Judith Weisenfeld

I was able to get an advance read of this through NetGalley.

This is a fascinating account of some smaller, and generally unknown to the majority demographic (I'll venture generally unknown to a minority as well), segments of our society. I recall the Nation of Islam from my teen years, but admit not hearing much of them recently. I'm not sure of their relevance anymore. Indeed, I don't know if the NOI can have any relevance given the opening the xenophobic 2016 Rethuglican candidate has afforded the bigots and their platform against ...anything ... Islam. The dominance of black Christianity, coupled with the fervor of alt-right bigotry and the wrong image of Islam on the world stage, despite any differences from NOI Islam?...well, NOI will get lost. I admit ignorance with respect to Ethiopian Hebrews, and the other religio-racial movements. I learned much with this.

The research has depth and is well cited. I think the historian goal of preservation of history is admirable, but this text unfortunately comes across as too academic to be accessible to the general public and I don't know who will want to read this outside of academia. I found the narrative tedious in the early chapters, and somewhat repetitious in the later ones, but still enlightening.… (meer)