Incognegro: A Memoir of Exile and Apartheid

By Frank B. Wilderson III and Frank B. Wilderson

Book Overview

In 1995, a South African journalist informed Frank Wilderson, one of only two American members of the African National Congress (ANC), that President Nelson Mandela considered him "a threat to national security." Wilderson was asked to comment. Incognegro is that "comment." It is also his response to a question posed five years later in a California university classroom: "How come you came back?" Although Wilderson recollects his turbulent life as an expatriate during the furious last gasps of apartheid, Incognegro is at heart a quintessentially American story. During South Africa's transition, Wilderson taught at universities in Johannesburg and Soweto by day. By night, he helped the ANC coordinate clandestine propaganda, launch psychological warfare, and more. In this mesmerizing political memoir, Wilderson's lyrical prose flows from unspeakable dilemmas in the red dust and ruin of South Africa to his return to political battles raging quietly on US campuses and in his intimate life. Readers will find themselves suddenly overtaken by the subtle but resolute force of Wilderson's biting wit, rare vulnerability, and insistence on bearing witness to history no matter the cost.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0822359936
• ISBN13: 9780822359937
• Release Date: August 2015
• Publisher: Duke University Press
• Length: 512 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Tour De Force!

A beautifully written memoir that takes you from late 60s Minnesota to late 80s "end of apartheid" South Africa, and then to the 00s in California's "progressive" Bay Area through the eyes of the exceedingly dynamic academic and activist Frank Wilderson III. Wilderson weaves a tale that explores hisinner torments, social struggles, family battles, and challenging relationships with amazing insight, biting political criticism, humor, poetry, and, above all, honesty. Inspired by Assata Shakur's memoirs, Wilderson's book is a poignant trek through the ongoing evolution of a post-60s era black radical and a modern-day visionary. Highly recommended!

A must read for whites as well as blacks that seek understanding between the two groups.

Frank Wilderson paints a picture of an American citizen that is often forgotten about either accidentally or intentionaly, because they represent a view that is taken as anathema to being "American". Wilderson explains how black anger, rage, and frustration as well as an attraction to communism of the Maoist or Leninist variety comes about. He is middle class, black, Ivy educated, and also unhappy, unfulfilled, angry, tired, and sceptical. His experience moved from a hatred of America to a hatred of South Africa and what they have become but he presents far more questions than answers about how this happens and why as well as how to possibly fix the problems associated on two sides of the ocean for blacks be they Americans or Africans; Pharoh for blacks may be on both sides of the sea. I recommend this book especially to the white conservative Christian reader and to the very liberal white reader that seeks to understand the black experience in America at home and abroad and the influence that global capitalism and political pragmatism and compromise can have on those that are marginalized in any society.

A pivotal piece of writing for those studying race in today's world

Racism doesn't die a sudden death. It's a concept that's tough, vengeful, and bitter. "Incognegro: A Memoir of Exile and Apartheid" is a story of race and the shifting attitudes of two countries. Frank B. Wilderson has in his life lived in two countries notorious for its cruel treatment of some of its own citizens solely for the color of their skin - The United States and South Africa. Drawing his ideas and views, Wilderson constructs a very highly readable piece of work, that will enlighten as well as entertain. Written as a response to Nelson Mandela "Incognegro" is a pivotal piece of writing for those studying race in today's world.

Ridiculously fly

Uhhh, buy the book, do it, now. From being an intelligence operative in a network of anti-apartheid armed struggle in South Africa to reflections on middle school days forming a human sign of "OFF THE PIGS!!!" to the National Guard's invasion of Berkley to launching a sustained and insightful critique of the operation of white privilege/supremacy in the academy, Frank Wilderson has written a ridiculously fly memoir that I feel incredibly grateful to have gotten my hands on. For your own sake, please, purchase this amazing piece of writing immediately.