Eldridge Cleaver (1935–1998)

Well, this one at least doesn’t include framing the S.A. of women as an act of political revolution. I did like this book, especially for its biographical components and Cleaver’s experience with the Black Panthers and how the police and government waged a racist war against the black ghettoes.
The first third of the book concerns his early life and his history with the panthers, frankly, I think this is the best part of the book. Of course, this is where his criminal history begins as well although the book quickly glances over his crimes though he does name them. The second third of the story, which comprises most of the book, concerns his fugitive status as he flees the U.S. for legal reasons and justified political concerns as he toured the world especially communist countries. This part of the book is interesting in that he has a political awakening realizing that not all “revolutionary” politics are good or even different from establishment politics. Then he suddenly breaks down and comes to God. Now, when it comes to religion, I’m an atheist, all religion is to me an archaic power structure, mythology, and collections of allegory & parable. However, I do see the importance of spirituality.
The last, and most brief part of the book, is his conversion to Christianity and his surrender to U.S. authorities due to some serious homesickness. His spiritual journey in the book is very quick and much less interesting than his political one according to this book. I am always interested in personal journeys even spiritual ones but here, the road to god was just so sudden and occurred wholly after a sudden emotional breakdown. His surrender to authorities was presented as driven by severe homesickness and exile-born depression as well as a mode of his seeking redemption. Overall, however, I did enjoy this book possibly more than its predecessor. There are passages here that are equally relevant today as they were when this book was written.
Passages like: “Ever since the Watts uprising of 1965, in which scores of black people had been killed, a rising tide had been growing against what had every appearance of the indiscriminate killing of citizens by the police. Everyone talked about it but no one was doing anything about it.” still have relevancy and power today for very obvious reasons.
Would I recommend this book? Yes, more than its forebear ([b:Soul on Ice|6377315|Soul on Ice|Eldridge Cleaver|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1238747225l/6377315._SY75_.jpg|1949545]), it was an interesting read.… (mer)

This was an interesting one. First, let's get the elephant out of the way: the author was a misogynistic homophobic man serving time for serial rape at the time of authorship. The text absolutely in no uncertain terms unapologetically blurts it out. The man had his problems some of which were no doubt due to the system of society that continues to this day. Because of this, there are some still relevant insights to be found here. The text also unconsciously makes his psychological shortcomings fairly blatant but they smacked me in the face when I became lulled by his eloquence. They almost seemed to rear up out of nowhere and disappear again as he ran with his ideas, though looking back their essence is streaked throughout.
The most vital asset of this collection of letters and essays is its earnestness. I believe the man was sincere in his outpouring. He was not the greatest philosopher/political thinker nor were some of his opinions anywhere near progressive or even sympathetic. There are a few weak points in the book. I don't mean his blatant misogyny, homophobia, or reference to his crimes as "an act of revolution" (though any are welcome to avoid this book based on those aspects of the man) but to a couple of sections of the book that possibly due to these backwards beliefs fell short of the immersion of the rest.
The first of these weak bits include the love letters to his attorney, there was nothing there at all for me other than some very awkward and corny lines to wonder at. This section of the book was titled Prelude to Love - Three letters, and the following section titled White Woman, Black Man were the weakest of the whole book. Although, I did enjoy the beginning and some ideas that are floating around in the text of the essay in this section titled The Allegory of the Black Eunuchs. The first fourth of it opens onto the attitudes of young blacks towards older blacks (at least within prison) in a conversation while eating beans. However, the rest of the piece degenerates along the lines of a sex-based discussion of Amazonian black women and the always more desirable white women.
Overall, I'm glad I read it. It is also somewhat demoralizing to have it confirmed through this book that certain points of his anguish are still points of anguish in the American landscape today. I would recommend this book if you're curious and are willing to accept a snippet of sincere life experience and raw individual thought regardless of its repulsiveness or its victimhood or its crimes.… (mer)

Soul on Ice by Eldridge Cleaver is a memoir and collection of essays originally written in Folsom State Prison in 1965, and published three years later in 1968. In this time of Black Lives Matter it is a book all teens should read.

The book is divided into four sections. They cover the author’s time in prison and his crimes. His coming to a knowledge of who he is as a black man. His romantic interest in his lawyer. What it means to be black and have your own sexual identity.

The first two sections cover material still relevant today. People expected Eldridge Cleaver to be apologetic about his crimes. He, however, pointed out that those who expected this were rich, fat, and supporting a war against the Vietnamese who were starving and terrified. The greater crimes of the rich, he claimed, balanced out his crimes and drug use.

However, he also longed to be clean of drugs and to learn more about black nationalism and communist politics. He felt that being black caused him to have a lesser place in society which was unfair.

These problems of black being treated as less than white in the workplace and in society still resonate today. The wars fought by our rich nation against impoverished nations still exists. The idea that black men are viewed differently if they have sexual attraction to white women still exists.

This book opened my eyes to how much hasn’t changed in 55 years. It gave me a feeling that I must do my part to bring more change.… (mer)