Something to Do with Power: Julian Mayfield’s Journey toward a Black Radical Thought, 1948–1984
David Tyroler Romine
University of North Carolina Press
Unlike his more well-known contemporaries such as Malcolm X and Maya Angelou, Julian Hudson Mayfield (1928–1984) has remained on the periphery of mainstream historical narratives. Yet his extensive intellectual archive has been a vital resource for historians exploring Black radicalism.
Centering Mayfield’s lived experiences across five decades and four continents, Something to Do with Power offers a unique lens into the complex intersections of Black communism, Black nationalism, and Black internationalism during the Cold War era, highlighting the importance of Mayfield’s story of mutual interest and solidarity in shaping literary and political activism and offering a fresh examination of the Black left’s role in American culture.