Robert Lee Allen (May 29, 1942 – July 10, 2024) was an American activist, writer, and
adjunct professor
An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, but the term is gen ...
of
African-American Studies
Black studies or Africana studies (with nationally specific terms, such as African American studies and Black Canadian studies), is an interdisciplinary academic field that primarily focuses on the study of the history, culture, and politics of ...
and
Ethnic Studies
Ethnic studies, in the United States, is the interdisciplinary study of difference—chiefly race, ethnicity, and nation, but also sexuality, gender, and other such markings—and power, as expressed by the state, by civil society, and by indivi ...
at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
. Allen received his
Ph.D. in
Sociology
Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...
from the
University of California, San Francisco
The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedic ...
, and previously taught at
San José State University
San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State Universit ...
and
Mills College
Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland, California is part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was relocated to Oakland in ...
. He was Senior
Editor
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...
(with Editor-in-Chief and Publisher
Robert Chrisman
Robert Chrisman (May 28, 1937 – March 10, 2013) was a poet, scholar, and founding editor and publisher of ''The Black Scholar'' (''TBS''). Chrisman and the internationally acclaimed
''TBS'' "occupied the vanguard of the struggle for recognit ...
) of ''
The Black Scholar
''The Black Scholar'' (''TBS'') is a journal founded in California, in 1969, by Robert Chrisman, Nathan Hare, and Allan Ross. It is the third oldest Black studies journal in the US, after the NAACP’s ''The Crisis'' (founded in 1910) and the ' ...
: Journal of Black Studies and Research'', published quarterly or more frequently in
Oakland, California
Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...
, by the Black World Foundation since 1969.
In the 1980s, he co-founded with
Alice Walker
Alice Malsenior Tallulah-Kate Walker (born February 9, 1944) is an American novelist, short story writer, poet, and social activist. In 1982, she became the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, which she was awa ...
the publishing company called Wild Trees Press, publishing the work of Third World writers.
Allen married
Pam Allen in 1965. He died on July 10, 2024, at the age of 82.
Works
* ''
Black Awakening in Capitalist America: An Analytic History'' (1969)
* ''A Guide to Black Power in America: An Historical Analysis'' (1970)
* ''Reluctant Reformers: The Impact of Racism on Social Movement in the U.S.'' (1983)
* ''Brotherman: The Odyssey of Black Men in America'' (co-edited with
Herb Boyd
Herb Boyd (born November 1, 1938) is an American journalist, teacher, author, and activist. His articles appear regularly in the '' New York Amsterdam News''. He is a former teacher of black studies at the City College of New York and the Colle ...
, reprinted 1996)
* ''Strong in the Struggle: My Life as a Black Labor Activist'' (with ILWU militant Lee Brown, 2001)
* ''Honoring Sergeant Carter: A Family's Journey to Uncover the Truth About an American Hero'' (with Allene G. Carter, 2004)
* ''The
Port Chicago Mutiny: The Story of the Largest Mass Mutiny Trial in U.S. Naval History''
[:: Port Chicago Survivors - History & Concept ::]
/ref> (Heyday Books
Heyday is an independent nonprofit publisher based in Berkeley, California.
Heyday was founded by Malcolm Margolin in 1974 when he wrote, typeset, designed, and distributed ''The East Bay Out'', a guide to the natural history of the hills and ...
, 1989, republished 2006).
Awards
* Guggenheim Fellowship (1977)
* American Book Award (1995, with Herb Boyd) for ''Brotherman: The Odyssey of Black Men in America''
* The Joseph Small Legacy Award
/ref> (2003)
See also
* Lián Amaris
*Stephan Aarstol
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Robert L.
1942 births
2024 deaths
21st-century African-American writers
American book publishing company founders
American magazine editors
American Book Award winners
University of California, San Francisco alumni
20th-century African-American writers
20th-century African-American educators
20th-century American educators