Louise Thompson Patterson: A Life of Struggle for Justice

Born in 1901, Louise Thompson Patterson was a leading and transformative figure in radical African American politics. Throughout most of the twentieth century she embodied a dedicated resistance to racial, economic, and gender exploitation. In this, the first biography of Patterson, Keith Gilyard tells her compelling story, from her childhood on the West Coast, where she suffered isolation and persecution, to her participation in the Harlem Renaissance and beyond. In the 1930s and 1940s she became central, along with Paul Robeson, to the labor movement, and later, in the 1950s, she steered proto-black-feminist activities. Patterson was also crucial to the efforts in the 1970s to free political prisoners, most notably Angela Davis. In the 1980s and 1990s she continued to work as a progressive activist and public intellectual. To read her story is to witness the courage, sacrifice, vision, and discipline of someone who spent decades working to achieve justice and liberation for all.

Author: Keith Gilyard
Publisher: Duke University Press
Published: 10/05/2017
Pages: 328
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.30lbs
Size: 9.20h x 6.10w x 0.90d
ISBN: 9780822369851

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 08/01/2017 pg. 108
Choice 04/01/2018

About the Author
Keith Gilyard is Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of English and African American Studies at Pennsylvania State University and the author and editor of numerous books, including True to the Language Game: African American Discourse, Cultural Politics, and Pedagogy and John Oliver Killens: A Life of Black Literary Activism.