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De conviviis barbaris De conviviis barbaris or De convivis barbaris (Latin for "On banquets of barbarians" or "On barbarian guests") is an epigram preserved in the Codex Salmasianus (Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Codex Parisinus Latinus, 10318) of the Latin Anthology, copied in Italy 800 AD. It is noted for containing a few words in a Germanic language that historians believe to be Gothic or Vandalic: in either case, this makes it a rare attestation of medieval East Germanic. Origins and language. The poem's date of composition is unknown, but postulated to be penned between the sixth and eighth century AD. Although the text states that it is referring to Goths "per se", several features mark the Germanic words as Vandalic, and it is likely that the text simply uses the term 'Gothic' loosely: correspondingly, Procopius refers to the Goths, Vandals, Visigoths, and Gepids as "Gothic nations" and opines that they "are all of the Arian faith, and have one language called Gothic". Text. Translation of the Germanic words in the epigram is disputed, but the text means something like: Metre. There is no doubt that the text is hexametrical, although there has been dispute about the scansion. One likely interpretation is thus: <poem style="margin-left:3em"> Īntĕr "ĕ|īls" Gŏtĭ|cūm "scăpĭ|ā mătzĭ|ā iā | drīncăn!" nōn āu|dēt quīs|quām dīg|nōs ē|dīcĕrĕ|vērsūs. Cāllĭŏ|pē mădĭ|dō trĕpĭ|dāt sē | iūngĕrĕ | Bācchō. nē pĕdĭ|būs nōn | stēt || ēbrĭă | Mūsă sŭ|īs. </poem>

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The Wild Party (poem) The Wild Party is a book-length narrative poem, written by Joseph Moncure March. Published in 1926 by Pascal Covici, Inc., the poem was widely banned, first in Boston, for having content viewed as lewd. The poem was a success notwithstanding, and perhaps in part due to, the controversy surrounding the work. March's subsequent projects were more mainstream. The poem tells the story of show people Queenie and her lover Burrs, who live in a decadent style that March depicts as unique to Hollywood. They decide to have one of their parties, complete with illegal bathtub gin and the couple's colorful, eccentric and egocentric friends, but the party unfolds with more tumultuous goings-on than planned. <poem> Some love is fire: some love is rust: But the fiercest, cleanest love is lust. And their lust was tremendous. It had the feel Of hammers clanging; and stone; and steel: And torches of the savage, roaring kind That rip through iron, and strike men blind: Of long trains crashing through caverns under Grey trembling streets, like angry thunder: Of engines throbbing; and hoarse steam spouting; And feet tramping; and great crowds shouting. A lust so savage, they could have wrenched The flesh from bone, and not have blenched. </poem> A new hardcover edition was released in 1994 with the subtitle "The Lost Classic". It featured about fifty black-and-white illustrations by Art Spiegelman, a long-time admirer of the poem. In his introduction to the volume, Spiegelman recalls his first meeting with writer William Burroughs. He indicates that the conversation was stilted until Spiegelman asked if the elderly Burroughs had ever encountered March's poem. "Burroughs had first read the book in 1938, when he was a graduate student at Harvard," Spiegelman wrote. "'The Wild Party,' [Burroughs] mused '...It's the book that made me want to be a writer.'" Spiegelman recalls that Burroughs then recited the opening couplet of the poem, in a manner that gave Spiegelman the impression that Burroughs could have continued the recitation, perhaps even to the final lines. "The Wild Party" was adapted into a film version in 1975, and two stage musicals, both produced in New York City in the same 1999–2000 theater season. Michael John LaChiusa's version, directed by George C. Wolfe was mounted on Broadway and the other version, by Andrew Lippa, performed off-Broadway. "The Wild Party" has been translated into French, German and Spanish. An altered quote from the first two lines of "Part II, ch. 9" was used in the 1959 Ian Fleming novel "Goldfinger", although Fleming did not credit March. He also changed the word "fiercest" to "finest".

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Album des pavillons Album des pavillons, short for the "Album des pavillons nationaux et des marques distinctives", is a flag book published by the French Service hydrographique et océanographique de la marine. The latest edition was published in 2000 by Armand du Payrat. The contents of the book contain flags, ensigns and standards of countries, including construction sheets and Pantone colors used to reproduce the flags.

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Banderia Prutenorum The Banderia Prutenorum is a manuscript of 48 parchment sheets, 18.6 by 29.3 cm (7.3 by 11.5 inches), composed by Jan Długosz and illuminated by Stanisław Durink, listing 56 , or banners, of the Order of the Teutonic Knights. The title means "Blazons of the Prussians". "Prutenorum" is the genitive plural of "Pruteni", Prussians. In Polish the name is "Chorągwie Pruskie". "Chorągwie" can mean "banner", "standard", or "regiment". The heraldic term blazon in English is probably the exact meaning. Historical circumstances of the Banderia. The work describes the gonfalons, or battle flags, collected from the field after the Battle of Grunwald in 1410 AD. This battle was a major confrontation between the Teutonic Order and the allied forces of Poles and Lithuanians, whom the Order was trying to conquer. At that time, the Order had succeeded in subjecting or eliminating the western Balts, including the Prussians; however, the Teutonic Knights were decisively defeated by the joint forces of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania under the command of the Polish King Władysław II Jagiełło. At the end of the battle, the major officers of the Order lay dead on the field beside the standards under which they had fought. Some units escaped with their standards. The Banderia does not describe all the Order's flags. The flags were collected and stored at Wawel Cathedral in Kraków. They are known to have been there in 1603, after which they disappeared. They have been recreated, starting in 1900. In October 2009, as part of the preparations for the battle's anniversary, Polish scholars and artists in Kraków have finished reconstructing all known standards. Composition. It was probably the Polish historian, Jan Długosz, who commissioned the painter, Stanisław Durink of Kraków, to illustrate the flags in 1448. Długosz then wrote the Latin descriptions. The work thus has the format of a catalog, with an illumination and Latin entry for each flag. The flag is decorated with a heraldic blazon identifying the "", or district, from which the soldiers of that unit came. The blazon might appear in any circumstances, such as in a coat of arms or on a shield, or in any conspicuous place. Its function was that of identification. The rules of heraldry were undoubtedly followed. The title raises a few questions of language and society. In it a Polish scholar and historian is calling the conquerors of the Prussians by that very name, even though at the beginning of their conquest they found the name odious to them. Old Prussian speakers still lived in substantial numbers in east Prussia. As they were not excluded from military service, some must have fought for the order, and yet they are not distinguished from the Germans in any way. "Banderium" is in origin neither Latin nor Polish, but comes from the Germanic. The place names also are in their Germanic forms rather than their Polish ones. Why Długosz, a Polish historian, chose to use the Germanicized Prussian Latin is not clear. Location of the manuscript. By some miracle, the manuscript survived World War II, even though it was given to Malbork Castle by the Nazis for political purposes. After the war it showed up at a London auction house and was brought to its current location in the library of Jagiellonian University. Notes on the work. In the scholarly Latin of manuscript terminology, a "recto" page is "on the right side". The "verso" or "turned side" (the other side of the page) is therefore a left-hand page. This terminology has nothing to do with Długosz. Durink states the width ("latitudo") and length ("longitudo") of each flag in units he calls "ulne" (classical "ulnae"). These must be cubits rather than ells; i.e., one "ulna" is 18 inches by today's standard ell. The flags are generally longer than they are wide. Page 1 recto bears the following introduction: Pro libraria universitatis studii Cracouiensis datum per dominum Johannem Dlugosch. Descriptio Prutenicae cladis seu crucigerorum sub Jagellone per Joannem Dlugosz canonicum Cracoviensem. Banderia Prutenorum anno domini millesimo quadringentesimo decimo in festo Divisionis Apostolorum erecta contra Polonie regem Wladislaum Jagyelno et per eundem regem prostrata et Cracouiam adducta ac in ecclesia catedrali suspensa, que, ut sequitur, in hune modum fuerunt depicta. A translation directly from the Latin is: Given to the library of the university of study of Cracow by the master John Długosz. Description of the Prussian ruin or (the ruin) of the cross-bearers through Jagiello by John Dlugosz, canon of Cracow. The blazons of the Prussians in the year of the Lord 1410 in the holiday of the Divisio Apostolorum (Dispersal of the Apostles), which were erected against the king of Poland, Wladislaw Jagiello, and were cast down by the same king and brought to Cracow and hung in the church cathedral, were depicted in this manner, as follows. The description to which Długosz refers is contained in the Latin notes with the flags. Comturiae mentioned in the work. Culm, Pomesania, Graudenz, Balga, Schonsze, Stargard, Sambia, Tuchel, Stuhm, Nessau, Westphalia, Rogasen, Elbing, Engelsburg, Strasburg, Chełm, Brettchen and Neumark, Braunsberg.

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American City Flags American City Flags is a special double volume issue of "", a peer-reviewed journal published by the North American Vexillological Association. It is the first comprehensive work on the subject, documenting the municipal flags of the largest 100 U.S. cities, all 50 state capitals, and at least two cities in each state. Each article describes in detail the flag’s design, adoption date, proportions, symbolism, selection, designer, and predecessors.

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Earl Lovelace Earl Wilbert Lovelace (born 13 July 1935) is a Trinidadian novelist, journalist, playwright, and short story writer. He is particularly recognized for his descriptive, dramatic fiction on Trinidadian culture: "Using Trinidadian dialect patterns and standard English, he probes the paradoxes often inherent in social change as well as the clash between rural and urban cultures." As Bernardine Evaristo notes, "Lovelace is unusual among celebrated Caribbean writers in that he has always lived in Trinidad. Most writers leave to find support for their literary endeavours elsewhere and this, arguably, shapes the literature, especially after long periods of exile. But Lovelace's fiction is deeply embedded in Trinidadian society and is written from the perspective of one whose ties to his homeland have never been broken." Lovelace's first novel, "While Gods Are Falling", published in 1965, won the Trinidad and Tobago Independence literary competition sponsored by British Petroleum, and he is the author of five subsequent well received novels, including the Commonwealth Writers' Prize-winning "Salt" (1996) and, most recently, "Is Just a Movie", winner of the 2012 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature. He has also written drama, essays, short stories and children's books. The artist Che Lovelace is his son. Biography. Born in Toco, Trinidad and Tobago, Earl Lovelace was sent to live with his grandparents in Tobago at a very young age, but rejoined his family in Toco when he was 11 years old. His family later moved to Belmont, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, and then Morvant. Lovelace attended Scarborough Methodist Primary School, Scarborough, Tobago (1940–47), Nelson Street Boys' R.C., Port of Spain (1948), and Ideal High School, Port of Spain (1948–53, where he sat the Cambridge School Certificate). He worked at the "Trinidad Guardian" as a proofreader from 1953 to 1954, and then for the Department of Forestry (1954–56) and the Ministry of Agriculture (1956–66). He began writing while stationed in the village of Valencia, in north-eastern Trinidad, as a forest ranger. He also had a posting as Agricultural Officer in Rio Claro in the south-east of the island. As Kenneth Ramchand has noted, "In the rural context [Lovelace] attended stick fights, wakes, village festivals and dances. He played cricket and football, and gambled in the rum shop with the villagers. He joined up to take part in the Best Village Competitions. He was living among ordinary people as one of them, and as an artist observing." In 1962 his first novel, "While Gods Are Falling", won the Trinidad and Tobago Independence literary competition sponsored by BP, after which he spent two years in Tobago, marrying in April 1964. "While Gods Are Falling" would be published in Britain by Collins in 1965. From 1966 to 1967, Lovelace studied at Howard University, Washington, DC, and in 1974 he received an MA in English from Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, where he was also Visiting Novelist. He taught at Federal City College (now University of the District of Columbia), Washington, DC (1971–73), and from 1977 to 1987 he lectured in literature and creative writing at the University of the West Indies at St Augustine. Winning a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1980, he spent the year as a visiting writer at the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa. He was appointed Writer-in-Residence in England by the London Arts Board (1995–96), a visiting lecturer in the Africana Studies Department at Wellesley College, Massachusetts (1996–97), and was Distinguished Novelist in the Department of English at Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Washington (1999–2004). Lovelace was Trinidad and Tobago's artistic director for Carifesta, the Caribbean Festival of Arts, which was held in the country in 1992, 1995 and 2006. He is a columnist for the "Trinidad Express", and has contributed to a number of periodicals, including "Voices", "South", and "Wasafiri". Based in Trinidad, while teaching and touring various countries, he was appointed to the Board of Governors of the University of Trinidad and Tobago in 2005, the year his 70th birthday was honoured with a conference and celebrations at the University of the West Indies. He is the president of the Association of Caribbean Writers. Lovelace is the subject of a 2014 documentary film by Funso Aiyejina entitled "A Writer In His Place". In July 2015, to mark his 80th birthday, Lovelace was honoured by the NGC Bocas Lit Fest with celebrations in Tobago, including film screenings. He is the subject of a 2017 biography by Funso Aiyejina. Writing. At the same time as his writing has brought him international prestige and awards, "Lovelace has been valued by readers in his own country for his story-telling, for the vividness of his characters, for the ease and energy of his language, for his celebration of the creole or island-born culture, and for the way his writing makes people feel good about the selves they see in the mirror of his art." When Lovelace's first novel, "While Gods Are Falling", was published in 1965, C. L. R. James hailed "a new type of writer, a new type of prose, a different type of work". In 1968, Lovelace published his second novel, "The Schoolmaster", for which "he invented a language to represent the people of Kumaca, a remote Spanish Creole village of timbered hills, fertile valleys and clear cool rivers that comes breathtakingly alive in Lovelace’s descriptive prose. ... The Schoolmaster can be read as a celebration of the natural world and the attuned people in it; as a parable about the perils of transition from small island to modern nation; and most obviously as a satire about education in a colonial context." Lovelace's 1979 novel, "The Dragon Can't Dance", has been described as "a defining and luminously sensitive portrait of postcolonial island life. ...A poignant, beautifully crafted tale about a man and his country on the cusp of change." Considered his best known work, "The Dragon Can't Dance" is "a wildly exuberant paean to Trinidad’s carnival traditions and the calypsonians who challenged British rule in the wake of the second world war." In 1982, Lovelace published the novel "The Wine of Astonishment", which deals with the struggle of a Spiritual Baptist community, from the passing of the prohibition ordinance until the ban, the story "animated by a Creole narrative voice" as in other work by Lovelace. Summing up his 1996 novel, "Salt", "Publishers Weekly" said: "Using language that's as lush as the foliage of Trinidad and dialogue as vivid as the Caribbean, Lovelace creates a parable that applies to any nation struggling with unresolved racial issues and to any people struggling to free themselves from their past." "Salt" won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was shortlisted for the 1998 International Dublin Literary Award. In 2011, Lovelace's "Is Just a Movie" was published by Faber and Faber. Hailing it as "something of an event", coming 155 years after his previous novel, Bernardine Evaristo wrote in "The Guardian": "Lovelace is unusual among celebrated Caribbean writers in that he has always lived in Trinidad. Most writers leave to find support for their literary endeavours elsewhere and this, arguably, shapes the literature, especially after long periods of exile. But Lovelace's fiction is deeply embedded in Trinidadian society and is written from the perspective of one whose ties to his homeland have never been broken. In his new novel, he turns his attention to the remote fictional village of Cascadu and the lives of ordinary individuals whose relationship to politics, their peers and their own weaknesses provide fascinating material." Considered by the "Financial Times" reviewer to be a novel that "confirms Lovelace as a master storyteller of the West Indies", "Is Just a Movie" won the 2012 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature. Lovelace has also written plays (some collected in "Jestina's Calypso and Other Plays", 1984), short stories (collected in "A Brief Conversion and Other Stories", 1988), essays, and a children's book, as well as journalism. Papers. The Alma Jordan Library at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine, holds the Earl Lovelace manuscripts. The papers mainly consists of typed and handwritten notes, drafts and manuscripts of Lovelace's published output — novels, plays and short stories. Manuscripts of the following novels are included: "The Schoolmaster"; "The Dragon Can't Dance";"While Gods are Falling"; "The Wine of Astonishment"; "Salt". The collection also includes some unpublished work including poetry. Family. His artist son Che Lovelace illustrated the jacket of the 1997 US edition of his novel "Salt". Earl Lovelace has collaborated with his filmmaker daughter Asha Lovelace on projects including writing the 2004 feature film "Joebell and America", based on his short story of the same title, on which his son Walt Lovelace was the director of photography and editor, and Che was the art director.

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Joseph Robert Love Joseph Robert Love, known as Dr. Robert Love (2 October 1839 – 21 November 1914), was a 19th-century Bahamian-born medical doctor, clergyman, teacher, journalist, politician and Pan-Africanist. He lived, studied, and worked successively in the Bahamas, the United States of America, Haiti, and Jamaica. Love spent the last decades of his life in Jamaica, where he held political office, published a newspaper, and advocated for the island's black majority. Early life. Love was born in the Bahamas on 2 October 1839. He got primary education and was influence by the Anglican Church during this period. Later he became a teacher in Bahamas. In the late 1860s, He went to United States. In June 1871, he became clergy in Trinity Church, New York and transferred to the Church of St. Stephen, Savannah in December. In 1872, claiming about the discrimination to people of darker color there, he left Church of St. Stephen, Savannah and established St. Augustine's mission that mainly consist of black people; during this period he also managed schools for black children. In 1876 he left the mission and left for Buffalo. In Buffalo, he was Rector of St. Philip's until 1878. From 1877 he started to study at the University of Buffalo and in 1880 he obtained a medical degree. Haiti. In 1881, Love moved to Haiti, where he served as the rector of an Anglican church in Port-au-Prince. He was forced to end his career in church due to a quarrel, and he became a doctor in the Haitian army that engaged with the revolt in Haiti. During his time in Haiti he experienced grave difficulty in politics. In 1889, he was eventually expelled. He went to Kingston, Jamaica and failed in his attempts to return to Haiti. Jamaica. In Jamaica, he started the "Jamaica Advocate" newspaper in December 1894, which became an influential newspaper on the island. Love used the paper as a forum to express his concern for the living conditions of Jamaica's black population. He was a staunch advocate of access to education for the majority of the population. He believed that girls, like boys, should receive secondary school education. Love piloted a voter registration drive, as a means of empowering the black majority, and challenging white minority rule. The white elite in the Colony of Jamaica worried that Love was filling the heads of black people with dangerous ideas of racial equality. John Vassall Calder claimed that black people lacked the mental capacities to thrive, and stated: “Dr. Love must remember that his ancestors were my ancestors’ slaves...He could never be my equal. He is aggrieved because my forefathers rescued him from the bonds of thraldom and deprived him the privilege of being King of the Congo, enjoying the epicurean and conjugal orgies and the sacrificial pleasures of his ancestral home in Africa.” The white establishment viewed Love with as much suspicion as they did the pan-African Native Baptish preacher, Alexander Bedward. However, Love always thought Bedward to be nothing more than a skilled showman whom a hysterical establishment had managed to turn into a martyr. Love helped black candidates to get elected to the Council, which advised the government. In 1906, Love himself won the Saint Andrew Parish seat of the Legislative Council in general elections. He also served as chairman of the Saint Andrew Parochial Board, as well as a justice of the peace in Kingston, the Kingston General Commissions and as a trustee of Wolmer's schools. Love published two works, "Romanism is Not Christianity" (1892), and "St. Peter's True Position in the Church, Clearly Traced in the Bible" (1897). Death and Legacy. Love's health began to deteriorate, and by 1910 he had been forced to end his political career. He died on 21 November 1914, and was buried in the parish church yard at Half Way Tree, near the city of Kingston. Love's activism in favour of Jamaica's economically depressed black majority influenced later Jamaican and Caribbean activists, including Marcus Garvey.

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The Black Atlantic The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness is a 1993 history book about a distinct black Atlantic culture that incorporated elements from African, American, British, and Caribbean cultures. It was written by Paul Gilroy and was published by Harvard University Press and Verso Books. Chapter 1. The first chapter of the Black Atlantic describes the double-consciousness maintained by Africans in the diaspora. The chapter asserts that Black identity is multifaceted and difficult to define due to the multinational position of Blackness. Gilroy utilizes the imagery of the slave ship to demonstrate the position of Black bodies between two (or more) lands, identities, cultures, etc. which is unable to be defined by borders. Additionally, Gilroy discusses how western nationalism results from a narrative created by whites that ties western nationalism to whiteness. This narrative inherently others Black folk who often partly belong to the same national identity. He highlights artistic expression (particularly through music from Black diasporic communities) as a means of exploring the transient nature of Blackness. Pointedly, he speaks of the song “Keep on Moving” which he asserts expresses "the restlessness of spirit which makes that diaspora culture vital". In many ways, the song exemplifies the state of the diaspora as Black bodies have existed in numerous spaces and cannot be defined solely by where they have been, where they are, or where they are going. Black diasporic music remains of great importance to Gilroy's narrative as it is demonstrative of the manner in which Black individuals are able to embrace a communal identity despite many individuals in the diaspora's original cultures being stolen from them. Ultimately, Gilroy asserts that the Black experience is coupled with the varied narratives relating to belonging and history, still, in many ways, the narratives are mitigated by music which allows for Black expression and community to be shared beyond borders. Nation-states and nationalism. All nation-states have determining characteristics, which include (but are not limited to): a central government, borders that are policed and/or secured by the military or government, defined citizenship, a cultural or ethnic component to determine who is included and excluded from the nation-state, and a common history, economy, language, religion(s), etc. that are uniting and differentiating factors. In “The Black Atlantic”, Gilroy counterposes the nation-state with the idea of diaspora, which is transnational and hybrid. According to Gilroy, the Black Diaspora is the result of involuntary or voluntary dispersal of a people from a point, country, or continent of origin. Gilroy highlights that for Black people, this displacement is largely due to the transatlantic slave trade. Gilroy notes that Black culture(s), particularly in the West, are either opposed or at the margins of the nation-state. Thus, the nation-state becomes the universal political form of managing the relationship between people and territory in modernity. Gilroy argues that the nation-state also exerts constitutive anti-Black violence, either externally via borders, military, and killing, or internally via policing, surveillance, incarceration, and killing. Gilroy notes that this anti-Blackness does not always present itself in the same ways across different nation-states, but that anti-Blackness is present among them all. This all serves as reasons why Gilroy argues the importance of moving away from the idea of the nation-state in “The Black Atlantic”. He emphasizes that the Black diaspora and the nation state are in constant tension with one another and alludes to the double consciousness Black people experiences as members of the diaspora and occupants of the nation state. Black Europeanness. Gilroy's attention to "Black Europeanness" in "The Black Atlantic" brings up themes of double consciousness and its presence in Black Europeans. He expresses how the existence of racist and nationalist discourse have interacted in a manner that portrays them as separate identities and opinions. They contrive political relationships in a way that isolates each identity, making the seem mutually exclusive. The effect of this is that there exists no blending or interweaving of these identities and any effort in forming connections or walking the middle ground between them is politically provocative and insubordinate. Gilroy connects this to the black Atlantic, which he defines as a "modern political and cultural formation", by expressing his desire for it to break free from the structures and nation states that facilitate racist and nationalist politics.

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BCALA Literary Awards

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Bars Fight "Bars Fight" is a ballad poem written by Lucy Terry about an attack upon two white families by Native Americans on August 25, 1746. The incident occurred in an area of Deerfield called "The Bars", which was a colonial term for a meadow. The poem was preserved orally and not published until 1855, in Josiah Gilbert Holland's "History of Western Massachusetts". It is believed to be the oldest known work of literature by an African American and is the only known work by Lucy Terry. Text of the ballad. The text of the ballad from Holland's "History of Western Massachusetts", 1855: <poem> August 'twas the twenty-fifth, Seventeen hundred forty-six; The Indians did in ambush lay, Some very valient men to slay, The names of whom I'll not leave out. Samuel Allen like a hero fout, And though he was so brave and bold, His face no more shall we behold. Eleazer Hawks was killed outright, Before he had time to fight,— Before he did the Indians see, Was shot and killed immediately. Oliver Amsden he was slain, Which caused his friends much grief and pain. Simeon Amsden they found dead, Not many rods distant from his head. Adonijah Gillett we do hear Did lose his life which was so dear. John Sadler fled across the water, And thus escaped the dreadful slaughter. Eunice Allen see the Indians coming, And hopes to save herself by running, And had not her petticoats stopped her, The awful creatures had not catched her, Nor tommy hawked her on her head, And left her on the ground for dead. Young Samuel Allen, Oh lack-a-day! Was taken and carried to Canada. </poem> Rediscovery. After its 1855 publication the poem was undiscovered until 1942, when it was published in Lorenzo Greene's "The Negro in Colonial New England 1620–1776". Unfortunately, this youthful occasional poem is the only surviving work by Terry, who was said to have been a prolific poet. Recent scholarship has instead drawn attention to how Terry evokes her participation in the local community by recounting the names of the men and women who fought alongside her, and how the town responded by preserving the poem and her name in their oral histories.

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The Practice of Diaspora The Practice of Diaspora: Literature, Translation, and the Rise of Black Internationalism is 2003 book on literary history, criticism and theory by Brent Hayes Edwards. History. Edwards published "The Practice of Diaspora" with Harvard University Press in 2003. Subject matter. "The Practice of Diaspora" focuses on black writers in the interwar period. "Retracing the encounters between black intellectuals from both the Anglophone and the Francophone world in Paris, during the early to middle decades of the twentieth century, Edwards is able to make broader theoretical and historical claims for the role of translation in shaping black diasporic cultures." Edwards examines works by Alain Locke, René Maran, Claude McKay, and Paulette Nardal among others. W.E.B. DuBois serves as a point of departure for this transnational examination of black print culture. Edwards observes that DuBois first presented his famed argument, "The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line," not in his landmark 1903 text, "The Souls of Black Folk" (the usual attribution for that quotation), but in fact three years prior, at the 1900 Pan-African Congress in London, explicitly framing the "color line" as an issue and a dialogue that crossed national boundaries. In addition to the DuBois reference, Edwards also draws on Stuart Hall and the concept of articulation to develop a theoretical use of the French word décalage, "referring to a shift in space or time or the gap that results from it, and applies the term to describe the way in which members of the black diaspora share similar conditions of oppression yet often find ourselves on opposite ends of the political spectrum—for example, black writers seeking solace from Jim Crow in Paris, while simultaneously Africans were struggling against French colonialism. These countering political locations create tensions within our diaspora, but Edwards does not see these sites of difference as global movement killer...[instead] that these disparate locations are, like joints, sites of potential forward motion." Reception. Reviews. "The Practice of Diaspora" received widely favorable reviews. In "Modern Fiction Studies", Michelle Stephens wrote, "With "The Practice of Diaspora: Literature, Translation, and the Rise of Black Internationalism", Brent Edwards has changed the very landscape of transnational black studies, showing what we have lost by not developing a more multilingual approach to black cultural studies and texts." Writing in "Crisis Magazine", Angela Ards said Edwards "has been hailed as one of the most promising emerging scholars of African American letters. His debut book, "The Practice of Diaspora: Literature, Translation, and the Rise of Black Internationalism", does not disappoint. In its path-breaking take on Black print culture of the 1920s, a decade that witnessed the Harlem Renaissance and the Négritude Movement, "The Practice of Diaspora" recalls David Levering Lewis' seminal history "When Harlem Was In Vogue", while declaring Edwards' brilliance as a literary scholar in his own right." Awards. For "The Practice of Diaspora", Edwards won the John Hope Franklin Prize from the American Studies Association and the Gilbert Chinard Prize of the Society for French Historical Studies, and an honorable mention for the James Russell Lowell Prize of the Modern Language Association.

