“Crisply written and compellingly argued, Black Utopia traces a remarkable genealogy of black utopian and anti-utopian thought from Martin Delany in the early nineteenth century to Octavia Butler in the early twenty-first. A versatile cultural historian and political theorist, Alex Zamalin reveals that the democratic hope for racial equality and social justice has historically overcome dystopian conditions, ranging from slavery to present-day racism, while animating the African American intellectual imagination.” – Gene Andrew Jarrett, author of Representing the Race: A New Political History of African American Literature

“Alex Zamalin’s focus in this engaging text is the underside of the more familiar modes of African American writing. From this hidden ground, he captures imaginative creations that have been fed by African American doubts, fears, and despair about democracy and racial equality in America. These creations have been both utopian and dystopian as opposed to strategic and reformist. Beginning with Martin Delany and concluding with Octavia Butler, Black Utopia is an exquisite introduction to this more hidden strain of African American thought.” – Paget Henry, author of Caliban’s Reason: Introducing Afro-Caribbean Philosophy

“Alex Zamalin balances generosity and critique in a careful yet energetic and buoyant manner.” – Joseph Winters, author of Hope Draped in Black: Race, Melancholy, and the Agony of Progress

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