PRAISE FOR CLARENCE LUSANE's Twenty Dollars and Change:
"Lusane elucidates how structural racism and the convulsive and circular political violence of white backlash undermine the strides of black progress. He also carefully, and contemplatively, contextualizes Tubman's work and legacy as foundational to a tradition of resistance, including the fierce battle against the regressive anti-black racism of this moment. Twenty Dollars and Change is a future-gazing guide to who we must be to become who we claim to be. And as Lusane notes, we will only get there by changing, inside and out."–Kali Holloway, from the foreword
"Clarence Lusane has been a respected scholar activist and keen observer of the Black Freedom Movement for many decades now. His new book, Twenty Dollars and Change, offers powerful analyses of race and U.S. history and our present crucible moment. Writing from what he terms a "Tubman, liberationist, perspective" he delivers powerful and provocative insights that must be engaged seriously. A must read."–Barbara Ransby, author of Making All Black Lives Matter: Reimagining Freedom in the Twenty-First Century
"Twenty Dollars and Change is a book for our times. As challenges to racial justice, women's rights, and democracy itself intensify, Lusane's sober and historically rooted analysis provides much needed clarity and insight. Tubman represents the best that this nation has produced, and her life experiences and unrelenting commitment to equality echo in today's struggle for reforming criminal justice, dismantling white supremacist symbols, protecting voting rights, and securing health equity. Lusane expertly links these campaigns and calls for the nation to implement the principles it claims to hold. As Lusane argues, yes, Andrew Jackson should be replaced by Harriet Tubman. And, yes, gender and racial inequalities and marginalization should be replaced by a genuine multi-racial, inclusive democracy. Twenty Dollars and Change is exactly the book we need at this moment." –Congresswoman Karen Bass
"This brisk and intelligent study shows readers just why the question of whether freedom fighter Harriet Tubman replaces oppression fighter Andrew Jackson on the twenty-dollar bill is a matter of great importance. Lusane teaches us of the starkly contrasting lives of Tubman and Jackson, and captures blow-by-blow the intricacies of the struggles over changing currency before connecting them to broader ones in the moment of Donald Trump and George Floyd. He brilliantly insists, with the great Stuart Hall, that struggles over identity and power never exist 'outside representation.'"–David Roediger, author of Working Toward Whiteness: How America's Immigrants Became White
PRAISE FOR CLARENCE LUSANE:
"Clarence Lusane is one of America's most thoughtful and critical-thinkers on issues of race, class, and power." – Manning Marable, author of Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention
"Lusane analyzes Black people, issues, power, and leadership with insight and passion."–Julianne Malveaux, author of Are We Better Off? Race, Obama and Public Policy
PRAISE FOR CLARENCE LUSANE'S THE BLACK HISTORY OF THE WHITE HOUSE
" Clarence Lusane traces the path of race relations in America by telling a very specific history–the stories of those African-Americans who built, worked at and visited the White House."–Mary Louise Kelly, Talk of the Nation, National Public Radio
"Those who think they know their presidents may be in for surprises in Clarence Lusane's fascinating social history."–USA Today
"In illuminating the central role Blacks played in this country's history, Lusane charts the course of race relations in the United States."–The Philadelphia Tribune
" Lusane's effort is much more than a catchy title or revisionist tome: it's an eye-opening tribute and a provocative reminder of the many narratives that have gone untold."–Publishers Weekly
"In this fascinating history of all the enslaved people, workers, and entertainers who spent time in the president's official residence over the years, Clarence Lusane restores the White House to its true colors."–Barbara Ehrenreich