One Hundred Years of African American Economists: Difficulties and Prospects for Black Political Economy in the 21st Century

The challenge set before Black economists in 1967 by Harold Cruse in his seminal work The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual: A Historical Analysis of the Failure of Black Leadership, to create new economic theories, methodologies, and institutional forms, from a Black community point of view, is still with us, and growing more urgent by the day. Mainstream economics has failed to shine much light on fundamental problems of inequality, poverty, and financial and productive stability, particularly as these problems intersect with racial disparity. After 100 years of African American economists, perhaps it is time to strike out on our own behalf and search for the solutions to our community's problems by creating and employing our own lamps.