thales Ribeiro. From Black Gradualism to the American Dream: The Formation of Black Conservatism in the United States. ANPHLAC ELECTRONIC JOURNAL, v. 20, p. 344-368, 2020.
FRANCISCO, Flavio Thales Ribeiro. The empire of white supremacy and the Brazilian Black Front: representations of race relations in Latin America in the African-American newspaper Chicago Defender (1916-1940). AFROASIA, v. 2, p. 187-211, 2019.
FRANCISCO, Flavio Thales Ribeiro. The New Negro in the Diaspora: African-American modernity and the representations of Brazil and France in the Chicago Defender newspaper (1916-1940). 01st ed. São Paulo: Intermeios/FAPESP, 2016. v. 1. 272p .
FRANCISCO, Flavio Thales Ribeiro. For a first-class citizenship: racial supremacy and the debate on integration in the African-American press during the First World War (1917-1919). Sankofa, São Paulo, v. 9, p. 67-85, 2016.
FRANCISCO, Flavio Thales Ribeiro. The emergence of a New Negro in the pages of the Chicago Defender (1915-1919). Sankofa, São Paulo, v. 7, p. 113-139, 2014.
GOULART, Henry Rodrigues de Paula. Between the United States and the Black Atlantic: Stokely Carmichael's Black Power (1966-1971). Master's Dissertation, Department of History, USP, 2019.
GREENE II, Robert. The Socialism of the Black Panthers. Jacobina, São Paulo, 20/09/2023. Trans. Priscilla Marques. https://jacobin.com.br/2023/09/o-socialismo-dos-panteras-negras/
GREENE II, Robert. The Legacy of the Black Panther Party. Jacobina, São Paulo, 05/09/2019. Trans. Luís Branco. https://jacobin.com.br/2019/09/o-legado-do-partido-dos-panteras-negras/
HAMPTON, Fred. Power Anywhere Where There Are People. Feira de Santana, BA: Editoral Adandê, 2024.
HANNAH, John A. The Present Situation of Civil Rights in the United States. Unpublished, 1960.
HOBSBAWM, Eric. Social History of Jazz. Rio de Janeiro: Paz e Terra, 2009.
JOHNSON, Ollie. Explaining the extinction of the Black Panther Party: the role of internal factors. Caderno CRH, Salvador, vol.15, n.36, 2002.
JEHOSEPHA. The Young Malcolm X. New York: New York University Press, 2015.
JOSEPH, Peniel. Black Power: The State of the Field. Journal of American History, Vol. 96, Issue 3, December 2009. (Trans. Sean Purdy, unpublished manuscript).
KELLEY, Robin DG “The Black Question”: Red Dreams of Black Liberation. Maria Antonia: Gmarx-USP Bulletin, Year 5, n.7, September 2024. Translated by Sean Purdy, Welerson Silva de Oliveira, Leonardo Alves de Oliveira and Bruno Garcia Stranghetti. Revision: Carlos Alexandre da Silva Nascimento.
KELLEY, Robin DG, Unsafe: Policing under Racial Capitalism. Dilemmas – Journal of Conflict Studies and Social Control, Rio de Janeiro, v. 15, n. 1, JAN/FEB/MAR/APR, pp. 379-409, 2022. Trans. Sean Purdy.
KELLEY, Robin DG “Roaring from the East”: The Third World Dream. Maria Antônia: Boletim do Gmarx-USP, Year 3, n.9, May 27, 2022. Translated by Matheus Cardoso da Silva. Presentation: Sean Purdy.
KING, JR. Martin Luther. Why We Cannot Wait. Trans. Sarah Pereira. Barueri: Faro Editorial, 2020.
KING, JR. Martin Luther. Coretta Scott King (ed.) The Words of Martin Luther King. Rio de Janeiro: Zahar, 2010.
KING, JR. Martin Luther. Clayborne Carson (ed.) The Autobiography of Martin Luther King. Rio de Janeiro: Zahar, 2010.
KING, JR. Martin Luther. A Call to Conscience – The Best Speeches of Martin Luther King. (org. Clayborne Carson and Kris Shepherd). Rio de Janeiro: Zahar, 2006.
KURLANSKY, Mark. 1968: The Year That Shook the World. Rio de Janeiro: José Olympio, 2004.
LEONARD, Aaron J. and GALLAGHER, Conor A. How and Why the FBI Murdered Fred Hampton. Jacobina, São Paulo, 30/08/2021. https://jacobin.com.br/2021/08/como-e-por-que-o-fbi-assassinou-fred-hampton/
LEWIS, John; AYDIN, Andrew; POWELL, Nate. The March – Book 1: John Lewis and Martin Luther King in a story of struggle for freedom. São Paulo/Belo Horizonte: Nemo, 2018.
LIMONCIC, Flavio. United States in the 2023th Century. São Paulo: Contexto, XNUMX.
MCCANNE, Michael. The Black Panthers, the Young Patriots, and the Rainbow Coalition. Jacobina, São Paulo, 04/12/2019. Trans. Victor Marques. https://jacobin.com.br/2019/12/os-panteras-negras-os-jovens-patriotas-ea-coalizao-arco-iris/
MEEHAN, Trish. Harry Belafonte was a radical militant. Jacobina, São Paulo, 28/04/2023. Trans. Cauê Seignemartin Ameni. https://jacobin.com.br/2023/04/harry-belafonte-era-um-militante-radical/
MORRIS, Aldon. WEB Du Bois at the Center: From Science, to the Civil Rights Movement, to the Black Lives Matter Movement. INTER-LEGERE, Natal, v. 1, n. 23, Jul/Dec, 2018. Trans. Annahid Burnett.