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Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater and politics centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the time, it was known as the "New Negro Movement", named after "", a 1925 anthology edited by Alain Locke. The movement also included the new African-American cultural expressions across the urban areas in the Northeast and Midwest United States affected by a renewed militancy in the general struggle for civil rights for African-Americans that occurred in the wake of civil rights struggles in the then-still-segregated US Armed Forces in WWI and which was further inspired by the NAACP, the Garveyite movement and the Russian Revolution, combined with the Great Migration of African-American workers fleeing the racist conditions of the Jim Crow Deep South, Harlem being the final destination of the largest number of those who migrated north. Though it was centered in the Harlem neighborhood, many francophone black writers from African and Caribbean colonies who lived in Paris were also influenced by the movement, which spanned from about 1918 until the mid-1930s. Many of its ideas lived on much longer. The zenith of this "flowering of Negro literature", as James Weldon Johnson preferred to call the Harlem Renaissance, took place between 1924—when "" hosted a party for black writers where many white publishers were in attendance—and 1929, the year of the stock-market crash and the beginning of the Great Depression. The Harlem Renaissance is considered to have been a rebirth of the African-American arts. Many people would argue that the Harlem Renaissance never ended and has continued to be an important cultural force in the United States through the decades: from the age of stride piano jazz and blues to the ages of bebop, rock and roll, soul, disco and hip-hop. Background. Until the end of the Civil War, the majority of African Americans had been enslaved and lived in the South. During the Reconstruction Era, the emancipated African Americans, freedmen, began to strive for civic participation, political equality and economic and cultural self-determination. Soon after the end of the Civil War the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 gave rise to speeches by African-American Congressmen addressing this Bill. By 1875, sixteen African Americans had been elected and served in Congress and gave numerous speeches with their newfound civil empowerment. The Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 was denounced by black Congressmen and resulted in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1875, part of Reconstruction legislation by Republicans. During the mid-to-late 1870s, racist whites organized in the Democratic Party launched a murderous campaign of racist terrorism to regain political power throughout the South. From 1890 to 1908, they proceeded to pass legislation that disenfranchised most African Americans and many poor whites, trapping them without representation. They established white supremacist regimes of Jim Crow segregation in the South and one-party block voting behind southern Democrats. Democratic Party politicians (many having been former slaveowners and political and military leaders of the Confederacy) conspired to deny African Americans their exercise of civil and political rights by terrorizing black communities with lynch mobs and other forms of vigilante violence as well as by instituting a convict labor system that forced many thousands of African Americans back into unpaid labor in mines, on plantations, and on public works projects such as roads and levees. Convict laborers were typically subject to brutal forms of corporal punishment, overwork, and disease from unsanitary conditions. Death rates were extraordinarily high. While a small number of African Americans were able to acquire land shortly after the Civil War, most were exploited as sharecroppers. As life in the South became increasingly difficult, African Americans began to migrate north in great numbers. Most of the future leading lights of what was to become known as the "Harlem Renaissance" movement arose from a generation that had memories of the gains and losses of Reconstruction after the Civil War. Sometimes their parents, grandparents - or they themselves - had been slaves. Their ancestors had sometimes benefited by paternal investment in cultural capital, including better-than-average education. Many in the Harlem Renaissance were part of the early 20th century Great Migration out of the South into the African-American neighborhoods of the Northeast and Midwest. African Americans sought a better standard of living and relief from the institutionalized racism in the South. Others were people of African descent from racially stratified communities in the Caribbean who came to the United States hoping for a better life. Uniting most of them was their convergence in Harlem. Development. During the early portion of the 20th century, Harlem was the destination for migrants from around the country, attracting both people from the South seeking work and an educated class who made the area a center of culture, as well as a growing "Negro" middle class. These people were looking for a fresh start in life and this was a good place to go. The district had originally been developed in the 19th century as an exclusive suburb for the white middle and upper middle classes; its affluent beginnings led to the development of stately houses, grand avenues, and world-class amenities such as the Polo Grounds and the Harlem Opera House. During the enormous influx of European immigrants in the late 19th century, the once exclusive district was abandoned by the white middle class, who moved farther north. Harlem became an African-American neighborhood in the early 1900s. In 1910, a large block along 135th Street and Fifth Avenue was bought by various African-American realtors and a church group. Many more African Americans arrived during the First World War. Due to the war, the migration of laborers from Europe virtually ceased, while the war effort resulted in a massive demand for unskilled industrial labor. The Great Migration brought hundreds of thousands of African Americans to cities such as Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, and New York. Despite the increasing popularity of Negro culture, virulent white racism, often by more recent ethnic immigrants, continued to affect African-American communities, even in the North. After the end of World War I, many African-American soldiers—who fought in segregated units such as the Harlem Hellfighters—came home to a nation whose citizens often did not respect their accomplishments. Race riots and other civil uprisings occurred throughout the US during the Red Summer of 1919, reflecting economic competition over jobs and housing in many cities, as well as tensions over social territories. Mainstream recognition of Harlem culture. The first stage of the Harlem Renaissance started in the late 1910s. In 1917, the premiere of "Granny Maumee, The Rider of Dreams, Simon the Cyrenian: Plays for a Negro Theater" took place. These plays, written by white playwright Ridgely Torrence, featured African-American actors conveying complex human emotions and yearnings. They rejected the stereotypes of the blackface and minstrel show traditions. James Weldon Johnson in 1917 called the premieres of these plays "the most important single event in the entire history of the Negro in the American Theater". Another landmark came in 1919, when the communist poet Claude McKay published his militant sonnet "If We Must Die", which introduced a dramatically political dimension to the themes of African cultural inheritance and modern urban experience featured in his 1917 poems "Invocation" and "Harlem Dancer". Published under the pseudonym Eli Edwards, these were his first appearance in print in the United States after immigrating from Jamaica. Although "If We Must Die" never alluded to race, African-American readers heard its note of defiance in the face of racism and the nationwide race riots and lynchings then taking place. By the end of the First World War, the fiction of James Weldon Johnson and the poetry of Claude McKay were describing the reality of contemporary African-American life in America. The Harlem Renaissance grew out of the changes that had taken place in the African-American community since the abolition of slavery, as the expansion of communities in the North. These accelerated as a consequence of World War I and the great social and cultural changes in early 20th-century United States. Industrialization was attracting people to cities from rural areas and gave rise to a new mass culture. Contributing factors leading to the Harlem Renaissance were the Great Migration of African Americans to northern cities, which concentrated ambitious people in places where they could encourage each other, and the First World War, which had created new industrial work opportunities for tens of thousands of people. Factors leading to the decline of this era include the Great Depression. Literature. In 1917 Hubert Harrison, "The Father of Harlem Radicalism", founded the Liberty League and "The Voice", the first organization and the first newspaper, respectively, of the "New Negro Movement." Harrison's organization and newspaper were political, but also emphasized the arts (his newspaper had "Poetry for the People" and book review sections). In 1927, in the "Pittsburgh Courier", Harrison challenged the notion of the renaissance. He argued that the "Negro Literary Renaissance" notion overlooked "the stream of literary and artistic products which had flowed uninterruptedly from Negro writers from 1850 to the present," and said the so-called "renaissance" was largely a white invention. Nevertheless, with the Harlem Renaissance came a sense of acceptance for African-American writers; as Langston Hughes put it, with Harlem came the courage "to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame." Alain Locke's anthology "The New Negro" was considered the cornerstone of this cultural revolution. The anthology featured several African-American writers and poets, from the well-known, such as Zora Neale Hurston and communists Langston Hughes and Claude McKay, to the lesser-known, like the poet Anne Spencer. Many poets of the Harlem Renaissance were inspired to tie in threads of African-American culture into their poems; as a result, jazz poetry was heavily developed during this time. "The Weary Blues" was a notable jazz poem written by Langston Hughes. Through their works of literature, black authors were able to give a voice to the African-American identity, as well as strive for a community of support and acceptance. Religion. Christianity played a major role in the Harlem Renaissance. Many of the writers and social critics discussed the role of Christianity in African-American lives. For example, a famous poem by Langston Hughes, "Madam and the Minister", reflects the temperature and mood towards religion in the Harlem Renaissance. The cover story for "The Crisis" magazine′s publication in May 1936 explains how important Christianity was regarding the proposed union of the three largest Methodist churches of 1936. This article shows the controversial question of unification for these churches. The article "The Catholic Church and the Negro Priest", also published in "The Crisis", January 1920, demonstrates the obstacles African-American priests faced in the Catholic Church. The article confronts what it saw as policies based on race that excluded African Americans from higher positions in the church. Discourse. Various forms of religious worship existed during this time of African-American intellectual reawakening. Although there were racist attitudes within the current Abrahamic religious arenas many African Americans continued to push towards the practice of a more inclusive doctrine. For example, George Joseph MacWilliam presents various experiences, during his pursuit towards priesthood, of rejection on the basis of his color and race yet he shares his frustration in attempts to incite action on the part of "The Crisis" magazine community. There were other forms of spiritualism practiced among African Americans during the Harlem Renaissance. Some of these religions and philosophies were inherited from African ancestry. For example, the religion of Islam was present in Africa as early as the 8th century through the Trans-Saharan trade. Islam came to Harlem likely through the migration of members of the Moorish Science Temple of America, which was established in 1913 in New Jersey. Various forms of Judaism were practiced, including Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform Judaism, but it was Black Hebrew Israelites that founded their religious belief system during the early 20th century in the Harlem Renaissance. Traditional forms of religion acquired from various parts of Africa were inherited and practiced during this era. Some common examples were Voodoo and Santeria. Criticism. Religious critique during this era was found in music, literature, art, theater and poetry. The Harlem Renaissance encouraged analytic dialogue that included the open critique and the adjustment of current religious ideas. One of the major contributors to the discussion of African-American renaissance culture was Aaron Douglas who, with his artwork, also reflected the revisions African Americans were making to the Christian dogma. Douglas uses biblical imagery as inspiration to various pieces of art work but with the rebellious twist of an African influence. Countee Cullen's poem "Heritage" expresses the inner struggle of an African American between his past African heritage and the new Christian culture. A more severe criticism of the Christian religion can be found in Langston Hughes' poem "Merry Christmas", where he exposes the irony of religion as a symbol for good and yet a force for oppression and injustice. Music. A new way of playing the piano called the Harlem Stride style was created during the Harlem Renaissance, and helped blur the lines between the poor African Americans and socially elite African Americans. The traditional jazz band was composed primarily of brass instruments and was considered a symbol of the south, but the piano was considered an instrument of the wealthy. With this instrumental modification to the existing genre, the wealthy African Americans now had more access to jazz music. Its popularity soon spread throughout the country and was consequently at an all-time high. Innovation and liveliness were important characteristics of performers in the beginnings of jazz. Jazz performers and composers at the time such as Eubie Blake, Noble Sissle, Jelly Roll Morton, Luckey Roberts, James P. Johnson, Willie "The Lion" Smith, Andy Razaf, Fats Waller, Ethel Waters, Adelaide Hall, Florence Mills and bandleaders Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Fletcher Henderson were extremely talented, skillful, competitive and inspirational. They are still considered as having laid great parts of the foundations for future musicians of their genre. Duke Ellington gained popularity during the Harlem Renaissance. According to Charles Garrett, "The resulting portrait of Ellington reveals him to be not only the gifted composer, bandleader, and musician we have come to know, but also an earthly person with basic desires, weaknesses, and eccentricities." Ellington did not let his popularity get to him. He remained calm and focused on his music. During this period, the musical style of blacks was becoming more and more attractive to whites. White novelists, dramatists and composers started to exploit the musical tendencies and themes of African Americans in their works. Composers (including William Grant Still, William L. Dawson and Florence Price) used poems written by African-American poets in their songs, and would implement the rhythms, harmonies and melodies of African-American music—such as blues, spirituals, and jazz—into their concert pieces. African Americans began to merge with Whites into the classical world of musical composition. The first African-American male to gain wide recognition as a concert artist in both his region and internationally was Roland Hayes. He trained with Arthur Calhoun in Chattanooga, and at Fisk University in Nashville. Later, he studied with Arthur Hubbard in Boston and with George Henschel and Amanda Ira Aldridge in London, England. He began singing in public as a student, and toured with the Fisk Jubilee Singers in 1911. Fashion. During the Harlem Renaissance, the black clothing scene took a dramatic turn from the prim and proper. Many young women preferred- from short skirts and silk stockings to drop-waisted dresses and cloche hats. Woman wore loose-fitted garments and accessorized with long strand pearl bead necklaces, feather boas, and cigarette holders. The fashion of the Harlem Renaissance was used to convey elegance and flamboyancy and needed to be created with the vibrant dance style of the 1920s in mind. Popular by the 1930s was a trendy, egret-trimmed beret. Men wore loose suits that led to the later style known as the "Zoot," which consisted of wide-legged, high-waisted, peg-top trousers, and a long coat with padded shoulders and wide lapels. Men also wore wide-brimmed hats, colored socks, white gloves, and velvet-collared Chesterfield coats. During this period, African Americans expressed respect for their heritage through a fad for leopard-skin coats, indicating the power of the African animal. The extraordinarily successful black dancer Josephine Baker, though performing in Paris during the height of the Renaissance, was a major fashion trendsetter for black and white women alike. Her gowns from the couturier Jean Patou were much copied, especially her stage costumes, which "Vogue" magazine called "startling." Josephine Baker is also credited for highlighting the "art deco" fashion era after she performed the "Danse Sauvage". During this Paris performance she adorned a skirt made of string and artificial bananas. Ethel Moses was another popular black performer, Moses starred in silent films in the 1920s and 30s and was recognizable by her signature bob hairstyle. Characteristics and themes. Characterizing the Harlem Renaissance was an overt racial pride that came to be represented in the idea of the New Negro, who through intellect and production of literature, art, and music could challenge the pervading racism and stereotypes to promote progressive or socialist politics, and racial and social integration. The creation of art and literature would serve to "uplift" the race. There would be no uniting form singularly characterizing the art that emerged from the Harlem Renaissance. Rather, it encompassed a wide variety of cultural elements and styles, including a Pan-African perspective, "high-culture" and "low-culture" or "low-life," from the traditional form of music to the blues and jazz, traditional and new experimental forms in literature such as modernism and the new form of jazz poetry. This duality meant that numerous African-American artists came into conflict with conservatives in the black intelligentsia, who took issue with certain depictions of black life. Some common themes represented during the Harlem Renaissance were the influence of the experience of slavery and emerging African-American folk traditions on black identity, the effects of institutional racism, the dilemmas inherent in performing and writing for elite white audiences, and the question of how to convey the experience of modern black life in the urban North. The Harlem Renaissance was one of primarily African-American involvement. It rested on a support system of black patrons, black-owned businesses and publications. However, it also depended on the patronage of white Americans, such as Carl Van Vechten and Charlotte Osgood Mason, who provided various forms of assistance, opening doors which otherwise might have remained closed to the publication of work outside the black American community. This support often took the form of patronage or publication. Carl Van Vechten was one of the most noteworthy white Americans involved with the Harlem Renaissance. He allowed for assistance to the black American community because he wanted racial sameness. There were other whites interested in so-called "primitive" cultures, as many whites viewed black American culture at that time, and wanted to see such "primitivism" in the work coming out of the Harlem Renaissance. As with most fads, some people may have been exploited in the rush for publicity. Interest in African-American lives also generated experimental but lasting collaborative work, such as the all-black productions of George Gershwin's opera "Porgy and Bess", and Virgil Thomson and Gertrude Stein's "Four Saints in Three Acts". In both productions the choral conductor Eva Jessye was part of the creative team. Her choir was featured in "Four Saints". The music world also found white band leaders defying racist attitudes to include the best and the brightest African-American stars of music and song in their productions. The African Americans used art to prove their humanity and demand for equality. The Harlem Renaissance led to more opportunities for blacks to be published by mainstream houses. Many authors began to publish novels, magazines and newspapers during this time. The new fiction attracted a great amount of attention from the nation at large. Among authors who became nationally known were Jean Toomer, Jessie Fauset, Claude McKay, Zora Neale Hurston, James Weldon Johnson, Alain Locke, Omar Al Amiri, Eric D. Walrond and Langston Hughes. Richard Bruce Nugent (1906–1987) who wrote "Smoke, Lilies, and Jade" is an important contribution, especially in relation to experimental form and LGBT themes in the period. The Harlem Renaissance helped lay the foundation for the post-World War II protest movement of the Civil Rights Movement. Moreover, many black artists who rose to creative maturity afterward were inspired by this literary movement. The Renaissance was more than a literary or artistic movement, as it possessed a certain sociological development—particularly through a new racial consciousness—through ethnic pride, as seen in the Back to Africa movement led by Jamaican Marcus Garvey. At the same time, a different expression of ethnic pride, promoted by W. E. B. Du Bois, introduced the notion of the "talented tenth". Du Bois' wrote of the Talented Tenth: The Negro race, like all races, is going to be saved by its exceptional men. The problem of education, then, among Negroes must first of all deal with the Talented Tenth; it is the problem of developing the best of this race that they may guide the mass away from the contamination and death of the worst. These "talented tenth" were considered the finest examples of the worth of black Americans as a response to the rampant racism of the period. No particular leadership was assigned to the talented tenth, but they were to be emulated. In both literature and popular discussion, complex ideas such as Du Bois's concept of "twoness" (dualism) were introduced (see "The Souls of Black Folk"; 1903). Du Bois explored a divided awareness of one's identity that was a unique critique of the social ramifications of racial consciousness. This exploration was later revived during the Black Pride movement of the early 1970s. Influence. A new Black identity. The Harlem Renaissance was successful in that it brought the Black experience clearly within the corpus of American cultural history. Not only through an explosion of culture, but on a sociological level, the legacy of the Harlem Renaissance redefined how America, and the world, viewed African Americans. The migration of southern Blacks to the north changed the image of the African American from rural, undereducated peasants to one of urban, cosmopolitan sophistication. This new identity led to a greater social consciousness, and African Americans became players on the world stage, expanding intellectual and social contacts internationally. The progress—both symbolic and real—during this period became a point of reference from which the African-American community gained a spirit of self-determination that provided a growing sense of both Black urbanity and Black militancy, as well as a foundation for the community to build upon for the Civil Rights struggles in the 1950s and 1960s. The urban setting of rapidly developing Harlem provided a venue for African Americans of all backgrounds to appreciate the variety of Black life and culture. Through this expression, the Harlem Renaissance encouraged the new appreciation of folk roots and culture. For instance, folk materials and spirituals provided a rich source for the artistic and intellectual imagination, which freed Blacks from the establishment of past condition. Through sharing in these cultural experiences, a consciousness sprung forth in the form of a united racial identity. However, there was some pressure within certain groups of the Harlem Renaissance to adopt sentiments of conservative white America in order to be taken seriously by the mainstream. The result being that queer culture, while far-more accepted in Harlem than most places in the country at the time, was most fully lived out in the smoky dark lights of bars, nightclubs, and cabarets in the city. It was within these venues that the blues music scene boomed, and since it had not yet gained recognition within popular culture, queer artists used it as a way to express themselves honestly. Even though there were factions within the Renaissance that were accepting of queer culture/lifestyles, one could still be arrested for engaging in homosexual acts. Many people, including author Alice Dunbar Nelson and "The Mother of Blues" Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, had husbands but were romantically linked to other women as well. Ma Rainey was known to dress in traditionally male clothing and her blues lyrics often reflected her sexual proclivities for women, which was extremely radical at the time. Ma Rainey was also the first person to introduce blues music into vaudeville. Rainey's protégé, Bessie Smith was another artist who used the blues as a way to express herself with such lines as "When you see two women walking hand in hand, just look em' over and try to understand: They'll go to those parties – have the lights down low – only those parties where women can go." Another prominent blues singer was Gladys Bentley, who was known to cross-dress. Bentley was the club owner of Clam House on 133rd Street in Harlem, which was a hub for queer patrons. The Hamilton Lodge in Harlem hosted an annual drag ball that attracted thousands to watch as a couple hundred young men came to dance the night away in drag. Though there were safe havens within Harlem, there were prominent voices such as that of Abyssinian Baptist Church's minister Adam Clayton who actively campaigned against homosexuality. The Harlem Renaissance gave birth to the idea of The New Negro. The New Negro movement was an effort to define what it meant to be African-American by African Americans rather than let the degrading stereotypes and caricatures found in black face minstrelsy practices to do so. There was also The Neo-New Negro movement, which not only challenged racial definitions and stereotypes, but also sought to challenge gender roles, normative sexuality, and sexism in America in general. In this respect, the Harlem Renaissance was far ahead of the rest of America in terms of embracing feminism and queer culture. These ideals received some push back as freedom of sexuality, particularly pertaining to women (which during the time in Harlem was known as women-loving women), was seen as confirming the stereotype that black women were loose and lacked sexual discernment. The black bourgeoisie saw this as hampering the cause of black people in America and giving fuel to the fire of racist sentiments around the country. Yet for all of the efforts by both sectors of white and conservative black America, queer culture and artists defined major portions of not only the Harlem Renaissance, but also define so much of our culture today. Author of "The Black Man's Burden", Henry Louis Gates Jr. wrote that the Harlem Renaissance "was surely as gay as it was black". Criticism of the movement. Many critics point out that the Harlem Renaissance could not escape its history and culture in its attempt to create a new one, or sufficiently separate from the foundational elements of White, European culture. Often Harlem intellectuals, while proclaiming a new racial consciousness, resorted to mimicry of their white counterparts by adopting their clothing, sophisticated manners and etiquette. This "mimicry" may also be called assimilation, as that is typically what minority members of any social construct must do in order to fit social norms created by that construct's majority. This could be seen as a reason that the artistic and cultural products of the Harlem Renaissance did not overcome the presence of White-American values, and did not reject these values. In this regard, the creation of the "New Negro" as the Harlem intellectuals sought, was considered a success. The Harlem Renaissance appealed to a mixed audience. The literature appealed to the African-American middle class and to whites. Magazines such as "The Crisis", a monthly journal of the NAACP, and "Opportunity", an official publication of the National Urban League, employed Harlem Renaissance writers on their editorial staffs; published poetry and short stories by black writers; and promoted African-American literature through articles, reviews, and annual literary prizes. As important as these literary outlets were, however, the Renaissance relied heavily on white publishing houses and white-owned magazines. A major accomplishment of the Renaissance was to open the door to mainstream white periodicals and publishing houses, although the relationship between the Renaissance writers and white publishers and audiences created some controversy. W. E. B. Du Bois did not oppose the relationship between black writers and white publishers, but he was critical of works such as Claude McKay's bestselling novel "Home to Harlem" (1928) for appealing to the "prurient demand[s]" of white readers and publishers for portrayals of black "licentiousness". Langston Hughes spoke for most of the writers and artists when he wrote in his essay "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain" (1926) that black artists intended to express themselves freely, no matter what the black public or white public thought. Hughes in his writings also returned to the theme of racial passing, but during the Harlem Renaissance, he began to explore the topic of homosexuality and homophobia. He began to use disruptive language in his writings. He explored this topic because it was a theme that during this time period was not discussed. African-American musicians and writers were among mixed audiences as well, having experienced positive and negative outcomes throughout the New Negro Movement. For musicians, Harlem, New York’s cabarets and nightclubs shined a light on black performers and allowed for black residents to enjoy music and dancing. However, some of the most popular clubs (that showcased black musicians) were "exclusively" for white audiences; one of the most famous white-only nightclubs in Harlem was the Cotton Club, where popular black musicians like Duke Ellington frequently performed. Ultimately, the black musicians who appeared at these white-only clubs became far more successful and became a part of the mainstream music scene. Similarly, black writers were given the opportunity to shine once the New Negro Movement gained traction as short stories, novels, and poems by black authors began taking form and getting into various print publications in the 1910s and 1920s. Although a seemingly good way to establish their identities and culture, many authors note how hard it was for any of their work to actually go anywhere. Writer Charles Chesnutt in 1877, for example, notes that there was no indication of his race alongside his publication in "Atlantic Monthly" (at the publisher’s request). A prominent factor in the New Negro’s struggle was that their work had been made out to be "different" or "exotic" to white audiences, making a necessity for black writers to appeal to them and compete with each other to get their work out. Famous black author and poet Langston Hughes explained that black-authored works were placed in a similar fashion to those of oriental or foreign origin, only being used occasionally in comparison to their white-made counterparts: once a spot for a black work was "taken", black authors had to look elsewhere to publish. Certain aspects of the Harlem Renaissance were accepted without debate, and without scrutiny. One of these was the future of the "New Negro". Artists and intellectuals of the Harlem Renaissance echoed American progressivism in its faith in democratic reform, in its belief in art and literature as agents of change, and in its almost uncritical belief in itself and its future. This progressivist worldview rendered Black intellectuals—just like their White counterparts—unprepared for the rude shock of the Great Depression, and the Harlem Renaissance ended abruptly because of naive assumptions about the centrality of culture, unrelated to economic and social realities.

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Mosaic (literary magazine) Mosaic is a literary magazine, published by the nonprofit Literary Freedom Project, which focuses on African-American and African diaspora literature. They began publishing in 1998, and are located in the Bronx, NY. The magazine is published on a triannual basis in February, June, and October.

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Fire!! Fire!! was an African-American literary magazine published in New York City in 1926 during the Harlem Renaissance. The publication was started by Wallace Thurman, Zora Neale Hurston, Aaron Douglas, John P. Davis, Richard Bruce Nugent, Gwendolyn Bennett, Lewis Grandison Alexander, Countee Cullen, and Langston Hughes. After it published one issue, its quarters burned down, and the magazine ended. History. "Fire!!" was conceived to express the African-American experience during the Harlem Renaissance in a modern and realistic fashion, using literature as a vehicle of enlightenment. The magazine's founders wanted to express the changing attitudes of younger African Americans. In "Fire!!" they explored controversial issues in the Black community, such as homosexuality, bisexuality, interracial relationships, promiscuity, prostitution, and color prejudice. Langston Hughes wrote that the name was intended to symbolize their goal "to burn up a lot of the old, dead conventional Negro-white ideas of the past ... into a realization of the existence of the younger Negro writers and artists, and provide us with an outlet for publication not available in the limited pages of the small Negro magazines then existing." The magazine's headquarters burned to the ground shortly after it published its first issue, ending its operations. Reception. "Fire!!" was plagued by debt and encountered poor sales. It was not well received by the Black public because some felt that the journal did not represent the sophisticated self-image of Blacks in Harlem. Other readers found it offensive for many reasons, and it was denounced by Black leaders such as the Talented Tenth, "who viewed the effort as decadent and vulgar". They disapproved of content relating to prostitution and homosexuality, which they considered degrading to "the race." They also thought many pieces published were a throw-back to old stereotypes, as they were written in the slang and language of the southern vernacular. They felt the "undignified" contents reflected poorly on the Black race. As an example, the critic at the "Baltimore Afro-American" wrote that he "just tossed the first issue of "Fire!!" into the fire". But, "The Bookman" applauded the journal's unique qualities and its personality. Although this magazine had only one issue, "this single issue of "Fire!!" is considered an event of historical importance." Features. The magazine covered a variety of literary genres: it includes a novella, an essay, stories, plays, drawings and illustrations, and poetry. Representation in other media. The story of the rise and fall of "Fire!!" is showcased in the 2004 movie "Brother to Brother." It features a gay African-American college student named Perry Williams. he befriends an elderly gay African American named Bruce Nugent. Williams learns that Nugent was a writer and co-founder of "Fire!!," and associated with other notable writers and artists of the Harlem Renaissance.

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Negro Society for Historical Research The Negro Society for Historical Research was an organization founded by John Edward Bruce and Arthur Alfonso Schomburg in 1911. Bruce and Schomburg originally met because of their Masonic involvement and began attending a Sunday Men's Club that met in Bruce's apartment. The NSHR, based in Yonkers, New York, aimed to create an institute to support Pan-African—African, West Indian and Afro-American—scholarly efforts. Schomburg stated "We need a collection or list of books written by our own men and women... We need the historian and philosopher to give us, with trenchant pen, the story of our forefathers and let our soul and body, with phosphorescent light, brighten the chasm that separates us." The NSHR's constitution listed its purpose "to instruct the race and to inspire love and veneration for its men and women of mark." Membership in the society was limited to twenty active members and they started with a collection of 150 titles. Members endeavored to gather books, pamphlets and other manuscripts by writers of color worldwide. Meetings took place in members' homes and would often involve prominent black speakers. Alain LeRoy Locke spoke at their first annual meeting and became a Corresponding Member for the society which partially sponsored his trip to Egypt in 1924. They shared many members and goals with the American Negro Academy and the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League. The society's collection became a lending library that operated out of Schomburg's apartment, available to members and "anyone else interested in black history." When the organization disbanded, the collection later became the foundation for NYPL's Schomburg Collection of Negro Literature and Art which became the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem.

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American Negro Academy The American Negro Academy (ANA), founded in Washington, DC in 1897, was the first organization in the United States to support African-American academic scholarship. It operated until 1928, and encouraged African Americans to undertake classical academic studies and liberal arts. It was intended to provide support to African Americans working in classic scholarship and the arts, as promoted by W.E.B. Du Bois in his essays about the Talented Tenth, and others of the elite. This was in contrast to Booker T. Washington's approach to education at Tuskegee University in Alabama, which he led. There he emphasized vocational and industrial training for southern blacks, which he thought were more practical for the lives that most blacks would live in the rural, segregated South. Founding members. The founders of the ANA were primarily authors, scholars, and artists. They included Alexander Crummell, an Episcopal priest and Republican from New York City, who had also worked in Liberia for two decades and founded the first independent black Episcopal church in Washington, DC; John Wesley Cromwell of Washington, DC; Paul Laurence Dunbar, poet and writer in Washington; Walter B. Hayson; Archibald Grimké (brother of Francis), attorney and writer; and scientist Kelly Miller. Crummell served as founding president. Their first meeting on March 5, 1897 included eighteen members: Early meetings. The Academy was organized in 1897 in Washington, D.C. Black newspapers expressed excitement that the Academy would have possibilities to serve a large audience, seeking to elevate the race through educational enlightenment. Through an assessment of statistical tends, mainly concerning black illiteracy, the Academy planned its work to be published in its Occasional Papers. The scholarly contributions aided the spirit of blacks in the South, who were being disenfranchised by white-dominated legislatures, who also imposed Jim Crow laws. The Academy generally held an annual meeting of one-two days at Lincoln Temple Memorial Church in Washington, D.C. The public was invited to attend all but the Academy's business meetings, reserved solely for members. The schedule would occupy the entire day. Reports were presented by the Academy's secretary and treasurer. During this time, new membership applications to the Academy were considered, as well as discussions on current business. In the evening, an annual address was delivered. For example, W.E.B. Du Bois presented the Academy's second annual address. A presentation of a paper would follow. The following day, after several paper presentations, discussions took place. Discussions centered around the efficacy of a scholar's musings. Copies of papers were available upon requests made directly to the Academy's secretary, or through newspaper requests. Legacy and efficacy. The ANA was part of the early struggle for equal rights for blacks,seeking to support their academic efforts. It was organized shortly after the United States Supreme Court had upheld the principle of "separate but equal" in the 1896 case, "Plessy v. Ferguson." DuBois suggested that a Talented Tenth of African Americans, primarily composed of blacks trained in classical higher education, could lead in educating masses of black citizens. He knew that most of the latter, who still lived in the rural South, would likely work in rural or unskilled jobs. But he wanted to provide opportunities for blacks who could surpass those limits. Through a publication of works among the Academy's Occasional Papers, the group wanted to expand the reach of its scholarship. As Crummel said, to aid the black intellectual's efforts to have influence on “his schools, academies and colleges; and then enters his pulpits; and so filters down into his families and his homes…to be a laborer with intelligence, enlightenment and manly ambitions”. Scholars have disputed the influence of the Academy. Dr. Alfred A. Moss Jr. argued for its efficacy in "The American Negro Academy: Voice of the Talented Tenth". In his analysis of a collection of private letters written by Crummell, Moss said that nearly from the beginning, the Academy was bound to decline. It was unable to consistently organize; it struggled to recruit new members, and especially to raise scholarship funds for the education of more students. Moss claims that founding member Archibald Henry Grimké expressed in his writings an understanding of the difficulties and socio-economic hardships among African Americans, but, given efforts to unseat him as ANA president, he spent more effort on self-serving interests.

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Passing (novel) Passing is a novel by American author Nella Larsen, first published in 1929. Set primarily in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City in the 1920s, the story centers on the reunion of two childhood friends—Clare Kendry and Irene Redfield—and their increasing fascination with each other's lives. The title refers to the practice of "racial passing", and is a key element of the novel; Clare Kendry's attempt to pass as white for her husband, John (Jack) Bellew, is its most significant depiction in the novel, and a catalyst for the tragic events. Larsen's exploration of race was informed by her own mixed racial heritage and the increasingly common practice of racial passing in the 1920s. Praised upon publication, the novel has since been celebrated in modern scholarship for its complex depiction of race, gender and sexuality, and is the subject of considerable scholarly criticism. As one of only two novels that Larsen wrote, "Passing" has been significant in placing its author at the forefront of several literary canons. Background. Biographical context. As early as 1925, Nella Larsen had decided that she wanted to be among the "New Negro" writers receiving considerable attention at the time. Initially writing short stories that were sold early in 1926 to a ladies magazine, she was rumored that year to be writing a novel. In a letter to her friend, Carl Van Vechten, she acknowledges, "it is the awful truth. But, who knows if I'll get through with the damned thing. Certainly not I." In April 1927, Larsen and her husband, Elmer Imes, moved from Jersey City, New Jersey to Harlem to be closer to the cultural phenomenon. The following year, Larsen published her first novel "Quicksand" with New York-based publisher Knopf, and its favorable critical reception encouraged her ambitions to become known as a novelist. Historical context. The 1920s in the United States was a period marked by considerable anxiety and discussion over the crossing of racial boundaries, the so-called "color line" between blacks and whites. This anxiety was exacerbated by the Great Migration, in which hundreds of thousands of blacks left the rural south for northern and midwestern cities, where, together with new waves of immigrants, they changed the social makeup. The practice of persons "crossing the color line"—attempting to claim recognition in another racial group than the one they were believed to belong to—was known as "passing". As many African Americans had European ancestry in varying proportions, some appeared visibly European. The legacy of slavery, with its creation of a racial caste, and the imposition in the 17th century of the so-called one-drop rule (by which someone with even one ancestor of sub-Saharan-African origin was considered black) led to a hardening of racial lines that had historically been more fluid; at any time, the concept of race was "historically contingent." Although the exact numbers of people who passed is, for obvious reasons, not known, many estimates were made at the time. The sociologist Charles S. Johnson (1893–1956) calculated that 355,000 blacks had passed between 1900 and 1920. A significant precedent for Larsen's depiction of Clare and Jack's relationship was the 1925 legal trial known as the "Rhinelander Case" (or "Rhinelander v. Rhinelander"). On the urging of his family, Leonard Kip Rhinelander, a wealthy white man, sued his wife, Alice Beatrice Jones, for annulment and fraud; he alleged that she had failed to inform him of her "colored" blood. The case concerned not only race but also status and class, as he had met her when she was working as a domestic. Although the jury eventually returned a verdict for Alice (she contended that her mixed race was obvious, and she had never denied it), it came at a devastating social cost for both parties; intimate exchanges between the couple were read out in court, and Alice was forced to partially disrobe in front of the jury in the judge's chambers in order for them to assess the darkness of her skin. Larsen refers to the case near the end of the novel, when Irene wonders about the consequences of Jack discovering Clare's racial status: "What if Bellew should divorce Clare? Could he? There was the "Rhinelander" case." The case received substantial coverage in the press of the time, and Larsen could assume that it was common knowledge to her readers. Plot. The story is written as a third person narrative from the perspective of Irene Redfield, a mixed-race woman who lives in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. Part One of the book, titled "Encounter," opens with Irene receiving a letter from Clare Kendry, causing her to recall a chance encounter she had had with her, at the roof restaurant of the Drayton Hotel in Chicago, during a brief stay in the city. Irene does not answer Clare's attempts to reconnect written in the letters.The women grew up together but lost touch when Clare's bi-racial father died and she was taken to live with her two paternal white aunts. Irene learns that Clare "passes" for white, living primarily in Europe with her unsuspecting, rich, white husband and their daughter. Although Irene tries to avoid further engagement with Clare, she never is able to fully exclude her from her life as she later visits Clare for tea along with another childhood friend, Gertrude Martin. Toward the end of the visit, Clare's white husband John (Jack) Bellew arrives. Unaware that all three women are bi-racial, Jack expresses some very racist views and makes the women uneasy. However, the women play along in an effort to maintain Clare's secret identity. Afterward, Irene and Gertrude decide that Clare's situation is too dangerous for them to continue associating with her and are uncomfortable around Clare and her husband. Irene receives a letter of apology from Clare but destroys it in her quest to try and forget about Clare and get her out of her life. Instead Irene wants to focus on her life with her husband, Brian, and her two sons, Theodore and Brian Jr. Part Two of the book, "Re-encounter," returns to the present, with Irene having received the new letter from Clare. After Irene ignores Clare's letter, Clare visits in person so Irene reluctantly agrees to see her. When it is brought up that Irene serves on the committee for the "Negro Welfare League" (NWL) Clare invites herself to their upcoming dance despite Irene's advice against it for fear that Jack will find out. Clare attends the dance and enjoys herself without her husband finding out, which encourages her to continue spending time in Harlem. Irene and Clare resume their childhood companionship, and Clare frequently visits Irene's home. The third and final part of the novel begins before Christmas, as Irene's relationship with her husband has become increasingly fraught. Aware of her friend's appeal, Irene becomes convinced that her husband is having an affair with Clare. During a shopping trip with her visibly black friend Felise Freeland, Irene encounters Jack, who becomes aware of her and, by extension, Clare's, racial status. Irene considers warning Clare about Jack's new-found knowledge but decides against it, worried that the pair's divorce might encourage her husband to leave her for Clare. Later, Clare accompanies Irene and Brian to a party hosted by Felise. The gathering is interrupted by Jack, who accuses Clare of being a "damned dirty nigger!" Irene rushes to Clare, who is standing by an open window. Suddenly, Clare falls out of the window from the top floor of the building to the ground below, where she is pronounced dead by the guests who eventually gather at the site. Whether she has fallen accidentally, was pushed by either Irene or Bellew, or committed suicide, is unclear. The book ends with Irene's fragmented anguish at Clare's death. Themes. Race and "tragic mulatto". "Passing" has been described as "the tragic story of a beautiful light-skinned mulatto passing for white in high society." The tragic mulatto (also "mulatta" when referring to a woman) is a stock character in early African-American literature. Such accounts often featured the light-skinned offspring of a white slaveholder and his black slave, whose mixed heritage in a race-based society means that she is unable to identify or find a place with either blacks or whites. The resulting feeling of exclusion was portrayed as variably manifested in self-loathing, depression, alcoholism, sexual perversion, and attempts at suicide. On the surface, "Passing" conforms to that stereotype in its portrayal of Clare Kendry, whose passing for white has tragic consequences; however, the book resists the conventions of the genre, as Clare refuses to feel the expected anguish at the betrayal of her black identity and socializes with blacks for the purposes of excitement rather than racial solidarity. Scholars have more generally considered "Passing" as a novel in which the major concern is not race. For instance, Claudia Tate describes the issue as "merely a mechanism for setting the story in motion, sustaining the suspense, and bringing about the external circumstances for the story's conclusion." Catherine Rottenberg argues that Larsen's novella is a prime example of race and gender norms portrayed in the US. The main characters, Irene and Clare, and their struggle with their own identification problems in the novel, helps readers understand the difference between gender and race norms. These two central characters are able to pass as white women even though Irene does not fully pass over, and Rottenberg argues the difference between Clare and Irene by re-evaluating the idea of desire/identification. The mis-identification Clare deals with stems from her re-connection with Irene after twelve years of not speaking. Seeing Irene sparked a desire in Clare for her to get back in touch with her African-American culture. Irene's identification trouble is associated with her need to feel safe and in control in her life, the main reason Irene chooses to pass over only on occasion. Irene doesn't want to put herself into a dangerous situation. Class. As scholars show, race is not the only primary concern in Nella Larsen's "Passing". Class is also a major aspect that is simultaneously developed. Both of the main characters Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry present a strong sense of class. They also demonstrate how they cross clearly defined class borders in order to obtain more power in their life. Zulena. Scholarly critics such as Mary Wilson have examined the character of Irene's maid Zulena, who demonstrates the middle-class African-American family in the 1920s. Irene opposed the idea of discrimination and racism towards the blacks but when it came to maintaining her social class she preferred domesticity and servitude even if it was from the people from her own black race. Domesticity in the South was often associated with the black woman but Irene decides to maintain the power and class through the servitude of another black woman. Wilson examines that the differences in class were not just embedded in the black versus white society but also within the single black race. Such difference can be seen as a conflict between Irene's ideology and her actions when it comes to maintaining her status as a middle-class African-American. The class privilege is well defined through the skin color as Zulena is described as a "mahogany-colored creature" which meant that she had no chance to pass like Irene as white and it automatically decides the role for the black colored woman to serve as a maid and belong to the inferior class. Although, Irene calls herself black but having an ability to pass as white makes her behave like a white privileged woman because she happily accepts the servitude complicating the issue of race and class. Larsen introduces Zulena in the story as a "colored creature", primarily from Irene's perspective which depicts that Irene's considers her servant from an inferior class and therefore decides to keep a certain distance from her maid. Clare Kendry. Clare Kendry crosses social class binaries. Clare does not inhabit any particular social class but rather lives as both a working-class and a middle-class woman in the novel. Clare is born in a working-class family where her father is a janitor of the building that she lives in. In adulthood, she passes during her marriage to obtain the lifestyle of an upper-middle-class woman. Despite having the luxury and comfort that she has always wanted but never had had in her childhood, Clare still longs for her childhood experiences and constantly visits Irene and her maid Zelena. Because Clare shares many experiences of the working-class, she feels very comfortable when talking to Zulena as if Zulena was her friend. Clare's desire to live in both social classes at the same time shows how these class boundaries are fluid. Irene Redfield. While Clare demonstrates her class binaries, Irene is very protective towards her own status quo. Irene grew up as a middle-class person and continues to live as such after marrying a doctor. Irene is more hesitant to cross between middle-class and working-class; she isolates herself and avoids all of the circumstances that she might be mistaken for a lower-class person. For example, during Irene's attempt to pass to become an elite white woman at Drayton hotel, she makes a clear distinction between herself and working-class individuals by showing her desire to be separated from the "sweating masses". Irene is also concerned that people at the Negro League Dance might mistake Clare for a prostitute. Throughout the novel, Irene seems comfortable living in a higher social class while Clare constantly crosses between the two classes. Eugenic ideology. Scholar Sami Schalk argues that the notion of eugenic ideology emerges in the novel. Eugenic Ideology assigns specific behavioral and physical traits to different distinctions of race, class, gender, and sexual identity. Both physical and behavioral features of this ideology are discussed by the main characters in "Passing", Irene and Clare. For example, several times in the novel, Irene acknowledges the way white people racially designate physical traits to African Americans in order to identify them. The concept of eugenic ideology also emerges when Clare's aunts assign her to a domestic servant role believing this would align with her skin color. Thus, the aunt's perceptions of Clare's work are distinctly categorized through race. Schalk further suggests that the novel resists these notions of eugenic ideology by emphasizing how characters pass fluidly between racial identities and resist clear categories of identity. In the novel, Clare Kendry hides her racial identity from her husband and is able to travel to places where African Americans are not allowed entry because no one can denote her black heritage from her behavior. In addition, Irene notes several times in the novel that the physical traits white people assign to African Americans are ridiculous. She, too, is able to pass in places where African Americans are not allowed entry and therefore defies racial categorization. The novel resists eugenic distinctions by highlighting the fluid transitions between races. Sexuality. Repression. Scholars have treated "sexuality" with caution and reticence especially during the Harlem Renaissance because of the history of slavery and the objectification of black women. Black novelists, especially female black novelists, had to be more discreet when writing about the sexuality of their characters. During this time, women, especially black women, were used as sexual objects. Due to sexual objectification, black novelists wanted to overcome the legacy of rape. They wanted to end the stereotypes of black women as "sexual objects" and to return to the "timidity and modesty" of Negro womanhood. The writers didn't want to repeat the experience of women's oppression, especially African-American women. McDowell believes that during the Harlem Renaissance female sexuality was acknowledged only in the advertising, beauty, and fashion industries, and "sexual pleasure, especially for black women, leads to the dangers of domination in marriage, repeated pregnancy, or exploitation and loss of status." According to scholar Deborah McDowell, Larsen wanted to tell the story of black women with sexual desires, but the novelist also had to be constrained in that she wanted to establish "black women as respectable" in black middle-class terms. As an example, in the novel, Irene is portrayed as sexually repressed. Irene has a tenuous relationship with her husband Brian. In fact, they have separate rooms. McDowell believes that Irene is confused by her sexual feelings for Clare, which are much more apparent. McDowell argues that the story is about "Irene's awakening sexual desire towards Clare". Homosexuality. Scholars have identified a homoerotic subtext between Irene and Clare, centered on the erotic undertones in Irene's descriptions of Clare and appreciation of her beauty. As scholar Deborah McDowell's writes "the idea of bringing sexual attraction between two women to full narrative expression is, likewise, too dangerous a move, which helps to explain why critics have missed this aspect of the novel". In that interpretation, the novel's central metaphor of "passing" under a different identity "occurs at a surprisingly wide variety of levels," including sexual. This suggests that there are other forms of "passing" that take place in the novel that is not just based on race. Larsen has a clever way of "deriving its surface theme and central metaphor-passing", disguising the plots "neatly" and "symmetrically". The apparently sexless marriage between Brian and Irene (their separate bedrooms and identification as co-parents rather than sexual partners) allow Larsen to "flirt, if only by suggestion, with the idea of a lesbian relationship between [Clare and Irene]." In the novel, these sexual innuendos appear when Irene first lays eyes on Clare at the rooftop of the Drayton Hotel. The novel describes Clare as "a sweetly scented woman in a fluttering dress of green chiffon whose mingled pattern of narcissuses, jonquils, and hyacinths was a reminder of pleasantly chill spring days". These flowers symbolize the attraction Irene has for Clare. Jonquils and narcissus, both represent an excessive interest in one's physical appearance. This alludes to Irene's obsession and physical attraction for Clare. As the novel states, "from the very beginning of their re-encounter, Irene is drawn to Clare like a moth to a flame". The character of her husband, Brian, has been subject to a similar interpretation: Irene's labeling of him as and his oft-expressed desire to go to Brazil, a country then widely thought to be more tolerant of homosexuality than the United States was, are given as evidence. It is also shown that Brazil is considered to be a place with more relaxed ideas about race. Irene begins to believe that Clare and Brian are having an affair to hide or distract from her own feelings for Clare. McDowell writes, "the awakening of Irene's erotic feelings for Clare coincides with Irene's imagination of an affair between Clare and Brian". Although she had no reason to accuse him, Irene did so to protect herself from her own sexual desires. Jealousy. Scholars such as Claudia Tate and Helena Michie suggest there is a theme of jealousy throughout the novel. Both point to Irene's jealousy in terms of her appreciation for Clare's charisma and desirable appearance in the novel. As Clare meets Irene to go to the Negro Welfare League dance, Irene feels "dowdy and commonplace" in comparison to Clare, who she sees as "exquisite, golden, fragrant, flaunting." The scholars stress that there are two aspects to this jealousy, with Irene exhibiting both bitterness in her perception of Clare, and simultaneously, feelings of affection and desire for her. Helena Michie categorizes the relationship as "sororophobic", a term she defines as a "fear of one's sister." While Irene expresses jealousy in her admiration of Clare's beauty and social charms, she is also susceptible to their seduction and eventually begins to suspect that her husband Brian might be influenced by them as well. In her intensifying suspicions, Irene's jealousy develops into a fear of losing her family, and with it, the identity she has built for herself as a middle class black woman. Irene displays it here when deciding whether to expose Clare or not "She was caught between two allegiances, different, yet the same. Herself. Her race. Race! The thing that bound and suffocated her. Whatever steps she took, or if she took none at all, something would be crushed. A person or the race. Clare, herself, or the race. Or, it might be, all three. Nothing, she imagined, was ever more completely sardonic." Larsen uses jealousy as the main source of conflict in the novel, and uses race as a vehicle for Irene to potentially rid herself of Clare. At this point in the story Irene realizes she can expose Clare's true racial identity to remove Clare from her life, and regain that security she desires more than anything. Albeit she feels jealousy and fear, out of loyalty for her race, Irene does not follow through with her thoughts of exposing Clare. While the novel primarily focuses on Irene's feelings of jealousy, Clare is also shown to be envious of Irene. Unlike Irene, however, Clare exhibits jealousy towards Irene's lifestyle. Clare perceives Irene as being close to her blackness and her community, a state that Clare has previously chosen to leave behind but strives to experience again. As Clare and Irene converse during Clare's first visit to Irene's home, Clare expresses her loneliness to Irene, contrasting her view of Irene's condition to Clare's own feelings of isolation: "'How could you know? How could you? You're free. You're happy.'" Clare expresses her own jealousy outwardly, even as the novel centers on Irene's inner turmoil. Whiteness. Scholars such as Catherine Rottenberg examine how Larsen's characters struggle against race and gender norms of "whiteness" in the United States. Rottenberg shows how the main characters in the novel confront normative characteristics of white culture. Clare, who is of mixed race, chooses to identify with the white culture. Irene, who identifies as an African American, chooses to pass when she feels the need to blend into white culture. The essence of Rottenberg's scholarship shows how the novel's characters struggle against the desire for whiteness because of the positive stereotypes society has created around "white" identity. Clare's experience growing up with her white aunts, who treated her as a servant, directly impacts Clare's initial desire towards whiteness. Hence, she passes as a white woman, marries a white man, and forgets her African-American culture. Even though as a society the white race is the desirable race, Rottenberg explains how there are limitations put into place so the inferior race can never fully be white. For example, Clare has this desire to pass as a white woman because she believes that is the only way she will have a social power, but after reconnecting with her childhood friend Irene, she begins to struggle with her misplaced desire for whiteness and returns to her African-American identification. Seeing Irene sparks a desire in Clare to get back in touch with her African-American culture. Similarly, Irene identifies as black, but because she desires to feel safe and in control at all times in her life, she chooses to pass over only on occasion. Irene's desire to be white comes from her wanting the middle-class lifestyle because it will give her the security she needs. Irene doesn't want to put herself into a dangerous situation, which in a way, makes her feel like her marriage and the life she knows at risk. Throughout Larsen's novel Rottenberg explains how Clare has evolved from wanting to achieve whiteness to reconnecting with the African-American culture, while Irene still has a desire to achieve "whiteness" to feel secure. Middle-class security. Scholars such as Andrew W. Davis and Zahirah Sabir acknowledge Irene's psychology of safety and security, which likely originated from "the threat of racism" surrounding her family. In the novel, Irene states that she places security as the first priority in her life, on top of race and friendship in the novel. Davis states that the reason that Irene prioritizes security is she wants to protect her children from the social prejudices of the time. In addition, Irene wants Brian, her husband, to stay in New York as a doctor to provide security for her children. When Brian desires to leave for Brazil, Irene is anxious due to the fact that New York is still a white society, and is a familiar to her as an African-American middle-class woman. Clare's presence in Irene's life is a threat to this security. It makes Irene sense the insecurity of her marriage with her husband, Brian. And, it makes her acknowledge the reality of questions of race and class that surround her and her children's life. Motherhood. Passing, although focuses on the races aspect of the book, the chapters have talked about motherhood where both Irene and Clare are depicted to be mothers. It is interesting as Irene sees her sons, Junior and Theodore, differently than how Clare sees her daughter, Margery. Irene views her children as her security; she sees them as the reason Brian would stay with her. Their child ties them together and thus would make Brian stay with Irene even if they have a fallout. Irene holds her children dear to her and would do whatever she can for them. Irene is also the more protective parent compared to Brian; she wants to shield the children from the bad things in the world, like the knowledge of lynching and racism. Irene wants what's best for her children even if it means acting like specific topics do not affect them although they do, like racism. Meanwhile, Clare views motherhood as a requirement in her lifetime. She had Margery and no longer wants any more children as she cannot handle the suspense of knowing another babies' skin tone. She also mentions how "children aren't everything" this shows how she prioritizes her priorities, we see circumstances where she would leave her daughter with her husband and instead socialize with the black community. Unlike Irene, Clare actually rejects the thought of motherhood in fear that her identity might be revealed. Irene, on the other hand, is the devoted mother wanting the best for her boys, and always talking and thinking about them. Clare does not have the same attachments to Margery like Irene have to Junior and Ted as Clare sees motherhood as a binding thing that forces her to stay in a marriage she feels trapped in, while Irene is in the same boat Irene like this and uses it for her security. Critical reception. "Passing" was published in April 1929 by Knopf in New York City. Sales of the book were modest: Knopf produced three small print runs each under 2,000 copies. While early reviews were primarily positive, it received little attention beyond New York City. Comparing it to Larsen's previous novel "Quicksand", Alice Dunbar-Nelson's review in "The Washington Eagle" began by declaring that "Nella Larsen delights again with her new novel". Writer and scholar W. E. B. Du Bois hailed it as the "one of the finest novels of the year" and believed that its limited success was due to its treating a "forbidden subject," the marriage of a white man to a mixed-race girl who did not reveal her ancestry. A common criticism of the novel is that it ends too suddenly, without a full exploration of the issues it raises. Mary Rennels, writing in the "New York Telegram", said, "Larsen didn't solve the problem [of passing]. Knocking a character out of a scene doesn't settle a matter." An anonymous reviewer for the "New York Times Book Review" similarly concluded that "the most serious fault with the book is its sudden and utterly unconvincing close", but otherwise considered it an effective treatment of the topic. On the other hand, Dunbar-Nelson found that the ending confirmed to the reader that "you have been reading a masterpiece all along." In modern scholarship, Larsen is recognized as one of the central figures in the African-American, feminist and modernist canons, a reputation that is based on her two novels ("Passing" and "Quicksand") and some short stories. As of 2007, "Passing" is the subject of more than 200 scholarly articles and more than 50 dissertations, which offer a range of critical interpretations. It has been hailed as a text helping to "create a modernist psychological interiority ... challenging marriage and middle-class domesticity, complexly interrogating gender, race, and sexual identity, and for redeploying traditional tropes—such as that of the tragic mulatta—with a contemporary and critical twist." However, literary critic Cheryl Wall summarizes the critical response to "Passing" as less favorable than to Larsen's first novel "Quicksand", citing the views of Amaritjit Singh in "The Novels of the Harlem Renaissance" (99), of Robert Bone in "The Negro Novel in America" (102), and of Hoyt Fuller in his "Introduction" to "Passing" (14)." On one hand, the significance of sexual jealousy in the story has been seen to detract from the topic of racial passing; conversely, even if racial passing is accurately treated in the novel, it is considered a historically specific practice and so "Passing" appears dated and trivial. Film adaptation. The novel was adapted to film by director Rebecca Hall in 2021. It had its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on January 30, 2021, and will be released by Netflix later in the year. References. Notes Citations Bibliography

