Dennis C. Dickerson

This book examines in depth the century-long struggle of Black laborers in the iron and steel industry of western Pennsylvania. In the process it shows how the fate of these Black workers mirrors the contemporary predicament of the Black working class and the development of a chronically unemployed underclass in Americas declining industrial centers. Dickerson argues that persistent racial discrimination within heavy industry and the decline of major industries during the 1970s are key to understanding the social and economic situation of twentieth-century urban Blacks. Through a blend of historical research and contemporary interviews, this study chronicles the struggle of Black steelworkers to gain equality in the industry and the setbacks suffered as American steelmaking succumbed to foreign competition and antiquated modes of production. The plight of western Pennsylvanias Black steelworkers reflects that of Black laborers in Chicago, Gary, Detroit, Cleveland, Youngstown, Birmingham, and other major American cities where heavy industry once flourished.

Black Steel Workers in Western Pennsylvania, 1875-1980

Out of the Crucible

During the turbulent 1960s, civil rights leader Whitney M. Young Jr. devised a new and effective strategy to achieve equality for African Americans. Young blended interracial mediation with direct protest, demonstrating that these methods pursued together were the best tactics for achieving social, economic, and political change. Militant Mediator is a powerful reassessment of this key and controversial figure in the civil rights movement. It is the first biography to explore in depth the influence Young's father, a civil rights leader in Kentucky, had on his son. Dickerson traces Young's swift rise to national prominence as a leader who could bridge the concerns of deprived blacks and powerful whites and mobilize the resources of the white America to battle the poverty and discrimination at the core of racial inequality. Alone among his civil rights colleagues—Martin Luther King Jr., Roy Wilkins, James Farmer, John Lewis, and James Forman—Young built support from black and white constituencies. As a National Urban League official in the Midwest and as a dean of the School of Social Work at Atlanta University during the 1940s and 1950s, Young developed a strategy of mediation and put it to work on a national level upon becoming the executive director of the League in 1961. Though he worked with powerful whites, Young also drew support from middle-and working-class blacks from religious, fraternal, civil rights, and educational organizations. As he navigated this middle ground, though, Young came under fire from both black nationalists and white conservatives.

Whitney M. Young Jr.

Militant Mediator

LaToya Ruby Frazier

Now available in a paperback edition, LaToya Ruby Frazier s award-winning first book, "The Notion of Family," offers an incisive exploration of the legacy of racism and economic decline in America s small towns, as embodied by her hometown of Braddock, Pennsylvania. The work also considers the impact of that decline on the community and on her family, creating a statement both personal and truly political an intervention in the histories and narratives of the region. Frazier has compellingly set her story of three generations her Grandma Ruby, her mother, and herself against larger questions of civic belonging and responsibility. The work documents her own struggles and interactions with family and the expectations of community, and includes the documentation of the demise of Braddock s only hospital, reinforcing the idea that the history of a place is frequently written on the body as well as the landscape. With "The Notion of Family," Frazier knowingly acknowledges and expands upon the traditions of classic black-and-white documentary photography, enlisting the participation of her family, and her mother in particular. In the creation of these collaborative works, Frazier reinforces the idea of art and image-making as a transformative act, a means of resetting traditional power dynamics and narratives both those of her family and of the community at large. "

Dennis C. Dickerson

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