Author: Eddie S. Glaude Jr.

Educator, author and political commentator Eddie S. Glaude Jr. presents his new book, "America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation's Anniversaries."

About the Book (from the publisher):

Celebrated public intellectual Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. presents a groundbreaking analysis of the vicious cycles of American history and the country’s enduring refusal to face its true nature—especially at the moments when national anniversaries steer us back toward the mythology meant to disguise the truth.

"America, U.S.A.," deliberately formulated and beautifully written, details a heart-wrenching exploration of America’s legacy. It is a magnificently complex combination of lessons and voices—from W.E.B. DuBois and John Dos Passos to Herman Melville and Martin Luther King, Jr.—that, together, paint a sprawling and honest tableau of the United States, its complicated past, and ever more tenuous future. Glaude’s is a powerful voice of conscience in our tumultuous world. He pulls no punches, calling on us to interrogate our conceptions of innocence and freedom and the stories we tell ourselves about our past and present.

Centered around the major celebrations of America’s milestone birthdays across 250 years of history, the book offers a riveting look at the battles over who has a stake in writing the American story. Devastatingly candid, profoundly moving, and deeply reflective, America, U.S.A. is a shining meditation on how we must reckon with a grim past in order to strive for the better angels of our future.

“A thoughtful, insightful, beautifully written book that is timely and welcomed in these perilous times.”—Bryan Stevenson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Just Mercy

“Eddie S. Glaude Jr. opens a necessary conversation as we reflect on the meaning of our country’s 250th anniversary.”—Annette Gordon-Reed, Pulitzer Prize– and National Book Award–winning author of The Hemingses of Monticello

 About the Author:

Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. is an educator, author, political commentator and public intellectual who examines the complex dynamics of the American experience. His writings, including "Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul," "In a Shade of Blue: Pragmatism and the Politics of Black America," The New York Times bestseller, "Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for our Own," take an exhaustive look at Black communities, the difficulties of race in the United States, and the challenges we face as a democracy. His latest book, "We Are The Leaders We Have Been Looking For,"  was released in May 2024. Glaude is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor in African American Studies at Princeton University. He is also on the Morehouse College Board of Trustees. He frequently appears in the media as an MSNBC contributor on programs including "Morning Joe" and "Deadline Whitehouse with Nicolle Wallace." Glaude is a native of Moss Point, Mississippi.

Co-sponsored by Princeton University's Department of African American Studies and Humanities Council, Labyrinth Books, and the Princeton Public Library's Public Humanities Initiative. Public Humanities programs are presented with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this programming do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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