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Black Women Syllabus Black Enterprise stated that movement "sparked initiatives of female empowerment." It was created in response to violence toward women of color by United States police and is a part of the larger movement Black Twitter. Background. The Black women syllabus is part of a larger effort by scholars to make widely available information often missing in higher education. The best-known example of this is Melissa Harris-Perry's Black Feminism Syllabus. Similar to other hashtag campaigns on Twitter, such as the #FergusonSyllabus, #SayHerNameSyllabus, and #CharlestonSyllabus, #blackwomensyllabus is a crowd-sourced list of reading recommendations by Twitter users, specifically focused on articles, essays, and books about women of color. The hashtag began when the historian Daina Ramey Berry, PhD tweeted on August 11 "given #CharnesiaCorley time 4 #blkwomensyllabus...". Charnesia Corley, a 21-year-old black female Texas resident, was pulled over at a Texaco gas station on June 21, 2015, accused of running a stop sign. After the deputy allegedly smelled marijuana coming from Corley's car, the woman was forced to remove her clothing, bend over and later was held face down to the ground as police officers probed her vagina while forcing her legs open. Corley told Huffington Post, "I'm traumatized... It was humiliating. I feel like the law is supposed to protect you and not do this. I just don't feel safe anymore. My self-esteem has literally dropped and I can't even step out and be seen because I feel so embarrassed." Though the incident in Texas with Charnesia Corley was the stated impetus for the #blackwomensyllabus campaign, other instances of police brutally against women have added to the momentum toward this Twitter movement, such as the death of Sandra Bland, found dead in a jail cell also in Texas, on July 13, 2015, after being pulled over by a white police officer for a traffic violation.

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Citrivescence/For Keeps (bookstore)

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Joanna Banks Joanna Banks is an American book collector. In 2018 Banks donated her collection of African American literature to Penn Libraries. The collection comprises over 10,000 books by African American authors, primarily published from the 1970s onwards, with particular strengths in women's writing, children's literature, cookery books, and African American periodicals. Life. Banks grew up in Louisville, Kentucky. She began collecting books in 1965, with the Book-of-the-Month Club book "The Langston Hughes Reader". Reading Langston Hughes inspired her to build a collection of African American literature. In the 1980s Banks also documented African American literary culture in Washington DC, compiling photograph albums of authors like Alice Walker and James Baldwin at readings, book signings and conferences. In 1984 she started a book club dedicated to reading works by black women authors, where she came to know Barbara Savage, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Savage suggested that the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books, and Manuscripts at Penn might be a good home for her collection. Banks gave the books to the university on the condition that the children's books in the collection "were not locked away behind closed doors, so that no child would have access to them".

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The Talented Tenth The Talented Tenth is a term that designated a leadership class of African descendant Americans in the early 20th century. The term was created by White Northern philanthropists, then publicized by W. E. B. Du Bois in an influential essay of the same name, which he published in September 1903. It appeared in "The Negro Problem", a collection of essays written by leading African Americans. Historical context. The phrase "talented tenth" originated in 1896 among White Northern liberals, specifically the American Baptist Home Mission Society, a Christian missionary society strongly supported by John D. Rockefeller. They had the goal of establishing Black colleges in the South to train Black teachers and elites. In 1903, W.E.B. Du Bois wrote "The Talented Tenth;" Theodore Roosevelt was president of the United States and industrialization was skyrocketing. Du Bois thought it a good time for African Americans to advance their positions in society. The "Talented Tenth" refers to the one in ten Black men that have cultivated the ability to become leaders of the Black community by acquiring a college education, writing books, and becoming directly involved in social change. In "The Talented Tenth," Du Bois argues that these college educated African American men should sacrifice their personal interests and use their education to lead and better the Black community. He strongly believed that the Black community needed a classical education to reach their full potential, rather than the industrial education promoted by the Atlanta compromise, endorsed by Booker T. Washington and some white philanthropists. He saw classical education as the pathway to bettering the Black community and as a basis for what, in the 20th century, would be known as public intellectuals: In his later life, Du Bois came to believe that leadership could arise on many levels, and grassroots efforts were also important to social change. His stepson David Du Bois tried to publicize those views, writing in 1972: "Dr. Du Bois' conviction that it's those who suffered most and have the least to lose that we should look to for our steadfast, dependable and uncompromising leadership." Du Bois writes in his "Talented Tenth" essay that The Negro race, like all races, is going to be saved by its exceptional men. The problem of education, then, among Negroes must first of all deal with the Talented Tenth; it is the problem of developing the Best of this race that they may guide the Mass away from the contamination and death of the Worst. Later in "Dusk of Dawn," a collection of his writings, Du Bois redefines this notion, acknowledging contributions by other men. He writes that "my own panacea of an earlier day was a flight of class from mass through the development of the Talented Tenth; but the power of this aristocracy of talent was to lie in its knowledge and character, not in its wealth." Du Bois and betterment. As stated previously, W.E.B. Du Bois believed that college educated African Americans should set their personal interests aside and use their education to better their communities. Using education to better the African American community meant many things for Du Bois. For one, he believed that the "Talented Tenth" should seek to acquire elite roles in politics. By doing do, Black communities could have representation in government. Representation in government would allow these college educated African Americans to take "racial action." That is, Du Bois believed that segregation was a problem that needed to be dealt with, and having African Americans in politics would start the process of dealing with that problem. Moving on, he also believed that an education would allow one to pursue business endeavors that would better the economic welfare of Black communities. According to Du Bois, success in business would not only better the economic welfare of Black communities, it would also encourage White people to see Black people as more equal to them, and thus encourage integration and allow African Americans to enter the mainstream business world. Conceptual revision. In 1948, W.E.B. Du Bois revised his "Talented Tenth" thesis into the "Guiding Hundredth." This revision was an attempt to democratize the thesis by forming alliances and friendships with other minority groups that also sought to better their conditions in society. Whereas the "Talented Tenth" only pointed out problems African Americans were facing in their communities, the "Guiding Hundredth" would be open to mending the problems other minority groups were encountering as well. Moreover, Du Bois revised this theory to stress the importance of morality. He wanted the people leading these communities to have values synonymous with altruism and selflessness. Thus, when it came to who would be leading these communities, Du Bois placed morality above education. The "Guiding Hundredth" challenged the proposition that the salvation of African Americans should be left to a select few. It reimagined the concept of black leadership from "The Talented Tenth" by combining racial, cultural, political, and economic ideologies. Without much success, Du Bois tried to keep the idea of education around. Taking on a new approach of education being a gateway to new opportunities for all people. However, it was viewed as a step in the wrong direction, a threat of reverting to the old ways of thinking, and continued to promote elitism. This revision while also being an attempt at democratization of the original thesis, was also Du Bois' attempt at creating a program for African Americans to follow after the war. A way to strengthen their "ideological conscience." Du Bois emphasized forming alliances with other minority groups because it helped promote equality among all blacks. Both "The Talented Tenth" and "The Guiding Hundredth" exhibit the idea that a plan to for political action would need to be evident in order to continue to speak to large populations of black people. Because to Du Bois, black people's ability to express themselves in politics was the epitome of black cultural expression. To gain emancipation was to separate black and white. The cultures could not combine as a way to avoid and protect the spirit of "the universal black." Contemporary interpretations. The idea of the "Talented Tenth" is received both positively and negatively. Positively, some argue that current generations of college educated African Americans are abiding by Du Bois' prescriptions and sacrificing their personal interests to lead and better their communities. This, in turn, leads to an "uplift" of those in the Black community. Negatively, some argue that current generations of college educated African Americans should not be abiding by Du Bois' prescriptions, and should indeed be pursuing their own personal interests. That is, they believe that college educated African Americans are not responsible for bettering their communities whereas Du Bois thinks that they are. Advocates of Du Bois' prescriptions explain that they change when put in the context of the present. One author writes, "The potential Talented Tenth of today is a 'me generation,' not the 'we generation' of the past." That is, the Talented Tenth of today, focuses more on their own interests as opposed to the general interests of their community. Advocates of Du Bois' prescription believe that African Americans have lost sight of the importance of uplifting their communities. Rather, they have pursued their own interests and dwelled in their "financial gain and strivings." Although the percentage of college educated African Americans has gone up, it is still far less than the percentage of college educated White Americans. Therefore, these advocates believe that, because the African American community still has a long way to go, they should still feel as though they have a responsibility to use their education to help their community. Contrastingly, those not in favor of Du Bois' prescriptions believe that African Americans have the right to pursue their own interests for a few reasons. Feminist critics specifically, and critics of Du Bois in general, tend to believe that as marginalized groups, they are often put in boxes and are expected to stay within that box, or abide by stereotypes. Therefore, these critics explain that what an African American decides to do with their college education should not become a stereotype either. Furthermore, many of Du Bois' original texts, including "The Talented tenth," receive plenty of feminist criticism for using the word "man" throughout the text as though only African American men could seek out a college education. According to these feminists, this acts to perpetuate the persistence of a culture that only encourages/ allows men to pursue higher education. Attainability. As stated previously, to be a part of this "Talented Tenth," an African American must be college educated. This is a qualification that many view as unattainable for many members of the African American community because the percentage of African Americans in college is much lower than the percentage of White people in college. There are multiple explanations for this fact. Some argue that this disparity is the result of government policies. For instance, financial aid for college students in low income families decreased in the 1980s because problems regarding monetary inequality began to be perceived as problems of the past. A lack of financial aid can deter or disable one from pursuing higher education. Thus, since Black and African American families make up about 2.9 million of the low income families in the U.S., members of the Black community surely encounter this problem. Moreover, because African Americans make up such a large number of the low income families in the U.S., many African Americans face the problem of their children being placed in poorly funded public schools. Because poor funding often leads to poor education, getting into college will be more difficult for students. Along with a poor education, these schools often lack resources that can prepare students for college. For instance, schools with poor funding do not have college guidance counselors: a resource that many private and well funded public schools have. Therefore, some argue that Du Bois' prescription or plan for this "Talented Tenth" are unattainable.

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Dark Matter (prose anthologies) Dark Matter is an anthology series of science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories and essays produced by people of African descent. The editor of the series is Sheree Thomas. The first book in the series, "Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora" (2000), won the 2001 World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology. The second book in the Dark Matter series, "Dark Matter: Reading the Bones" (2004), won the World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology in 2005. A forthcoming third book in the series is tentatively named "Dark Matter: Africa Rising".

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Black Faces, White Spaces Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors is a 2014 book by cultural geographer Carolyn Finney. The book examines the relationship between African Americans and the environment, particularly challenging the notion of the environment and environmentalism as white spaces. "Black Faces, White Spaces" uses a combination of autoethnographic accounts, discourse analysis of media, interviews, and analysis of artistic forms of expression to contextualize a narrative about environmental policy and race relations in the United States. Finney explores the subject through the lenses of environmental history, feminist and critical race theories. In her discussion of American experiences with the environment, Finney highlights how the legacy of slavery creates disparities in the impact of environmental laws such as the Wilderness Act due to factors such as racial segregation. "Black Faces, White Spaces" challenges assumptions that the environmental movement makes about universal values, individualism, and agency, arguing that they reflect a class-based and racial power structure that denies participation from people of color.

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That Mean Old Yesterday That Mean Old Yesterday: A Memoir is a 2008 memoir by Stacey Patton. The book was published by Simon & Schuster. Overview. A coming-of-age memoir about a young African American woman surviving the foster care system to become an award-winning journalist.

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Black lesbian literature in the United States Black lesbian literature is a subgenre of lesbian literature and African American literature that focuses on the experiences of black women who identify as lesbians. The genre features poetry and fiction about black lesbian characters as well as non-fiction essays which address issues faced by black lesbians. Prominent figures within the genre include Ann Allen Shockley, Audre Lorde, Cheryl Clarke, and Barbara Smith. Black lesbian literature is characterized by its central focus on black women's experiences as they are shaped by interlocking systems of oppression like racism, sexism, homophobia, and class discrimination. Overview. Black lesbian literature emerged out of the Black Feminist movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Dissatisfied with the inability of both the feminist movement of the 1960s and the Civil Rights Movement to address the specific forms of oppression experienced by black women, these writers produced critical essays and fictional works which gave voice to their experiences, using Black Feminist theories like intersectionality as tools to carry out their analysis. Through this critical analysis, black lesbian writers and activists were able to use the genre to make necessary interventions in the normative ideologies regarding race, gender, and sexuality which emerged from these larger political movements. More specifically, the genre allowed black lesbians to examine the homophobia that they encountered in nearly all of their political and community circles. Writer and activist Cheryl Clarke wrote essays like "The Failure to Transform: Homophobia in the Black Community" and "Lesbianism: An Act of Resistance" which both explore the way that white male patriarchy and white supremacy create the gendered and racialized forms of homophobia that black lesbians experience. In 1977 the self-proclaimed activist group of black feminists and lesbians known as The Combahee River Collective published a statement in which they outlined their main political objectives to fight racism, sexism, homophobia, and class oppression simultaneously. Although many prominent activists were involved in the conception of the statement, the piece was drafted and finalized by Demita Frazier, Beverly Smith, and Barbara Smith. Within the statement the group declared its rejection of Lesbian separatism, deeming it ineffective as a political strategy because it excludes others, namely progressive black men, from joining their cause. One of the foundational texts of the genre is Ann Allen Shockley's novel, "Loving Her". Published in 1974, "Loving Her" is widely regarded as the first novel to feature a black lesbian protagonist. The book follows the story of Renay, a black woman who leaves her abusive marriage to a black man to enter a relationship with a white lesbian named Terry. "Loving Her" is considered groundbreaking for its explicit portrayal of lesbian sexuality and it paved the way for black women writers to depict lesbian relationships in their writing. Shockley followed the publication of "Loving Her" with two more books, "The Black and White of It", a collection of short stories featuring various black lesbian protagonists, which was the first of its kind, and another novel, "Say Jesus and Come to Me". Other works began to arrive in the early 1980s which featured black lesbian protagonists like Alice Walker's novel "The Color Purple" and Audre Lorde's autobiography "." While both novels explored the development of their characters' sexuality, they also examined the characters' experiences as black women in a sexist and white supremacist society.

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Cave Canem Foundation Cave Canem Foundation is an American 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1996 by poets Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady to remedy the underrepresentation and isolation of African-American poets in Master of Fine Arts (MFA) programs and writing workshops across the United States. It is based in Brooklyn, New York. Cave Canem programs include an annual summer retreat, regional workshops, first- and second-book poetry prizes, anthology publication and national readings and panels. The organization has also published two anthologies, "Gathering Ground: A Reader Celebrating Cave Canem’s First Decade", edited by Derricotte and Eady (University of Michigan Press, 2006), and "The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South", edited by Nikky Finney (University of Georgia Press, 2007). In September 2016, National Book Foundation awarded Cave Canem the Literarian Award for service to the American literary community. History. Founded in 1996 by poets Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady, Cave Canem Foundation began as a week-long writing retreat for selected African-American poets at Mount St. Alphonsus Conference Center in Esopus, New York. According to Derricotte, the idea grew out of previous attempts she had made to create programs supporting Black poets at New York University in the early 1980s and University of Pittsburgh in the early 1990s; she shared her vision with Eady and Sarah Micklem, which led to the St. Alphonsus retreat. Since then, Cave Canem "has grown from an initial gathering of 26 poets to become an influential movement with a renowned faculty and a high-achieving national fellowship" of over 300. The Foundation's name, Cave Canem, is Latin for "Beware of the Dog" and refers to a sign that Derricotte spotted while visiting the House of the Tragic Poet in the volcanic ash covered city of Pompeii. Derricotte retired as co-director in 2015. Programs. Writing for "The New York Times" in 2015, Stephen Burt described Cave Canem as "a major incubator for the current renaissance in black poetry, which includes the poets Tracy K. Smith, who won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in poetry; Afaa Michael Weaver, who won the Kingsley Tufts prize last year; and, most recently, Claudia Rankine, who won the National Book Critics Circle Award for poetry this year." Retreat. Currently held annually at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, Pennsylvania, Cave Canem’s tuition-free retreat is a week of faculty-led writing workshops and poetry readings for African-American poets. Accepted applicants (fellows) may participate for a maximum of three summers within a five-year period. Past faculty have included Presidential Inaugural poet Elizabeth Alexander; Pulitzer Prize winner Yusef Komunyakaa; National Book Award finalists Patricia Smith and Carl Phillips and 2011 National Book Award winner Nikky Finney. Book prizes. Cave Canem Foundation sponsors two annual book prizes. One is the Cave Canem Poetry Prize, awarded for an exceptional first book by an African-American poet and published by the University of Pittsburgh Press; Natasha Trethewey won the inaugural prize in 1999 for her collection "Domestic Work". Other winners have included Van Clief-Stefanon (2001) and Donika Kelly (2011) for her book, "Bestiary". The second is the Cave Canem Northwestern University Press Poetry Prize, a second-book award established in 2009 that "celebrates and publishes works of lasting cultural value and literary excellence" by African-American poets. It is awarded every other year. Legacy conversations. Established in 2001, these moderated discussions feature poets and scholars who "have played historic roles in African-American poetry." Participants have included Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott, Pulitzer Prize winner Rita Dove, and poet and activist Amiri Baraka. Poets on Craft series. Launched in 2008, Poets on Craft features “award-winning poets in the early-to-middle stages of their careers. Poets meet in moderated conversation, discussing aesthetics, the role of the contemporary poet and other topical issues.” Participants have included National Book Critics Circle Award finalist Major Jackson and Walt Whitman Award winner Suji Kwock Kim. Regional workshops. Established in 1999, workshops for emerging poets of color are held semi-annually in New York City and, more recently, in Columbia, South Carolina, in partnership with the South Carolina Poetry Initiative. Instructors have included former Poet Laureate of Connecticut, Marilyn Nelson, Whiting Writers' Award winner Tyehimba Jess, and American Book Award winner, Kimiko Hahn. Awards. In 2016, Cave Canem became the first organization (rather than individual) to win the National Book Foundation's Literarian Award for service to the American literary community. The National Book Foundation's executive director Lisa Lucas said: "Cave Canem’s innovative and effective literary activism has been transformative to the world of letters. Their ongoing commitment to provide supportive channels for African American poets to thrive has yielded works that enrich the world’s literary culture."

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A Brighter Coming Day A Brighter Coming Day is a compilation of works by Frances Harper, written between 1853 and 1911. It is edited and introduced by contemporary literary scholar Frances Smith Foster and divides the text into four sections representing different periods of Harper's life and including her letters, poetry, essays, speeches, and short fiction.

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When Washington Was in Vogue When Washington Was in Vogue is a Harlem Renaissance novel written by Edward Christopher Williams, set in Washington, D.C. in 1922-3. The first epistolary novel written by an African-American, it was originally serialized in the radical magazine "The Messenger" between January 1925 and July 1926 as "The Letters of Davy Carr: A True Story of Colored Vanity Fair." Largely due to the small circulation of the magazine, "When Washington Was in Vogue" languished in obscurity until its rediscovery and subsequent publication in 2003. It follows the adventures of Davy Carr, a scholar living amongst the black socialites of the Roaring Twenties. Synopsis. Plot/Themes. Opening when Davy Carr arrives in Washington, D.C. in October 1922, "When Washington Was in Vogue" takes place over the fall and winter months, as Davy becomes introduced to and integrated into the social life of the black elite. His initiation comes about through the machinations of his landlady's daughter Caroline, who introduces him to her friends and ensures that he is invited to the city's best and most significant parties. As Davy gets to know the various members of the social scene, he becomes more and more suspicious of his fellow lodger, Jeffries, whose questionable activities include attending seedy cabarets, and may extend to theft or money laundering. The tension between the two comes to a head when Jeffries invites Caroline to join him and his friends at a cabaret. Davy follows the two, and arrives just as Jeffries attempts to rape Caroline. To the surprise of everyone present, Davy floors Jeffries with one punch and carries the unconscious Caroline out. After this episode, Caroline's reckless behavior diminishes and her respect for Davy increases—facts that everyone but Davy himself can plainly see. The last months of Davy's stay in Washington, D. C. are spent studying at the Library of Congress and enjoying the friendships he has made. Although his letters to Bob betray a fixation on Caroline and his relationship with her, Davy does not consider her as a romantic option until just before he is scheduled to depart. When he finally voices his feelings to Caroline, she responds: "I think I loved you from the first day." They embrace, and the novel ends. "When Washington Was in Vogue" explores the spoken and unspoken rules of color politics within African-American society of the period. Unusually, Williams's novel has no white characters. Davy is a light-skinned man who elects not to pass for white, and throughout the novel he and other characters discuss the tendencies of many African-American men (of any shade) to prefer women of lighter skin tones. Davy himself is quite open-minded when it comes to female beauty, and often takes the time to describe his various attractive friends to Bob. Significantly, Caroline is the darkest of Davy's female friends, thus making his choice of her as his romantic partner a transgression of the unspoken norms. The novel has been compared to Nella Larsen's "Passing" as a significant literary exploration of the politics of the intra-racial color line. Additionally, the novel offers an analysis of 1920s society from the viewpoint of a conservative narrator. Davy, while educated and possessing a well-tuned aesthetic sense, is unquestionably the product of an earlier time. His and Caroline's early interest in each other stems from this difference, as her radical modernity and his stolid traditionalism render them mutually fascinating. Publication. "When Washington Was in Vogue" was serialized in "The Messenger" as "The Letters of Davy Carr: A True Story of Colored Vanity Fair." Editors A. Philip Randolph, Chandler Owen, and George Schuyler gave no indication of the novel's authorship. Adam McKible identified the literary and historical merit of the novel while researching his dissertation, and followed the trail of authorship to Edward Christopher Williams, the head librarian at Howard University from 1916 to 1929. With McKible's editorial oversight, the collection was published as a whole novel in 2003 by HarperCollins. As almost certainly the first epistolary novel written by an African-American, "When Washington Was in Vogue" establishes Williams as a Harlem Renaissance writer, and as an innovator in the African American literary canon. Reception. Critical response to When Washington Was in Vogue was generally favorable. While some reviewers, such as "Kirkus Reviews", called the book "of academic interest only" due to its formulaic plotlines, others saw Williams's analysis of intra-racial social politics as a fascinating window into the period. "Publishers Weekly" heralded it as "an invaluable addition to period scholarship", while a laudatory review in "The Crisis" said the novel was "a welcome and consistently entertaining glimpse of a pivotal era". With Christina Moore's 2013 "Traditional Rebirth: The Epistolary Genre in When Washington Was in Vogue," published in "African American Review", the novel (as a published whole) received its first scholarly treatment outside of McKible's own work.

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World of Wakanda Black Panther: World of Wakanda is a comic book series and a spin-off from the Marvel Comics' "Black Panther" title. It published six issues before being canceled. The series was primarily written by Roxane Gay, with poet Yona Harvey contributing a story to the first issue. Alitha E. Martinez drew the majority of the art for the series, for which Afua Richardson contributed cover art to the first five issues, as well as art for a short story in the first issue. Gay and Harvey became the first two black women to author a series for Marvel; counting Martinez and Richardson, upon its debut the series itself was helmed entirely by black women. Ta-Nehisi Coates served as a consultant for the series. "Black Panther: World of Wakanda" won a 2018 Eisner Award for Best Limited Series. The series also won a 2018 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book. Publication history. After the success of the "Black Panther" series relaunch in April 2016, written by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Marvel developed a companion piece set in the fictional African country of Wakanda, home to the Black Panther. Coates recommended Gay and Harvey to pen the series. He had seen Gay read a short story about zombies two years earlier that he recalled as "the most surprising, unexpected, coolest zombie story you ever want to see"; Harvey had been his classmate at Howard University and he felt her skills as a poet would lend themselves to the comic-book form, telling "The New York Times", "That’s just so little space, and you have to speak with so much power. I thought she’d be a natural." The series debuted November 9, 2016 (with a cover date of January 2017). Harvey wrote a 10-page origin story for Wakanda's revolutionary leader Zenzi, and has said she drew on the example of Winnie Mandela as inspiration. Gay has mentioned the character of Olivia Pope in the first season of "Scandal" and the original USA version of "La Femme Nikita" as influences for the series. The series was canceled after six issues due to poor sales. Overview. The first "World of Wakanda" story arc (issues #1-5) features Ayo and Aneka, two Wakandan members of the Dora Milaje, the Black Panther's female security force. Ayo and Aneka are also lovers. The first storyline also describes Zenzi, a revolutionary and villain in the "Black Panther" series. The first issue is a prequel to Coates's "Black Panther" series, describing the backstory of women in Wakanda. Captain Aneka of the Dora Milaje must deal with an impertinent new recruit who simultaneously challenges her and fascinates her. Meanwhile, Zenzi discovers that she has enhanced abilities and has to decide the best way to use them. Contrasting "World of Wakanda" with its "Black Panther" predecessor, Caitlin Rosberg writes at "The A.V. Club" that ""World Of Wakanda" feels more intimate, and all the more powerful for it. It’s deeply invested in the identities of black women both as characters and more importantly as creators, making it clear that these aren’t just background characters in T’Challa’s [Black Panther's] life." Writing for "Inverse" magazine, Caitlin Busch called the first installment "a tear-jerking love story for the ages, encapsulating all the emotion, romance, tragedy, and fearsome intelligence of Black Panther’s Wakandan civilization." As the story moves along, Aneka and Ayo grow closer, but concerns over the righteousness of T'Challa's priorities lead them to leave the sisterhood. Aneka is conflicted about making her relationship with Ayo more public, but she agrees to take a vacation trip together. Folami tries to cause trouble for the Dora Milaje, but Queen Ramonda rebuffs her attempt and alerts Zola. Aneka and Ayo cut their trip short when they are summoned back to Wakanda. They become estranged when they return from their vacation to find that Shuri has been killed. Aneka takes on a solo mission to rescue women from an evil chieftain, and she is forced to kill him. She is arrested, and Folami, the chieftain's daughter, vows revenge. The women of Wakanda rise up to object to Aneka's imprisonment, and the Dora Milaje take a more active role in peacekeeping. Folami threatens Ayo and eventually kills Mistress Zola. Ayo breaks Aneka out of prison and the two vow to remain together and to fight injustice as the masked Midnight Angels. The series' final issue, #6, is a standalone story by Rembert Browne and Joe Bennett about Kasper Cole and White Tiger.

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The Sweet Breath of Life The Sweet Breath of Life: A Poetic Narrative of the African-American Family is a 2004 photographic poetic narrative by Ntozake Shange and the photography collective Kamoinge Inc. The Kamoinge Workshop was founded in New York in 1963 to support the work of black photographers in a field then dominated by white photographers. The book was first published on October 26, 2004, through Atria Books and was edited by Frank Steward, the president of Kamoinge Inc. Summary. The book depicts the various aspects of everyday urban African-American life through poetic narrative. Through poetic narrative and accompanying photographs, the book deals with various themes such as religion, identity, and representation. Reception. Critical reception for "The Sweet Breath of Life" has been positive and reviewers have compared the work to that of Langston Hughes and Roy DeCarava. "Black Issues Book Review" judges some of the photos to be outdated and that some of the poems felt more like journalism than poetry, but also that when the poems and photography worked together they were "powerfully made" and "breathtaking". "Curve" rated the book highly, citing the photography as one of the book's highlights. The "Tri-State Defender" praised the project as "a wonderful blend of words and images that give definition to the beauty and wonder of contemporary African-American culture."

