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It may be less easy for the leadership to stifle dissent in the future

Responds to Adolph Reed's recent criticism (1995) of various black intellectuals, including Cornel West, Henry Louis Gates, bell hooks, Michael Eric Dyson, & Robin Kelley. During the era of racial segregation, black intellectuals were forced to maintain contacts with all-black organizations, professionally & socially. Contemporary black scholars speak primarily to white elites, because large institutions like the black church, civic associations, & civil rights organizations have lost their influence, & because the black freedom has fizzled. As a result, their political clout is too often measured by their ability to leverage policy within powerful white circles, rather than inside social protest formations. Nonetheless, black progressive intellectuals should attempt to engage in thoughtful, civil dialogue, & not publicly criticize each other, as Reed has done. M. Maguire

The influence of intellectuals is not only greater than in previous eras but also takes a very different form from that envisioned by those like Machiavelli and others who have wanted to directly influence rulers. It has not been by shaping the opinions or directing the actions of the holders of power that modern intellectuals have most influenced the course of events, but by shaping public opinion in ways that affect the actions of power holders in democratic societies, whether or not those power holders accept the general vision or the particular policies favored by intellectuals. Even gover