Black Power Scorecard

April 1, 2025
Harnessing true power. "We are living in the time of a new renaissance--what we are calling the Black Renaissance," wrote the historian Ibram X. Kendi. Perry, however, argues that the cultural, social, and economic strides made by African Americans tell only part of the Black power story in the United States. Fortunes amassed by successful Black artists/entrepreneurs like Jay-Z, for example, ignore "the exploitation that is often required to make large sums of wealth," thereby making financial status a false indicator of Black empowerment. A Brookings Institution senior fellow, Perry instead envisions a framework that roots that power in forms of Black resistance to both capitalism and the white supremacist culture it supports. For Perry, true Black power--which includes expectations of a long, healthy life--comes from collectives built on strong families, good schools, and social networks that exist in spaces that are safe and sustainable. It also derives from the more equitable distribution of income-generating assets such as commercial real estate. To help Black communities generate more wealth (as through collective ownership opportunities), Perry suggests that more equity-driven forms of capital, both private and governmental, be made available. Activists must also compel institutions and companies to acknowledge "liability for past harms" and, in this way, deliver much-needed restorative justice--in the form of long-overdue reparations--to all African Americans. Readable and timely, this Black power analysis-cum-manifesto will appeal to both a general audience as well as to those with an interest in racial and social justice issues. Necessary reading that offers clear and actionable ways to close the racial gap.

COPYRIGHT(2025) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from February 10, 2025
Economist Perry (Know Your Price) reevaluates what it means for Black Americans to be empowered in this smart and revelatory treatise. Defining longevity as “the ultimate expression of power,” Perry measures how Black life expectancy fluctuates against factors like wealth, education, and pollution in neighborhoods throughout the country. This allows him to identify not only areas where Black power is at an ebb, but also areas where Black power is thriving and what factors are contributing to it. Perry concludes that it is Black property ownership, above all, that correlates with Black longevity. Not even personal ownership is the defining factor; for Black people, Perry finds, simply living in an area with a higher percentage of Black home and business ownership leads to longer life expectancy. Perry goes on to makes a strong case that other factors that contribute to Black social inequality—like a lower percentage of two-parent households, which are correlated to a number of positive social outcomes for children—are offshoots of the ownership problem (he cites studies showing that asset ownership leads to marriage, not the other way around). Perry also reflects on how this struggle for ownership resonates with Black history, suggesting that the failure of Reconstruction to adequately provide restitution for slavery is fundamentally the main issue leading to Black disempowerment today. The result is one of the most riveting and convincing studies yet to make a case for reparations.