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Black Dixie Black Dixie: Afro-Texan History and Culture in Houston is a 1992 book edited by Howard Beeth and Cary D. Wintz and published by Texas A&M University Press. It is a collection of thirteen essays about the history of African-Americans in Houston. It was the first scholarly book to provide a comprehensive history of Houston's black community, and the book's dust jacket referred to it as the first such book of any city in the Southern United States. Background. The two editors were members of the Texas Southern University history department. Contents. The book is divided into four sections, with the introduction being the first section and the others containing essays; the three essay sections are organized by theme. There are a total of thirteen essays, which cover the 19th century and 20th century. They were not written specifically to be included in the book. Most of the essays were previously unpublished; while four were reprinted from academic journals, with three from the "Houston Review" of the Houston Public Library Houston Metropolitan Research Center; and two were primary sources. In total, two primary sources and seven articles were first published in this book. Of the essays not made by first-hand observers, eight were written by historians and three were written by sociologists. Howard Beeth wrote the opening section, and the editors provide introductions and commentary in the other sections. The commentaries in the introductions of each article address social history, religion, and fraternal organizations, things not discussed in the essays themselves. Joseph A. Tomberlin of the "Mississippi Quarterly" wrote that "Linking the sections through the introductions gives the volume greater unity than one might expect in such a collaborative enterprise." First section. Beeth's opening section, "Historians, Houston, and History," discusses the state of scholarship in the newly-emerging field of urban studies; he stated that academics previously had biases against urban history and local history, there were very few such studies in previous eras, and there had been a lack of preservation of sources prior to the 1970s. In addition Houston's post-secondary institutions had not yet fully developed, and he added that there had previously been a lack of interest in the history of Houston, but research interest in local history began to increase at area universities and Houston's changing character also attracted interest in its history. Second section. The first collection of essays focuses on the 19th century. Tamara Myner Haygood in "Use and Distribution of Slave Labor in Harris County, Texas, 1836–60" described the role of slaves in Houston as well as surrounding parts of Harris County. Haygood argued that slavery was important in developing Harris County as the economic patterns established during slavery continued to exist. Barry A. Crouch in "Seeking Equality: Houston Black Women during Reconstruction" describes the role of women in trying to gain civil rights during the Reconstruction Era; much of the research originated from the archives of the Freedmen's Bureau. "Richard Allen: The Chequered Career of Houston's First Black State Legislator" by Merline Pitre was originally printed in an academic journal. Pitre argued that the origins of the black middle class, which she characterized as "articulate, talented, and manipulative", may be explained by studying politicians like Allen. Alwyn Barr of Texas Tech University stated that Pitre described Allen as being "able but ambitious". Since Allen never left any personal papers behind, Joseph A. Tomberlin of the "Mississippi Quarterly" stated that Pitre had to use "less satisfactory sources"; he argued that while the situation was not her fault, the lack of sources related directly to Allen affected the quality of her essay. Third section. The second collection discusses the late 19th Century and early 20th Century. In "The Emergence of Black Business in Houston Texas: A Study of Race and Ideology, 1919–45," James M. SoRelle wrote about African-American businesses and how they, in order to attract black investors and customers, appealed to racial solidarity and pride as well the idea of "self-help" within the black community. SoRelle criticized "Black Bourgeoisie" by E. Franklin Frazier, which had argued that the black middle class was greedy, since the book had rejected the concept of black leaders needing to respond to Jim Crow and how these leaders were committed to their race too easily. SoRelle also argued that boosterism from African-American organizations became an important part of Houston's "business progressivism". Frances Dressman, in "Yes, We Have No Jitneys!': Transportation Issues in Houston's Black Community, 1914–1924," wrote about the rise and fall of black jitney services, which initially competed with trolley lines until the city government began shutting several of them down; this essay was originally published elsewhere. In particular it discusses the San Felipe Jitney Line. One primary source article is a diary entry written by Lorenzo J. Greene, a Connecticut man educated at Columbia University, and an associate of Carter G. Woodson, who visited the city during a two-week period in September 1930 where he sold books for the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, in order to generate income for the institution. Greene later chaired the history department of Lincoln University. The essay documents his impression of Houston. Quintard Taylor of the University of Oregon described it as "a fascinating glimpse into the internal dynamics of the black community and a detailed description of the impact of the economic depression on black workers in Houston." S. Charles Bolton of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock stated that this was a "cheerful account" despite the lack of funds held by Greene and his organization. Ralph A. Wooster of Lamar University described Greene's article as "a revealing and not always flattering picture" of the leadership of the city's African-American community. Louis J. Marchiafava of the Houston Public Library wrote that Greene has an "outsider's perspective". Lorenzo Hirsch of the University of New Orleans wrote that "Certainly Greene's positive impression of black education in Houston contrasts sharply with James M. SoRelle's analysis in a later piece." The other primary source article is "Houston's Colored Citizens: Activities and Conditions among the Negro Population in the 1920s," a 1928 article written by that was published by Clifton F. Richardson in a Houston area publication, the liberal white magazine "Civics". Richardson was a NAACP chapter president and the founder of the "Houston Informer". This article discusses the elite of the city's black community. John H. Haley of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington stated that it was "a glowing assessment of black citizens of "Heavenly Houston," using a term employed by people promoting the city. Taylor characterizes the two primary source articles as "two of the most impressive entries". Alwyn Barr of Texas Tech University described the Greene and Richardson sources as "slightly more optimistic descriptions of business and social leaders and institutions in the period." Fourth section. The final collection discusses 20th century efforts to end discrimination against black people. SoRelle discusses the discrimination in public schools, accommodations, transportation, and other publicly-used facilities; as well as police and Ku Klux Klan-related violence, between World War I and World War II, arguing that conditions were more severe than, in the words of Barr, "Houston's popular image of the period suggested." Robert V. Haynes, in "Black Houstonians and the White Democratic Primary, 1920–45," described the effort to end an all-white primary in the Democratic Party in the period 1920–1940, which culminated in "Smith v. Allwright" and the disestablishment of the said primary; this essay was originally published elsewhere. F. Kenneth Jensen wrote about 1960 and 1961 sit-ins by Houston students, from Texas Southern University, at lunch counters at a Weingartens shop. According to Jensen, this resulted in the end of several discriminatory practices. Jensen argued that the urbanization of blacks augmented their resistance against discriminatory laws. Haley describes the conclusion as "somewhat doubtful". Cecile E. Harrison and Alice K. Lain's piece discusses the rise and fall of Operation Breadbasket from 1966 through 1974. Robert A. Bullard wrote about contemporary issues facing black people in the working class, stating that housing difficulties were occurring with low and moderate income individuals; at the time the conditions of housing of many blacks were poor, and most blacks lived in black neighborhoods. Bullard had previously published his own book and this essay is a further explanation of his previous point. The final chapter was written by Robert Fisher, who documented the city government's resistance against government programs and the effects of privatization; the author believes that many of the city's problems resulted from excess privatization. Haley stated that Fisher perceived as Houston "as the epitome of the privatized city". Hirsch stated that the chapter has "some theoretical applications". Reception. The book won the September 1993 Ottis Lock Award for the Best Book on East Texas History. Book reviews. Barr wrote that the book "is a valuable contribution that adds diversity to a general sense of the African- American and southern urban experience" and that "the chapters generally reflect sound research and thoughtful analysis" even though "some conclusions may stir debate". Bolton wrote that the book "is an excellent example of African-American history, of urban history, and of collaborative effort." Haley argued that the book demonstrated that "the black experience in Houston was quite similar to that in other places in the South"; he criticized how the book primarily used the viewpoint of elites, documented "only facets of the black experiences", and neglected the "experience of the black masses". He believed the introductions and essays "are imbalanced and often too narrowly focused." In addition he stated the book "hardly touched upon" the issue of African-American and Hispanic and Latino relations. Hirsch concluded that while the book is "a helpful initial reconnaissance" that has "interesting bits of information and insights scattered throughout", the book does not provide any comparisons nor does it give "a clear overall conception" of the black community in Houston, and therefore there is still "the need for a broader, deeper, and more focused treatment." Marchiafava concluded that even though it "is not intended to be the final word on African Americans in Houston, the book is a major contribution for its effort to fill in a major gap in the city's history." Taylor praised several of the articles, saying that the ones about Slavery and the post-U.S. Civil War Reconstruction Era "are among the strongest in the book". Taylor argued that while the book did discuss failed attempts to establish a black elite in Houston, the book had not covered adequate ground on describing relations between blacks and Hispanics and Latinos, the roles of socio-civic groups such as the NAACP, churches, fraternal orders, nor the overall economic structure of black Houston. Wooster wrote that the book has "well written" essays that are "based upon solid research in primary and secondary materials" and that the book "is a major contribution to our understanding of urban black culture in the South." He argued the book should have included ethnic composition maps and a chapter about the last quarter of the 19th century. See also. Other books about African-Americans in Houston:

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The BAP Handbook The BAP Handbook: The Official Guide to the Black American Princess is a humor book released on June 21, 2001. The book was written by Kalyn Johnson, Tracey Lewis, Karla Lightfoot, and Ginger Wilson, and published by Broadway Books. It is described by one of its writers as a humor book, written in a tongue-in-cheek manner.

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American Society of African Culture The American Society of African Culture (AMSAC) was an organization of African-American writers, artists, and scholars. The society was founded as a result of the Congress of Negro Writers and Artists in 1956 based on the idea of the French "". In June 1957, the American Society of African Culture (AMSAC) was officially founded by five African-American intellectuals. During its heyday in the early 1960s, AMSAC had around four hundred members. One of the main goals of the organisation was to expose African Americans to their African heritage. This aim was pursued through organising exhibitions, lectures, music performances, and conferences in the United States (primarily New York) and Africa (occasionally). Office in Lagos, Nigeria. In 1961, AMSAC opened an African office in Lagos, Nigeria. The opening was celebrated with a two-day festival of music performances, dancing, panel discussions, and art exhibited by Africans and African Americans on December 1961. CIA Funding. AMSAC had received federal tax exemption the year prior and thus large grants became available to the organization for specific projects from various entities. This financial backing was how they were able to organize the large festival in Lagos. The grants were later revealed as CIA pass-throughs. After 1967, AMSAC's membership sharply declined after it was named as one of the organizations that was funded by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

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The Justice Trilogy The Justice Trilogy, also called the Justice Cycle, was a series of young-adult science-fiction books written by Virginia Hamilton. Considered philosophically significant by critics within the field of young adult literature, the series is also notable as one of the first young-adult science fiction novels by a significant African American author. The series consists of three books:

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The New Negro The New Negro: An Interpretation (1925) is an anthology of fiction, poetry, and essays on African and African-American art and literature edited by Alain Locke, who lived in Washington, DC, and taught at Howard University during the Harlem Renaissance. As a collection of the creative efforts coming out of the burgeoning New Negro Movement or Harlem Renaissance, the book is considered by literary scholars and critics to be the definitive text of the movement. "The Negro Renaissance" included Locke's title essay "The New Negro," as well as nonfiction essays, poetry, and fiction by writers including Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Claude McKay, Jean Toomer, and Eric Walrond. "The New Negro: An Interpretation" dives into how the African Americans sought social, political, and artistic change. Instead of accepting their position in society, Locke saw the new negro as championing and demanding civil rights. In addition, his anthology sought to change old stereotypes and replaced them with new visions of black identity that resisted simplification. The essays and poems in the anthology mirror real life events and experiences. The anthology reflects the voice of middle class African American citizens that wanted to have equal civil rights like the white, middle class counterparts. However, some writers, such as Langston Hughes, sought to give voice to the lower, working class. Structure. Part 1: The Negro Renaissance. Part 1 contains Alain Locke's title essay "the New Negro" as well as the fiction and poetry sections. One of the poems, “White Houses,” represents the African American's struggle to confront and challenge the White House and white America, in order to fight for civil rights. It shows a figure being shut out and left on the street to fend for himself. This is a figure who is not allowed the glory of the inside world, which represents the American ideals of freedom and opportunity. Part 2: The New Negro in a New World. "The New Negro in a New World" includes social and political analysis by writers including W. E. B. Du Bois, historian E. Franklin Frazier, Melville J. Herskovits, James Weldon Johnson, Paul U. Kellogg, Elise Johnson McDougald, Kelly Miller, Robert R. Moton, and activist Walter Francis White. The book contains several portraits by Winold Reiss and illustrations by Aaron Douglas. It was published by Albert and Charles Boni, New York, in 1925. Themes. The "Old" vs The "New" Negro. Alain Locke commonly draws on the theme of the "Old" vs. the "New Negro". The Old Negro according to Locke was a “creature of moral debate and historical controversy”. The Old Negro was restricted by the inhumane conditions of slavery that he was forced to live in; historically traumatized due to events forced upon them and the social perspective of them as a whole. The Old Negro was something to be pushed and moved around and told what to do and worried about. The Old Negro was a product of stereotypes and judgments that were put on them, not ones that they created. They were forced to live in a shadow of themselves and others' actions. The New Negro according to Locke is a Negro that now has an understanding of oneself. They no longer lack self respect and self dependence, which has created a new dynamic and allowed the birth of the New Negro. The Negro spirituals revealed themselves; suppressed for generations under the stereotypes of Wesleyan hymn harmony, secretive, half-ashamed, until the courage of being natural brought them out—and behold, there was folk music. They have become the Negro of today which is also the changed Negro. Locke speaks about the migration having an effect on the Negro, leveling the playing field and increasing the realm of how the Negro is viewed because they were moved out of the south and into other areas where they could start over. The migration in a sense transformed the Negro and fused them together as they all came from all over the world, all walks of life, and all different backgrounds. Self-expression. One of the themes in Locke's anthology is self-expression. Locke states, "It was rather the necessity for fuller, truer self-expression, the realization of the unwisdom of allowing social discrimination to segregate him mentally, and a counter-attitude to cramp and fetter his own living—and so the 'spite-wall'... has happily been taken down." He explains how it is important to realize that social discrimination can mentally affect you and bring you down. In order to break through that social discrimination, self-expression is needed to show who you truly are, and what you believe in. For Locke, this idea of self-expression is embedded in the poetry, art, and education of the Negro community. Locke includes essays and poems in his anthology that emphasize the theme of self-expression. For example, the poem “Tableau,” by Countée Cullen, is about a white boy and a black boy who walk with locked arms while others judge them. It represents that despite the history of racial discrimination from the whites to the blacks, they show what they believe is right in their self-expression, no matter how other people judge them. Their self-expression allows them not to let the judgement make them conform to societal norms with the separation of blacks and whites. Cullen's poem, “Heritage,” also shows how one finds self-expression in facing the weight of their own history as African Americans brought from Africa to America as slaves. Langston Hughes’ poem, “Youth,” puts forth the message that Negro youth have a bright future, and that they should rise together in their self-expression and seek freedom. Jazz and Blues. The publication of Locke's anthology coincides with the rise of the Jazz Age, the Roaring Twenties, and the Lost Generation. Locke's anthology acknowledges how the Jazz age heavily impacts the individually and collectively within the African-American community as well as on America's robust cultural industries, music, film, theater—all of which fully benefited from the creativity and newly discovered contributions of African Americans. Locke in the anthology "The New Negro" explains how African American used music such as Jazz and Blues to escape poverty. It was Alain Locke who said that the Jazz age was, “a spiritual coming of age” for African American artists and thinkers, who seized upon their “first chances for group expression and self-determination.” Harlem Renaissance poets and artists such as Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, and Georgia Douglas Johnson explored the beauty and pain of black life through jazz and blues and sought to define themselves and their community outside of white stereotypes. Some of the most prominent African American artist that were greatly influenced by the “New Negro” concept that reflected in their music and concert works were William Grant Still and Duke Ellington. Duke Ellington, a renowned jazz artist, began to reflect the "New Negro" in his music, particularly in the jazz suite "Black, Brown, and Beige". The Harlem Renaissance prompted a renewed interest in black culture that was even reflected in the work of white artists, the most well known example being George Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess". Renewal and Rebirth. Alain Locke's, "The New Negro", includes different forms of literature. Many center around the idea of a “rebirth and renewal” of black Americans that would help in their efforts to overcome oppression. In his essay, Locke gives the reader an image to illustrate the idea. He writes, “By shedding the old chrysalis of the Negro problem we are achieving something like a spiritual emancipation”. He continues to explain by encouraging a change in the oppressed mindset that promotes transforming our problems into constructivism. In this act, the oppressed undergoes a sort of metamorphosis, abandoning the psychological and social limitations of the past to strive for social and economic freedom. This sense of metamorphosis is apparent in a poem included in the anthology called “Baptism” by Claude McKay. It can be read as a narrative of a spiritual renewal in which someone enters a furnace naked, weak, and afraid but returns strong and dignified. This spirit of renewed dignity and strength is captured in many of the writings included in "The New Negro". Reception. The release of "The New Negro" and the writing and philosophy laid out by Alain Locke were met with wide support. However, not everyone agreed with the New Negro movement and its ideas. Some criticized the author selections, specifically Eric W. Reader, who wrote the collection of short stories “Tropic Death" (1926). He found Locke's selected “contemporary black leaders inadequate or ineffective in dealing with the cultural and political aspirations of black masses". Others, like the African American academic Harold Cruse, even found the term New Negro “politically naive or overly optimistic”. Even some modern late 20th century authors like Gilbert Osofsky were concerned that the ideas of the New Negro would go on to stereotype and glamorize black life. Still, Locke would go on to continue defending the idea of the New Negro. Legacy. After Locke published "The New Negro", the anthology seemed to have served its purpose in trying to demonstrate that African Americans were advancing intellectually, culturally, and socially. This was important in a time like the early 20th century where African Americans were still being looked down upon by most whites. They did not get the same respect as whites did, and that was changing. The publication of "The New Negro" was able to help many of the authors featured in the anthology get their names and work more widely known. The publication became a rallying cry to other African Americans to try and join the up-and-coming New Negro movement at the time. "The New Negro" was also instrumental in making strides toward dispelling negative stereotypes associated with African Americans. Locke’s legacy sparks a reoccurring interest in examining African culture and art. Not only was Locke's philosophy important during the Harlem Renaissance period, but continuing today, researchers and academia continue to analyze Locke's work. Locke’s anthology "The New Negro: An Interpretation" has endured years of reprinting spanning from 1925 until 2015. Locke’s anthology has been reprinted in book form nearly thirty-five times since its original publication in 1925.  Locke’s original anthology was published in 1925 by New York publisher Albert and Charles Boni.  The most recent reprint was published by Mansfield Center CT: Martino Publishing, 2015. Beyond Locke’s work being reprinted, Locke’s influences extend to other authors and academics interested in Locke’s views and philosophy of African culture and art.  Author Anna Pochmara wrote "The Making of the New Negro." Journal articles by Leonard Harris, "Alain Locke and Community" and "Identity: Alain Locke’s Atavism".  Essays by John C. Charles "What was Africa to him? : Alain Locke" in the book "New Voices on the Harlem Renaissance."   Locke’s influence on the Harlem Renaissance encouraged artists and writers like Zora Neale Hurston to seek inspiration from Africa.  Artists Aaron Douglas, William H. Johnson, Archibald Motley, and Horace Pippin created artwork representing the “New Negro Movement” influenced by Locke’s anthology.

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Flyy Girl Flyy Girl is young adult/new adult literature and an urban fiction book written by Omar Tyree. The book was originally published by Mars Productions in 1993 and republished by Simon & Schuster for adults in 1996. The novel is regarded to be the genesis of the modern urban-fiction/street-lit movement that would later gain momentum in 1999 with the publication of Sister Souljah's "The Coldest Winter Ever". Summary. Flyy Girl is African-American coming-of-age story that follows Tracy Ellison from her sixth-birthday party in 1977 to her 17th birthday. Tracy grows up in the middle-class Philadelphia suburb of Germantown. The daughter of a dietitian and pharmacist, Tracy is beautiful, intelligent, and armed with self-esteem and a sassy mouth. Tracy is also boy crazy, which leads to sex in the indulgent, hip-hop 1980s and the effects of the cocaine economy flourishing in black communities. Sequels. Tyree wrote two sequels to "Flyy Girl": "For the Love of Money" (2001) and "Boss Lady" (2006). Both were published by Simon & Schuster. Film adaptation. In July 2013, Lionsgate Entertainment's CodeBlack Films had acquired the rights to "Flyy Girl" with hopes of transforming the novel into a feature film. In February 2015, CodeBlack Films announced that "Dear White People" producer Effie Brown was hired to produce a film adaptation of the novel. Brown and her company, Duly Noted Inc., will oversee the film's development alongside Codeblack Films' Jeff Clanagan and Quincy Newell. On June 17, 2015, it was announced that Sanaa Lathan would star in and executive produce the film adaptation of Omar Tyree's trilogy that starts with "Flyy Girl". Lathan will portray Tracy Ellison, a successful businesswoman and workaholic who believes that money is always the key to happiness. Geoffrey S. Fletcher was hired to write the script.

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A Dialogue A Dialogue is a 1973 collaborative work featuring a multi-topic conversation between writers James Baldwin and Nikki Giovanni. The preface was written by Ida Lewis, the afterword by Orde M. Coombs. It was published by J. B. Lippincott & Co.

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Black Drama Anthology Black Drama Anthology is a 1971 collection of plays solely written by Black American playwrights. The anthology was edited by Woodie King Jr, a Black American stage producer and Ron Milner, a Black American playwright. Writer Langston Hughes, Jazz musician Archie Shepp and writer Imamu Amiri Baraka appear in this collection, among others. "Black Drama Anthology" opens with a foreword by the editors King and Milner which outlines the motivations behind this collection, in which they write, "...recognizing all of this, and understanding that if we blacks are to have a theater in our own image, according to our own views, then we blacks will have to say which plays are in those images and of those views, we have here compiled an anthology of works by twenty-two of the best black playwrights...Twenty-three selections from an immensely rich field of talented black artists forging new, unique, and viable theater." Themes. This collection explores an array of themes connected to Black American life. Many of the included works contain elements of social criticism and messages of anti-racism. All but one were written in the early 1970s a "a socially and politically dynamic moment in the nation's history and a renaissance decade for black theater." Reception. The collection was met with mixed review, primarily in the realm of critical scholarship.

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The Voice of the Negro The Voice of the Negro was a literary periodical aimed at a national audience of African Americans which was published from 1904 to 1907. It was created in Atlanta, Georgia in June 1904 by Austin N. Jenkins, the white manager of the publishing company J. L. Nichols and Company. He gave full control of the magazine to the Black editors John W. E. Bowen, Sr. and Jesse Max Barber. It relocated to Chicago following the Atlanta Race Riot of September 1906, and ceased publication in 1907. The periodical published writing by Booker T. Washington, as well as work by a younger generation of Black activists and intellectuals: W. E. B. Du Bois, John Hope, Kelly Miller, Mary Church Terrell, and William Pickens. It featured poetry by James D. Corrothers, Georgia Douglas Johnson, and Paul Laurence Dunbar. History. Beginnings. "The Voice of the Negro" was the first African-American periodical based in the South. It was originally published in Atlanta in 1904, and created by Austin N. Jenkins, the white manager of the publishing company J. L. Nichols and Company. However, he left complete control and responsibility over the magazine to the Black editors John W. E. Bowen, Sr. and Jesse Max Barber. Barber and Bowen aimed for the magazine to include "current and sociological history so accurately given and so vividly portrayed that it will become a kind of documentation for the coming generations." At this time, Atlanta had the most Black institutes, so the editors also strove to uplift the Black literary and political voice there. The manifesto for the magazine was published in the January 1904 edition at the start of the issue. Part of the manifesto is as follows: "The Voice of the Negro" for 1904 will keep you posted on Current History, Educational Improvements, Art, Science, Race Issues, Sociological Movements and Religion. It is the herald of the Dawn of the Day. It is the first magazine ever edited in the South by Colored Men. It will prove to be a necessity in the cultured colored homes and a source of information on Negro inspirations and aspirations in the white homes.The editors wanted the magazine to be ideologically and politically independent both to avoid partisan affiliation and to mediate the divide in the Black community between W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington's differing ideologies. However, Booker T. Washington sought to have influence over the magazine and had his personal secretary Emmett Jay Scott become an associate editor. For the first volume, the editors stayed balanced and published contributions from both DuBois and Washington. Scott eventually left the editorial board in August 1904, however, due to a conflict behind the scenes between Washington and the editors. The editors still wanted to stay neutral for the second volume, but from Spring 1905 and on the magazine became publicly anti-Washington. Political developments. Through the articles and editorials, "The Voice of the Negro" emerged as a vocal political magazine during the early 1900s. The magazine's role as a "political advocate in national and local politics" has content that consists of local and national political figures and how black and white people saw the quality of their work. The "important" people within these discussions were W.E.B Du Bois, Booker T. Washington, and Theodore Roosevelt. However, the person with the most significant role in presenting the political movements and political commentary was Booker T. Washington. He became the "spokesman and leader" of the Black race with his Atlanta Exposition in 1895. "The Voice of the Negro" inspired black intellectuals across the nation and allowed Du Bois to start his political movement, the Niagara movement, in 1905. Which was made of "educated and elite blacks" and promoted political and social equality. The organization also created local organizations in seventeen of thirty states where the magazine was sold. Throughout the journal productions, there was periodical controversy where some of the presented language was not acceptable. Specifically, the words were "Leopard Spots" and "Clansman." "The Voice of the Negro" also promoted Theodore Roosevelt's presidency in the early 1901 and 1904, where he spoke and promoted his ideas of "equality," and he was an "advocate of a square deal." After he was elected in 1901, he appointed Booker T. Washington as his advisor of the "Negro population" and appointed William Crum a "black customs collector." Those advances "agitated" the South and did not accept Theodore's beliefs of equality. He later made the South extremely uneasy when he invited Washington to a White House dinner. Though Washington "declared" that the White House dinner was only to the president's benefit, Theodore Roosevelt publicly announced the regret of his initial actions. In 1904, Roosevelt won the presidency, and "The Voice of the Negro" announced that he won based on the "overwhelming majority of American people believed civic righteousness and fair play to all races." Though during Roosevelt's presidency, "The Voice of the Negro" criticized his role in the change of his racial policy and called his failures to call Congress's attention to open the nullification of the 14th and 15th Amendments. The black community also became outraged with Roosevelt's lack of action in the Brownsville, Texas incident where one citizen was killed and two wounded during a violent riot by white citizens. "The Voice of the Negro" became the black population's voice and reflected the anger and outrage of the black population. Social and educational developments. Through it's articles and editorials, "The Voice of the Negro" worked to encourage the social and educational development of Black people. The magazine "advocated Black pride, Black self-respect, and encouraged the Black race to seek all of its rights and privileges guaranteed by law." There were many ways in which it worked to advocate these things. For example, the magazine urged the Black population to not emulate the white race to the degree where they lose the appreciation for the beauty and qualities of their own. As well, they stated that since freedom of speech and press were greatly limited in the South, they encouraged people of races to valiantly stand for the rights of everyone and demand their freedoms. The magazine also discussed the attributes a Black man should have: he should think of himself as a worthy man and to demand equal justice and common courtesy from the white man. "The Voice of the Negro" encouraged the educational development of Black people, especially in higher institutions of learning. Two universities that were commended by the magazine were Atlanta University and Tuskegee University. In Georgia, Atlanta University was the first higher institution to allow admission to people of all backgrounds and in "The Voice of the Negro" they were praised for being an institution that had not been "swept from its course by the phantasy of Negro industrial supremacy. It believes in practical education, but it believes that practical education is that kind of education that introduces a man to mankind and helps him to know intimately his own soul." Booker T. Washington was principal of Tuskegee University and the magazine praised his efforts to develop the school despite the mistakes he made a long the way. "The Voice of the Negro" gave recognition to Washington's success and honored the hard work he put into honoring his race and his nation. Despite the differing ideologies of each institution's leaders, the magazine still praised their success in supporting the educational development of Black people. Decline of the magazine. There was a lot of racial violence occurring in Georgia in the beginning of the 20th century, but the event that impacted the magazine the most was the Atlanta Massacre of 1906. One of the main editors, Jesse Max Barber, was enraged at the speculations that the riot was caused by Atlanta's Black population, so he anonymously wrote in the New York World that the white press was to blame. His authorship was discovered eventually by white leaders and he was threatened with arrest. To avoid arrest, Barber fled to Chicago and continued publication under the shortened name "The Voice." However, after relocating, "the subsequent financial instability, coupled with increasing pressure from Tuskegee, compelled Barber to cease production, reluctantly, in October 1907." Content. Volume One. The first volume of "The Voice of the Negro," was published January 1904. Their goal was to keep the American people updated on the current history, educational improvements, art, science, race issues, sociological movements and religion. The price to subscribe to the issues were $1.00 per year. Volume one was released in 12 different issues containing events that happened in that particular month. Each of these issues had different editors and contributors which made the content different in every issue. Volume One No.1 had major contributors like Prof. William Scarborough, Prof. John Hope, Prof. Kelly Miller, Mr. S. A. Beadle and Prof. Silas X. Floyd. All these authors also contributed a short excerpts and poems, an example is S. A. Beadle's short story "If I Had a Million". Volume One No. 2 had the same contributors as No.1 but introduced newer content from Kelly Miller, Jno. H. Adams Jr, J. Max Barber, W. G. Carver, Benjamin Brawley, H. M. Porter, L. A. J. Moorer, D. Webster Davis, and Silas X. Floyd. Volume Two. The second volume of "The Voice of the Negro", was published in January 1905. This volume is split up into different numbers going all the way to Number 12. This is released on a monthly basis and is shown next to the title of the Journal. The credited editors on this Volume Two No. 1 are Benjamin Brawley, Corporal Simmons, Mary Terrell, Bishop Warren Candler, Rev. Dr. Bradley, William Ward, W. E. B. DuBois, Kelly Miller, W.H. Council, Dr. Landrum, James Corrothers, Gardner Goldsby, Alice Ward Smith, and Silas Floyd. "The Voice of the Negro" first opens with a Monthly Review, which would consist of events that are happening within that year and some insight as to some congressional decisions that had occurred within that year. This journal also includes pieces that are written by the editors discussing a variety of topics. These topics consist of some valuable insight into some of the actions that affect Black people, such as a paper written by Bishop Candler who wrote on the subject of Hostility to lynching. The journal also consists of short stories one of them written by James Corrothers, the title of the short story is "Lincoln". The credited editors in Vol. Two No. 2 were Gardner Goldsby, Pauline E. Hopkins, Wellington Adams, Mrs. Mary Church Terrell, Daniel Murray, John Henery Adams, and newer material from W.E.B DuBois, Silas X. Floyd, and W. S. Scarborough. Volume Three. The third volume of The Voice of the Negro, was published in January 1906. This volume continued the same structure as the previous volumes by releasing twelve different installments corresponding to the year's months. Vol. 3 No. 1 had contributions from Asa Thombson, William Pickens, T.H. Malone, J.W.E. Bowen, G.A. Lee, W.E.B. DuBois, Mrs. L.K. Wiggins, and Benjamin G. Brawley Vol. 3 No. 2 had contributions from Alice Ward Smith, Mary White Ovington, J.H. Gray, T.H. Malone, John Henry Adams, Florence Bentley, Daniel Murray, M.A. Majors, Joseph Manning, William Maxwell, John Jenifer, and Silas Floyd Vol. 3 No. 3 had contributions from Azalia Marlen, Henry Proctor, James Corrothers, Daniel Murray, Will Hendrickson, W.E.B. DuBois, T. THomas Fortune, Lida Wiggins, S.H. Archer, C.C. Poindexter, Anna Comstock, Fanny Williams, and Henery Middleton Volume Four. The fourth volume of The Voice of the Negro, was published in January 1907. This volume continued the same structure as the previous volumes by releasing twelve different installments corresponding to the year's months. This was the last volume produced by The Voice of the Negro. The first issue of vol. Four was a conjoined issue with content from January and February of 1907, this issue had contributions from J. Francis Lee, Jasper Phillips, John Daniels, Alexnder Chamberlain, W.S. Scarboroguh, Joseph B. Foraker, Lena Lewis, Russell Fleming, Azalia Martin, John Fraser, Daniel Thompson, John Work, Katherine Tillman, Vere Goldthwaite, William Pickens, Florence Bentley, Fiona Macleod, Jack Thorne, and Silas X. Floyd The second issue of vol. Four was released in March of 1907 and consisted of contributions from Chas Mayberry, A.D. Delaney, Edward E. Wilson, Will H. Hendrickson, Alexander F. Chamberlain, W.E.B DuBois, W.S. Scarborough, J.E. Bruce, Florence Bentley, William Pickens, John Henery Adams, Mary Church Terrell, Florence Lewis Bentley, William Braithwaite, J.A.G. Luvall, Silas X. Floyd and Mrs. Bettie G. Francis

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Bars Fight "Bars Fight" is a ballad poem written by Lucy Terry about an attack upon two white families by Native Americans on August 25, 1746. The incident occurred in an area of Deerfield called "The Bars", which was a colonial term for a meadow. The poem was preserved orally and not published until 1855, in Josiah Gilbert Holland's "History of Western Massachusetts". It is believed to be the oldest known work of literature by an African American and is the only known work by Lucy Terry. Text of the ballad. The text of the ballad from Holland's "History of Western Massachusetts", 1855: <poem> August 'twas the twenty-fifth, Seventeen hundred forty-six; The Indians did in ambush lay, Some very valient men to slay, The names of whom I'll not leave out. Samuel Allen like a hero fout, And though he was so brave and bold, His face no more shall we behold. Eleazer Hawks was killed outright, Before he had time to fight,— Before he did the Indians see, Was shot and killed immediately. Oliver Amsden he was slain, Which caused his friends much grief and pain. Simeon Amsden they found dead, Not many rods distant from his head. Adonijah Gillett we do hear Did lose his life which was so dear. John Sadler fled across the water, And thus escaped the dreadful slaughter. Eunice Allen see the Indians coming, And hopes to save herself by running, And had not her petticoats stopped her, The awful creatures had not catched her, Nor tommy hawked her on her head, And left her on the ground for dead. Young Samuel Allen, Oh lack-a-day! Was taken and carried to Canada. </poem> Rediscovery. After its 1855 publication the poem was undiscovered until 1942, when it was published in Lorenzo Greene's "The Negro in Colonial New England 1620–1776". Unfortunately, this youthful occasional poem is the only surviving work by Terry, who was said to have been a prolific poet. Recent scholarship has instead drawn attention to how Terry evokes her participation in the local community by recounting the names of the men and women who fought alongside her, and how the town responded by preserving the poem and her name in their oral histories.

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Praise Song for the Day "Praise Song for the Day" is an occasional poem written by the American poet Elizabeth Alexander and delivered at the 2009 presidential inauguration of President Barack Obama. The poem is the fourth to be delivered at a United States presidential inauguration, following in the tradition of recitals by Robert Frost (John F. Kennedy, 1961), Maya Angelou (Bill Clinton, 1993), and Miller Williams (Bill Clinton, 1997). It consists of fourteen unrhymed three-line stanzas (tercets) and a one-line coda. Delivered directly after Obama's inaugural address, it received a lukewarm response and was criticized as "too prosaic." Graywolf Press published the poem in paperback 6 February 2009, with a first printing of 100,000 copies. Adam Kirsch called the poem "bureaucratic verse."

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The Ballad of Birmingham "Ballad of Birmingham" is a poem by Dudley Randall, that he published as a broadside in 1965. It was written in response to the 1963 bombing at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. The poem was set to music by folk singer Jerry Moore in 1967 after he read it in a newspaper, and features on his album "Life is a Constant Journey Home". Description. "Ballad of Birmingham" describes an African-American mother and her daughter conversing about a "Freedom March" in the streets of Birmingham. The young child asks permission to participate in the march, but her mother objects and describes the dangers of going to the freedom marchers. Instead, she is sent to church, which is perceived to be a place of safety. Soon, after the daughter leaves for church, an explosion is heard. The mother unfortunately discovers that her daughter’s life has been taken from her in one violent act of racism. Consequently, the mother must accept reality and cope with the loss of her child. Randall in the poem "conjures one of the most vivid and vicious chapters from the civil rights movement: the bombing of a church in 1963 that wounded 21 and cost four girls their lives."

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The Negro Speaks of Rivers "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" is a poem by American writer Langston Hughes. Hughes wrote the poem when he was seventeen and crossing the Mississippi River on the way to visit his father in Mexico. It was first published the following year in "The Crisis", starting Hughes's literary career. "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" uses rivers as a metaphor for Hughes's life and the broader African-American experience. It has been reprinted often and is considered one of Hughes's most famous and signature works. Background. Langston Hughes was born in 1902, in Missouri. He attended high school in Cleveland, Ohio, where he first began writing. He graduated from Central High School in 1917. Several years after graduating high school, Hughes decided to travel to Mexico City and live with his father, whom he did not know well. He left in 1920. Poem. <poem>I've known rivers: I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins. My soul has grown deep like the rivers. I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young. I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep. I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it. I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans, and I've seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset. I've known rivers: Ancient, dusky rivers. My soul has grown deep like the rivers.</poem> Composition and publication history. Hughes said that the poem was written in about "ten or fifteen minutes" on "the back of an envelope" he had when he was seventeen and crossing the Mississippi River on the way to visit his father in Mexico. The poem was first published in "The Crisis" in July 1921, and was later collected into the 1926 "The Weary Blues". The poet Jessie Redmon Fauset, who was the literary editor of "The Crisis," was responsible for the initial acceptance and publication of "The Negro Speaks of Rivers". Fauset wrote in a review of "The Weary Blues" upon its publication that after she read the poem, she brought it to W. E. B. Du Bois (the publisher of "The Crisis") and said "What colored person is there, do you suppose, in the United States who writes like that and yet is unknown to us?" She found out who Hughes was and the poem was published. Twenty years after its publication, Hughes suggested the poem be turned into a Hollywood film, but the project never went forward. Reception and analysis. "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" is one of Hughes's earliest poems and is considered to mark the beginning of his career as a poet. Sandra Merriweather in the "Encyclopedia of American Poetry" considered the poem to be one of Hughes's best works, and it has been described as his "signature" poem. However, it has also been described as one of his "most uncharacteristic poems". The work is one of his most famous poems. The professor Ira Dworkin described the poem as "an iconic representative of Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance." Upon publication, it "delighted black traditionalists", who appreciated the poem's message. Hughes's poems "The Negro Speaks of Rivers", "Mother to Son", and "Harlem" were described in the "Encyclopedia of African-American Writing" as "anthems of black America". The poem utilizes a river as a metaphor for Hughes's life and the broader African-American experience. It does not rhyme and uses lines, particularly repetition of "My soul has grown deep like the rivers” to say that, according to the professor Christopher C. De Santis, "experience and history, though often oppressive, have not extinguished but rather emboldened the development of a soul, the birth of an immortal self, the proud 'I' that now speaks to all who will listen." That line also alludes to W. E. B. Du Bois, who wrote "The Souls of Black Folk" in 1903. Hughes dedicated the whole poem to Du Bois when he republished it in "The Weary Blues". The dedication came at the urging of Fauset and was not included in subsequent reprintings. Hughes wrote the poem while the Great Migration, a movement of African Americans out of the Southern United States and into Northern cities like Chicago, was ongoing. William Hogan, a scholar, places Hughes's poem in the context of this vast uprooting of population, noting that it "recognizes the need for a new kind of rootedness, one that embraced a history of migration and resettlement. Hogan argues that by connecting "communities of color across both space and time", Hughes is developing "a theory of racial community" which draws strength from migration and change. The "many 'routes' historically taken by black culture only strengthen the 'roots' of the community". The scholar Allan Burns feels that the poem is written from the perspective of a "'soul' or 'consciousness' of black people in general" rather than Hughes himself. Burns also notes the progression of rivers through the poem from the Euphrates to the Mississippi follows a chronology of history "from the Garden of Eden [. . .] to modern America." By describing the "muddy bosom" of the river turning "golden in the sunset", Hughes provides a note of hope that Burns equates to the phrase "per aspera ad astra" (through suffering to the stars). Hughes himself had not traveled widely when he wrote the poem. The scholar W. Jason Miller considers the poem was an anti-lynching work, noting that Hughes lived during an era where he would have been impacted by lynchings, particularly after the Red Summer of 1919, when numerous blacks were attacked and killed by whites. Miller notes that Hughes was probably intimidated as he traveled by himself to visit his father in Mexico, passing through Texas, where numerous lynchings occurred. Miller goes on to argue that Hughes used the poem to provide reassurance "that because others have survived, he and his readers can survive too." Although the poem is titled with a verb in the present tense ("Speaks"), the actual text focuses on the past ("I've"). Miller feels that this shows Hughes defining rivers as "part of a natural realm needing to be reclaimed as a site that African Americans have known and should now know." In his early writing, including "The Negro Speaks of Rivers", Hughes was inspired by American poet Carl Sandburg. Rachel Blau DuPlessis argues that part of the poem reinterprets Vachel Lindsay's "The Congo", by portraying the Congo River as "a pastoral nourishing, maternal setting." Hughes references the spiritual "Deep River" in the line "My soul has grown deep like the rivers." The poem was also influenced by Walt Whitman. Impact and legacy. The poem has been cited as becoming "the voice of the Association [NAACP] itself," along with "Song of the Son" by Jean Toomer and editorials that Du Bois wrote. One of Hughes's most reprinted works, the poem had been reprinted at least eleven times within ten years of publication, including in the 1925 anthology "The New Negro," the 1927 work "Caroling Dusk," and Hughes's own "The Dream Keeper" in 1932. After Hughes died on May 22, 1967, his ashes were interred in the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem under a cosmogram that was inspired by "The Negro Speaks of Rivers". The cosmogram is entitled "Rivers" and was designed by "Houston Conwill". In the center of the cosmogram is the line: "My soul has grown deep like the rivers". Pearl Primus, a dance choreographer, developed a work based on the poem.

