Fulcrums of Change: Origins of Racism in the Americas and Other Essays

“Fulcrums of Change represents Jan Carew, the polyglot griot of Africa, oppressed minorities, and pain—at his very best—fusing a path from ruins in a universe where those pressed the farthest down have always forced themselves to freedom. It is a collection of essays on racism, exile, Third Worldism and visions of future promise. For griot-Carew the truth simply is: therefore these wonder prose efforts read like scenes from a novel with bits and pieces of proverbs, songs, and poems interspersed among them. It is a rare testimony from a man who has been a part of so many of the changes shaping this century.” —Sterling D. Plumpp, University of Illinois at Chicago Jan Carew was born over sixty years ago in Agricola-Rome, a village on the Guyana coast. Since leaving home at the age of 16, he has lived in England, France, Spain, Ghana, Canada and the United States. He was educated in the United States and Europe. He was, at different times in his life, a soldier, a sailor, a steelworker, a painter, a journalist, presidential advisor, and scientist. He has taught at London University, Princeton, Rutgers, Hampshire College and Northwestern University and is now Professor Emeritus. He has returned to painting and writing full time and now lives in Tlaquepaque, a small town of artisans outside Guadalajara, Mexico. He describes himself as an inveterate wanderer for whom travel is like the breath of life.