Listen to the Lambs
A rediscovered landmark in African American political and popular history
264 Pages, 5 x 8 in
- Paperback
- 9780816665310
- Published: April 17, 2009
Details
Listen to the Lambs
ISBN: 9780816665310
Publication date: April 17th, 2009
264 Pages
8 x 5
For Johnny Otis, “Godfather of Rhythm and Blues,” the events of that summer would inspire one of the most compelling books to ever explore that fateful August in Watts. Originally published in 1968, Listen to the Lambs grew from a letter Otis wrote to an expatriate friend in the days following the riots. Otis moves back and forth between Watts and his own childhood to reveal an alternate history of the riots.
Equal parts memoir, social history, and racial manifesto, Listen to the Lambs is a moving witness of collective turmoil and a people for whom the long-promised American Dream was nowhere to be found.Elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, Johnny Otis is a celebrated American blues and R & B musician. He is a painter, sculptor, author, and, until recently, the host of the Johnny Otis Show.
George Lipsitz is professor of black studies and sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Among his many books are Dangerous Crossroads and Footsteps in the Dark (Minnesota, 2007).