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Keeping the Night Watch Keeping the Night Watch is a children's poetry book written by Hope Anita Smith and illustrated by E. B. Lewis. Published by Square Fish Books as the sequel to Smith's "The Way a Door Closes", it was a Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book and appeared on several best children's book lists in 2009. Summary. The book is a series of poems from the perspective of thirteen-year-old C.J. Washington III, the narrator from Smith's 2003 poetry book "The Way a Door Closes." While the prequel captures the experiences and emotions of a family abandoned by their father, "Keeping the Night Watch" explores C.J.'s subsequent struggles with the unexpected return of his father and expands on intersecting issues of adolescence, poverty, and urban life.

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The Weary Blues "The Weary Blues" is a poem by American poet Langston Hughes. Written in 1925, "The Weary Blues" was first published in the Urban League magazine, "". It was awarded the magazine's prize for best poem of the year. The poem was included in Hughes's first book, a collection of poems, also entitled "The Weary Blues". (Four poems from the book, although not the title poem, inspired the musical settings "Four Songs from The Weary Blues" by Florence Price). Background. Langston Hughes was known as one of the most prominent and influential figures of the Harlem Renaissance, a rebirth movement of African Americans in the arts during the 1920s. He wrote about the world around him, giving a voice to African Americans during a time of segregation. Hughes was both a contributor and supporter of his fellow African-American writers. Collectively, they changed the way the world viewed African Americans because of their talents and ability to capture real life and turn it into art. Hughes wrote of inequality ("I, Too”), of resilience ("Mother to Son" and "The Negro Speaks of Rivers"), of pride ("My People"), of hope ("Freedom's Plow"), and of music ("The Trumpet Player" and "Juke Box Love Song"). He was the author of several novels, a memoir, song lyrics, children's books, plays, countless songs and more than 20 books. "The Weary Blues" takes place at an old Harlem bar on Lenox Avenue. There is a piano player playing the blues. As he plays, the speaker observes his body movement and the tone of his voice. Throughout the poem, several literary devices are used to guide the reader through the mixture of emotions the blues player is feeling. The vivid imagery and use of language gives the reader a more personal glimpse into the life of the man playing the blues. Theme and literary devices. Langston Hughes wrote “The Weary Blues” in 1925 during Prohibition and the Harlem Renaissance. The setting of the poem is actually unclear, at first. However, as it goes on it is obvious the speaker is in a bar, or was. The speaker is telling a story. He starts by setting the mood with an alliteration, “droning a drowsy syncopated tune / Rocking back and forth to a mellow croon”. The narrator wants his listener and reader to get a feel for the story he is about to tell. He wants people to know that he enjoyed the experience. Yet, his tone is unhurried and nonchalant, like he just happened to stumble across “the tune o’ those Weary Blues.” He was in a bar that provided entertainment. Once the speaker finishes his rendition of the musician’s song, the setting changes. At the end of the poem, the reader ends up in the musician’s home. “The Weary Blues” is written in free verse; however, all the lines that are not lyrics to the Weary Blues are rhyming couplets: “Down on Lenox Avenue the other night / By the pale dull pallor of an old gas light.” Night and light rhyme just like tune-croon, key-melody, stool-fool and all the other couplets. The rhymes are not perfect, but when read out loud the rhyme scheme is pleasing to the ear. It is also worth noting that the poem ends with three rhyming lines: “the singer stopped playing and went to bed / While the Weary Blues echoed through his head / He slept like a rock or a man that’s dead.” The last three lines are a finite conclusion. The rest of the poem builds and builds until its end. The music in “The Weary Blues” is a metaphor for life as a black man. The color in the poem is symbolic of the black struggle. It starts with slave spirituals in which “slaves calculatingly created songs of double-entendre as an intellectual strategy” as Hughes does in his poem. When he says, “I heard a Negro play” he is making the musician decidedly black. The lines “with his ebony hands on each ivory key / He made that poor piano moan with melody” continues the reference to color, and decidedly differentiates black from white. Hughes personifies the piano with a humanly moan, but the moan also indicates his abuse of the “ivory key” and the “melancholy tone” of the music. However, the poem is a celebration of blues. In lines eleven, fourteen and sixteen there are apostrophes to the blues. “O Blues!” and “Sweet Blues” are the speaker's exclamations of delight. He just cannot contain himself when it comes to the blues. He even notices the musician enjoying the music and adds the onomatopoeia of a “thump, thump, thump.” The Weary Blues is an enjoyable poem and song, yet its message is one of sadness. Reception. "The Weary Blues" is one of Hughes's most famous poems. Critics have claimed that the poem is a combination of blues and jazz with personal experiences. It embodies blues as a metaphor and form. It has also been coined as one of the first works of blues performance in literature. Throughout the poem, music is seen as not only a form of art and entertainment, but also as a way of life: people living the blues. Hughes's ability to incorporate poetry with music and history with art has given him the reputation as one of the leading black artists of the 20th century. "The Weary Blues" allows the reader to seek to unlock the mystery of the blues, for both the musician and themselves. Langston Hughes slow jams "The Weary Blues" (1925) to jazz accompaniment with the Doug Parker Band on the CBUT (CBC Vancouver) program "The 7 O'Clock Show" in 1958. Host, Bob Quintrell introduces the performance.

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If We Must Die "If We Must Die" is a poem by Claude McKay published in the July 1919 issue of "The Liberator". McKay wrote the poem as a response to mob attacks by white Americans upon African-American communities during Red Summer. The poem does not specifically reference any group of people, and has been used to represent many groups who are persecuted. It is considered one of McKay's most famous poems and was described by the poet Gwendolyn Brooks as one of the most famous poems of all time. Background. During the Red Summer, from late summer to early autumn 1919, there was a wave of anti-black attacksat least twenty-five major "mob actions". In the attacks, hundreds of people were killed and thousands more were injured. James Weldon Johnson coined the term "Red Summer" to refer the period. Claude McKay was born in Jamaica in 1889. He moved to the United States in 1912 and after attending several schools settled in New York City. He began to publish more poetry pseudonymously (having first published several collections in Jamaica). McKay's poetry was generally well received, particularly "To the White Fiends”. Shortly after moving to New York, he met Max Eastman, the publisher of "The Liberator." The two became friends. Writing and publication. McKay experienced the Red Summer personally, seeing violent mobs of white people while he worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad. He wrote "If We Must Die" in response to the events. The sonnet was first published in the July 1919 issue of "The Liberator". Frank Harris had sought to convince McKay to publish the poem in his "Pearson's Magazine" and was angry when it was not, telling McKay "It belongs to me ... I gave you the inspiration to write that sonnet and I want to have the credit of publishing it." The poem was reprinted in "The Messenger" and the "Workers' Dreadnought" (London) later that year. It was widely reprinted in the years that followed. Analysis and reception. "If We Must Die" is one of McKay's most famous poems, and poets such as Gwendolyn Brooks have cited it as "one of the most famous poems ever written". According to Jordanian scholar Shadi Neimneh, the poem "arguably marks the beginning of the Harlem Renaissance because it gives expression to a new racial spirit and self-awareness". It has also been described as "the most renowned of the Harlem Renaissance sonnets" and the "inaugural address" of the Renaissance. Wallace Thurman considered the poem as embodying the essence of the New Negro movement as it was not aimed at arousing sympathy, but rather consisted of self-assertion. The scholar Jean Wagner cited the poem as inspirational to people experiencing persecution, writing that “[a]long with the will to resistance of black Americans that it expresses it voices also the will of oppressed people of every age who, whatever their race and wherever their region, are fighting with their backs against the wall to win their freedom.” Tonya Foster wrote that McKay's poem turned those who were persecuted into heroes and described it as a "call to arms for workers". By using "we" repeatedly, McKay extends his poem to whoever the poem reaches. It is a nonspecific poemthere are no phrases tying it to a specific group or raceand can apply to any group under attack by "monsters we defy." Structure. McKay wrote the poem as a Shakespearean sonnet, using a 'ababcdcdefef' rhyming pattern across three quatrains and ending with a "perfectly rhymed" couplet. The poem begins with eight lines written as conditional sentences (if/then) centered around "the inevitable death" of the subject. The next six lines are a separate section. By having three lines that are broken without any punctuation (three, six, and seven), McKay creates a sense of "immediacy, urgency." The sestet, or final six lines, provides a calmer and "controlled" resolution each line ends with punctuation. The final line of the poem has two caesuras, or breaks in the phrase. The scholar Robert A. Lee provided a close reading of the poem in "CLA Journal". He noted that "If We Must Die" is structured to develop with imagery. It begins the subject being described as "hogs" who are "hunted" and "penned" by "animals". In the second quatrain, the animals have become "monsters" and the hogs are humanized with "precious" blood and the ability to "defy" the monsters. Here, instead of the hogs being penned, the monsters have been "constrained". In the third, the hogs have developed to "kinsmen" while the dogs are "common". The poem ends with a couplet where the subject is "men" and the monsters are a "murderous, cowardly pack". Those who are oppressed continue to fight although they realize they "must die". Legacy. Henry Cabot Lodge, a Republican member of the United States Senate from Massachusetts, has been cited as reading the poem to the United States Congress that year. Lodge allegedly intended the poem to serve as an example of "black radicalism". However, the scholar Lee M. Jenkins found no such reference. Winston Churchill allegedly read the poem without attribution to the US Congress and later during The Blitz in World War II. Melvin B. Tolson wrote in a review of McKay's anthologized poetry that "[d]uring the last world war, Sir Winston Churchill snatched Claude McKay's poem 'If We Must Die', from the closet of the Harlem Renaissance, and paraded it before the House of Commons, as if it were the talismanic uniform of His Majesty's field marshal". Jenkins considers it unlikely Churchill actually read the poem to Congress and found no evidence he ever quoted it. Prisoners during the 1971 Attica Prison riot allegedly passed the poem's text around. The poem was recited in the film "August 28: A Day in the Life of a People", which debuted at the opening of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture in 2016. Eric Robert Taylor wrote a book about insurrections during the Atlantic slave trade and titled it "If We Must Die" after the poem.

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Let America be America Again "Let America Be America Again" is a poem written in 1935 by American poet Langston Hughes. It was originally published in the July 1936 issue of "Esquire Magazine". The poem was republished in the 1937 issue of "Kansas Magazine" and was revised and included in a small collection of Langston Hughes poems entitled "A New Song", published by the International Workers Order in 1938. The poem speaks of the American dream that never existed for the lower-class American and the freedom and equality that every immigrant hoped for but never received. In his poem, Hughes represents not only African Americans, but other economically disadvantaged and minority groups as well. Besides criticizing the unfair life in America, the poem conveys a sense of hope that the American Dream is soon to come. The title of this poem was used by Democratic United States senator John Kerry as a campaign slogan in his 2004 presidential campaign.

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Afro-Surrealism Afro-Surrealism or Afrosurrealism is a literary and cultural aesthetic. In 1974, Amiri Baraka used the term to describe the work of Henry Dumas. D. Scot Miller in 2009 wrote his famous "Afrosurreal Manifesto" in which he says, "Afro-Surrealism sees that all 'others' who create from their actual, lived experience are surrealist..." The manifesto delineates Afro-Surrealism from Surrealism and Afro-Futurism. The manifesto lists ten tenets that Afro-Surrealism follows including how "Afro-Surrealists restore the cult of the past," and how "Afro-Surreal presupposes that beyond this visible world, there is an invisible world striving to manifest, and it is our job to uncover it." Afro-Surrealism, in its origins and its ethos as a movement, is global and diasporic. It is practiced and embodied in music, photography, film, the visual arts and poetry. Notable practitioners of Afro-Surrealism include Ted Joans, Bob Kaufman, Krista Franklin, Aimé Césaire, Suzanne Césaire, Léopold Sédar Senghor, René Ménil, Kool Keith, Terence Nance, Will Alexander, India Sky Davis, Yetunde Olagbaju, Kara Walker, Samuel R. Delany,Starr Finch, Romare Bearden, Christopher Burch, Influence. The AfroSurreal arts movement came about after D. Scot Miller penned "The Afrosurreal Manifesto" for The San Francisco Bay Guardian in May, 2009. Until that time, the term "Afrosurreal Expressionism" was used solely by Amiri Baraka to describe the writings of Henry Dumas. Later that year, Miller spoke with Baraka about extending the term by shortening the description. It was agreed by the two of them that "Afrosurreal" without the "expressionism" would allow further exploration of the term. Afrosurrealism may have some similar origins to surrealism in the mid-1920s, in that an aspect of it [Negritude] came after André Breton wrote the Surrealist Manifesto, but as Leopold Senghor points out in Miller's manifesto, “European Surrealism is empirical. African Surrealism is mystical and metaphorical.”. Afro-Surrealism incorporates aspects of the Harlem Renaissance, Négritude and Black Radical Imagination as described by Professor Robin DG Kelley in his definitive work Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination (2003), and further with his Afrosurreal historical anthology, "Black, Brown, & Beige: Surrealist Writings from Africa and the Diaspora" (2009). Aspects of Afro-Surrealism can be traced to Martiniquan Suzanne Césaire’s discussion of the “revolutionary impetus of surrealism” in the 1940s. Though much has been written and said about artist/activist/statesmen Aimé Césaire, much more needs to written about his partner Suzanne, a surrealist thinker and an important figure in the history of the Afrosurreal aesthetic . Her quest for “The Marvelous” over the “miserablism” expressed in the usual arts of protest inspired the Tropiques surrealist group, and especially René Ménil. “The true task of mankind consists solely in the attempt to bring the marvelous into real life,” Ménil says in “Introduction to the Marvelous,”[1930s] “so that life can become more encompassing. So long as the mythic imagination is not able to overcome each and every boring mediocrity, human life will amount to nothing but useless, dull experiences, just killing time, as they say.” Suzanne Césaire’s proclamation, “Be in permanent readiness for The Marvelous,” quickly became a credo of the movement; the word “marvelous” has since become re-contextualized with regard to contemporary black arts and interventions. In his 1956 essay for "Présence Africaine," Haitian novelist Jacques Stephen Alexis wrote:" "What, then, is the Marvellous, except the imagery in which a people wraps its experience, reflects its conception of the world and of life, its faith, its hope, its confidence in man, in a great justice, and the explanation which it finds for the forces antagonistic to progress?"" In his work, Alexis is seen to have an acute sense of reality that is not unlike that of traditional surrealism, and his coining of the term "Marvelous Realism" reflects his influence by the earlier works of the Negritude/Black Surrealist Movement. Development. The term "Afro-Surrealism" was coined by Amiri Baraka in his 1974 essay on Black Arts Movement avant-garde writer Henry Dumas. Baraka notes that Dumas is able to write about ancient mysteries that were simultaneously relevant to the present day. The idea that the past resurfaces to haunt the present day is crucial to Afro-Surrealism. Cinematographer Arthur Jafa expanded the field of Afro-Surrealism by experimenting with film. Jafa introduces the idea of "the alien familiar," in order to represent the Black experience and its innate surreal characteristics. "I want it to have something that I and my friends call 'the alien familiar.' If a work succeeds in a way or is able to conjure what a Black cinema would be or what this hypothetical manifestation of this particular tradition in the cinematic arena might be, it should be both alien because you’ve never seen anything quite like it, and at the same time, it should be familiar on some level to Black audiences." This focus on the alien aspect of Black experience, and on Black folk culture, is what separates Afro-Surrealism from magical realism and surrealism. The Future-Past. Unlike Afro-Futurism which speculates on possibilities in the future, Afrosurrealism, as Miller describes, is about the present. "Rather than speculate on the coming of the four horseman, Afrosurrealists understand that they rode through too long ago. Through Afrosurrealism, artists expose this form of the future past that is right now." The everyday lived experience. Much of Afro-Surrealism is concerned with the everyday life because it is said that there is nothing more surreal than the Black experience. According to Terri Francis, "Afrosurrealism is art with skin on it where the texture of the object tells its story, how it weathered burial below consciousness, and how it emerged somewhat mysteriously from oceans of forgotten memories and discarded keepsakes. This photograph figures Afrosurrealism as bluesy, kinky-spooky." Present day realism. In the manifesto from which present day Afrosurrealism is based, writer D. Scot Miller states in a response to Afrofuturism: "Afro-Futurism is a diaspora intellectual and artistic movement that turns to science, technology, and science fiction to speculate on black possibilities in the future. Afro-Surrealism is about the present. There is no need for tomorrow’s-tongue speculation about the future. Concentration camps, bombed-out cities, famines, and enforced sterilization have already happened. To the Afro-Surrealist, the Tasers are here. The Four Horsemen rode through too long ago to recall. What is the future? The future has been around so long it is now the past." As The AfroSurreal Manifesto and Afrofuturism come to the fore in artistic, commercial and academic circles, the struggle between the specific and “the scent” of present-day manifestations of Black absurdity has come with it, posing interesting challenges to both movements. For Afrofuturists, this challenge has been met by inserting Afrocentric elements into its growing pantheon, the intention being to centralize Afrofuturist focus back on the continent of Africa to enhance its specificity. For the Afrosurrealists, the focus has been set at the “here and now” of contemporary Black arts and situations in the Americas, Antilles, and beyond, searching for the nuanced “scent” of those current manifestations. Examples of Afrosurrealist Works. "Zong!," M. NourbSe Philip and Setaey Adamu Boateng. In"Zong!", M. NourbSe Philip crafts a powerful counter-narrative surrounding the events of the "Zong" massacre. Utilizing the words from the legal decision to build her poetry, Philip rejects the idea of an archival past. Instead Philip looks to the present moment to understand how to read this legal decision and understand the case. Following the footsteps of Toni Morrison’s "Beloved", Philip presupposes the notion of a past that is not past allowing these past artifacts to haunt the present moment. Rather than organize the fragments, Philip allows the fragments to tell themselves. This is not to say that Philip gives the fragments voices, but instead gives them space. The space in the poem allows Philip’s audience to hear the silence of these voices, to truly understand the missing narratives form the past and the role that has on the present. "Beloved", Toni Morrison. As mentioned earlier, Toni Morrison’s"Beloved" remains an important milestone for Afrosurrealists. Here, Morrison imagines a narrative of a slave women grieving the death of her baby daughter, Beloved. With no trace of a past, Beloved reappears of on the steps of 124, confused and looking for her mother. Following this moment, the novel crafts a haunting tale of a woman seeking to understand the sudden reappearance of her daughter and the scars left behind from slavery. In "Beloved," Morrison attempts to come to grip with the legacies left by slavery, challenging the notion that these legacies exits only from the past. From the epigraph, “"Sixty Million and more",” Morrison presupposes there is no way to count those affected from slavery and additionally, that the number is ever-growing into the present. In her award-winning novel, Morrison expands the idea of the past, attempting to demonstrate the past is ever present and moreover, that the past is RIGHT NOW.

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Nappy edges nappy edges is a collection of poetry and prose poetry written by Ntozake Shange and first published by St. Martin's Press in 1978. The poems, which vary in voice and style, explore themes of love, racism, sexism, and loneliness. Shange's third book of poetry, "nappy edges," was met with positive reviews and praise from critics, like Holly Prado of the "Los Angeles Times" who said of it that "this collection of poems, prose poems and poetic essays merges personal passion and heightened language." Structure. The collection is divided into five sections of poetry and prose. The first section, "things i wd say", contains an opening essay on the nature of poetry called "takin a solo/ a poetic possibility/ a poetic imperative", and is followed by four more sections: "love & other highways", "closets", "& she bleeds", and "whispers with the unicorn". Although each section of the volume is distinct, the poems are all in conversation with each other and cover similar themes. Themes. The subtitle of the collection is "the roots of your hair/what turns back when we sweat, run, make love, dance, get afraid, get happy: the tell-tale sign of living." The salient themes of the various writings within "nappy edges" all can be tied back to the multifaceted existence and complicated identities of black women. Like her plays, novels, and choreopoems, Shange's poems are as humorous as they are tragic, and explore a variety of themes. Poetry. Many of Shange's poems are about poetry itself—what it means to write it and what it means to read it. In "takin a solo/ a poetic possibility/ a poetic imperative", she implores black writers to cultivate the kinds of distinctive and original voices that we appreciate and expect from black musicians. Her fear is that black voices will fade into indistinction, and eventually their voices won't be recognizable at all. In "inquiry", Shange explains the importance that poems elicit a visceral reaction out of the reader in the same way that a kiss or cold water would. Following this expectation, Shange focusses some of her poems on the responsibility of the poet to the reader. Generally speaking, the poet is expected to speak on behalf of communities, and to transport the reader to places they've never even been, but Shange emphasizes the necessity of the poet showing you what they know personally. By placing importance on the personal rather than the universal, Shange is able to explore the interiority of her personas' minds. Shange also looks at what it means to be a black woman poet when the world of poetry is dominated by white men. Particularly during this historical moment in the late 1970s, not long after the Black Arts Movement which was a very male-dominated and patriarchal movement, Shange's position as a black woman poet is groundbreaking. She challenges the idea that words and poetry belong to men, and points to how unfair it is that when a woman does something, an 'ess' is added to the title (as in "poetess"). Love. Stories of love and relationships can be found in each section of "nappy edges". Shange explores how traditional gender dynamics can mistreat women. From manipulative men who take advantage of women sexually, to women who stand up for themselves, each poem tells a different story. Shange explores love and relationships as spaces where women should be able to seek their own pleasure, sexual or otherwise. By showing how sex and love can either torment or uplift women, Shange is able to Loneliness and self-care. Although the women in Shange's poems are self-sufficient, there is still an overarching theme of loneliness throughout "nappy edges". Rather than dwelling on this loneliness, Shange focusses on the theme of self-care as a woman and as a poet. It is clear from these poems that being a woman and being a poet in a patriarchal society is not easy, but Shange relies on herself and her creativity for survival. This self-care takes different forms, from talking to herself to writing poetry, but she insists that black women in particular take care of themselves, and claims that this is both a personal and political struggle. Black womanhood. Shange uses her poems to push back against the way in which black women have been allowed a single, monolithic voice and experience. She claims that there is such a profound ignorance about the lives of black women, that they themselves struggle to fully understand themselves, thus creating identity confusion. In the same way that she calls for linguistic specificity from black poets, she fights to carve out a space for subjectivity from black women—a space where they can at least try to articulate themselves more clearly and authentically. Shange returns to the idea of self-care consistently throughout her work, and often stresses its importance for black women in particular. In "nappy edges", self-care is a remedy for personal struggles, but it is also a necessary reality of being the kind of black woman that she writes about struggling with abusive men, sexism, racism, and the ways that they all overlap. Style. Shange's style remains just as integral a part of her poetry as the content. In keeping with her focus on the importance of cultivating a personal writerly voice, she uses language, spelling, grammar, and tone to emphasize her themes. As she does in most of her poetry, Shange uses slashes to demarcate clauses, rather than line breaks. She also chooses not to use standard punctuation like apostrophes, and removes the letters from certain words, choosing to write "wd" instead of "would" for example. This is all a part of her project to express herself the way that she chooses to, not the way that she is expected to by both the confines of standard English and also by those who associate poetry with a specific, formal way of expressing oneself. Shange is also incredibly influenced by music, particularly Jazz and Blues artists. Her poems are lyrical and sometimes reminiscent of the style of improvisation in jazz. "i live in music", for instance, is explicitly about Shange's love of music, and doesn't stick to a particular rhythm or meter (like most of her poems). Shange recorded a version of "i live in music" accompanied by the William Goffigan Ensemble, which demonstrates both the connection between her poems and music, and her poetry's innate musicality. Critical reception. Although "nappy edges" is not as widely read as "for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf" or some of Shange's other works, it was well received. Roxanne Brown of the New Pittsburgh Courier called "nappy edges" "a richly-textiled tapestry of cheeriness and pain, woven together by a musical lyric of women's tears and girlish laughter." The Los Angeles Times' review also said that "Poetry, at its most intense, promises revelation. We don't read poets for information, but for some gasp of insight. There's plenty of revelation in 'Nappy Edges'." "Kirkus Reviews" called this collection "an energetic, provocative book of poetry. Using the work as a vehicle for confronting life, Shange provides a sense of immediate contact with a volatile and expressive set of emotions. (...) Shange's concerns remain inseparably political and personal, her music distinctive, her method of expression emotional and tempered with enough objectivity to avoid rhetoric. A fine show."

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Note on Commercial Theatre "Note on Commercial Theatre" is a poem by Langston Hughes written in 1940 and republished in 2008. Background and analysis. Langston Hughes was a prominent writer during the Harlem Renaissance, which is obvious in most of his poetry. Hughes writes about the issues of the day, and "Note on Commercial Theatre" is no different. Roots vs. novelty. During the Harlem Renaissance, one of the main controversies was that African American culture became the "vogue" of the day. This included interest not only in black writing and art, but in the rising jazz and theatre scenes as well. Harlem became the hot spot for this new black culture; both black and whites explored and became immersed in it. Because it was so popular, many white people attempted to infuse their own art with the new African American styles, resulting in hybrid music and theatre (for example, a swing version of "The Mikado", a comic opera). Hughes was a huge proponent of creating a separate black identity and art, hence the extreme antipathy within "Note on Commercial Theatre" to black culture being absorbed by whites. This is reflected in his use of an experimental form for his poem; there is a lack of rhyme scheme and no discernible rhythm to the lines. Other black writers of the time, such as Countee Cullen, experimented within specific forms, but Hughes rejects form in this poem; he rejects the absorption into any other style but his own. Dependence vs. independence. This vogue of African American culture became a controversy because not only was it becoming meshed with white culture in a time when the Pan-African movement was strong and blacks were trying to create a separate identity, but "Note on Commercial Theatre" also shows an anxiety over the dependence of black culture on white patronage. It was hard for African Americans to become published or find an audience outside of Harlem without going through white publishing houses. The final lines of the poem reflect the idea that for a truly African American culture to persist, it would have to be founded from within its own community: <poem> But someday somebody'll Stand up and talk about me, And write about me- Black and beautiful- And sing about me, And put on plays about me! I reckon it'll be Me myself! Yes, it'll be me. </poem>

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Come to the Waldorf Astoria "Advertisement for the Waldorf-Astoria" is a two-page poem by Langston Hughes, accompanied by illustrations by Walter Steinhilber, which takes the form of a parody of a magazine advertisement. The poem was first published in "The New Masses" in December 1931 and later in Hughes's autobiography of that time period, "The Big Sea". The poem is considered one of Hughes' most direct indictments of economic inequality of the 1930s. Structure. The first of six sections entitled "Listen Hungry Ones!" sets up the poem by taking quotes from the Vanity Fair advertisement and addressing those statements to poor people of New York. The second section, "Roomers" gives a description of the menu found at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel to those accustomed to flop-houses and soup-lines. Next in "Evicted Families" the $10,000-a-year apartments are described. The fourth section "Negroes" is written in African-American vernacular and describes the Waldorf with a sarcastic awe. "Everybody," the penultimate section of poem, continues with details about amount of carpets used and addresses directly the very people unable to experience any of the luxuries of the Waldorf. The last section, "Christmas Card," takes the poem in a more directly political direction. The gulf between rich and poor can only be bridged by revolution and the poem ends on such a note: "Listen, Mary, Mother of God, wrap your new born / babe in the red flag of revolution: The Waldorf-Astoria's the best manger we've got." Surrounding the two-page poem the illustration appears to be a faithful depiction of an advertisement with bold, creative headings, but the caricatures in the large hotel in the center of the poem show people drinking and carousing while a car driving through the picture appears to be riding on a street made of the faces and bodies of other people. Context. The poem was composed in response to a multi-page advertisement for the new $28 million hotel Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York. The Great Depression had begun to hit New Yorkers and disproportionately affected minorities in the city. The disparity between the rich and poor was widening at the onset of the Depression and Jim Crow laws furthered that economic hardship along racial lines. Hughes said of the poem: "The hotel opened at the very time when people were sleeping on newspapers in doorways, because they had no place to go. But suites in the Waldorf ran into thousands a year, and dinner in the Sert Room was ten dollars! (Negroes, even if they had the money, couldn't eat there. So naturally, I didn't care much for the Waldorf-Astoria.)" Critical response. The poem is viewed as a response to the economic milieu as well as cultural, racial, and class issues. "Advertisement for the Waldorf Astoria" is frequently grouped together with Hughes's other radical leftist writings of the 1930s. When Hughes first submitted his manuscript for "The Big Sea", Carl Van Vechten found that "Advertisement for the Waldorf-Astoria" was "bad economics and bad poetry" but he nonetheless encouraged its inclusion in the collection stating that it was a part of Hughes's "essential history". When it was published in "The Big Sea" in 1940 Richard Wright wrote of the poem that it exemplified the toughness of Hughes that he could approach even the solidarity he feels with the working class with "humor, urbanity, and objectivity". Critics have argued that by parodying a high-priced advertisement for an even higher-priced hotel and juxtaposing those images with the most economically disadvantaged and those who would never be able to take advantage of the amenities offered by the hotel that Hughes was writing with the ideals of worker rights in mind that would later form the basis for the political and social ideals collectively referred to as the Popular Front. In his essay "The Adventures of a Social Poet" James Smethurst argues that "one of the most noted features of Popular Front aesthetics is a conscious mixing of genres and media – of 'high' and 'low,' of 'popular' and 'literary,' of Whitman and Eliot, of folk culture and mass culture, of literary and nonliterary documents." Hughes' use of vernacular mixed with high-brow cultural elements within "Advertisement…" reflects those ideals.

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Dancing the Dream Dancing the Dream is a 1992 book of poems and reflections written by the American recording artist Michael Jackson. His second book, it followed his 1988 autobiography "Moonwalk". "Dancing the Dream" was dedicated to his mother, Katherine, and Deepak Chopra. Its foreword was written by Jackson's friend, the actress Elizabeth Taylor. The book also contains an assortment of around 100 photographs of Jackson. "Dancing the Dream" was published by Doubleday on June 18, 1992, seven months after the release of Jackson's 1991 "Dangerous" album. It was not a significant commercial success. The book was reissued by the British publisher Transworld on July 27, 2009, following Jackson's death the previous month on June 25, 2009. Content. Jackson dedicated "Dancing the Dream" "with love" to his mother Katherine, and has an introduction written by his longtime friend Elizabeth Taylor. The volume consists of 46 pieces of poetry and essays. The subjects Jackson writes about are primarily children, animals and the environment. For example, one specific poem titled "Look Again, Baby Seal" promotes environmentalism as Jackson imagines anthropomorphic seals who brood about the fate of being killed by hunters. Another poem ("So the Elephants March") presents elephants that refuse to be killed in order for ivory pieces to be made from their tusks. A third piece ("Mother Earth") describes a struggle to cope with the discovery of an oil-covered seagull feather. To stress the theme of environmentalism and the necessity for action, Jackson writes in the essay, "We've been treating Mother Earth the way some people treat a rental apartment. Just trash it and move on." Jackson also writes about the degree to which the 1990 death of the AIDS sufferer Ryan White affected him in a poem titled after the youth, and as he presents in the poem, Jackson believes the teenage boy suffered through general ignorance of the disease. The poem "Mother" was written for his mother Katherine, whom Jackson loved deeply. In one stanza Jackson writes, "No matter where I go from here/You're in my heart, mother dear." The poem had previously been published by his mother in her 1990 autobiography "My Family", and was not the only material in "Dancing the Dream" to have appeared elsewhere. The poems "Dancing the Dream" (titled as "The Dance") and "Planet Earth" were included in the sleeve notes for Jackson's 1991 "Dangerous" album (and in its 2001 special edition re-release). Furthermore, the lyrics to the songs "Will You Be There" and "Heal the World" — also from the 1991 album — were included in "Dancing the Dream". A spoken version of the poem "Planet Earth" appeared on the 2009 posthumous album "This Is It". "Dancing the Dream" includes approximately 100 photographs. Although the volume was promoted to include previously unreleased photographs of Jackson, some of the photographs had been previously published, such as those that were published in the 1985 Jackson calendar, and others that had been published in magazines such as "Ebony" and "People". Furthermore, the volume included photographs converted from stills of Jackson's music videos "Black or White" (1991) and "Remember the Time" (1992), in addition to images of his 1991 performance at MTV's tenth anniversary celebration. Jackson commissioned artwork for "Dancing the Dream" from Nate Giorgio and David Nordahl, whom Jackson met in the 1980s and with whom he subsequently developed a professional relationship. Publication history. "Dancing the Dream" was first published on June 18, 1992, by Doubleday. It followed Jackson's 1988 autobiography "Moonwalk", which was also published by the American company. Prior to publication, "Dancing the Dream" was hailed by the publishers as a book that would "take us deep into [Jackson's] heart and soul", as well as "an inspirational and passionate volume of unparalleled humanity". In his only interview to promote "Dancing the Dream", Jackson described the book as being "just a verbal expression of what I usually express through my music and my dance." After his death on June 25, 2009, the British company Transworld reissued the book the following month on July 27, 2009. A representative for Doubleday (Marly Rusoff) revealed in March 1993 that the company shipped 133,000 copies of the book, and took around 80,000 returns and 3000 reorders. Thus, the project was close to 60% down in total sales. Rusoff stated that the commercial performance of "Dancing the Dream" was low because an anticipated Jackson tour of the United States never occurred. He commented, "The reviews—and there were some—were rather discouraging. He did do a Europe tour and the British edition did quite well. This kind of book depends on celebrity visibility." Suzanne Mantell of "Publishers Weekly" listed Jackson's book as one among several that "were published with great hype and hope, and [fell] far short of the publisher's expectations ... Using the rule of thumb that hardcover returns in the 20% to 30% range are acceptable, in the 30% to 50% range very high, and 50% or more a disaster, most of [the books listed] performed poorly, even if they somehow managed to recoup their costs and even make an impact on the bottom line." Mantell felt that "Dancing the Dream" did not create the "important buzz that gives a book a life and saves it from cultural oblivion ... Jackson may draw an audience of 65 million when he appears on Oprah, but the consensus among booksellers is that bookbuyers don't care, and that this one was a dog." During a Simulchat in 1995, Jackson stated, "I wrote a book called "Dancing the Dream". It was more autobiographical than "Moonwalk", which I did with Mrs. Onassis. It wasn't full of gossip and scandal and all that trash that people write, so I don't think people paid much attention to it, but it came from my heart. It was essays, thoughts and things that I've thought about while on tour."

