In Search of Common Ground: Conversations with Erik H. Erikson and Huey P. Newton (1973)

When

I cannot remember how I learned of this book, but I read it during my doctoral program.

Why

As a budding scholar of human development at the time, I was already familiar with Erik Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development. When I learned he had two documented conversations with Huey Newton, the first when they ran into each other at an event on the East Coast and the second at Huey’s residence in Oakland, CA, I had to dive in.

How

Although it did not inform my scholarship directly, indirectly, it fits my interdisciplinary sensibilities. Their deep dives on issues related to race/ethnicity, identity, development, and influences on their intellectual enterprises were fascinating. It is the type of book I would like to see more of.