John H. McClendon is a Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Michigan State University

Michigan State University

Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...

. He holds a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Kansas

University of Kansas

The University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...

 and has taught at The State University of New York at Binghamton, Eastern Illinois University

Eastern Illinois University

Eastern Illinois University is a state university located in Charleston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher's college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradually expanded into a comprehensive university with a...

, University of Illinois Champaign/Urbana, Bates College

Bates College

Bates College is a highly selective, private liberal arts college located in Lewiston, Maine, in the United States. and was most recently ranked 21st in the nation in the 2011 US News Best Liberal Arts Colleges rankings. The college was founded in 1855 by abolitionists...

, and the University of Missouri

University of Missouri

The University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...

 before coming to Michigan State University. His areas of focus include African philosophy

African philosophy

African philosophy is used in different ways by different philosophers. Although African philosophers spend their time doing work in many different areas, such as metaphysics, epistemology, moral philosophy, and political philosophy, a great deal of the literature is taken up with a debate...

, marxist philosophy, philosophy of African American studies, and the history of African American philosophers.

Contributions to Philosophy

McClendon is currently the Editor of the American Philosophical Association Newsletter "Philosophy and the Black Experience" and
is also an Ex Officio Member of the Committee on Blacks in Philosophy—American Philosophical Association.
In addition, he has lectured widely throughout the country and abroad and was the Charles Phelps Taft lecturer for the 35th anniversary of the University of Cincinnati's African-American Studies Department, the keynote speaker for Black History Month at Mississippi State University, and served as a faculty member for the Schomburg-Mellon Humanities Summer Institute.

Professional Publications

He is the author of the book C.L.R. James’s Notes on Dialectics: Left Hegelianism or Marxism-Leninism (Lexington Books 2005) and several peer reviewed articles and monographs in professional publications such as Afro-Americans in New York Life and History, Socialism and Democracy, American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Philosophy and the Black Experience, Journal of Speculative Philosophy, Explorations in Ethnic Studies, Sage Race Relations Abstracts, Freedomways, and Ethnic Studies Review among others.

Selected Works

McClendon, John. C.L.R. James’s Notes on Dialectics: Left Hegelianism or Marxism-Leninism Lexington Books (2005)

"The Afrocentric Project: The Quest for Particularity and the Negation of Objectivity" in Explorations in Ethnic Studies (Special Issue Ethnicity: Global Perspectives) Vol.18, No1, January,1995

Perspectives: The Contributions of Black Missourians to African-American History booklet published by the Black Culture Center, Black Studies Program (February 1992)

"Afrocentric History: Something New Under the Sun or the Same Old Song". Essay review of Tsehloane's Keto, The African Centered Perspective in The African Americanist Vol.4&5 (1992)

The McClendon Report, monthly news column in the Soul/Phisticator (1985–87) Dayton, Ohio

The State of Black Champaign County 1984, Champaign County Urban League. Editor and Principal Investigator.

"Eugene Clay Holmes: A Commentary on a Black Marxist Philosopher" in Leonard Harris, ed., Philosophy Born of Struggle: An Anthology of Afro-American Philosophy from 1917 Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co. 1983

"The Afro-American Philosopher and the Philosophy of the Black Experience: A Bibliographical Essay on a Neglected Topic in Both Philosophy and Black Studies," Sage Race Relations Abstracts Vol.7, No 4, ( November 1982)

See also

• American philosophy
  American philosophy
  American philosophy is the philosophical activity or output of Americans, both within the United States and abroad. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy notes that while American philosophy lacks a "core of defining features, American Philosophy can nevertheless be seen as both reflecting and...
  
  
• Black existentialism
  Black existentialism
  Black existentialism or Africana critical theory is a school of thought that "critiques domination and affirms the empowerment of Black people in the world". Although it shares a word with existentialism and that philosophy's concerns with existence and meaning in life, it "is predicated on the...
  
  
• Africana philosophy
  Africana philosophy
  Africana philosophy is an emerging term in the field of philosophy representing the works of professional philosophers who are of African descent as well as others whose works deal with the subject matter of the African diaspora.-What is Africana philosophy?:...
  
  
• List of African American philosophers
• List of American philosophers