‘The Battle for the Black Mind’

A book both fascinating and infuriating, “The Battle for the Black Mind” (published by Legacy Lit) couldn’t be more timely. Its author, Dr. Karida L. Brown, is a sociology professor at Emory University. She is the winner, with her husband the artist Charly Palmer, of a 2024 NAACP Image Award (for “The New Brownies Book: A Love Letter to Black Families”), and is also a seasonal Vineyard resident. I had the pleasure of interviewing her about her latest work.

When asked what the motivation was behind her latest book, Brown replied, “I knew that this story was important to tell, because it is a piece of American history that is for all of us … It is a vital piece of Black history … When I started the project, I was very clear that education is a cornerstone of the long Black freedom struggle.”

The stories recounted by Brown include an intriguing cast of heroes and villains alike. Brown lays out the covert roots of Black education when such a thing was forbidden to the earnest, albeit sometimes misdirected, efforts of abolitionists and missionaries. She recounts the establishment of public schools, followed by court-mandated desegregation, up through the present. So often we hear only about the heroes, but the roles the villains have played cannot be ignored –– especially considering Project 2025 and its clear directive to dismantle the Department of Education. These have been the people who endeavored to keep former slaves and their descendants “in their place” –– be it because of a belief that they were innately incapable or, in the case of the new industrialist class, to profit from a workforce educated solely in trade schools. Interestingly, she points out that the beliefs and actions of some of these same people –– good and bad –– took hold in colonial Africa, as well.

In her research, Brown found the role played by philanthropy in the development of Black education astounding –– and not necessarily in a positive sense. As she writes, “All money ain’t good money.” Nevertheless, in our conversation, she said that she feels the philanthropic world is shifting in these concerning times to serving more as “backbone institutions to support grassroots organizations.”

Asked about the target audience for her book, Brown answered, “Black people, Black Americans, whose ancestors are singing a chorus through this book. We’re all on the frontlines of a battle. I wrote this for teachers, for educators. I wrote this for Black parents, Black students.” That may be her target audience, but I would argue that every American needs to read “The Battle for the Black Mind” to understand the depth of the fight for equity that continues today. In Brown’s words, “Education is the great equalizer.”

In telling these important stories, Brown adds to the origin narratives of HBCUs with an examination of the engines that made them run –– human, philosophical, and philanthropic –– especially in their early days. Her deft storytelling immerses readers in over 160 years of history, often encouraging them to imagine what may in fact be unimaginable. She even injects an occasional touch of humor, like titling the chapter on Booker T. Washington vs W. E. B. Du Bois (you have to read the book to know what that’s all about), “Welcome to the Thunderdome.” In her words, “It was important for me to tap into a voice that is speaking to a broader public. I’m not talking to my fellow sociologists or fellow academics. I want my readers to feel like we are going on a journey together through history, and I also want my readers to experience what I experienced on the research journey.” She continues, “I did not know this history when I started, so imagine me discovering these records in the archives and saying, ‘Oh my goodness!’ and realizing how big the story really is. And I wanted to bring that element of surprise, awe, inspiration, sorrow, and joy … all of that.”

“The Battle for the Black Mind” culminates with a call to action –– “10 Lessons from Our Ancestors” –– to take now. Just before that, though, in introducing those steps, Brown writes, “Our ancestors showed us how to persevere, and now it’s our responsibility to continue on –– not just to survive in this moment, but to thrive. We are our ancestor’s wildest dreams.”

My final question to Brown was about her level of optimism right now. “I understand that for me as an educator, as a professor, these are dire times,” she said. “We are under siege. Sometimes I am afraid, but I don’t live in fear. Sometimes I am tired, but I don’t let myself get weary. And sometimes the writing on the wall looks devastating, but I live in hope. And why is that? Because when I go back to the stories that I tell in this book, the one recurring theme is freedom, dreams, vision, hope, never giving up, being a small axe that falls big trees [a Jamaican saying], actions that we all can be taking every day. We the people do democracy every day. If I’m to take those lessons seriously and understand that the baton has been passed to my generation, I don’t have the right to live in despair.”

By the end of our conversation, I had tears in my eyes. These days, we could all use a dose of that spirit.