“Pan-African Pessimism: The Man Who Cried I Am and the Limits of Black Nationalism”

Abstract

John A. Williams’ 1967 novel The Man Who Cried I Am belongs to a tradition of African American writing on government conspiracies against minority populations, but far from being speculative, Williams’ novel coincides with documented government surveillance of Black Americans both within and outside the United States. This article traces the novel’s acknowledgment of and response to the monitoring of minority groups, the infiltration of those social circles by government agencies, and the implications of such infiltration for Black Nationalism. Official surveillance operations may be documented, but more subtle pressures operated through the aegis of cultural institutions and foundations, challenging Black writers to identify and navigate cooptation of their work and reputations by clandestine government agencies. These pressures remain in place 50 years after Williams published his novel, with renewed concerns of government surveillance and infiltration of movements such as Black Lives Matter.