ABSTRACT
Kennedy School of Government, prominent African-American educators gathered for a forum titled "Black Intellectuals in the Age of Crack" to discuss the responsibilities of black intellectuals to black communities in crisis. The intent of US policies crystallized for many African Americans, who were subsequently radicalized by the Dred Scott decision. Speech acts hardly function as a form of political (as opposed to rhetorical) radicalism when severed from the struggles of nonelite communities. Fanon's native intellectual strategically responds to human oppression as if the life of the mind experienced political ethics and revolutionary politics as more than tropes. Viewing the political agency of intellectuals through the framework of Fanon's "revolutionary intent", the people invariably find themselves connected to those most vulnerable to exploitation and oppression. Stylish or not, the people debated and debatable understandings of political ethics, radicalism, and democratic, communalrelations reflect their life stories.
