Soul on Ice by Eldridge Cleaver

[The Sloth]

This is probably the most important book I will ever read in my life, and it remains my all-time favorite.

I remember when I first picked it up....back in November, I moved very close to a library in Brooklyn and it didn't take me long to go inside. I remembered listening to a classic Ras Kass release earlier that year that took its title from Cleaver's Soul on Ice....after reading its reviews (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/038533379X/qid=1089147825/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-5044583-0734562?v=glance&s=books) from Amazon members, I expected it to be filled with extreme racism, sexism and other non-sense.....but when I picked it up, for the first couple of days, I spent all my available free time at home and in school trying to get through it, trying to understand every detail. The truth kept hitting me in his words, and some of it was hard to understand because I never read anything political before hand, and was thus opened very much and at the same time bewildered by some statements and conclusions.

For example, I often said to myself during the course of the book things like "is this guy actually a communist?!?!" and "but racism isn't really that bad anymore, this book is irrelevant in some cases"....but nonetheless, when I finished, I felt really changed and was shaking a little bit in astonishment. That same week, I quickly picked up books on different sides of politics...Gandhi, Malcolm X, neo-Nazis, etc. At that point, I didn't even know the current role of politics in the world, and actually considered activism with the Republican Party because I was ignorant enough to believe that these parties will help in Cleaver's ideas about economic justice, racial equality, etc. Obviously, I changed immensely since November, or, since about a year ago.

I re-read the book a few days ago, and I was just as impressed and picked up on a few more things since then.

[Valkyrie]

I read the book about 12 years ago along with another book called "Free Huey: The trial of Huey Newton" Alot of it was very poignant to me personally, probably a lot due to where it was written. Disappointing however, that he later renounced those views.

[Hampton]

I remember reading this book way to young before I was able to grasp about half of what he was trying to say and finishing it and not thinking that it was that good. I picked it back up a few years ago and finally got to understand the book as a whole and what he was saying, or not saying.

I do think that the book is an amazing on though, you would have to imagine what it was like coming out in 1968 an the effect that it had on the public reading what they most likely perceived as this thug coming from prison making acurate criticisms about Vietnam and foreign policies.

His critique of James Baldwin, at least to me, is the worst part of the book. I think he unfairly calls James out based on that he had gay themes in some of his books and that Eldrige the super macho man was against it and that's his reason to attack him. I don't think that the idea of Baldwin hating the black people is a fair statment and it is pretty erroneous and unfair attacks such as the idea that "negro homosexuals are outraged and frustrated because in their sickness they are unable to have a baby by a while man."

The sad thing is that the book is not that talked about any more, while most of the subjects he talks about the book, racism, police brutality, Vietnam(Iraq if you will), and those that make the laws in the country remain the same.

I wish he had written another book while he was in the Panthers though, or at least an autobiography that was not Soul on Fire, but there is the Post-prison writings and speeches (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0224617451/qid=1089216571/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/002-2320295-7784802?v=glance&s=books) that is a good start.