NEWTON, Huey P. The Correct Management of a Revolution. Feira de Santana, BA: Editoral Adandê, 2024.
NIMTZ, August. Violence and/or nonviolence in the success of the Civil Rights Movement: the Malcolm X-Martin Luther King Jr. nexus. Cadernos Cemarx, Campinas, SP, v. 14, n. 00, p. e021009, 2021. Translation: Murillo van der Laan. Review: Agnus Lauriano.
OLUGBALA, Assata. Assata Shakur – Black Revolutionary. Feira de Santana, BA: Editoral Adandê, 2024.
PROCTOR, Hannah. Agnès Varda (1928–2019). Translated by Cauê Seignemartin Ameni. https://jacobin.com.br/29/03/agnes-varda-2019-2022/
POTIER, Sidney. A Life Beyond Expectations – Letters to My Great-Granddaughter. Rio de Janeiro: Zahar, 2010.
PURDY, Sean. The American Century. In: KARNAL, Leandro; FERNANDES, Luís Estavam; MORAIS, Marcos Vinicius de; PURDY, Sean. History of the United States: from its origins to the 21st century. São Paulo: Contexto, 2007.
REED, Tashan. Afeni Shakur Confronted the State and Won. Jacobina, São Paulo, 10/01/2022. Translated by Gerycane Oliveira. https://jacobin.com.br/2022/01/afeni-shakur-confronted-the-state-and-won/
REIS FILHO, Daniel Aarão (org.) Other Modernities. Our America and the United States. Vol.1 Our America and the USA. Rio de Janeiro: FGV, 2010.
ROBINSON, Cedric. Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition. London: Routledge, 2023. Introduction: Muryatan Barbosa. Foreword: Robin D. G. Kelley. Preface: Damien Sojoyner and Tiffany Willoughby-Herard. Translation: Fernanda Silva e Sousa, Caio Netto dos Santos, Margarida Goldsztajn and Daniela Gomes.
RODRIGUES, Vladimir Miguel. Malcolm X and the American racial question. São Paulo: Editora Unesp, 2013
SAMYN, Henrique. The Black Panthers: An Introduction. New York: Routledge, 2023.
SAMYN, Henrique (org. and trans.). For an anti-racist revolution: an anthology of texts by the Black Panthers. https://antologiapanteranegra.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/antologia_panterasnegras.pdf
SANTIAGO, Bruna. Angela Davis's Thought: Perspectives on Freedom and Resistance. Belo Horizonte: Editora Letramento, 2021.
SHAWKI, Ahmed. Black Liberation and Socialism. São Paulo: Ed. Sundermann, 2017.
SOUSA, Rodrigo Farias de. William F. Buckley Jr., National Review and the conservative critique of liberalism and civil rights in the USA, 1955-1968. Doctoral Thesis, Department of History, UFF, 2013.
SOUSA, Rodrigo Farias de. New American Left: From Port Huron to the Weathermen (1960-1969). Rio: Publisher, FGV, 2009.
SESC PINHEIROS. All Power to the People! Emory Douglas and the Black Panthers. Exhibition Catalog. São Paulo, SESC, 2017.
SULLIVAN, James. The Day James Brown Saved the Country. Rio de Janeiro: Zahar, 2010.
TAYLOR-STONE, Chardine. The Radical Politics of Nina Simone. Jacobina, São Paulo, 24/04/2023. Translated by Sofia Schurig. https://jacobin.com.br/2023/04/a-politica-radical-de-nina-simone-2/
THEOHARIS, Jeanne and BURGIN, Say. About Rosa Parks. The Earth is Round, São Paulo, April 2021. Translated by Sean Purdy and Daiara Suellen Gabriel D'Avila. https://dpp.cce.myftpupload.com/sobre-rosa-parks/
TOTA, Antonio Pedro. The Americans. New York: Context, 2010.
TURE, Kwami and HAMILTON, Charles. Black Power: The Politics of Liberation in the United States. Translated by Arivaldo Santos de Sousa. São Paulo: Editora Jandaira, 2021.
X, MALCOLM. Autobiography of Malcolm X with the collaboration of Alex Haley. Rio de Janeiro: Editora Record, 1992.
WACQUANT, Loïc. The Two Faces of the Ghetto. Trans.
WACQUANT, Loïc. 'A black city among whites'. Revisiting America's black ghetto. Politics & Society, Florionapolis, v. 3, n.5, Feb. 2004. Trans. Taís Blauth.
WOODSON, Carter. The Miseducation of the Negro. São Paulo: Medu Neter, 2018.
YAMAHTTA-TAYLOR, Keanga. #Black Lives Matter and Black Liberation. São Paulo: Elefante, 2021.
*Sean Purdy He is a professor of United States history at USP. Author, among other books, of The general statesman: Douglas MacArthur (intermediate). [https://amzn.to/3ELP16Y]
the earth is round there is thanks to our readers and supporters.
Help us keep this idea going.
CONTRIBUTE
