Melissa Turner, Author at

Independent Historian

Melissa Turner is a an independent historian who studies radical historians and intellectuals. She holds advanced degrees in history and political science and is particularly interested in 20th Century thinkers in Western Europe and the United States.

Robert Robinson (1906-1994)

Robert Robinson was an engineer who became one of the most prominent Americans to live in the Soviet Union. Because of his presence in the U.S.S.R in the 1930s, Robinson became an international celebrity, meeting often with many famous African Americans who lived in and … Read MoreRobert Robinson (1906-1994)

Freedomways (1961-1985)

Freedomways was the central theoretical journal of the 20th century black arts and intellectual movement in the United States. From its opening issue in the spring of 1961, it invited historians, sociologists, economists, artists, workers, and students to write on African American history, heritage, and … Read MoreFreedomways (1961-1985)

Lorenzo Johnston Greene (1899-1988)

Dr. Lorenzo Johnston Greene was a pioneering African American historian. Greene was born on November 16, 1899 in Ansonia, Connecticut. He received his BA from Howard University in Washington, D.C. in 1924 and his MA in history from Columbia University in 1926. From 1928 to … Read MoreLorenzo Johnston Greene (1899-1988)

Haki R. Madhubuti (Don L. Lee) (1942- )

Haki R. Madhubuti is a poet, professor, and founder of Third World Press, the nation’s oldest publisher of Black thought and literature. Madhubuti was born Don L. Lee in Little Rock, Arkansas, on February 23, 1942. After a move to Detroit, his father abandoned the … Read MoreHaki R. Madhubuti (Don L. Lee) (1942- )

Eric Eustace Williams (1911-1981)

Historian, educator, and politician Eric Eustace Williams was born in 1911 in Port of Spain, Trinidad, to working class parents. His family’s struggles to survive economically introduced Williams to the brutal social and racial hierarchy of the British colony. As an adult, he gave up … Read MoreEric Eustace Williams (1911-1981)

Walter Rodney (1942-1979)

Walter Rodney, one of the most important Guyanese intellectual and political figures of the 20th Century, was born on March 23, 1942 in Georgetown, Guyana. Because of his working-class background, the period in which he lived, and his parents’ political awareness, Rodney was introduced to … Read MoreWalter Rodney (1942-1979)

Hunter Pitts “Jack” O’Dell (1924-2019)

Community organizer and civil rights activist Hunter Pitts O’Dell was born in Detroit, Michigan on August 11, 1924. His father George Edwin O’Dell worked in hotels and restaurants in Detroit. His mother, Emily (Pitts) O’Dell, who studied music at Howard University, later taught adults to … Read MoreHunter Pitts “Jack” O’Dell (1924-2019)

J. Max Bond, Jr. (1935-2009)

J. Max Bond, Jr. was a prominent African American architect. He was born in 1935 into a prominent intellectual family from Louisville, Kentucky. His father, J. Max Bond, Sr., who held doctorate degrees in economics and sociology from the University of Southern California, was a … Read MoreJ. Max Bond, Jr. (1935-2009)

Mariama Bâ (1929-1981)

Writer and political activist Mariama Bâ was born in 1929 in Dakar, Senegal to a well-to-do family. Her father worked in the French colonial administration and in 1956 became the Minister of Health of Senegal. Her mother died when she was young. Bâ was raised … Read MoreMariama Bâ (1929-1981)

C.L.R. James (1901-1989)

Cyril Lionel Robert James was born in the British colony of Trinidad on January 4, 1901. James was a bright youth who absorbed literature, history, music, sports, and art-the foundational texts of Western civilization. He attended Queen’s Royal College in Port of Spain, but chafed … Read MoreC.L.R. James (1901-1989)