Post-Soul Nation: The Explosive, Contradictory, Triumphant, and Tragic 1980s as Experienced by African Americans (Previously Known as Blacks and Before That Negroes)

After the extraordinary social and political upheaval of the 1960s and 70s, African American culture splintered in the "post-soul" decade of the 1980s. Black entertainers, athletes, politicians, and spiritual leaders enjoyed unprecedented prominence and influence while at the same time drugs and crime ravaged once-vital black neighborhoods. Michael Jordan dominated basketball and Michael Jackson swept the Grammys, but rage and desperation ruled the streets. In this fascinating history, Nelson George, one of the country’s leading black cultural critics, chronicles the African American 1980s in all its excess, creativity, and despair.

Sifting through the media, popular music, the arenas of sports and politics, cultural trends, street slang, and the changes that rocked Hollywood, Washington, Wall Street, and Madison Avenue, Post-Soul Nation will further confirm George as one of our most dynamic and original cultural commentators.