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Bury Me in a Free Land "Bury Me in a Free Land" is a poem by African-American writer and abolitionist Frances Harper, written for "The Anti-Slavery Bugle" newspaper in 1858. Analysis. The poem implies that the speaker is dying soon, which lends her request a sense of urgency. The message being presented as a sort of deathbed wish also gives the request stronger moral authority. The use of grave imagery to draw sympathy to the plight of enslaved people was popularized with Harriet Beecher Stowe's popular novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (1852), whose titular character is buried in an unmarked grave. Harper's poem seems to threaten that the narrator will haunt those who survive as she "could not rest" if she was buried in a land where people are enslaved. Legacy. Harper sent a copy of the poem to the widow of John Brown after his execution for his raid on Harpers Ferry. She also republished the poem after emancipation in the United States in the January 14, 1864, issue of "The Liberator". This poem was recited in the film "August 28: A Day in the Life of a People", which debuted at the opening of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture in 2016. An excerpt from the poem is on a wall of the Contemplative Court, a space for reflection in the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture. The excerpt reads: "I ask no monument, proud and high to arrest the gaze of the passers-by; all that my yearning spirit craves is bury me not in a land of slaves."

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Another Country (novel) Another Country is a 1962 novel by James Baldwin. The novel is primarily set in Greenwich Village and Harlem, New York City, in the late 1950s. It portrayed many themes that were taboo at the time of its release, including bisexuality, interracial couples and extramarital affairs. Background. Baldwin started writing "Another Country" in Greenwich Village in 1948 and continued to write the novel in Paris and again in New York. Despite his privately confessed reluctance to bring ""Another Country", unfinished, into yet another country," Baldwin completed the book in Istanbul in 1962. In 1959, amidst growing fame, Baldwin received a $12,000 grant from the Ford Foundation to support his work on the book. Baldwin had returned to the United States in 1957, partly to cover the mounting Civil Rights Movement led by Martin Luther King Jr. Baldwin admired King, but sought to depict relationships deeper than King's "brotherly love." Title. One author felt the title echoes lines in Christopher Marlowe's "The Jew of Malta": Plot summary. The book uses a third-person narrator who is nevertheless closely aware of the characters' emotions. The first fifth of "Another Country" tells of the downfall of jazz drummer Rufus Scott. He begins a relationship with Leona, a white woman from the South, and introduces her to his social circle, including his closest friend, struggling novelist Vivaldo, his more successful mentor Richard, and Richard's wife Cass. Initially, the relationship is frivolous, but it turns more serious as they continue to live together. Rufus becomes habitually physically abusive of Leona, and she is admitted to a mental hospital in the South. Depressed, Rufus returns to Harlem and commits suicide, jumping off the George Washington Bridge. The rest of the book explores relationships between Rufus' friends, family, and acquaintances in the wake of his death. Rufus's friends cannot understand the suicide, and experience some guilt over his death. Afterwards, they become closer. Vivaldo begins a relationship with Rufus's sister Ida, which is strained by racial tension and Ida's bitterness after her brother's death. Eric, an actor and Rufus' first male lover, returns to New York after years living in France, where he met his longtime lover Yves. Eric returns to the novel's social circle but is calmer and more composed than most of the group. Everyone's relationships become strained in the course of the novel. Ida starts having an affair with Ellis, an advertising executive who promises to help with her career as a singer. Cass, who has become lonely due to Richard's writing career, has an affair with Eric after he arrives in New York. At the novel's climax, Cass tells Richard about her affair with Eric, who in turn has a sexual encounter with Vivaldo, who himself learns about Ida's relationship with Ellis. Themes. Race and nationalism. Baldwin called Rufus Scott "the black corpse floating in the national psyche," as well as a Christ figure—a living (and dying) symbol of suffering black men. Rufus's death has been described as tantamount to murder. Because Rufus is living in a predominantly racist era, his life is constantly affected by an internalization of this racism to the point where he hates himself. Throughout the novel, the effects of this internalized oppression are obvious: he is sexual with any person who is white — violently sexual, because he seeks power; he feels disappointed in himself because of his proud black sister Ida, and he avoids the support of his family during his last day of life. The concept of "another country" reflects not only the return of Eric to the United States from France, but also the feelings of alienation experienced by African Americans within the United States. "Another Country" was unique at the time, in its attempt to explore race relations through romantic love instead of homosocial friendships. Love. The relationship between Ida and Vivaldo serves as a microcosm for the relationship between African Americans and white liberals. Their relationship and others (including the earlier coupling of Rufus and Leona) represent a struggle for love amidst the obstacles of race, sex, and modern society. According to Baldwin biographer W. J. Weatherby: Whether it was the central relationship between white Vivaldo and black Ida or the accompanying bisexual affairs involving most of the other leading characters, all were intended by Baldwin to illustrate how difficult he felt real love was in contemporary American society. Facing each other without lies and perceiving the relationship realistically were much more important than which sexes were involved or how love was expressed, in Baldwin's opinion.… The whole racial situation, according to the novel, was basically a failure of love. Racial and sexual differences are compared and contrasted, both represented as areas for conflict that must be addressed en route to mature love. According to some readings, this complete unity represents another "another country" and perhaps an impossible utopia. Stefanie Dunning wrote: Rufus' death suggests that there is no black utopia, no place where he can escape the iniquities of racism. More importantly, "Another Country" suggests that we have not yet found a model for thinking outside the box that frames our discussions of interraciality and same-sex eroticism. It suggests, more importantly, that eliminating gender and racial difference will not solve the "problems" of difference either. The title of the novel suggests the wish for "another country," another nation, in which our racial and sexual selves are imagined and defined differently or perhaps where they are not defined at all. It is at once a question: another country, illustrating the futility of national crossings, and it is a wistful fantasy: another country, a mythic, imaginary and unattainable place where relationships are not fractured by difference. Dunning argues that the novel's critique of nationalism extends to black nationalism, which still relies on a fantasy of authentic and heterosexual reproduction. Willing ignorance. One of the most significant themes in "Another Country" is one's willingness to ignore parts of reality (including oneself) that one finds unpleasant or ego-dystonic. Vivaldo is perhaps the most affected by this tendency. He also partially denies his own bisexuality. He fails to fully admit his attraction to Rufus. On the night of his death, Rufus went to Vivaldo and indicated a need for sexual love, but Vivaldo pretended not to recognize this need and later felt guilty, suspecting that he might have prevented Rufus's death. He does not see that his attraction to Ida potentially mirrors his attraction to Rufus. Also, despite mounting signs that Ida is involved in a career-advancing affair with the white TV producer Ellis, Vivaldo mostly denies this until the disillusioned Ida confesses to him herself in a cathartic scene near the end of the book. At the opposite end of the spectrum, after considerable youthful struggles with self-acceptance of his homosexuality due to social ostracism in his hometown in Alabama, Eric eventually becomes the novel's most honest and open character. He admits that Rufus was abusive of Leona, that he actually does not reciprocate Cass's love, and that his love of Yves is genuine. This also makes him the book's calmest and most composed character. Only after a night with Eric does Vivaldo see the world more clearly and make tentative steps toward acceptance of his own bisexuality. Most of the white characters in the book downplay or refuse to admit the racial tension surrounding them. Cass and Richard are shocked when a group of black boys beat up their sons. Ida constantly suspects Vivaldo of exploiting her because she is black and has known white men who seek out sexual relations specifically with black women. Vivaldo refuses to admit any of this, although it is indicated that it may be true of their relationship. Professional jealousy. Richard and Vivaldo are jealous of one another as writers. Vivaldo essentially denies the value of Richard's first novel and is jealous that it is being published, while Richard is jealous of Vivaldo because Richard thinks his wife Cass sees suffering and a lack of commercial success as a sign of artistic integrity. Consequently, after Cass and Eric initiate their affair, Richard suspects she is seeing Vivaldo. Also, Ida's beginning recognition as a jazz singer causes increased tension and jealousy between her and Vivaldo. Black homosexual masculinity. In his 1968 essay "Notes On A Native Son", from his book "Soul on Ice", Eldridge Cleaver denounced the concept of interracial homosexuality and, in effect, acted as the mouthpiece for the hegemonic narrative that framed black homosexual masculinity in America in the 1960s. He expressed not so much a discomfort with homosexuality as with the power paradigm and ultimate feminization that ensues after the physical act of black men sexually submitting to white men: In the eyes of Cleaver, Rufus Scott of "Another Country" is a failure to his race because he fails to act as "the referent for masculinity, sexuality, and raciality" (Dunning 104). According to black nationalists of the time, the future of the black race is reliant upon reproduction. At the first Plenary Conference on Self Determination in 1981, a flyer read "Homosexuality does not produce children. [It] does not birth new warriors for liberation" (Cheney, 113). In sexually submitting to the white man, Rufus has fulfilled his own death-wish literally and figuratively because, according to Stephanie Dunning:[T]o be both homosexual and black is to express a hatred for blackness.…In this construction, to be black is to be feminized and to be homosexual is to be castrated. Homosexuality, then, is the ultimate threat to being the man, since it presumably takes away that which makes you one: the impregnating phallus.So Rufus is the embodiment of the pervasive, oppressive nationalist viewpoint that burdened and continues to burden homosexual men of color. Rufus is by no means a proponent of the black nationalist homophobia, but instead a victim to it. In his romantic relationship with his Southern white friend Eric, Rufus internalizes this concept that in "receiving" Eric, he is allowing Eric to dominate him; and yet, in "Another Country", Baldwin professes and emphasizes that it is the vulnerability within this power paradigm in interracial same-sex relationships that will ultimately break down racial barriers. In reshaping masculinity and expectations of black men in particular, we can shift the power dynamic that leads to violence and aggression in men, particularly black men. In speaking about his relationship with Rufus, Vivaldo remarks:Well, perhaps they had been afraid that if they looked too closely into one another, each would have foundhe looked out of the window, feeling damp and frightened. Each would have found the abyss. Somewhere in his heart, the black boy hated the white boy because he was white. Somewhere in his heart, Vivaldo hated and feared Rufus because he was black. (p. 134)With his privilege as a white man, Vivaldo is able to step back and see homosexual sex for what it is, which is an act of vulnerability and trust, rather than dominance and submission as seen through the eyes of Rufus. Reception. "Another Country" received much attention and mixed reviews. Reviews in the black press were generally favorable. "The New York Times" called it "a sad story, brilliantly and fiercely told" and compared it to T. S. Eliot's "The Waste Land" as a record of spiritual desolation in modern times. "Time" magazine called it "a failure". Norman Mailer said it was "abominably written". It quickly became a bestseller. A film adaptation was announced in 1964, with Tony Richardson directing and Baldwin himself writing the screenplay, though the film was never produced. The book was designated "obscene" in New Orleans and banned, drawing the attention of FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. In Australia, the Commonwealth Customs Department banned its import. The country's Literature Censorship Board, while admitting Baldwin's writing had some merit, described "Another Country" as "continually smeared with indecent, offensive and dirty epithets and allusions". The chairman noted that some might connect the novel's depiction of race relations with current events in Australia, and bearing in mind that a complete ban might damage the country's reputation, suggested that the book be available to "the serious minded student or reader." Baldwin inferred from the book's popularity that "many more people than are willing to admit it lead lives not at all unlike the lives of the people in my book." Baldwin also said that the book "scared people because most don't understand it." Eldridge Cleaver had harsh words for Baldwin, in his book "Soul on Ice", writing that he admired Baldwin in some ways but felt increasingly uncomfortable with his writing. Cleaver says that "Another Country" made clear why his "love for Baldwin's vision had become ambivalent," and writes: Rufus Scott, a pathetic wretch who indulged in the white man's pastime of committing suicide, who let a white homosexual fuck him in the ass, and who took a Southern Jezebel for his woman, with all that these tortured relationships imply, was the epitome of a black eunuch who has completely submitted to the white man. Yes, Rufus was a psychological freedom rider, turning the ultimate cheek, murmuring like a ghost "You took the best so why not take the rest", which has absolutely nothing to do with the way that Negroes have managed to survive here in the hells of North America! The book was listed by Anthony Burgess as one of his "Ninety-nine Novels: The best in English since 1939". Analysis. On writing the book, Baldwin said in the "New York Times Book Review":I think I really helplessly model myself on jazz musicians and try to write the way they sound. I am not an intellectual, not in the dreary sense that word is used today, and do not want to be: I am aiming at what Henry James called 'perception at the pitch of passion.' Asked to cite literary influences, Baldwin said that Joseph Conrad, James Joyce, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and George Bernard Shaw were his "models." The character of Yves is connected to Baldwin's lover Lucien Happersberger, who made plans in 1960 to meet Baldwin in New York City. It has been argued that James Baldwin is in three characters: Rufus as Baldwin would have turned out had he not moved to France; Eric as Baldwin was in Paris; and Vivaldo as a writer struggling with a writer's block because of his love affairs, in the manner of Baldwin himself. Baldwin has also been identified with Ida, as Rufus's advocate after death, and Richard, a writer who has become successful. Baldwin later said that he developed the character of Rufus to complement and explain Ida. The book has been described as an implicit criticism of Mailer's "The White Negro" and its passive romanticization of black culture. Brandon Gordon describes this critique in terms of the relationship between Vivaldo and Rufus, mediated by Leona. Gordon writes: "Contrary to Vivaldo's expectations, emulating the African American's hypermasculine sexual ethos does not ultimately enable him to fulfill the hipster's fantasy of embodied identification." He concludes that, in fact, Vivaldo's homosexual encounter with Eric at the end of the novel—and specifically the fact that Vivaldo is penetrated—represents a truer form of "embodied identification" with another.

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Another Brooklyn Another Brooklyn is a 2016 novel by Jacqueline Woodson. The book was written as an adult book, unlike many of the author's previous books and titles. NPR wrote that the book was "full of dreams and danger". It was nominated for the National Book Award for Fiction in 2016. Plot. The story starts with August, an adult anthropologist, returning to New York to bury her father. On the subway, she encounters an old friend, and begins to reminisce. She remembers being an 8 year old girl moving with her father and younger brother to Brooklyn from Tennessee after the death of her mother. The book then follows August through her teenage years. August shares friendships with three other Brooklynites, Sylvia, Angela, and Gigi, as they walk through the neighborhoods and dream optimistically of the future, and revealing what it held in store for them. August and her friends also face dangers on the streets, and family strife of various types. Reviews. The book received many reviews. To "The Washington Post", it is a "short but complex story that arises from simmering grief. It lulls across the pages like a mournful whisper." "Publishers Weekly" writes that it is a "a vivid mural of what it was like to grow up African-American in Brooklyn during the 1970s." NBC News wrote that it "weaves together themes of death, friendship, Black migrations, the sense of displacement that usually follows, and family." "The New York Times" said "the subject isn’t as much girlhood, as the haunting half-life of its memory." Kaitlyn Greenidge for "The Boston Globe" wrote that the book was "a love letter to loss, girlhood and home. It is a lyrical, haunting exploration of family, memory and other ties that bind us to one another and the world." "USA Today" gave it 3 out of 4 stars. "The Los Angeles Times" said that the book "joins the tradition of studying female friendships and the families we create when our own isn’t enough, like that of Toni Morrison’s 'Sula,' Tayari Jones’ 'Silver Sparrow' and " by Audre Lorde. Woodson uses her expertise at portraying the lives of children to explore the power of memory, death and friendship."

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Beloved (novel) Beloved is a 1987 novel by the American writer Toni Morrison. Set after the American Civil War, it tells the story of a family of former slaves whose Cincinnati home is haunted by a malevolent spirit. "Beloved" is inspired by a true-life incident involving Margaret Garner, an escaped slave from Kentucky who fled to the free state of Ohio in 1856, but was captured in accordance with the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. When U.S. marshals burst into the cabin where Garner and her husband had barricaded themselves, they found that she had killed her two-year-old daughter and was attempting to kill her other children to spare them from being returned to slavery. Morrison had come across an account of Garner titled "A Visit to the Slave Mother who Killed Her Child" in an 1856 newspaper article published in the "American Baptist", and reproduced in "The Black Book", a miscellaneous compilation of black history and culture that Morrison edited in 1974. The novel won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1988 and was a finalist for the 1987 National Book Award. It was adapted as a 1998 movie of the same name, starring Oprah Winfrey. A survey of writers and literary critics compiled by "The New York Times" ranked it as the best work of American fiction from 1981 to 2006. Background. The book's dedication reads "Sixty Million and more", referring to the Africans and their descendants who died as a result of the Atlantic slave trade. The book's epigraph is Romans 9:25. Plot summary. "Beloved" begins in 1873 in Cincinnati, Ohio, with Sethe, a formerly enslaved woman, and her 18-year-old daughter Denver, who live at 124 Bluestone Road. The site has been haunted for years by what they believe is the ghost of Sethe's eldest daughter. Denver is shy, friendless, and housebound. Sethe's sons, Howard and Buglar, ran away from home by the age of 13, which she believes was due to the ghost. Baby Suggs, the mother of Sethe's husband Halle, died soon after the boys fled, eight years before the start of the novel. One day, Paul D, one of the enslaved men from Sweet Home, the plantation where Sethe, Halle, Baby Suggs, and several others were once enslaved, arrives at Sethe's home. He forces out the spirit, receiving Denver’s contempt for driving away her only companion, but persuades them to leave the house together for the first time in years for a carnival. Upon returning home, they find a young woman sitting in front of the house who calls herself Beloved. Paul D is suspicious and warns Sethe, but she is charmed by the young woman and ignores him. Denver is eager to care for the sickly Beloved, whom she begins to believe is her older sister come back. Paul D begins to feel increasingly uncomfortable in the house and that he is being driven out. One night, Paul D is cornered by Beloved, who demands sex. While they have sex, his mind is filled with horrific memories from his past. Paul D tries to tell Sethe about it, but cannot. Instead, he says that he wants her pregnant. Sethe is afraid to have to live for a baby. When Paul D tells friends at work about his plans to start a new family, they react fearfully. One, Stamp Paid, reveals the reason for the community's rejection of Sethe. Paul D confronts Sethe, who tells him that after escaping from Sweet Home and joining her children at 124, four horsemen came to return her children and her to a life of slavery at Sweet Home. Sethe ran to the woodshed with her children and tried to kill them all, but only had time to kill her eldest daughter. Sethe says that she was "trying to put [her] babies where they would be safe." Paul D leaves, telling her her love is "too thick"; she retorts that "thin love is no love", adamant that she did the right thing. Sethe comes to believe that Beloved is the daughter she had killed, as "BELOVED" was all she could afford to have engraved on her tombstone. She is overjoyed, holding onto a hope that Halle and her sons will come back and they will all be a family together. Out of guilt, she begins to spend all of her time and money on Beloved to please her and try to explain her actions, losing her job. Beloved becomes angry and demanding, throwing tantrums when she does not get her way. Beloved's presence consumes Sethe's life. She hardly eats, while Beloved grows bigger and bigger, eventually taking the form of a pregnant woman. Denver reveals her fear of Sethe, having known that she killed Beloved, but not having understood why, and that her brothers shared this fear and ran away due to it. Sethe and Beloved's voices merge together until indistinguishable, and Denver observes that Sethe becomes more like a child, while Beloved seems more like the mother. Denver reaches out to the Black community for help, from whom they had been isolated because of envy of Baby Suggs' privilege and horror at Sethe killing Beloved. Local women come to the house to exorcise Beloved. At the same time, a White man, Mr. Bodwin (their landlord, who had offered work to Baby Suggs and Sethe) arrives at the house on a horse for Denver, who asked him for a job. Not knowing this, Sethe attacks him with an ice pick, thinking he was Schoolteacher coming back for her daughter. The village women and Denver hold her back and Beloved disappears. Denver becomes a working member of the community, and Paul D returns to a bed-ridden Sethe, who, devastated at Beloved's disappearance, remorsefully tells him that Beloved was her "best thing". He replies that Sethe is her own "best thing", leaving her questioning, "Me? Me?" As time goes on, those who knew Beloved gradually forget her until all traces of her are gone. Major themes. Mother-daughter relationships. The maternal bonds between Sethe and her children inhibit her own individuation and prevent the development of her self. Sethe develops a dangerous maternal passion that results in killing one daughter, her own "best self". Her surviving daughter becomes estranged from the Black community. Both outcomes result from Sethe trying to salvage her "fantasy of the future", her children, from a life in slavery. In Ohio, Sethe fails to recognize her daughter Denver's need for interaction with the Black community to enter into womanhood. At the end of the novel, Denver succeeds in establishing her own self and embarking on her individuation with the help of Beloved. Sethe only becomes individuated after Beloved's exorcism. Then, she is free to fully accept the first relationship that is completely "for her", her relationship with Paul D. This relationship relieves her from the self-destruction she was causing based on her maternal bonds with her children. Beloved and Sethe are both emotionally impaired, which come from Sethe having been enslaved. Under slavery, mothers lost their children, with devastating consequences for both. Baby Suggs dealt with this by refusing to become close with her children and remembering what she could of them, but Sethe tried to hold onto them and fight for them, to the point of killing them so they could be free. Sethe was traumatized by having had her milk stolen, unable to form the symbolic bond between herself and her daughter of feeding her. Psychological effects of slavery. Because of the suffering under slavery, most people who had been enslaved tried to repress these memories in an attempt to forget the past. This repression and dissociation from the past causes a fragmentation of the self and a loss of true identity. Sethe, Paul D., and Denver all suffered a loss of self, which could only be remedied when they were able to reconcile their pasts and memories of earlier identities. Beloved serves to remind these characters of their repressed memories, eventually leading to the reintegration of their selves. Slavery splits a person into a fragmented figure. The identity, consisting of painful memories and unspeakable past, denied and kept at bay, becomes a "self that is no self". To heal and humanize, one must constitute it in a language, reorganize the painful events, and retell the painful memories. As a result of suffering, the "self" becomes subject to a violent practice of making and unmaking, once acknowledged by an audience becomes real. Sethe, Paul D, and Baby Suggs, who all fall short of such realization, are unable to remake themselves by trying to keep their pasts at bay. The "self" is located in a word, defined by others. The power lies in the audience, or more precisely, in the word—once the word changes, so does the identity. All of the characters in "Beloved" face the challenge of an unmade self, composed of their "rememories" and defined by perceptions and language. The barrier that keeps them from remaking of the self is the desire for an "uncomplicated past" and the fear that remembering will lead them to "a place they couldn't get back from". Definition of manhood. The discussion of manhood and masculinity is foreshadowed by the dominant meaning of Sethe's story. "Beloved" depicts slavery in two main emotions: Love and Self-Preservation; however, Morrison does more than depict emotions. The author accurately depicts the horrors of enslavement and its effects to communicate the morals of manhood. It also distorts a man from himself. Morrison revealed different pathways to the meaning of manhood by her stylistic devices. She established new information for understanding the legacy of slavery best depicted through stylistic devices. To understand Paul D's perception of manhood, Morrison deliberately inserts his half-formed words and thoughts, to provide the audience a "taste" of what is going on inside his mind. Yet, throughout the novel, Paul D's depiction of manhood was being constantly challenged by the norms and values of White culture. The author demonstrates the distinctions between Western and African values, and how the dialogue between the two values is heard through juxtaposition and allusions. She maneuvered her "message" though the social atmosphere of her words, which was further highlighted by the character's motives and actions. Paul D is a victim of racism in that his dreams and goals are so high that he will never be able to achieve them because of racism. He thought he earned his right to reach each of his goals because of his sacrifices and what he has been through, that society would pay him back and allow him to do what his heart desired. During the Reconstruction era, Jim Crow laws were put in place to limit the movement and involvement of African Americans in the White-dominant society. Black men during this time had to establish their own identity, which may seem impossible due to all the limitations put upon them. Many Black men, like Paul D, struggled to find their meaning in their society and achieving their goals because of the "disabilities" that constrained them to a certain part of the social hierarchy. In "Beloved," Stamp Paid observes Paul D sitting on the base of the church steps "… liquor bottle in hand, stripped of the very maleness that enables him to caress and love the wounded Sethe…" (132). Throughout the novel, Paul D is sitting on a base of some sort or a foundation like a tree stub or the steps, for instance. This exemplifies his place in society. Black men are the foundation of society because without their hard labor, the white men would not profit. They were coerced into the society where they were deemed "lower-status" because of the color of their skin. Family relationships. Family relationships are an instrumental element of "Beloved," which help visualize the stress and the dismantlement of African-American families in this era. The slavery system did not allow African Americans to have rights to themselves, their family, their belongings, or their children. So, Sethe killing Beloved was deemed a peaceful act because Sethe believed that killing her daughter was saving her. By doing this, their family is divided and fragmented, much like the time in which they were living. After the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, formerly enslaved families were broken and bruised because of the hardships they faced while they were enslaved. Since enslaved people could not participate in societal events, they put their faith and trust in the supernatural. They performed rituals and prayed to their god or multiple gods. In the novel, Beloved, who was murdered at the hands of her mother Sethe, haunts Sethe. For example, Sethe, Denver, and Paul D go to the neighborhood carnival, which happens to be Sethe's first social outing since killing her daughter. When they return home, Beloved appears at the house. Throughout the novel, Sethe believes that the person claiming to be Beloved is her daughter that she killed 18 years prior - a scenario that shows how [fractured] family relationships are used to display the mental strife the protagonist faces. Pain. The pain throughout this novel is universal because everyone involved in slavery was heavily scarred, whether that be physically, mentally, sociologically, or psychologically. Some of the characters tend to "romanticize" their pain, in a way that each experience is a turning point in one's life. This concept is played throughout history in early Christian contemplative tradition and African-American blues tradition. "Beloved" is a book of the systematic torture that people who had been enslaved had to deal with after the Emancipation Proclamation. Therefore, in this novel, the narrative is like a complex labyrinth because all the characters have been "stripped away" from their voices, their narratives, their language in a way that their sense of self is diminished. Also, all the characters have had different experiences with slavery, which is why their stories and their narratives are distinct from each other. In addition to the pain, many major characters try to beautify pain in a way that diminishes what was done. For example, Sethe keeps repeating what a White girl said about her scars on her back, calling them "a Choke-cherry tree. Trunk, branches, and even leaves". She repeats this to everyone, suggesting she is trying to find the beauty in her scar, even when they caused her extreme pain. Paul D and Baby Suggs both look away in disgust and deny this description of Sethe's scars. Sethe does the same with Beloved. The memory of her ghost-like daughter plays a role of memory, grief, and spite that separates Sethe and her late daughter. For instance, Beloved stays in the house with Paul D and Sethe. A home is a place of vulnerability, where the heart lies. Paul D and Baby Suggs both suggest that Beloved is not invited into the home, but Sethe says otherwise because she sees Beloved, all grown and alive, instead of the pain of when Sethe murdered her. At the end of the book, Beloved is gone and Paul D encourages Sethe to love herself instead. Major characters. Sethe. Sethe is the protagonist of the novel. She escaped slavery from a plantation called Sweet Home. She lives in the house named 124 (a house on 124 Bluestone Rd., but referred to only as "124") which is believed to be haunted because she killed her infant child there. Her two sons have fled because of the haunting, and she resides in the house with her daughter Denver. She is motherly and will do anything to protect her children from suffering the same abuses she experienced when she was enslaved. Sethe is greatly influenced by her repression of the trauma she endured, she lives with "a tree on her back", scars from being whipped. Her character is resilient, yet defined by her traumatic past. She was 19 years old when Denver was born, making her birth year to be 1836. Beloved. The opaque understanding of Beloved is central to the novel. She is a young woman who mysteriously appears from a body of water near Sethe's house, and is discovered soaking wet on the doorstep by Sethe, Paul D, and Denver, on their return from visiting the fair; they take her in. She is widely believed to be the murdered baby who haunted 124, as the haunting ends when she arrives, and in many ways she behaves like a child. As also mentioned, a young woman enslaved by a White man nearby had escaped, and Beloved recounts stories of past slaves, including Sethe's mother. Morrison stated that the character Beloved is the daughter Sethe killed. The murdered baby was unnamed, her name is derived from the engraving on Sethe's murdered baby's tombstone, which simply read "Beloved" because Sethe could not afford to engrave the word "Dearly" or anything else. Beloved becomes a catalyst to bring repressed trauma of the family to the surface, but also creates madness in the house and slowly depletes Sethe. Paul D. Paul D retains his slave name; most of the enslaved men at Sweet Home were named Paul. He also retains many painful memories from enslavement and being forced to live in a chain gang; he had been moving around continuously before arriving at 124. He has a "tobacco tin" for a heart, in which he contains his painful memories, until Beloved opens it. Years after their time together at Sweet Home, Paul D and Sethe reunite and begin a romantic relationship. He acts fatherly towards Denver and is the first to be suspicious of Beloved. Despite their long past, he fails to understand Sethe fully because of her motherhood and because of the many years that had passed since. Denver. Denver is Sethe's only child who remains at House 124. Isolated from her community after Beloved's killing, Denver forms a close bond with her mother. Upon Beloved's arrival, Denver watches as her sister's ghost begins to exhibit demonic activity. Although introduced as a childish character, Denver develops into a protective woman throughout the novel. In the final chapters, Denver fights not only for her personal independence, but also for her mother's wellbeing, breaking the cycle of isolation at House 124. She is 18 years old at the beginning of the novel. Baby Suggs. Baby Suggs is Sethe's mother-in-law. Her son Halle worked to buy her freedom, after which she travels to Cincinnati and establishes herself as a respected leader in the community, preaching for the Black people to love themselves because other people will not. This respect turns sour after she turns some food into a feast, earning their envy, as well as Sethe's act of infanticide. Baby Suggs retires to her bed, where she thinks about pretty colors for the rest of her life. She dies at 70 in the beginning of the book, 8 years before the main events. Halle. Halle is the son of Baby Suggs, the husband of Sethe and father of her children. Sethe and he were married in Sweet Home, yet they got separated during her escape. He is only mentioned in flashbacks. Paul D was the last to see Halle, churning butter at Sweet Home. He is presumed to have gone mad after seeing residents of Sweet Home violating Sethe. He is hardworking and good, qualities that Paul D sees in Denver at the end of the book, but ones that Baby Suggs fears make him a target. Schoolteacher. Schoolteacher is the primary discipliner, violent, abusive, and cruel to the people he enslaved at Sweet Home, whom he views as animals. He comes for Sethe following her escape, but she kills her daughter and is arrested, instead. Amy Denver. Amy Denver is a young White girl who finds Sethe desperately trying to make her way to safety after her escape from Sweet Home, trying to get to Boston herself. Sethe is extremely pregnant at the time, and her feet are bleeding badly from the travel. Amy helps nurture her and deliver Sethe's daughter on a small boat, and Sethe names the child Denver after her. Adaptations. In 1998, the novel was made into a film directed by Jonathan Demme, and produced by and starring Oprah Winfrey. In January 2016, "Beloved" was broadcast in 10 episodes by BBC Radio 4 as part of its "15 Minute Drama" programme. The radio series was adapted by Patricia Cumper. Legacy. "Beloved" received the Frederic G. Melcher Book Award, which is named for an editor of "Publishers Weekly". In accepting the award on October 12, 1988, Morrison said that "[t]here is no suitable memorial or plaque or wreath or wall or park or skyscraper lobby" honoring the memory of the human beings forced into slavery and brought to the United States. "There's no small bench by the road," she continued. "And because such a place doesn't exist (that I know of), the book had to." Inspired by her remarks, the Toni Morrison Society began to install benches at significant sites in the history of slavery in America. "The New York Times" reported that the first 'bench by the road' was dedicated on July 26, 2008, on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, the place of entry for some 40% of the enslaved Africans brought to the United States. Morrison said she was extremely moved by the memorial. In 2017, the 21st bench was placed at the Library of Congress. It is dedicated to Daniel Alexander Payne Murray (1852–1925), the first African-American assistant librarian of Congress. The novel received the seventh annual Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights Book Award in 1988, given to a novelist who "most faithfully and forcefully reflects Robert Kennedy's purposes—his concern for the poor and the powerless, his struggle for honest and even-handed justice, his conviction that a decent society must assure all young people a fair chance, and his faith that a free democracy can act to remedy disparities of power and opportunity." Critical reception. The publication of "Beloved" in 1987 resulted in the greatest acclaim yet for Morrison. Although nominated for the National Book Award, it did not win, and 48 African-American writers and critics—including Maya Angelou, Amiri Baraka, Jayne Cortez, Angela Davis, Ernest J. Gaines, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Rosa Guy, June Jordan, Paule Marshall, Louise Meriwether, Eugene Redmond, Sonia Sanchez, Quincy Troupe, John Edgar Wideman, and John A. Williams—signed a letter of protest that was published in "The New York Times Book Review" on January 24, 1988. Yet later in 1988 "Beloved" did receive the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, as well as the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Book Award, the Melcher Book Award, the Lyndhurst Foundation Award, and the Elmer Holmes Bobst Award. Despite its popularity and status as one of Morrison's most accomplished novels, "Beloved" has never been universally hailed as a success. Some reviewers have excoriated the novel for what they consider its excessive sentimentality and sensationalistic depiction of the horrors of slavery, including its characterization of the slave trade as a Holocaust-like genocide. Others, while concurring that "Beloved" is at times overwritten, have lauded the novel as a profound and extraordinary act of imagination. Noting the work's mythic dimensions and political focus, these commentators have treated the novel as an exploration of family, trauma, and the repression of memory as well as an attempt to restore the historical record and give voice to the collective memory of African Americans. Indeed, critics and Morrison herself have indicated that the controversial epigraph to "Beloved", "60 million and more", is drawn from a number of studies on the African slave trade, which estimate that approximately half of each ship's "cargo" perished in transit to America. Scholars have additionally debated the nature of the character Beloved, arguing whether she is actually a ghost or a real person. Numerous reviews, assuming Beloved to be a supernatural incarnation of Sethe's daughter, have subsequently faulted "Beloved" as an unconvincing and confusing ghost story. Elizabeth B. House, however, has argued that Beloved is not a ghost, and the novel is actually a story of two probable instances of mistaken identity. Beloved is haunted by the loss of her African parents and thus comes to believe that Sethe is her mother. Sethe longs for her dead daughter and is rather easily convinced that Beloved is the child she has lost. Such an interpretation, House contends, clears up many puzzling aspects of the novel and emphasizes Morrison's concern with familial ties. Since the late 1970s, the focus on Morrison's representation of African-American experience and history has been strong. The idea that writing acts as a means of healing or recovery is a strain in many of these studies. Timothy Powell, for instance, argues that Morrison's recovery of a Black logos rewrites blackness as "affirmation, presence, and good", while Theodore O. Mason, Jr., suggests that Morrison's stories unite communities. Many critics explore memory, or what "Beloved"’s Sethe calls "rememory", in this light. Susan Bowers places Morrison in a "long tradition of African American apocalyptic writing" that looks back in time, "unveiling" the horrors of the past in order to "transform" them. Several critics have interpreted Morrison's representations of trauma and memory through a psychoanalytic framework. Ashraf H. A. Rushdy explores how "primal scenes" in Morrison's novels are "an opportunity and affective agency for self-discovery through memory" and "rememory". As Jill Matus argues, however, Morrison's representations of trauma are "never simply curative": in raising the ghosts of the past to banish or memorialize them, the texts potentially "provoke readers to the vicarious experience of trauma and act as a means of transmission". Ann Snitow's reaction to "Beloved" neatly illustrates how Morrison criticism began to evolve and move toward new modes of interpretation. In her 1987 review of "Beloved", Snitow argues that Beloved, the ghost at the center of the narrative, is "too light" and "hollow", rendering the entire novel "airless". Snitow changed her position after reading criticism that interpreted "Beloved" in a different way, seeing something more complicated and burdened than a literal ghost, something requiring different forms of creative expression and critical interpretation. The conflicts at work here are ideological, as well as critical; they concern the definition and evaluation of American and African-American literature, the relationship between art and politics, and the tension between recognition and appropriation. In defining Morrison's texts as African-American literature, critics have become more attentive to historical and social context and to the way Morrison's fiction engages with specific places and moments in time. As Jennings observes, many of Morrison's novels are set in isolated Black communities where African practices and belief systems are not marginalized by a dominant White culture, but rather remain active, if perhaps subconscious, forces shaping the community. Matus comments that Morrison's later novels "have been even more thoroughly focused on specific historical moments"; "through their engagement with the history of slavery and early twentieth-century Harlem, [they] have imagined and memorialized aspects of black history that have been forgotten or inadequately remembered". On November 5, 2019, the "BBC News" listed "Beloved" on its list of the 100 most influential novels. Banning and controversy. "Beloved" has been banned from five U.S. schools since 2007. Common reasons for censorship include bestiality, infanticide, sex, and violence. Twenty years after its publication, in 1987, the novel was first banned from AP English classes at Eastern High School in Louisville, Kentucky, because of the book's mention of bestiality, racism, and sex. The book was banned because two parents complained that the book discussed inappropriate parts about the "antebellum"' slavery. In 2017, "Beloved" was considered for removal from the Fairfax County (VA) senior English reading list due to a parent's complaint that "the book includes scenes of violent sex, including a gang rape, and was too graphic and extreme for teenagers". Parental concern about "Beloved"s content inspired the "Beloved Bill", legislation that, if passed, would require Virginia public schools to notify parents of any "sexually explicit content" and provide an alternative assignment if requested.

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Tituba of Salem Village Tituba of Salem Village is a 1964 children's novel by African-American writer Ann Petry about the 17th-century West Indian slave of the same name who was the first to be accused of practicing witchcraft during the 1692 Salem witch trials. Written for children 10 and up, it portrays Tituba as a black West Indian woman who tells stories about life in Barbados to the village girls. These stories are mingled with existing superstitions and half-remembered pagan beliefs on the part of Puritans, and the witchcraft hysteria is partly attributed to a sort of cabin fever during a particularly bitter winter. Petry's portrayal of the helplessness of women in that period, particularly slaves and indentured servants, is key to understanding her view of the Tituba legend.

