Promises of Power A Political Autobiography by Carl B. Stokes

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Promises of Power

"For a brief time in Cleveland, I was the man of power. I had what no black man in the country has had before or since: direct control of the government of a predominantly white population."

Carl Stokes was the mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, the first black mayor of a major American city. He tells his own story - the beginnings all too typical for black children in the country mired in ghetto poverty. Stokes got out – by determination and work and guts. He was a tough young man, a liquor inspector for the state, a tough state assemblyman, a tough campaigner and, eventually, a tough mayor. But in the end he could not swing the tide in Cleveland, though he accomplished a great deal.

Stokes tells his own story, simply and frankly. It tells more about the agony of politics than all the treatises ever written – the painful choices fears hardships, occasional victories and, as Stokes himself remarks, "a sense of just how empty the big status-carrying positions can be."

Carl Stokes, a black man, put together a coalition and worked with white liberals. He held it together with the force of his personality and convictions for four years.

This book is about more than liberal politics, though; and about more than one fascinating man. It is about the future of American cities – if they are to have a future.

Jacket design copyright 1973 Lawrence Ratzkin

Photo by Ron Kuntz

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Last updated February 15, 2002