Caribbean Reasonings: Rupert Lewis and the Black Intellectual Tradition recounts the work
of a renowned scholar and activist who has made an indelible mark on Caribbean life.
Through a collection of academic papers and personal reflections, primarily
proceeding from a 2013 conference, some of the leading contemporary political
minds in the Caribbean have converged in this volume to put forward a collection of
essays that detail Rupert Lewis's impact on issues such as black nationalism and
identity, social and racial equality, and Caribbean and human liberation.
The volume boldly highlights Lewis's earnest study of the political teachings of
Marcus Garvey, Walter Rodney and the African-Caribbean experience, to promote
understanding the realities of blackness and to chart a course forward for African
people throughout the diaspora. It also expertly details his contribution to the
discourse on the Grenada Revolution, Caribbean sovereignty, globalisation,
capitalism, radicalism in art and the media, and black feminism in political activism.
In a career spanning decades, Rupert Lewis has amassed a legacy which details his
rise from a student activist at the UWI to a stalwart of Caribbean political thought
who has guided the Department of Government at Mona, the Institute of Jamaica
and its African-Caribbean Institute of Jamaica as well as institutionalising Liberty
Hall and the Museum of Marcus Garvey among other contributions.
Clinton A. Hutton is a Professor at The University of the West Indies specialising in Caribbean Political Philosophy, Culture and Aesthetics. He has published numerous book chapters and journal articles on the Haitian Revolution, the culture of enslaved Africans, the Morant Bay uprising, Caribbean Art and Aesthetics, Rastafari, Revival and Jamaican popular music. His most recent book is Colour for Colour Skin for Skin: Marching with the Ancestral Spirits into War Oh at Morant Bay (2015). He is lead editor and author of Leonard Percival Howell and the Genesis of Rastafari (2015). Hutton is a noted painter and photographer.
Maziki Thame teaches political science at Clark Atlanta University. Her research interests and publications focus on the postcolonial Caribbean, the place of race, violence, radicalism, identity and gender in political life.
Jermaine McCalpin is Assistant Professor and Director of the African and African-American Studies program at New Jersey City University. He specializes in transitional justice, genocides and truth commissions, and has written on reparations for African enslavement, the Armenian genocide and the South African, Haitian and Grenadian truth commissions.