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Blood on the Forge Blood on the Forge is a migration novel by the African-American writer William Attaway set in the steel valley of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during 1919, a time when vast numbers of Black Americans moved northward. Attaway's own family was part of this population shift from South to North when he was a child. His novel follows the Moss brothers as they escape the inequality of sharecropping in the South only to encounter inequality in the mills of the North. Their story illustrates the tragedy and hardships many Black Americans faced during the Great Migration. "Blood on the Forge" touches on themes such as the destruction of nature, the emptiness and hunger that the working characters experience, the complications of the individual in a depersonalized world, and the myth of the American Dream. Background. During his childhood in the 1910s, author William Attaway traveled with his family from the segregated south of Mississippi to the northern city of Chicago, Illinois; in doing so his family became part of what would be known as the Great Migration. From 1910 to 1930, approximately six million African Americans moved from the rural southern United States to the industrialized North. The northern states of Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, New York and Michigan received the majority of the migrating African Americans. Factors motivating blacks to migrate north included the plentiful job opportunities in Northern industry, and the desire to escape the harsh racial climate of the South. As a result, neighborhoods in Northern cities saw drastic changes in population and an increase in issues concerning housing. Many cultural movements were spawned due to the large influx in black populations in the North, including the Harlem Renaissance and the spread of jazz music. Plot summary. The novel opens in Kentucky, in the year 1919; sharecropping half-brothers Big Mat, Chinatown, and Melody Moss are in dire straits. After their mule dragged their mother to her death, Big Mat killed the animal in a fit of rage. Now without a mule, the brothers are unable to work their land, and are likely to starve. The landowner, Mr. Johnston, agrees to give the brothers another mule. When Big Mat goes to Mr. Johnston's riding boss to collect the mule he had been promised, the riding boss refuses to give him the mule, and makes a racist comment about the departed Mrs. Moss. Big Mat's anger again overcomes him and he attacks and possibly kills the riding boss. Earlier that day, Chinatown and Melody are visited by a white man on horseback who gives them a ten-dollar bill, promising much more if the brothers leave that night on a train that would take them North, to work. When Big Mat returns that evening and Melody and Chinatown tell him what the stranger said, Big Mat decides that he and his brothers will head North that very evening. Part Two, the shortest of the novel, chronicles the inhumane conditions of the train in which the Moss brothers are shipped north to Pennsylvania. The Moss brothers arrive at a mill town near Pittsburgh, where they get work in the steel mill and live together in a bunkhouse with the other workers of the mill. On their time off, Chinatown and Melody go to a Mexican madam named Sugar Mama, where they meet her niece Anna, whom Melody becomes infatuated with. Chinatown and Melody convince Big Mat to come with them to a dog fight. When Anna rushes into the ring to prevent the death of one of the dogs, she is hit by the dog's owner. Big Mat responds by punching the man, which leads to a riot. After the fight breaks up, Anna rushes up to Big Mat and kisses him before running away again. Big Mat takes Anna away from Sugar Mamma and sets up house with her in a small shack. Melody brings a letter from Big Mat's wife Hattie to the shack only to find Anna there alone. When he tells Anna about the letter she tries to snatch it from him; the two wrestle over the letter. The struggle culminates in Melody raping Anna. There is a catastrophic accident at the mill that kills 14 men and blinds Chinatown. After this tragedy, the labor union becomes very active and gains many new members. The atmosphere of the town becomes increasingly hostile as the foreign mill workers come to resent the African American workers, who are the only group that refuse to join the union. Big Mat is recruited by the sheriff, who is impressed with Big Mat's strength, to be a deputy and help combat the growing union. Once deputized, Mat is told that he is a boss in the town; after a lifetime of oppression, this new feeling of authority goes to Big Mat's head. Melody decides to cheer Chinatown up after his accident by taking him to visit some prostitutes. Once at the brothel, Melody finds out that Anna has been working there. Melody returns home and tries to convince Anna to run away with him. When Big Mat overhears them, he once again is overpowered by his rage and beats Anna with his brass-studded belt. Later that night Big Mat, along with the sheriff and his deputies, raid the union headquarters. In the midst of the action, Big Mat is repeatedly hit on the back of the head with a pickaxe handle by a young Slavic union member. Big Mat is killed by the blows. The book ends with Melody and Chinatown leaving the mill town as they take a train to Pittsburgh, where they plan to rebuild their lives. Genre. Proletarian literature. "Blood on the Forge" is an example of proletarian literature, a genre whose works usually represented the years surrounding the Great Depression. The experience of the characters in the novel mirror the class struggles during the Great Migration, specifically the hardships of African American workers during this period. The Moss brothers are realistically depicted as "emerging black proletariat." Migration narrative. Attaway's novel is also a migration narrative, as it traces the journey of African American brothers from Southern farm life to the industrial North. Lawrence R. Rodgers states that there are four kinds of migration narratives, the Early Migration Novel, the Harlem Renaissance, the Fugitive Migration Novel, and finally the Communal Migrant Novel, which is post-Depression. "Blood on the Forge" would be considered an Early Migration Novel, as it takes place during the early 20th century and because of its industrial subject matter. Rodgers explains that Harlem Renaissance works do not discuss the actual migration, only what came of it, and in her review of Rodgers' "Canaan Bound: The African-American Great Migration Novel", Farrah Jasmine Griffin states, "If the Harlem Renaissance writers failed to make the most of the migration novel form, the generation that followed—fueled by the depression economy, personal deprivation, and a strong sense of displacement—put migration at the center, not the periphery, of its artistic imagination." In particular, Chicago writers such as Attaway were responding to the failures of Harlem Renaissance writers to express the first wave of African American migration. One important aspect of the migration narrative is its emphasis on the differences between the traditional (or folk) and the modern. Migration narratives typically include references to ancestors and strangers, with ancestors being linked to the South and strangers to the North. In "Blood on the Forge," the immigrants the Moss brothers work with in the mills would be considered strangers. Ancestors are also linked with folklore and tradition, such as music and food. Melody tries to keep the brother's heritage alive with his guitar. Each brother experiences his own shift from the folk to the industrial that is characteristic of the Great Migration. Melody changes the way he plays the guitar from slicking the chords, as he did at home, to picking them. Chinatown loses his eyes in an accidental explosion in the mills, forcing him to adapt to the industrial world as a blind man. Big Mat is the last one to leave behind his tradition. While at home he lashed out in anger against his oppressors, such as the riding boss, in the North Big Mat joins the oppressor as he becomes a deputy, using his anger to break his fellow workers' strike. Edward E. Waldron describes him as becoming "as destructive as the exploding furnace". Style. Form of the migration narrative. In her book, "Who Set You Flowin'?: The African American Migration Narrative", Farah Jasmine Griffin explains that the migration narrative is a dominant form in African American culture. Griffin cites Lawrence Rodgers as the first to identify migration with the emergence of a new genre: the Great Migration Novel. This type of work that "Blood on the Forge" is associated with has a specific narrative form. In relation to the dominant white society, all migrants are strangers: foreigners driven by persecution to wander in search of a new home. In Attaway's novel, the mill workers all fall under this category. The Moss brothers work with foreign immigrants as well as other Southern migrants like themselves. Within the context of the African American community, the stranger is that figure who possesses no connections to the community. As they migrate to the industrial North, the Moss brothers leave their home and traditions, and start over in a place where they have no connections. Griffin describes four moments that occur in migration narratives. Not all migration narratives have all four, and they need not occur in this order. 1) An event that propels action north. In "Blood on the Forge", this event is the opportunity for new jobs and a better life. 2) Presentation of the initial confrontation within the urban landscape. The first confrontation the Moss brothers have is when they get off the train and arrive in the city for their new job. As they do this, they meet immigrants and are confronted with the diversity and entirely different atmosphere of the urban landscape. 3) Illustration of attempt to negotiate. The bulk of the novel is the brothers trying to adapt to their new lifestyle. 4) Vision of possibilities or limitations of the North. We see both limitations and possibilities of the North in this novel. At the end as Melody and Chinatown leave for a new opportunity in a new city, there is a sense of possibility for a better situation than the previous one. Limitations of the North can be seen in several instances throughout the story. Chinatown loses his eyes in a fatal explosion in the mills, and Big Mat loses his life trying to gain respect. Characters. Major characters. Big Mat. Big Mat is the eldest of the three Moss brothers. In Part One of Attaway's novel he is employed as a sharecropper on Mr. Johnston's farm in Kentucky. Of the three brothers Big Mat's most notable attributes are his physical size/strength, his rage, and his constant need to be a provider for his family. After the brothers migrate to Pennsylvania Big Mat focuses his energies on doing well at his new job, and scrupulously saves his money so that he might bring his wife Hattie North. Eventually his resolve breaks and Big Mat enters into a relationship with the prostitute Anna. Mat continues to use his physical strength as a weapon against others until his death during the raid of the Union Headquarters. According to Phillip H. Vaughan's article "From Pastoralism to Industrial Antipathy in William Attaway's "Blood on the Forge"" Attaway uses Big Mat's character to represents "the plodding strength and endurance of all Southern Negroes under their particular color-caste system". Edward E. Waldron claims that Big Mat represents "the last side of the complete folk culture, religion, and an equally important tie to the soil. " John Claborn asserts that while Melody and Chinatown become destroyed in the North, Big Mat "thrives" in his new home, as he, "identifies more with the machines than with his fellow white workers, for they allow him to flourish in a way denied him by Jim Crow. " Chinatown Moss. Chinatown is a younger half sibling to Big Mat. Chinatown resists sharecropping work, instead enjoying a lazy and carefree lifestyle on the Kentucky farm. Chinatown focuses on his own needs before those of the family, using his money on frivolous items such as a gold tooth. After leaving the farm, Chinatown, succumbing to the temptations offered by city life in Pennsylvania, becomes fascinated with drinking, gambling, and hiring prostitutes. Midway through the novel, Chinatown is left blind after an accident at the steel mill and is forced out of work and into the care of Big Mat and Melody. Phillip H. Vaughan argues that Chinatown's "lazy, happy-go-lucky attitude reflects in part a psychological response to the subjugated position of the Negroes" following the abolition of slavery. Edward E. Waldron claims that Chinatown's main concern in life is to make himself unique, to be noticed as special; his gold tooth provides relief for this concern, and "looking at the tooth shining back at him from his mirror image gives Chinatown a real sense of being somebody. " Stacy I. Morgan claims that the tooth represents Chinatown's "fragile sense of self-esteem," and that he "fixes on the gold tooth as a way of struggling to affirm his individuality and humanity in the face of a socioeconomic system that would otherwise reduce him to a faceless sharecropper. Melody Moss. Melody, like Chinatown, is a younger half-sibling to Big Mat. Melody's most prominent characteristic is his love for music, which is expressed through his guitar playing. Once the brothers migrate to Pennsylvania, Melody is forced to work in the steel mills alongside his brothers; this harsh new way of life alienates Melody from his guitar, and he ceases to play. Melody develops feelings for Anna, despite her relationship with Big Mat, and tries to convince her to run away with him. According to Vaughan, Melody's blues singing "recreates and sustains the pastoral myth... and an existence characterized by images of hunger, barrenness, and drudgery". Minor characters. Hattie. Hattie is Big Mat's wife. When the Moss Brothers travel North, Hattie is left behind pregnant. Big Mat receives a letter from Hattie saying that she fell and lost the baby. Sugar Mama. Sugar Mama is a prostitute from "Mex Town." Anna. Anna is fourteen or fifteen years old and Sugar Mama's niece. Sugar Mama sent for Anna from New Mexico, thinking she would bring more business. At first, Anna tries to sleep with Melody, but when Big Mat defends Anna after an owner at the dog fight hits her, she becomes infatuated with Big Mat. Anna moves into a shack with Big Mat, where she endures his beatings. Smothers. Smothers is a crippled laborer. In an article published in "MFS Modern Fiction Studies", John Claborn claims that Smothers is "a prophetic spokesman for the earth's pain." Claborn notes that Smother's legs have been mutilated in a violent steel mill incident, and claims that "Smothers's shrill prophecies are the product of wisdom gained through suffering, of a heightened sense of what the ground feels as it is mined, smelted, and made into steel. " After Smothers dies in a mill accident, his co-workers memorialize him by turning the steel scraps from the accident into watch fobs, wearing these around their necks for luck. Mr. Johnston. The Moss brothers sharecrop on Mr. Johnson's land in Kentucky. Mr. Johnston had stopped giving the family food credit after Big Mat killed the mule Mr. Johnston had lent them, and claims the Moss family's share of the crop for the next two years to pay for the loss of the animal. However, Mr. Johnston wants to prevent the brothers from leaving to work in the North, so he tells Big Mat that he will give the Moss' a mule so that they can continue to work their land, and offers Melody and Chinatown work doing odd jobs around his farm. Riding Boss. Big Mat identifies the Kentucky riding boss as the son of a poor white sharecropper. When Big Mat goes to get the mule he was promised by Mr. Johnston, the riding boss, eager to exert his power, insults and whips Big Mat. Big Mat loses his temper and attacks the riding boss, prompting the brothers' departure to the north. Bo. Bo is the "boss of stove gang" who catches Chinatown and Melody staring at the woman with the "rotted" breast. Bo points Chinatown and Melody in the right direction of the bunkhouse. Mike. Mike is an Italian open-hearth worker who helps the brothers learn the ropes around the mill. O'Casey. O'Casey is the diminutive pit boss in charge of the brothers' group at the mill. Zanski. Zanski is an old, Slavic laborer who works with the brothers in the pit and works at the lunch car with his granddaughter, Rosie. He's eventually fired from the mills. Rosie. Rosie is Zanski's granddaughter who waitresses at the lunch car. Later in the novel it is revealed that she also works as a prostitute. Themes. Nature. There is something very timely in Attaway's implicit warning against the industry of the North, as Edward Margolies suggests in his introduction to the 1969 edition of the novel: possibly he [Attaway] saw his worst fears realized in the rapid spread industrial wastelands and the consequent plight of urban Negroes. From one point of view Attaway's feelings about the sanctity of nature now seem almost quaint in an age of cybernetics. The Moss brothers idealize nature, looking back on their homeland of Kentucky with a certain pastoral fondness. Although the nature of the South is idealized, in both the North and the South nature is dying. In the South, Attaway highlights the overworked land, Big Mat's barren wife Hattie, the family’s extreme hunger, and the drudgery of plowing all day with no reward. Likewise, the urban landscape of the North is also painted as dismal and dying. In the North, Attaway shows the defilement of natural landscape, evident "in the pollution of the 'dirty-as-a-catfish-hole river with a beautiful name: the Monongahela," as well as the "'mountains of red ore, yellow limestone, and black coke,' that line the river banks." Attaway's use of "mules" in both the South and North, in different contexts, highlights the Moss brothers' "unfamiliarity of the artifacts of industrial technology" as well as the similarities between the two places." "Mule" refers both to the animal in the South, and the "small engines that hauled steel along the river front" in the Northern mills." The mules, though in the South a part of nature and the pastoral nostalgia felt by the Moss brothers, essentially serve the same function as the mules of the mills; both types of mules perform a mechanized, repetitive task. Stacy I. Morgan argues that Attaway calls attention to the mechanical mules not only to contrast with the animals of sharecropping, but to call attention to the mule's prominence within African American history and folklore. Morgan also claims that Attaway "indirectly evokes America's unfulfilled promises of enfranchisement ('forty acres and a mule') as well as the long-standing identification of African American men with the mule as a creature that stubbornly endures despite being much abused as a beast of burden." Attaway exposes the danger of destroying nature through the voice of the mill worker Smothers, who repeatedly warns his fellow workers of the destructive power of the machines. Though the workers seem to see Smothers' prophecies as merely "half-mad, shrill rants," Claborn argues that "Attaway goes out of his way to invest [Smothers] with a strange dignity and characterize him as a Tiresian speaker of truth. " Smothers sees that destruction of nature "can lead to can lead to industrial accidents, understood as the land avenging itself against humans. " Hunger. Attaway depicts how African American sharecroppers were forcibly deprived of many of life's necessities. In Kentucky, the Moss brothers had to use newspapers attached to the wall in order to provide a bit of insulation, and they are so hungry that they chose to smoke or chew tobacco in an attempt to suppress their appetites. One way that they deal with this hunger is through music, and the novel opens with Melody playing the "hungry blues" on his guitar, which he hopes will distract his family members from their empty stomachs. Metaphorically, the Moss brothers are also "hungry" for other possessions, those that would not satisfy their physical hunger but rather that part of themselves that desired for a comfortable, leisurely life. This hunger is expressed by the brothers through their "wishing game," where Melody and Chinatown fantasize about their ideal day. When the game is played in the South this idyllic day takes place in the city, where the brothers imagine that they are dressed in fine clothes, gamble all day, and eat and drink their favorite things. Once they migrate to the Northern city, this fantasy day takes place back home in the country. They experience this emotional, existential hunger in both locations. Stacy I. Morgan argues that they desire things that remain "ever out of reach," which shows that "the existential dimension of Attaway's hunger metaphor arises precisely out of this perpetually deferred set of desires." North vs South. In an article published by "Negro American Literature Forum", Edward E. Waldron claims that Attaway depicts an intricate examination of the "death of the blues", or the death of folk culture, with the Moss brothers' move from the South to the North. The changes in Melody and Chinatown reflect the overall changes that southern blacks experienced in the Great Migration, as they have to leave their folk ways behind in order to survive their new, "industrially-oriented environment." Stacy I. Morgan also alludes to the ways in which the brothers' mind-set has shifted upon migrating to the North. Their vastly increased income in the North allows them new opportunities and multiple ways to spend their new capital, emphasizing instant gratification " Morgan also notes that the Moss brothers' fear in the train scene, during which their inability to see each other fills each brother with a terrifying sense of isolation, may be Attway's way of highlighting an issue that confronted many who moved during the Great Migration: the "absence of material links to the family, community, and lifeways of former homes, which w[as] frequently demanded by the circumstances of the migration journey northward—a journey that, for many African Americans, did necessarily commence under cover of night. " Morgan asserts that with the absence of these links to their former selves, it was especially difficult for the migrants to retain any former cultural identity in their new homes. Mechanization. Edward E. Waldron claims that "Blood on the Forge" is a story of "man's changing nature in the face of ever-increasing mechanization." Stacy I. Morgan states that the physical injuries experienced in the mills are extreme examples of the larger process going on: the "transforming [of] workers' sense of time and of their own bodies." Phyllis R. Klotman looks at the ways in which the three brothers bodies became tools, a part of machine: "Chinatown is blinded in an accident which eats up the lives of fourteen men; Melody’s hand is smashed so that he is no longer able to play the guitar; Big Mat is killed during the strike which he has become as unwitting tool the bosses wield against the white workers," suggesting that "the three brothers are systematically unmanned by the dehumanizing process of forging steel." One of the tragic outcomes in the novel, according to Klotman, is the loss of continuity in the lives of men who are almost human sacrifices to the industrial Moloch created by an unseen hand grasping for profits. By wearing scraps of the steel that killed Smothers, John Claborn argues that the workers "give the steel a ritual value that escapes the logic of exchange value; these scraps open up a space for resistance, insofar as they signify the workers' communal bonding." With this act, Attaway may signify a "shift in the workers' consciousness," as "the narration itself seems to gain a heightened awareness of the connection between steel and the ground." In addition, Claborn feels that "Smothers is ritually sacrificed for the sake of more direct commentary on steel production as a globally interdependent process." As Attaway wrote, "The nearness of a farmer to his farm was easily understood. But no man was close to steel. It was shipped across endless tracks to all the world." Claborn claims that Big Mat embodies the link between mechanic and racial violence. Once he is deputized, given power by the white law enforcement, and charged to "suppress the white workers," he "relishes the terror he inspires." Claborn notes that, "once the strike begins and the furnaces start to cool down because there are not enough workers to keep them burning, Big Mat single-handedly tries to keep the machines functioning," and claims that this "impossible effort" shows that "Big Mat has himself become a machine." "Only as he dies […] does Big Mat glimpse the reality that, in siding with the mill owners and in becoming a machine, he has become an agent of oppression." Myth of the American Dream and the working class. Attaway's novel depicts how industrial technology dehumanizes working class laborers, alienates workers from the products of their labors, and also highlights how capitalism moved towards mechanized standardization and away from individualized artistry and craftsmanship. The character Anna in particular illustrates another aspect of the American myth, according to Stacy I. Morgan, as Anna dreams of becoming "like the Americanos." However, Morgan writes, Anna attempts to move up in class by wearing shiny heels and an elaborate gown, and thereby "misapprehends the complexity of American class identity by reducing it to material cultural signs." Eventually, her dress becomes filthy from being dragged in the mud, and Anna must wear it "pinned like a diaper between her legs," which Morgan claims illustrates how that "the icon intended as a symbol of maturity and class status" becomes a symbol of "Anna's childishness." In addition, Morgan notes that Anna is "tragically pathetic," forbidden by Big Mat to go out in public, the space "for which such ostentatious apparel is designed." Critical reception. Attaway's novels were not a major attraction to critics at their time of publication. Although Attaway's novels were received well, they have not been as critically acclaimed as other novels written during the 1940s, including "The Grapes of Wrath" (Steinbeck, 1939) and "Native Son" (Wright, 1941) which have both maintained an exceptional reputation for radical novels written during the Great Depression. Attaway did not continue writing novels after "Blood on the Forge", but instead went on to successfully write and produce songs, music and screenplays.

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Mr. Potter (novel) Mr. Potter (2002) is a novel by Antiguan born writer Jamaica Kincaid. It tells the story of a girl growing up without a father. When Mr. Potter, the father, died, a part of the girl (Elaine) died with him.

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Abeng (novel) Abeng (Ä běng) is a novel related to "Maroons," published in 1984 by Michelle Cliff. It is a semi-fictional autobiographical novel about a mixed-race Jamaican girl named Clare Savage growing up in the 1950s. It explores the historical repression resulting from British imperialism in Jamaica. Facts regarding imperialism of the island are dispersed throughout the narrative, as well as facts about slavery in Jamaica and Jamaican folklore. It is emphasized that the protagonists are generally unaware of these facts, which often serve to reveal the brutal nature of both slavery and imperialism. In this way Cliff reveals her intentions for the book. It is a piece of revisionist literature meant to challenge the mainstream narrative of Jamaican history. The character Clare Savage would return in Michelle Cliff's next novel, "No Telephone to Heaven" (1987). Origins of title. "Abeng" means an animal horn or musical instrument in the Twi language of the Akan people of Ghana. The abeng has had two historical uses in Jamaica. It was used by slaveholders to summon slaves to the sugar fields. It was also used by the Maroon army as a method of communication. In a recent lecture at the University of St. Thomas, Cliff said that the title was a reference to both of these uses, though neither appears in the novel's text; they are referenced in the book's foreword. She further explained that the title is an attempt to "take back" Jamaican history.

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The Crossover The Crossover is a 2015 children's book by American author Kwame Alexander and the winner of the 2015 Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Award Honor. The book, which is told entirely through verse, was first published in the United States in hardback on March 18, 2014 through HMH Books for Young Readers. The story follows two African-American twin brothers who share a love for basketball but find themselves drifting apart as they head into their junior high school year. They also run into many obstacles that they must overcome, like a girl who starts conflict between them, Alexis. Reception. Critical reception for "The Crossover" has been positive. According to "Kirkus Reviews", "Poet Alexander deftly reveals the power of the format to pack an emotional punch." In "Booklist", Gail Bush called "The Crossover" "a rare verse novel that is fundamentally poetic rather than using this writing trend as a device." Writing for the "Washington Post", Mary Quattlebaum said Alexander was "at the top of his poetic game in this taut, complex tale of the crossover from brash, vulnerable boy to young adult." Poet Cornelius Eady wrote in "The New York Times", "The biggest surprise of 'The Crossover' is that, for all the bells and whistles of a young man's game, it is most boldly and certainly a book about tenderness." According to Katrina Hedeen in "The Horn Book Magazine", "Alexander brings the novel-in-verse format to a fresh audience with this massively appealing package for reluctant readers, athletes especially." Writing for "School Library Journal", Kiera Parrott said, "Alexander has crafted a story that vibrates with energy and heart and begs to be read aloud. A slam dunk."

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Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is a 1976 novel by Mildred D. Taylor, sequel to her 1975 novella "Song of the Trees". The novel won the 1977 Newbery Medal. It is a central part of the Logan family saga which includes three sequels, "Let the Circle Be Unbroken" (1981), "The Road to Memphis" (1990), "All the Days Past, All the Days to Come" (2020) and a prequel, "The Land" (2001). The novel explores the struggles of African Americans in 1930s Southern Mississippi through the perspective of nine year old Cassie Logan. Taylor uses the novel to highlight several themes including Jim Crow segregation, Black landownership, sharecropping, the Great Depression and lynching. Plot. Nine-year-old Cassie Logan is walking to school with her siblings Stacey (twelve years old), Christopher-John (seven years old), and Little Man,(six years old), in rural Mississippi. Cassie talks about the land which the Logan family lives on. It belonged to Harlan Granger, but he sold 2000 acres of it in 1886 to cover his taxes during Reconstruction. Their grandfather bought two hundred acres in 1887, then another two hundred acres in 1919. At school, Cassie and Little Man notice that the books they use were originally in new condition distributed to the white kids, finally given to the black students once they're in bad condition. Their teacher Miss Crocker meets with Cassie's mother, Mary, who is also a teacher at the school. Mary calmly glues a piece of paper over the chart containing the racist information. She hands them back to a dumbstruck Crocker. That Saturday their father, David Logan, comes home from his railroad job in Louisiana, bringing with him L.T. Morrison to assist in planting, farming, protection, and other jobs, as Morrison was fired from the railroad for a fight that was the white men's fault. Papa leaves the next day to catch a train. The next week, Stacey and T.J. take an examination and T.J. creates cheat sheets that he gives to Stacey when he sees Mrs. Logan approaching him. She finds the notes, accuses Stacey of cheating on the test, and whips him in front of the class before failing him. After school, T.J. runs to the Wallace store, which the Logans forbid their children from visiting due to the Wallaces causing much of the black people's troubles. Stacey follows T.J. and the others follow Stacey. Mr. Morrison finds them fighting and separates them, much to the Wallaces' anger. Instead of telling their mother, Morrison leaves Stacey to do it himself. Stacey tells her and she takes the children to visit the Berrys. Mr. Berry is badly burned, gruesomely disfigured and mute. Mama explains that the Wallaces are responsible for this and that is why they are never to go near the Wallaces' store again. The next day, Mama recruits people to boycott the Wallaces' store because they are the cause of most of the trouble between the blacks and the whites, and are alleged to be members of the "night men", who are also known as the Ku Klux Klan. Big Ma, Cassie's grandmother, takes Stacey, Cassie and T.J. to Strawberry (another town) and sells her goods at the market there, but away from the white people's wagons. After lunch, they visit the office of Mr. Jamison, their white lawyer and son of the man who sold them Harlan Granger's land. He is one of the few whites, esp. Southerners who treat black people equally. While there, T.J. takes Cassie and Stacey to the Barnett Mercantile to purchase items his family needs. T.J. admires a pearl-handled revolver on display, and says he wants to own it. Mr. Barnett begins serving T.J., but when white customers come in, Mr. Barnett interrupts his business with T.J. to serve them. Cassie reminds Mr. Barnett that they have been waiting for an hour; he tells her in racist terms to continue waiting. Cassie does not understand and begins yelling at Mr. Barnett. Stacey tells her to be quiet, and Mr. Barnett ejects them both from the store. Outside, Cassie accidentally bumps into Lillian Jean Simms on the sidewalk. Lillian Jean orders her to get down in the road and apologize. Cassie tries running, but Lillian Jean's father twists her arm and throws her onto the road and orders her to apologize by calling her "Miz Lillian Jean" as though she were an adult. To Cassie's horror, her grandmother reluctantly enforces Mr. Simms's command, and she is forced to apologize. When they get home, they find their uncle Hammer Logan from Chicago is visiting with a shiny silver Packard. Cassie tells him what happened and Hammer drives away seeking revenge, but is stopped and calmed by Mr. Morrison. Mama tells Stacey to get Mr. Morrison to stop Hammer because she is worried Hammer will be lynched for attacking a white family. She later finds him alive and unharmed. Before going to church, Hammer gives Stacey an early Christmas present, a wool coat whose sleeves are too long. At church, T.J. teases Stacey about the coat, claiming the ill-fitting sleeves make it look "like a fat preacher's coat". Eventually, T.J. convinces Stacey to give him the coat, since it would fit him better. Mama is furious about this, but Uncle Hammer tells Stacey to let T.J. keep the coat. Papa comes home for Christmas and is staying until spring. On Christmas night, Lillian Jean's younger brother Jeremy brings nuts for all the Logan children, as well as a handmade flute for Stacey. Papa warns Stacey to be careful about being friends with Jeremy, explaining that as he gets older, he may change and become as racist as the rest of his family. The next day, Papa calls the children into the barn, whips them and tells them never to go to the Wallace store again. Time passes and Papa starts leading the boycott against the Wallaces' store. Mr. Jamison visits and Big Ma signs papers transferring the land to Papa and Hammer. Jamison also warns them to be careful, as they could still lose their land if they continue their boycott. Mr. Granger asks for the land again, but Papa still refuses. Hammer returns to Chicago. Cassie makes "peace" with Lillian Jean, calling her "Miz Lillian Jean" and being her friend by carrying her books to and from school. As Lillian Jean begins trusting Cassie, she tells her all her own secrets, as well as those of her friends and brothers. Cassie eventually exacts her revenge by leading Lillian Jean into the woods, where she drops her books on the ground and starts taunting her. Lillian jean punches her and they fight. Cassie forces Lillian Jean to apologize for all the humiliation she inflicted on her, then threatens to reveal all of Lillian Jean's secrets if she tells anyone what happened. T.J. is caught cheating again and fails for another year. He tells Mr. Wallace about the Logans' organized boycott of his store and how Mrs. Logan does not teach from the county-issued textbooks because she believes they contain biased information. Mr. Granger, Mr. Wallace, and a school board member fire Mrs. Logan on charges of teaching unapproved subjects. Stacey blames T.J., who denies it was his fault. As his black friends begin to shun him over this, T.J. turns to hanging out with Jeremy Simms' older brothers Melvin and R.W., who manipulate T.J. and mock him behind his back. Papa, Mr. Morrison, and Stacey go to Vicksburg; on their way back, they find one of the wagon wheels has been tampered with. As Papa fixes it, they are ambushed by the Wallaces. They attempt to shoot Papa with a bullet that grazes his temple. However, this startles the horse into running off, causing the wagon to fall and crush Papa's leg. Mr. Morrison attacks the Wallaces, snapping Dewberry Wallace's back. Later, Mr. Granger uses his banking influence to make the Logans' mortgage note due for full payment within a week even though the Logans had four more years to pay it. Uncle Hammer sells his car and other items, allowing the Logans to pay their mortgage. On the last night of church revival meetings in August, T.J. appears dressed up in gangster-like clothes with R.W. and Melvin in order to show his former friends he is better off without them. R.W. and Melvin take T.J. to get the pearl-handled pistol at the Barnett store. The store is closed, but R.W. and Melvin convince T.J. to steal the gun while they rob the cash box. The Barnetts catch what appear to be three black burglars, as Melvin and R.W. are wearing stocking masks over their faces. R.W. hits Mr. Barnett with the flat end of an ax and slaps Mrs. Barnett, causing her to hit the back of her head on a stove and black out. They beat up T.J. when he threatens to tell what happened. T.J. flees to the Logans. Stacey takes T.J. home before T.J.'s father finds him missing and kicks him out. The Simms and Wallaces attack the Averys' home, capture T.J. and are about to lynch him when Mr. Jamison and the town sheriff arrived. It is revealed that Mr. Barnett has died. The Wallaces propose taking T.J. to the Logans' land and killing him and Papa and Mr. Morrison. Suddenly, the Logan's family cotton fields catch fire, and the community bands together to stop it. The sheriff arrests T.J. and Cassie realizes that Papa set the fire to save T.J. Stacey asks what T.J.'s fate will be. Papa replies that he will be convicted of Mr. Barnett's murder and may be executed. Cassie, overwhelmed by the news, silently goes to bed. Although Cassie never liked T.J., she cries for him and the land. Reception. At the time of the book's publication, "Kirkus Reviews" wrote, "Taylor trusts to her material and doesn't try to inflate Cassie's role in these events, and though the strong, clear-headed Logan family is no doubt an idealization, their characters are drawn with quiet affection and their actions tempered with a keen sense of human fallibility." In a retrospective essay about the Newbery Medal-winning books from 1976 to 1985, literary critic Zena Sutherland wrote of "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry", "There is no doubt that this book remains today as effective dramatically and as important sociologically as it was when it appeared... This is not an unflawed book, but it is a memorable one." In addition to a Newbery Medal, the novel was also a National Book Award finalist and Coretta Scott King Award honoree. Censorship and banning incidents. The Burbank Unified School District banned the book from the curriculum due to complaints from four parents who allege the material in the book could lead to potential harm to the district's Black students. Film. In 1978, the novel was adapted into a television film directed by Jack Smight and starring Claudia McNeil, Janet MacLachlan and Morgan Freeman. The film won modest praise, including two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Best Cinematography and Best Sound Editing.

