Black Fire: The Making of an American Revolutionary

In an autobiography begun shortly after WW II, Peery tells his unusual story. A black who grew up in both rural and urban Minnesota, he was sympathetic toward Communism during the Scottsboro Boys-Spanish Civil War era, gained black consciousness on a WW II Southern Army base and felt kinship with the rebels as U.S. troops crushed a Philippine revolution. Peery, a revolutionary more in thought than in deed, describes his growing awareness of American racism and the need for colonial liberation after the victory against fascism. Many of the anecdotes are undermined by dubious dialogue and the author's admission that he ``consolidated'' experiences and rounded out characters. The narrative ends with Peery's return to civilian life in 1946; readers will wonder what has happened to him since then. Author tour. (Apr.)