But he was once a young militant trying to survive a hostile environment. He has honorary degrees and awards to his name. LKJ, as he is known, is now recognised as one of the great living poets of the counterculture. It also reminds us of the brutal contingencies of a life like his. This anecdote, buried in this new collection of Johnson’s prose, braids together the themes of the book and even his life: a practised solidarity with his fellow man, the workings of a racist state, and the vitality of the black radical tradition. It would take more than six months before he was acquitted of the charges of assault levelled against him.

But in retaliation the officers arrested Johnson too, throwing him into the back of a police van where they beat him up and racially abused him.

He had been in the youth section of the British Black Panthers and knew to write down the name and address of someone in a situation like this, because “the police would often arrest black youths and lock them up in remand centres without informing their next of kin”. Seeing their excessive use of force, his training kicked in. Perfect for courses in: Social Foundations of Education, Political and Social Foundations of Education, Foundations of American Education, Foundations of Education, Introduction to Education Theory and Policy, Philosophy and Education, History of American Education, and African American Education.O ne Saturday afternoon in 1972, Linton Kwesi Johnson was walking through Brixton market when he noticed three plainclothes police officers arresting a young man. It can also help them think deeply about what kind of moral, social, educational and economic changes are necessary to provide all of America’s young people the equal opportunity promised to them inside and outside of schools. Du Bois’s accounts of how racism affected specific individuals allow readers to see philosophical issues in human terms. He also, however, demonstrates the challenges racism presents to individuals who embrace education as a tool for liberation. Washington, Du Bois analyzes the restrictiveness of education as a simple tool to prepare for work in pursuit of wealth (a trend still very much alive and well, especially in schools serving economically disadvantaged students). At a time when American public schools are increasingly re-segregating, are increasingly underfunded, and are perhaps nearly as separate and unequal as they were in earlier decades, this classic can help readers grasp links between a slavery past and a dismal present for too many young people of color. Du Bois’s seminal work, The Souls of Black Folk, not only captures the experience of African Americans in the years following the Civil War but also speaks to contemporary conditions.

The souls of black folk author