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Acknowledgments This book would not have been possible without the support of a number of scholars, teachers, friends, and family members. As hard as it is to do so, there are three who are deserving of the highest thanks: Andrew Knox, Jaime Goodreau, and Robert Hill. Andrew Knox is my grandfather, and my role model. I don’t really know if he knows all of the things that I learned by watching him. He had a love of reading. When I was a boy he would read two newspapers every night, and he helped me develop a love of reading. Jamie Goodreau was my high school history teacher. Her ability to connect the past to the present, as well as her passion for the subject, has had a lifelong impact on me. She was the first teacher to inspire me, and for that I am truly grateful. When I started my undergraduate education at UCLA, I wanted to be a sports executive. However, Professor Robert Hill’s Introduction to African American History class changed my life. I decided that I wanted to have the same impact on my students as he had on me. He taught me how to read critically and gave me a language through which I could explain the African American experience. During the decade that I spent at UCLA, I met a number of people who have had a lasting impact on me, and I want to make sure that I acknowledge their contribution: Tsekani Browne, Keidra Morris, Sydney Reece, La’Tonya Reese Miles, Valerie Smith, Sidney Lemelle, Mark Sawyer, Jessica Millward, Brandi Brimmer, Rochelle Watson, Henry Yu, Mark Sawyer , Ellen DuBois, Jessica Wang, Sheila Patel, Barbara Bernstein, Brenda Stevenson, J. Arch Getty, Jan Reiff, Joan Waugh, Erika Blum, Fernando Barbosa, Darnell Hunt, Michelle Talley, Nhlanhla Thwala, Dan O’Neill, Daniel Negash, Sean Anglon, Hamid Qasim, Ayana Herbert, Shani O’Neal, Thomas_Text.indd 9 7/22/12 10:07 AM x Acknowledgments Scot Brown, Shantina Jackson, Ebony Utley, Mary Dudziak, Richard Lapchick , Jeffrey Sammons, Laura Belmonte, Martha Biondi, Robert Edelman, Susan Brownell, Douglas Hartmann, Michael Krenn, Maureen Smith, Jules Tygiel, Penny Von Eschen, Mark Scoggins, Michelle Peace, Mieko Davis, Deckard Hodge, Samuel Steinberg, Holicynth Bryan, John Alston, Douglas Daniels, Claudine Michel, Fredrik Logevall, Reginald Sims, Althea Sims, Aaron Howard, Michael Walker, Darron Walker, Malinda Williams, Doris Sims, Maliaka Howard, Althea Howard, Melvin Sims, Tamara Benefield, Calvin Madlock, Lawrence Williams, Bonnie Williams, Ranell Holmes, Kenneth Osgood, as well as the staff at Magic Johnson’s Starbucks. Similarly, I want to thank all of the people I met while I was employed by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. You have all helped me reach my goals: C. L. Cole, Sundiata Cha-Jua, Fanon Che Wilkins, Barrington Edwards, Monica White, Karen Flynn, Mark Perry, Clarence Lang, Helen Neville, Adrian Burgos, David Roediger, Brendesha Tynes, Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko, Synthia Sydnor, Tom Weissinger, Barbara Keys, Nicole Robinson, Porsche Montgomery, Edwin Wilson, Kira Barber, Chrystalyn LaGarde, James Anderson, Christopher Spann, Antoinette Burton, Kristin Hoganson, Erik McDuffie, Linda West, Tina Candler, Corean Elam, Kersuze Simeon, Mark Dyreson, Leonard Moore, C. Keith Harrison, David K. Wiggins, Carol Anderson, Michael Lomax, James Coates, Othello Harris, Stephanie Lang, Yvonne Smith, Tricia Vanderkooy, Akilah Carter, Emmitt Gill, Rueben Buford May, Jeffrey Ogbar, and John Singer. Last, I would like to thanks the many friends, colleagues, and coworkers who have helped shape me as a scholar and person since I have been a faculty member at the University of Maryland–College Park: David Andrews, Jaime Schultz, Michael Silk, Shannon Jette, Jane Clark, Brad Hatfield, TaMira Peterson, Debbie Jones, Gniesha Dinwiddie, Jaslean La Taillade, Jeffrey McCune, Elsa Barkley Brown, Johanna McCants, Kevin Blackistone, Nicole Isaac, Sharon Harley, Dana Brooks, Odis Johnson, Kris Marsh, Dave Zirin, Ronald Smith, Kevin Witherspoon, Thomas Hunt, Ericka Ligon, Erika Van Buren, Fareed Nassor Hyatt, Norrinda Brown, Tanya Ellis, Anitra Grisales, Derek Musgrove, Patrice Ford, Doris Corbett, the staff at Busboys and Poets, and my colleagues and the support staff at the University of Maryland–College Park. To the editors and support staff at the University of Illinois Press, especially Bill Regier and Dick Wentworth, thanks for believing in this project and putting in the hard work that was necessary to bring it to publication. Finally, to my family in Los Angeles, especially Kimberly and April, I love you and I miss you. Thomas_Text.indd 10 7/22/12 10:07 AM [18.222.125.171] Project MUSE (2024-04-20 00:53...

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