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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Excellent Reexamination of American Cultural HistoryBy ChillyMary Helen Washingtonrsquo;s The Other Blacklist explores the influence of communist ideology and activism in the work of mid-Twentieth Century African American artists. The book is written in a concise; accessible style.The introduction contextualizes Washingtonrsquo;s coming-of-age during the 1950s; the era about which she writes. As a bright; black Catholic schoolgirl; she experienced the Red Scare as fully as any American living through the Cold War era. Her experience represents that of black America writ large: She was made fully aware of the evils of communism while the struggles for civil rights; social equality; and economic justice were largely ignored and lumped with communism as threats to the American Way.In six cogent chapters; Washington discusses five left-leaning or openly communist black artists: Lloyd L. Brown; Charles White; Alice Childress; Gwendolyn Brooks; and Frank London Brown. Each chapter is supported by well-documented research and interesting illustrations; including photographs of the artists; relevant activities and occasions involving them and others; paintings; and fascinating photocopied pages of FBI files on the artists.The nearly universal fear of communism; she explains; impacted most aspects of national life andmdash;to her pointmdash;the views of critics; who embraced a ldquo;new criticismrdquo; that valorized the internal forms of individual works; rather than social contexts and themes. Subsequent scholarship; she surmises; has tended to follow this linemdash;leading readers away from the social and political contexts and contents of communist-influenced work by black artists of that time.Washington examines African American affiliations with the Communist Party and the embrace of leftist ideas within black communities South and North; tracing the Partyrsquo;s influences on the civil rights movement. These connections; she posits; are represented in the work of black artists; in general; and the five artists she discusses; in particular. She argues that; in addition to the well-documented blacklisting of white literati and left-leaning individuals; U.S. authoritiesmdash;including the FBImdash;and the intellectual establishment have ignored; misinterpreted; and worked to silence these artists. Hence; she writes; this book.The Other Blacklist presents an instructive revision of artistic and social history. Washingtonrsquo;s exploration of the cultural significance of black leftist writers and other artists during the Forties; Fifties; and beyond valuably expands our understanding of this period of American arts and letters and some of the inspired artists who contributed to it. Blacklist is worthy reading for everyone interested in 20th Century cultural; social; and political studies.8 of 9 people found the following review helpful. I had always thought of myself as a nice; left-leaningBy Peter ClothierIm reading The Other Blacklist: The African American Literary and Cultural Left of the 1950s; by Mary Helen Washington with special interest because of the work I did back in the early 1980s on a study of the artist; Charles White; who gets a significant chapter in the book. Mine was a two-year project; supported by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation; and it whirled me right out of my comfort zone into a world about which I had known absolutely nothing until that time. I had always thought of myself as a nice; left-leaning; transplanted Englishman; entirely without racial prejudice. I made two important discoveries in the course of that work: first; that the art world; as I knew it; was fraught with systemic prejudice against African American artists and the work they produced; and second; that I unknowingly--and shamefully--shared that prejudice.My work; then; was not only to research my subject; but to develop a whole new mind-set about values; traditions and aesthetic conventions I had never previously questioned. And not only that; I very soon came to realize that Id need a new approach to the work I had set myself. As a well-schooled academic; I had learned that the first place to go; when embarking on a research project; is the library. Not much use there; in Charles Whites case. The published material was surprisingly scant. I discovered that there were only two ways to get the information that I needed. One was to go to the ultimate source himself. I did this in a series of extended interviews with both Charlie and his wife. And the second was to go directly to every other living source I could find; which meant a great deal of travel; from New York to Seattle; Washington; from Chicago to Jackson; Mississippi.It was quite a journey. To be embarrassingly honest; it was often a difficult; even a scary one. Laugh at me if you will; but such was my prejudice and ignorance that the prospect of a trip north of Central Park into the depths of Harlem or down to the South Side of Chicago left this nice white guy fearful for life and limb! Until I ventured forth; that is; and encountered nothing but goodwill; generosity and warm welcome. I met with artists and scholars; writers and curators; and began to tap into a vital; genuinely American culture virtually unknown--except for its music and perhaps; by that time; a handful of writers--to the vast majority of American intelligentsia.Mary Helen Washingtons book offers a similar enlightenment. She argues; cogently and persuasively; that the socialist thinking embraced in the 1930s not only by African American cultural leaders; but also by a significant number (most?) of their white counterparts; led to a kind of impasse in the 1950s. The famous Hollywood blacklist of that era was but the tip of an iceberg of communist phobia that gripped America at the time; it was paralleled; Washington argues; by that "other blacklist"--the black blacklist--that resulted in the suppression or mis-hearing of many African American voices; Charles Whites among them. In the rush to avoid tarring with the brush of Communism; some leading black writers and critics were overly eager to pronounce the demise of racism and the need for a new; post-racial; assimilated culture; devoid of the passionate socialist commitment that had vitalized much African American art and literature until that time. As a result; many of those who chose the route of commitment to avowedly black values; black themes and social protest were marginalized.Washingtons task is to bring them back center stage. Her thesis fits right in with voices that I hear today; more than a half century later--voices that seek to remind America that social injustice and; yes; racism; continue to spread their toxins in our social and political infrastructures. We need look no further; in my opinion; than the irrational; fanatical obstructionism that greets every initiative by our first African American President to know that racism remains a powerful; if poorly fig-leafed force in our countrys life. Quite aside from her introduction to forgotten or sidelined cultural heroes; Washingtons book reminds us that we still have work to do if we are to achieve the American ideal that "all men are created equal."And finally; in the spirit of disclosure; Im more than gratified to note that "The Other Blacklist" makes liberal citations from; and references to the work I did so many years ago on Charles White. The book I wrote was never released to the public. The manuscript came back from publishers with properly favorable comments; but regrets: they could see "no market" for a book on an African American artist at the time. Rightly or wrongly; I read their comments as a thinly veiled code. In retrospect; I can only say that its a huge satisfaction to see the results of my efforts put to the service of a worthy cause. For which; my thanks go out to the author of this well-thought; highly readable and timely book.5 of 5 people found the following review helpful. Necessary ScholarshipBy Jerry W. Ward Jr.Mary Helen Washington has made a superb contribution to the study of American literary politics; African American literature and culture; and the deep structures of critical literacy and black writing. THE OTHER BLACKLIST is a much needed alternative to lukewarm genuflections at the altars of the "canonized." Washingtons scholarship offers fresh perspectives that enhance the work of constructing literary histories.Jerry W. Ward; Jr.