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The Head Negro in Charge Syndrome: The Dead End of Black Politics by Norman Kelley June 2004 - ISBN: 1560255846 Norman Kelley argues that Al Sharpton's entrance into the 2004 Democratic presidential race is the most recent evidence of a decaying black political culture where ego trumps politics. What Sharpton covets is the sobriquet The Head Negro in Charge (HNIC), a symbolic political mobilization that replaces effective politics and organizing. Kelley identifies the HNIC syndrome as a response to the failings of the civil rights and black power movements since the 1960s and a symptom that black politics has reached a dead end with regard to ideas, policies and programs.
Norman Kelley has written for The Nation, the Village Voice, New York Press, New Politics, Black Renaissance/Noir and Newsday. He is also the author of the "noir soul" mystery series Black Heat, The Big Mango, A Phat Death and Rhythm and Business: The Political Economy of Black Music.
Cf. "The Jesse Jackson Phenomenon, " by Adolph Reed, Yale Univ. Press.
Michael Pugliese