See “Nation of Cowards: Black Activism in Barack Obama’s Post-Racial America,” by David Ikard and Martell Teasley

@ASoulAFire @JaniceOCG #NationOfCowards a @Diopian winner by @blkeducator @Dr_Teasley & @IUPress, considers ways of coping w/oppression & inspires questions on @HandmaidsOnHulu.  Dr. David H. Ikard joins Thurs., 8 pm ET, 1/13, “If America Fails?:  The Coming Tyranny.”

“They urge the black community to challenge the social terms on which it copes with oppression, including acts of self-imposed victimization,” writes the publisher of Nation of Cowards: Black Activism in Barack Obama’s Post-Racial America (2012), by David Ikard and Martell Teasley.

• What are some effective coping strategies when the victimization is not self-imposed?

• What are the ways in which the Black community has coped with the oppression seen in extrajudicial police killings and voter suppression tactics, for example, rampant since 2012?

• What suggestions does Dr. Ikard have for responding to threats to democracy and what it connotes for Black America?

• Which coping strategies does Dr. Ikard detect in The Handmaid’s Tale, and which ones does he see as most effective?

• What differences does Dr. Ikard see in the ways black and white characters in the show respond to oppression?

• What can African Americans do to fight back the anti-Critical Race Theory attacks we are seeing?

Come on…let’s get our questions ready for the professor now!

Nation of Cowards: Black Activism in Barack Obama’s Post-Racial America won the Best Scholarly Book Award by the Diopian Institute for Scholarly Advancement (DISA) in 2013.  — LMO

“In a speech from which Nation of Cowards derives its title, Attorney General Eric Holder argued forcefully that Americans today need to talk more―not less―about racism. This appeal for candid talk about race exposes the paradox of Barack Obama’s historic rise to the US presidency and the ever-increasing social and economic instability of African American communities. David H. Ikard and Martell Lee Teasley maintain that such a conversation can take place only with passionate and organized pressure from black Americans, and that neither Obama nor any political figure is likely to be in the forefront of addressing issues of racial inequality and injustice. The authors caution blacks not to slip into an accommodating and self-defeating ‘post-racial’ political posture, settling for the symbolic capital of a black president instead of demanding structural change. They urge the black community to challenge the social terms on which it copes with oppression, including acts of self-imposed victimization.”  — Publisher

“Professor Ikard is Professor of African American and Diaspora Studies. His research and teaching interests include African American Literature, black feminist criticism, hip hop culture, black masculinity and whiteness studies. He is the author/co-author of four books, including Breaking The Silence: Toward a Black Male Feminist Criticism (2007), Nation of Cowards: Black Activism in Barack Obama’s Post-Racial America (2012), co-authored with Martell Teasley and winner of the Best Scholarly Book Award by DISA in 2013, Blinded by the Whites: Why Race Still Matters in 21st-Century America (2013), and Lovable Racists, Magical Negroes, and White Messiahs (2017). His essays have appeared in African American Review, MELUS, Palimpsest, African and Black Diaspora Journal, The Journal of Black Studies, and Obsidian III.” — Vanderbilt University

David Ikard also has a passion for creating Black art. Inspired largely by the motherland – Africa – and using acrylics, oils, wood, cloth, and archival paper for mixed media, Ikard focuses on creating images that have “something to do with black folks, social justice, self-determination, nature, and the rawness of our collective humanity.” You may see his artwork online at the Ikard Gallery. — If America Fails: The Coming Tyranny, a TruthWorks Network Production

READ | Nation of Cowards:  Black Activism in Barack Obama’s Post-Racial America | by David Ikard and Martell Teasley | Indiana University Press | 9/4/2012