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Transcendent Kingdom Transcendent Kingdom is a novel by Yaa Gyasi, published in the United States on September 1, 2020 by Alfred A. Knopf (). "Transcendent Kingdom" was found in Literary Hub to have made 17 lists of the best books of 2020. Summary. The novel follows 28-year-old Gifty, a PhD candidate in neuroscience in her fifth year at Stanford University, and her Ghanaian-American mother, who is suffering from a deep depression. While experimenting on lab mice for her research, Gifty gets a call that her mother is not feeling well. She sends for her mother so she can take care of her and is overwhelmed by the remembrance of the first time her mother fell into a similar depression, when Gifty was 11. Gifty's mother and her father, affectionately nick-named The Chin-chin man, were Ghanaians who met and married late. They had a brilliant son, Nana, and after his birth Gifty's mother, seeking a better life for her child, relocated to Huntsville, Alabama where a cousin of hers was studying. Gifty's mother was forced to take menial jobs, eventually become a caretaker to abusive and racist elderly patients. Gifty's father eventually relocated to America to be with his family but was only able to find unstable work as a janitor. Gifty was born a few years later, and was an unwanted pregnancy. The family was anchored around Nana's prodigious gifts as an athlete and their mother's fervant religious zeal which Gifty inherited. Never settling in Alabama, The Chin-chin man eventually returned to Ghana for what was initially supposed to be a short trip, never to return. Shaken by his father's abandonment, Nana quit soccer, a sport which he had been proficient in, and in high school joined basketball. After injuring his ankle in a low-stakes game Nana was prescribed opioids and quickly became addicted, seeking out heroin to allay his cravings. When Gifty is 11 her brother dies of an overdose and her mother falls into a deep depression, taking to her bed and unable to care for herself. After she tried to commit suicide Gifty is forced to seek help and is sent to Ghana while her mother recovers, staying with her maternal aunt and briefly reuniting with her estranged father. Nana's death and Gifty's mother's attempted suicide push Gifty away from religion. A bright scholar, she attends elite universities and chooses a path in neuroscience studying addictive behaviour. Her past and her continued belief in God mark her as an outsider and she has trouble opening herself up emotionally. In the present, unable to help her mother she finally reaches out to a colleague of hers who supports Gifty as she attempts to help her mother. In an unspecified future time, after Gifty's mother has died of natural causes, a now married Gifty who is flourishing as a scientist and runs her own lab continues to attend church. Reception. The book drew positive reviews upon publication. "The Washington Post" named it "a book of blazing brilliance". "USA Today" called it "stealthily devastating" while "Vox" gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

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Passing (novel) Passing is a novel by American author Nella Larsen, first published in 1929. Set primarily in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City in the 1920s, the story centers on the reunion of two childhood friends—Clare Kendry and Irene Redfield—and their increasing fascination with each other's lives. The title refers to the practice of "racial passing", and is a key element of the novel; Clare Kendry's attempt to pass as white for her husband, John (Jack) Bellew, is its most significant depiction in the novel, and a catalyst for the tragic events. Larsen's exploration of race was informed by her own mixed racial heritage and the increasingly common practice of racial passing in the 1920s. Praised upon publication, the novel has since been celebrated in modern scholarship for its complex depiction of race, gender and sexuality, and is the subject of considerable scholarly criticism. As one of only two novels that Larsen wrote, "Passing" has been significant in placing its author at the forefront of several literary canons. Background. Biographical context. As early as 1925, Nella Larsen had decided that she wanted to be among the "New Negro" writers receiving considerable attention at the time. Initially writing short stories that were sold early in 1926 to a ladies magazine, she was rumored that year to be writing a novel. In a letter to her friend, Carl Van Vechten, she acknowledges, "it is the awful truth. But, who knows if I'll get through with the damned thing. Certainly not I." In April 1927, Larsen and her husband, Elmer Imes, moved from Jersey City, New Jersey to Harlem to be closer to the cultural phenomenon. The following year, Larsen published her first novel "Quicksand" with New York-based publisher Knopf, and its favorable critical reception encouraged her ambitions to become known as a novelist. Historical context. The 1920s in the United States was a period marked by considerable anxiety and discussion over the crossing of racial boundaries, the so-called "color line" between blacks and whites. This anxiety was exacerbated by the Great Migration, in which hundreds of thousands of blacks left the rural south for northern and midwestern cities, where, together with new waves of immigrants, they changed the social makeup. The practice of persons "crossing the color line"—attempting to claim recognition in another racial group than the one they were believed to belong to—was known as "passing". As many African Americans had European ancestry in varying proportions, some appeared visibly European. The legacy of slavery, with its creation of a racial caste, and the imposition in the 17th century of the so-called one-drop rule (by which someone with even one ancestor of sub-Saharan-African origin was considered black) led to a hardening of racial lines that had historically been more fluid; at any time, the concept of race was "historically contingent." Although the exact numbers of people who passed is, for obvious reasons, not known, many estimates were made at the time. The sociologist Charles S. Johnson (1893–1956) calculated that 355,000 blacks had passed between 1900 and 1920. A significant precedent for Larsen's depiction of Clare and Jack's relationship was the 1925 legal trial known as the "Rhinelander Case" (or "Rhinelander v. Rhinelander"). On the urging of his family, Leonard Kip Rhinelander, a wealthy white man, sued his wife, Alice Beatrice Jones, for annulment and fraud; he alleged that she had failed to inform him of her "colored" blood. The case concerned not only race but also status and class, as he had met her when she was working as a domestic. Although the jury eventually returned a verdict for Alice (she contended that her mixed race was obvious, and she had never denied it), it came at a devastating social cost for both parties; intimate exchanges between the couple were read out in court, and Alice was forced to partially disrobe in front of the jury in the judge's chambers in order for them to assess the darkness of her skin. Larsen refers to the case near the end of the novel, when Irene wonders about the consequences of Jack discovering Clare's racial status: "What if Bellew should divorce Clare? Could he? There was the "Rhinelander" case." The case received substantial coverage in the press of the time, and Larsen could assume that it was common knowledge to her readers. Plot. The story is written as a third person narrative from the perspective of Irene Redfield, a mixed-race woman who lives in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. Part One of the book, titled "Encounter," opens with Irene receiving a letter from Clare Kendry, causing her to recall a chance encounter she had had with her, at the roof restaurant of the Drayton Hotel in Chicago, during a brief stay in the city. Irene does not answer Clare's attempts to reconnect written in the letters.The women grew up together but lost touch when Clare's bi-racial father died and she was taken to live with her two paternal white aunts. Irene learns that Clare "passes" for white, living primarily in Europe with her unsuspecting, rich, white husband and their daughter. Although Irene tries to avoid further engagement with Clare, she never is able to fully exclude her from her life as she later visits Clare for tea along with another childhood friend, Gertrude Martin. Toward the end of the visit, Clare's white husband John (Jack) Bellew arrives. Unaware that all three women are bi-racial, Jack expresses some very racist views and makes the women uneasy. However, the women play along in an effort to maintain Clare's secret identity. Afterward, Irene and Gertrude decide that Clare's situation is too dangerous for them to continue associating with her and are uncomfortable around Clare and her husband. Irene receives a letter of apology from Clare but destroys it in her quest to try and forget about Clare and get her out of her life. Instead Irene wants to focus on her life with her husband, Brian, and her two sons, Theodore and Brian Jr. Part Two of the book, "Re-encounter," returns to the present, with Irene having received the new letter from Clare. After Irene ignores Clare's letter, Clare visits in person so Irene reluctantly agrees to see her. When it is brought up that Irene serves on the committee for the "Negro Welfare League" (NWL) Clare invites herself to their upcoming dance despite Irene's advice against it for fear that Jack will find out. Clare attends the dance and enjoys herself without her husband finding out, which encourages her to continue spending time in Harlem. Irene and Clare resume their childhood companionship, and Clare frequently visits Irene's home. The third and final part of the novel begins before Christmas, as Irene's relationship with her husband has become increasingly fraught. Aware of her friend's appeal, Irene becomes convinced that her husband is having an affair with Clare. During a shopping trip with her visibly black friend Felise Freeland, Irene encounters Jack, who becomes aware of her and, by extension, Clare's, racial status. Irene considers warning Clare about Jack's new-found knowledge but decides against it, worried that the pair's divorce might encourage her husband to leave her for Clare. Later, Clare accompanies Irene and Brian to a party hosted by Felise. The gathering is interrupted by Jack, who accuses Clare of being a "damned dirty nigger!" Irene rushes to Clare, who is standing by an open window. Suddenly, Clare falls out of the window from the top floor of the building to the ground below, where she is pronounced dead by the guests who eventually gather at the site. Whether she has fallen accidentally, was pushed by either Irene or Bellew, or committed suicide, is unclear. The book ends with Irene's fragmented anguish at Clare's death. Themes. Race and "tragic mulatto". "Passing" has been described as "the tragic story of a beautiful light-skinned mulatto passing for white in high society." The tragic mulatto (also "mulatta" when referring to a woman) is a stock character in early African-American literature. Such accounts often featured the light-skinned offspring of a white slaveholder and his black slave, whose mixed heritage in a race-based society means that she is unable to identify or find a place with either blacks or whites. The resulting feeling of exclusion was portrayed as variably manifested in self-loathing, depression, alcoholism, sexual perversion, and attempts at suicide. On the surface, "Passing" conforms to that stereotype in its portrayal of Clare Kendry, whose passing for white has tragic consequences; however, the book resists the conventions of the genre, as Clare refuses to feel the expected anguish at the betrayal of her black identity and socializes with blacks for the purposes of excitement rather than racial solidarity. Scholars have more generally considered "Passing" as a novel in which the major concern is not race. For instance, Claudia Tate describes the issue as "merely a mechanism for setting the story in motion, sustaining the suspense, and bringing about the external circumstances for the story's conclusion." Catherine Rottenberg argues that Larsen's novella is a prime example of race and gender norms portrayed in the US. The main characters, Irene and Clare, and their struggle with their own identification problems in the novel, helps readers understand the difference between gender and race norms. These two central characters are able to pass as white women even though Irene does not fully pass over, and Rottenberg argues the difference between Clare and Irene by re-evaluating the idea of desire/identification. The mis-identification Clare deals with stems from her re-connection with Irene after twelve years of not speaking. Seeing Irene sparked a desire in Clare for her to get back in touch with her African-American culture. Irene's identification trouble is associated with her need to feel safe and in control in her life, the main reason Irene chooses to pass over only on occasion. Irene doesn't want to put herself into a dangerous situation. Class. As scholars show, race is not the only primary concern in Nella Larsen's "Passing". Class is also a major aspect that is simultaneously developed. Both of the main characters Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry present a strong sense of class. They also demonstrate how they cross clearly defined class borders in order to obtain more power in their life. Zulena. Scholarly critics such as Mary Wilson have examined the character of Irene's maid Zulena, who demonstrates the middle-class African-American family in the 1920s. Irene opposed the idea of discrimination and racism towards the blacks but when it came to maintaining her social class she preferred domesticity and servitude even if it was from the people from her own black race. Domesticity in the South was often associated with the black woman but Irene decides to maintain the power and class through the servitude of another black woman. Wilson examines that the differences in class were not just embedded in the black versus white society but also within the single black race. Such difference can be seen as a conflict between Irene's ideology and her actions when it comes to maintaining her status as a middle-class African-American. The class privilege is well defined through the skin color as Zulena is described as a "mahogany-colored creature" which meant that she had no chance to pass like Irene as white and it automatically decides the role for the black colored woman to serve as a maid and belong to the inferior class. Although, Irene calls herself black but having an ability to pass as white makes her behave like a white privileged woman because she happily accepts the servitude complicating the issue of race and class. Larsen introduces Zulena in the story as a "colored creature", primarily from Irene's perspective which depicts that Irene's considers her servant from an inferior class and therefore decides to keep a certain distance from her maid. Clare Kendry. Clare Kendry crosses social class binaries. Clare does not inhabit any particular social class but rather lives as both a working-class and a middle-class woman in the novel. Clare is born in a working-class family where her father is a janitor of the building that she lives in. In adulthood, she passes during her marriage to obtain the lifestyle of an upper-middle-class woman. Despite having the luxury and comfort that she has always wanted but never had had in her childhood, Clare still longs for her childhood experiences and constantly visits Irene and her maid Zelena. Because Clare shares many experiences of the working-class, she feels very comfortable when talking to Zulena as if Zulena was her friend. Clare's desire to live in both social classes at the same time shows how these class boundaries are fluid. Irene Redfield. While Clare demonstrates her class binaries, Irene is very protective towards her own status quo. Irene grew up as a middle-class person and continues to live as such after marrying a doctor. Irene is more hesitant to cross between middle-class and working-class; she isolates herself and avoids all of the circumstances that she might be mistaken for a lower-class person. For example, during Irene's attempt to pass to become an elite white woman at Drayton hotel, she makes a clear distinction between herself and working-class individuals by showing her desire to be separated from the "sweating masses". Irene is also concerned that people at the Negro League Dance might mistake Clare for a prostitute. Throughout the novel, Irene seems comfortable living in a higher social class while Clare constantly crosses between the two classes. Eugenic ideology. Scholar Sami Schalk argues that the notion of eugenic ideology emerges in the novel. Eugenic Ideology assigns specific behavioral and physical traits to different distinctions of race, class, gender, and sexual identity. Both physical and behavioral features of this ideology are discussed by the main characters in "Passing", Irene and Clare. For example, several times in the novel, Irene acknowledges the way white people racially designate physical traits to African Americans in order to identify them. The concept of eugenic ideology also emerges when Clare's aunts assign her to a domestic servant role believing this would align with her skin color. Thus, the aunt's perceptions of Clare's work are distinctly categorized through race. Schalk further suggests that the novel resists these notions of eugenic ideology by emphasizing how characters pass fluidly between racial identities and resist clear categories of identity. In the novel, Clare Kendry hides her racial identity from her husband and is able to travel to places where African Americans are not allowed entry because no one can denote her black heritage from her behavior. In addition, Irene notes several times in the novel that the physical traits white people assign to African Americans are ridiculous. She, too, is able to pass in places where African Americans are not allowed entry and therefore defies racial categorization. The novel resists eugenic distinctions by highlighting the fluid transitions between races. Sexuality. Repression. Scholars have treated "sexuality" with caution and reticence especially during the Harlem Renaissance because of the history of slavery and the objectification of black women. Black novelists, especially female black novelists, had to be more discreet when writing about the sexuality of their characters. During this time, women, especially black women, were used as sexual objects. Due to sexual objectification, black novelists wanted to overcome the legacy of rape. They wanted to end the stereotypes of black women as "sexual objects" and to return to the "timidity and modesty" of Negro womanhood. The writers didn't want to repeat the experience of women's oppression, especially African-American women. McDowell believes that during the Harlem Renaissance female sexuality was acknowledged only in the advertising, beauty, and fashion industries, and "sexual pleasure, especially for black women, leads to the dangers of domination in marriage, repeated pregnancy, or exploitation and loss of status." According to scholar Deborah McDowell, Larsen wanted to tell the story of black women with sexual desires, but the novelist also had to be constrained in that she wanted to establish "black women as respectable" in black middle-class terms. As an example, in the novel, Irene is portrayed as sexually repressed. Irene has a tenuous relationship with her husband Brian. In fact, they have separate rooms. McDowell believes that Irene is confused by her sexual feelings for Clare, which are much more apparent. McDowell argues that the story is about "Irene's awakening sexual desire towards Clare". Homosexuality. Scholars have identified a homoerotic subtext between Irene and Clare, centered on the erotic undertones in Irene's descriptions of Clare and appreciation of her beauty. As scholar Deborah McDowell's writes "the idea of bringing sexual attraction between two women to full narrative expression is, likewise, too dangerous a move, which helps to explain why critics have missed this aspect of the novel". In that interpretation, the novel's central metaphor of "passing" under a different identity "occurs at a surprisingly wide variety of levels," including sexual. This suggests that there are other forms of "passing" that take place in the novel that is not just based on race. Larsen has a clever way of "deriving its surface theme and central metaphor-passing", disguising the plots "neatly" and "symmetrically". The apparently sexless marriage between Brian and Irene (their separate bedrooms and identification as co-parents rather than sexual partners) allow Larsen to "flirt, if only by suggestion, with the idea of a lesbian relationship between [Clare and Irene]." In the novel, these sexual innuendos appear when Irene first lays eyes on Clare at the rooftop of the Drayton Hotel. The novel describes Clare as "a sweetly scented woman in a fluttering dress of green chiffon whose mingled pattern of narcissuses, jonquils, and hyacinths was a reminder of pleasantly chill spring days". These flowers symbolize the attraction Irene has for Clare. Jonquils and narcissus, both represent an excessive interest in one's physical appearance. This alludes to Irene's obsession and physical attraction for Clare. As the novel states, "from the very beginning of their re-encounter, Irene is drawn to Clare like a moth to a flame". The character of her husband, Brian, has been subject to a similar interpretation: Irene's labeling of him as and his oft-expressed desire to go to Brazil, a country then widely thought to be more tolerant of homosexuality than the United States was, are given as evidence. It is also shown that Brazil is considered to be a place with more relaxed ideas about race. Irene begins to believe that Clare and Brian are having an affair to hide or distract from her own feelings for Clare. McDowell writes, "the awakening of Irene's erotic feelings for Clare coincides with Irene's imagination of an affair between Clare and Brian". Although she had no reason to accuse him, Irene did so to protect herself from her own sexual desires. Jealousy. Scholars such as Claudia Tate and Helena Michie suggest there is a theme of jealousy throughout the novel. Both point to Irene's jealousy in terms of her appreciation for Clare's charisma and desirable appearance in the novel. As Clare meets Irene to go to the Negro Welfare League dance, Irene feels "dowdy and commonplace" in comparison to Clare, who she sees as "exquisite, golden, fragrant, flaunting." The scholars stress that there are two aspects to this jealousy, with Irene exhibiting both bitterness in her perception of Clare, and simultaneously, feelings of affection and desire for her. Helena Michie categorizes the relationship as "sororophobic", a term she defines as a "fear of one's sister." While Irene expresses jealousy in her admiration of Clare's beauty and social charms, she is also susceptible to their seduction and eventually begins to suspect that her husband Brian might be influenced by them as well. In her intensifying suspicions, Irene's jealousy develops into a fear of losing her family, and with it, the identity she has built for herself as a middle class black woman. Irene displays it here when deciding whether to expose Clare or not "She was caught between two allegiances, different, yet the same. Herself. Her race. Race! The thing that bound and suffocated her. Whatever steps she took, or if she took none at all, something would be crushed. A person or the race. Clare, herself, or the race. Or, it might be, all three. Nothing, she imagined, was ever more completely sardonic." Larsen uses jealousy as the main source of conflict in the novel, and uses race as a vehicle for Irene to potentially rid herself of Clare. At this point in the story Irene realizes she can expose Clare's true racial identity to remove Clare from her life, and regain that security she desires more than anything. Albeit she feels jealousy and fear, out of loyalty for her race, Irene does not follow through with her thoughts of exposing Clare. While the novel primarily focuses on Irene's feelings of jealousy, Clare is also shown to be envious of Irene. Unlike Irene, however, Clare exhibits jealousy towards Irene's lifestyle. Clare perceives Irene as being close to her blackness and her community, a state that Clare has previously chosen to leave behind but strives to experience again. As Clare and Irene converse during Clare's first visit to Irene's home, Clare expresses her loneliness to Irene, contrasting her view of Irene's condition to Clare's own feelings of isolation: "'How could you know? How could you? You're free. You're happy.'" Clare expresses her own jealousy outwardly, even as the novel centers on Irene's inner turmoil. Whiteness. Scholars such as Catherine Rottenberg examine how Larsen's characters struggle against race and gender norms of "whiteness" in the United States. Rottenberg shows how the main characters in the novel confront normative characteristics of white culture. Clare, who is of mixed race, chooses to identify with the white culture. Irene, who identifies as an African American, chooses to pass when she feels the need to blend into white culture. The essence of Rottenberg's scholarship shows how the novel's characters struggle against the desire for whiteness because of the positive stereotypes society has created around "white" identity. Clare's experience growing up with her white aunts, who treated her as a servant, directly impacts Clare's initial desire towards whiteness. Hence, she passes as a white woman, marries a white man, and forgets her African-American culture. Even though as a society the white race is the desirable race, Rottenberg explains how there are limitations put into place so the inferior race can never fully be white. For example, Clare has this desire to pass as a white woman because she believes that is the only way she will have a social power, but after reconnecting with her childhood friend Irene, she begins to struggle with her misplaced desire for whiteness and returns to her African-American identification. Seeing Irene sparks a desire in Clare to get back in touch with her African-American culture. Similarly, Irene identifies as black, but because she desires to feel safe and in control at all times in her life, she chooses to pass over only on occasion. Irene's desire to be white comes from her wanting the middle-class lifestyle because it will give her the security she needs. Irene doesn't want to put herself into a dangerous situation, which in a way, makes her feel like her marriage and the life she knows at risk. Throughout Larsen's novel Rottenberg explains how Clare has evolved from wanting to achieve whiteness to reconnecting with the African-American culture, while Irene still has a desire to achieve "whiteness" to feel secure. Middle-class security. Scholars such as Andrew W. Davis and Zahirah Sabir acknowledge Irene's psychology of safety and security, which likely originated from "the threat of racism" surrounding her family. In the novel, Irene states that she places security as the first priority in her life, on top of race and friendship in the novel. Davis states that the reason that Irene prioritizes security is she wants to protect her children from the social prejudices of the time. In addition, Irene wants Brian, her husband, to stay in New York as a doctor to provide security for her children. When Brian desires to leave for Brazil, Irene is anxious due to the fact that New York is still a white society, and is a familiar to her as an African-American middle-class woman. Clare's presence in Irene's life is a threat to this security. It makes Irene sense the insecurity of her marriage with her husband, Brian. And, it makes her acknowledge the reality of questions of race and class that surround her and her children's life. Motherhood. Passing, although focuses on the races aspect of the book, the chapters have talked about motherhood where both Irene and Clare are depicted to be mothers. It is interesting as Irene sees her sons, Junior and Theodore, differently than how Clare sees her daughter, Margery. Irene views her children as her security; she sees them as the reason Brian would stay with her. Their child ties them together and thus would make Brian stay with Irene even if they have a fallout. Irene holds her children dear to her and would do whatever she can for them. Irene is also the more protective parent compared to Brian; she wants to shield the children from the bad things in the world, like the knowledge of lynching and racism. Irene wants what's best for her children even if it means acting like specific topics do not affect them although they do, like racism. Meanwhile, Clare views motherhood as a requirement in her lifetime. She had Margery and no longer wants any more children as she cannot handle the suspense of knowing another babies' skin tone. She also mentions how "children aren't everything" this shows how she prioritizes her priorities, we see circumstances where she would leave her daughter with her husband and instead socialize with the black community. Unlike Irene, Clare actually rejects the thought of motherhood in fear that her identity might be revealed. Irene, on the other hand, is the devoted mother wanting the best for her boys, and always talking and thinking about them. Clare does not have the same attachments to Margery like Irene have to Junior and Ted as Clare sees motherhood as a binding thing that forces her to stay in a marriage she feels trapped in, while Irene is in the same boat Irene like this and uses it for her security. Critical reception. "Passing" was published in April 1929 by Knopf in New York City. Sales of the book were modest: Knopf produced three small print runs each under 2,000 copies. While early reviews were primarily positive, it received little attention beyond New York City. Comparing it to Larsen's previous novel "Quicksand", Alice Dunbar-Nelson's review in "The Washington Eagle" began by declaring that "Nella Larsen delights again with her new novel". Writer and scholar W. E. B. Du Bois hailed it as the "one of the finest novels of the year" and believed that its limited success was due to its treating a "forbidden subject," the marriage of a white man to a mixed-race girl who did not reveal her ancestry. A common criticism of the novel is that it ends too suddenly, without a full exploration of the issues it raises. Mary Rennels, writing in the "New York Telegram", said, "Larsen didn't solve the problem [of passing]. Knocking a character out of a scene doesn't settle a matter." An anonymous reviewer for the "New York Times Book Review" similarly concluded that "the most serious fault with the book is its sudden and utterly unconvincing close", but otherwise considered it an effective treatment of the topic. On the other hand, Dunbar-Nelson found that the ending confirmed to the reader that "you have been reading a masterpiece all along." In modern scholarship, Larsen is recognized as one of the central figures in the African-American, feminist and modernist canons, a reputation that is based on her two novels ("Passing" and "Quicksand") and some short stories. As of 2007, "Passing" is the subject of more than 200 scholarly articles and more than 50 dissertations, which offer a range of critical interpretations. It has been hailed as a text helping to "create a modernist psychological interiority ... challenging marriage and middle-class domesticity, complexly interrogating gender, race, and sexual identity, and for redeploying traditional tropes—such as that of the tragic mulatta—with a contemporary and critical twist." However, literary critic Cheryl Wall summarizes the critical response to "Passing" as less favorable than to Larsen's first novel "Quicksand", citing the views of Amaritjit Singh in "The Novels of the Harlem Renaissance" (99), of Robert Bone in "The Negro Novel in America" (102), and of Hoyt Fuller in his "Introduction" to "Passing" (14)." On one hand, the significance of sexual jealousy in the story has been seen to detract from the topic of racial passing; conversely, even if racial passing is accurately treated in the novel, it is considered a historically specific practice and so "Passing" appears dated and trivial. Film adaptation. The novel was adapted to film by director Rebecca Hall in 2021. It had its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on January 30, 2021, and will be released by Netflix later in the year. References. Notes Citations Bibliography

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Their Eyes Were Watching God Their Eyes Were Watching God is a 1937 novel by American writer Zora Neale Hurston. It is considered a classic of the Harlem Renaissance, and Hurston's best known work. The novel explores main character Janie Crawford's "ripening from a vibrant, but voiceless, teenage girl into a woman with her finger on the trigger of her own destiny". Set in central and southern Florida in the early 20th century, the novel was initially poorly received. Since the late 20th century, it has been regarded as influential to both African-American literature and women's literature. "TIME" included the novel in its 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels published since 1923. Plot synopsis. Janie Crawford, an African-American woman in her forties, recounts her life starting with her sexual awakening, which she compares to a blossoming pear tree kissed by bees in spring. Around this time, Janie allows a local boy, Johnny Taylor, to kiss her, which Janie's grandmother, Nanny, witnesses. As a young slave woman, Nanny was raped by her white owner, then gave birth to a mixed-race daughter she named Leafy. Though Nanny wanted a better life for her daughter and even escaped her jealous mistress after the American Civil War, Leafy was later raped by her school teacher and became pregnant with Janie. Shortly after Janie's birth, Leafy began to drink and stay out at night, eventually running away and leaving Janie with Nanny. Nanny, having transferred her hopes for stability and opportunity from Leafy to Janie, arranges for Janie to marry Logan Killicks, an older farmer looking for a wife. However, Killicks doesn't love Janie and wants only a domestic helper rather than a lover or partner; he thinks she doesn't do enough around the farm and considers her ungrateful. When Janie speaks to Nanny about her desire for love, Nanny, too, accuses Janie of being spoiled and, soon afterwards, dies. Unhappy, disillusioned, and lonely, Janie leaves Killicks and runs off with Jody (Joe) Starks, a glib man who takes her to the all-black community of Eatonville, Florida. Starks arranges to buy more land, establishes a general store, and is soon elected mayor of the town. However, Janie soon realizes that Starks wants her as a trophy wife to reinforce his powerful position in town and to run the store, even forbidding her from taking part in the town's social life. During their twenty-year marriage, he treats her as his property, criticizing her, controlling her, and physically abusing her. Finally, when Starks's kidney begins to fail, Janie says that he never knew her because he would not let her be free. After Starks dies, Janie becomes financially independent through his estate. Though she is beset with suitors, including men of means, she turns them all down until she meets a young drifter and gambler named Vergible Woods, known as "Tea Cake". He plays the guitar for her and initially treats her with kindness and respect. Janie is hesitant because she is older and wealthy, but she eventually falls in love with him and decides to run away with him to Jacksonville to marry. They move to Belle Glade, in the northern part of the Everglades region ("the muck"), where they find work planting and harvesting beans. While their relationship is volatile and sometimes violent, Janie finally has the marriage with love that she wanted. Her image of the pear tree blossom is revived. Suddenly, the area is hit by the great 1928 Okeechobee hurricane. Tea Cake is bitten by a rabid dog while saving Janie from drowning and becomes increasingly jealous and unpredictable. When he tries to shoot Janie with his pistol, she fatally shoots him with a rifle in self-defense and is charged with murder. At the trial, Tea Cake's black male friends show up to oppose her, but a group of local white women arrive to support Janie. After the all-white jury acquits Janie, she gives Tea Cake a lavish funeral. Tea Cake's friends forgive her, asking her to remain in the Everglades. However, she decides to return to Eatonville. As she expected, the residents gossip about her when she returns to town. The story ends where it started, as Janie finishes recounting her life to Pheoby. Themes. Gender roles. The novel explores traditional gender roles and the relationship between men and women. Nanny believes that Janie should marry a man not for love but for "protection" Janie's first two husbands, Logan Killicks and Jody Starks, both believe Janie should be defined by her marriage to them. Both men want her to be domesticated and silent. Her speech, or silence, is defined by her physical locations, most often. For example, Starks forces her silence at the store, a public—and therefore, male space at the time. He says, "... Muh wife don't know nothin' bout no speech-makin'. Ah never married her for nothin' lak dat. She's ah woman[,] and her place is in de home." Janie is also forbidden from socializing with the townspeople on the porch. Tea Cake is Janie's last husband, who treats her as more of an equal than Killicks and Starks did, by talking to her and playing checkers with her. Despite this, Tea Cake does hit Janie to show his possession over her. Thus, Janie's life seems defined by her relation to domineering males. Masculinity and femininity. Scholars argue that, in "Their Eyes Were Watching God", the role of masculinity is portrayed through the subordination and objectification of women. In a reflection of post-slavery Florida, black men are subordinate only to their white employers and adhere to white patriarchal institutions of masculinity in which women are held in a positive social regard only if they are attractive, are married, or have attained financial security via previous marriages. Black women, specifically, face greater oppression, as their own struggle for independence was considered counter-productive to the greater fight for equality for black Americans as a whole. Nanny explains this hierarchical structure early on to Janie when she says, "Honey, de white man is de ruler of everything...white man throw down the load and tell de nigger man to pick it up. He picks it up because he has to, but he doesn't tote it. He hands it to his womenfolks." In the book, men view women as an object to pursue, acquire, and control through courting, manipulation, and even physical force. Janie's journey for the discovery of her self-identity and independence is depicted through her pursuit of true love—her dream—through marriages to three different men. Each of the men she marries conforms in some way to gender norms of the day. The role of femininity is portrayed through the symbolism of property, mules, and elements in nature. Women in the book are considered a trophy prize for males, to simply look pretty and obey their husbands. The analogy of the Mule and Women is stated repetitively in the book and is used to represent the gender role of women. Janie's Nanny explained to Janie at a young age how African-American women were objectified as mules. "De nigger woman is de mule uh de world so far as Ah can see." Mules are typically bought and sold by farmers, usually to be used to work until exhaustion. Later in the book, Janie realizes that Nanny's warnings were true when she identifies with an abused mule in Eatonville. She sees herself as a working animal with no voice, there for the amusement of others and at the expense of her own free will. This identification is shown in the book when the townspeople are laughing at the mule that Jody had eventually bought and rescued (in an attempt to manipulate Janie). However, Janie doesn't laugh alongside the townspeople as she is shown to empathize with the mule ("Everybody was having fun at the mule-baiting. All but Janie") and she feels disgusted by the situation. The mule represents the feminine gender role in the story by which men suppress and degrade women who are stereotyped as unable to think for themselves and needing constant guidance from men. These stereotypes "become a chain on the American women, preventing them from developing individuality, and from pursuing their personal happiness" and ultimately what forces them to mold into their gender role. Janie Crawford. Janie Crawford is the main character of "Their Eyes Were Watching God". At the beginning of the story, she is described as naive, beautiful, and energetic. However, as the story progresses, Janie is constantly under the influence and pressure of gender norms within her romantic relationships. As she navigates each of her relationships with men, Janie ultimately loses her confidence and self-image, conforming to roles that the husbands want her to fill. In Janie's first relationship, she was given as a wife by Nanny at an early age and was told that love may come with marriage but that it was not important. However, as time passed, Janie was unable to love Logan. "She began to cry. 'Ah wants things sweet wid mah marriage lak when you sit under a pear tree and think.'" As time passed on, Logan began forcing gender roles onto Janie, telling her that he would buy a mule for her so that she could work. However, Janie was strong-minded and Logan made little progress on changing Janie. Janie raised her voice, but still, she remained susceptible to suppression and abuse. "You ain't got no particular place. It's wherever Ah need yuh. Git a move on yuh, and dat quck." Then, in Janie's second relationship, she left Logan Killicks in an attempt to pursue a better future with her new husband, Joe Starks. Joe was the Mayor of Eatonville and achieved incredible wealth, placing Janie in a higher status than her peers, since she was "sleeping with authority, seating in a higher chair". Janie believed that her life would change for the better. However, she was confined in the roles of a housewife and was made to be Joe's prized possession. "The king's mule, and the king's pleasure is everything she is there for, nothing else". In Janie's third and last relationship, she was able to experience true love, on her own terms, with her third husband Vergible "Tea Cake" Woods. Janie was older than Tea Cake by nearly twelve years. He loved and treated her better than her previous husbands. While she was no longer strictly confined by the gender roles placed upon her by her previous husbands, she was still easily influenced and manipulated by Tea Cake. Janie was forced to shoot and kill Tea Cake in self defense after he developed rabies. Logan Killicks. Logan Killicks is Janie's first husband. Shortly after Nanny observes Janie sharing her first kiss with boy named Johnny Taylor—and therefore showing signs of puberty—she informs Janie that she was promised to Logan Killicks, a widower, from a young age for her own well-being and protection. Logan owns a farm with 60 acres of land. He grows and sells potatoes as well as chops and delivers wood. He has one mule to plow the fields and decides that he needs to add another to the stable. Though Janie hopes that it will grow, there is never any gentleness or love between her and Logan. She is 15 or 16 years old when she is married off to Logan and later, she grows to resent her grandmother for selling her off, like a slave (fax, no printer). Their marriage is purely based on logic, work and convenience— he is a man with property and he needs a wife while Nanny is an aging woman raising her grandchild alone, and she needs to secure Janie's future. There is little regard for Janie's happiness as Nanny believes Logan to be a good husband based on his financial prospects alone. Logan has traditional views on marriage. He believes that a man should be married to a woman, and that she should be his property and work hard. Everyone contributes to tending the family land. He believes Janie should work well from dawn to dusk, in the field as well as the house, and do as she is told. She is analogous to a mule or other working animal. He is not an attractive man by Janie's description of him and seems to be aware of this. As such, his prospects at finding a mate based on attraction and his age are slim, thus the reason for approaching Nanny early on about an arrangement of marriage to Janie when she comes of age. During the course of their brief marriage, Logan attempts to subjugate Janie with his words and attempts to make her work beyond the gender roles in a typical marriage. He does not appreciate her streaks of independence when she refuses his commands and he uses her family history to try to manipulate her into being submissive to him. At one point, he threatens to kill her for her insubordination in a desperate and final attempt to control her. Joe "Jody" Starks. Joe "Jody" Starks is Janie's second husband. He is charismatic, charming and has big plans for his future. Janie, being young and naive, is easily seduced by his efforts to convince her to leave Logan. Ultimately, Joe is successful in gaining Janie's trust and so she joins him on his journey. Joe views Janie as a princess or royalty to be displayed on a pedestal. Because of her youth, inexperience, and desire to find true love, Jody easily controls and manipulates her into submitting to his male authority. Joe Starks is a man who is strong, organized and a natural leader. He has money from his time working for white men and he now aims to settle in a new community made up of African-Americans, a place in its infancy where he can make a name for himself. Joe quickly establishes himself as an authoritative figure around the town which has no determined name or governance of any kind when he and Janie arrive. With the money he has, he buys land, organizes the townsfolk, becomes the owner-operator of the general store and post office, and is eventually named Mayor of Eatonville. Joe strives for equality with white men, particularly the mayor of the white town across the river from Eatonville. To attain this status he requires nice things: the largest white house, a nice desk and chair, a gilded spitoon, and a beautiful wife. He is a larger-than-life character and during their time in Eatonville, he has grown an equally large belly and taken up the habit of chewing nice cigars, both of which cement his status with the locals as an important man around town. Joe, like most of the men in the book, believes that women are incapable of thinking and caring for themselves. He likens them to children and livestock that need constant tending and direction. “Somebody’s got to think for the women and chillen and chickens and cows. God, they sho don't think none fo themselves.” Jody is a jealous man, and because of this he grows more and more possessive and controlling of Janie. He expects her to dress a certain way (buying her the finest of clothes, with tight corsets) and requires that she wear her long, beautiful hair—symbolic of her free spirit and femininity— covered and up in a bun, so as not to attract too much unwanted attention from the other men in Eatonville. He considers her long hair to be for his enjoyment alone. He excludes her from various events and the social gatherings in Eatonville to further his dominance and control over her. He restricts her from being friendly with the other townswomen, requiring her to behave in a separate and superior manner. Vergible "Tea Cake" Woods. Tea Cake is Janie's third and final husband. He is her ideal partner in her search for true love. He is charismatic, charming, funny, and creative with a tendency to embellish stories. To Janie, he is larger than life, wise, and genuinely cares for her. Tea Cake is loving towards Janie and respectful of her as her own individual person. Unlike her previous two marriages, Tea Cake never stops trying to make her happy. He is more than willing to share with her what he has learned from his own experiences and show her the greater world outside of her own existence. He enjoys being with Janie and playing the role of a teacher. Through Tea Cake, Janie learns to shoot a rifle, play checkers, and fish among other activities. However, Tea Cake shows tendencies of patriarchal dominance and psychological abuse towards Janie. He isn't always truthful with her and shows some of the same characteristic traits exhibited by Joe Starks and Logan Killicks. For instance, he keeps her from working with the rest of the people down on the muck because he believes she is above common folk. Consequently, until Janie asserts herself with Tea Cake and joins the others in working, she gains a bit of a reputation for thinking herself better than everyone else. In a show of male dominance in their relationship, Tea Cake takes $200 from Janie without her knowledge or permission and spends it on a nice guitar and a lavish party with others around town without including her in the festivities. While accounting for his spending of her money, he tells Janie that he had to pay women that he deemed unattractive $2 each to keep them from the party. He then gambles the remaining amount to make the money back and excludes her from the gambling scene. What differentiates him from Joe in this regard is that Janie regularly confronts him and he acquiesces to her demand that she not be excluded from aspects of his life. Another tendency that Tea Cake shares with Joe is his jealousy and need to maintain some amount of control over Janie. When he overhears another woman speaking poorly to Janie about Tea Cake and attempting to set her up with her brother, Tea Cake decides to take matters into his own hands. First, he discusses with Janie, a conversation he overheard between her and Mrs. Turner, a local café owner. He criticizes Mrs. Turner's appearance (like Janie, she is mixed-race) and then successfully executes an elaborate plan to ruin her establishment. Finally, he slaps Janie around in front of Mrs. Turner and others to show them that he is in charge and to assert his ownership over her. In the end, Tea Cake plays the role of hero to Janie when he saves her from drowning and being attacked by a rabid dog. Tea Cake himself is bitten and eventually succumbs to the disease. Not able to think rationally and enraged with jealousy, he physically attacks Janie and she is forced to shoot and kill Tea Cake. Therefore, she effectively ends her emotional attachment to the men in her life and the desire to seek out and realize her dream of true love. Liberated woman. Janie is searching for her own voice and identity throughout the novel. She is often without a voice in relation to her husbands as she will not fight back. Janie is also faced with situations that make her feel that her value as an African-American woman is little to none. She is seen as distinct from other women in the novel, who follow traditions and do not find a life independent of men. Janie's physical appeal becomes a basis of Starks and Tea Cake to have jealousy and belittle her looks. Starks orders Janie to cover her long hair as other men are attracted to it. Similarly, Tea Cake remarks on Janie's lighter skin and her appeal to Mrs. Turner's brother. But Janie begins to feel liberated in her marriage with Tea Cake because he treats her as an equal and mostly does not look down on her. As a result, she loves him more than she did the other two spouses. Janie does not find complete independence as a woman until after the death of Tea Cake. She returns to Eatonville with her hair down and she sits on her own porch chatting with her friend Pheoby. By the end of the novel, she has overcome traditional roles and cultivates an image of the "liberated black woman." Liberation from racial history. Janie grew up under the care of her grandmother, Nanny. Her experiences as a slave and freedwoman shaped the way Nanny saw the world. She hoped to protect Janie, by forcing her to marry Logan Killicks, although he was older and not attractive. Janie followed her grandmother's advice but found that it wouldn't be as easy to love him as Nanny had suggested. African Americans believed in marriage during the early 20th century because they had been prevented from such legal protection under slavery. Unhappy in her marriage to Logan, Janie runs off with Starks and commits bigamy. After the death of Starks, Janie meets Tea Cake and they fall in love. Her community thought he was a broke nobody and were suspicious of him. Tea Cake wasn't the perfect man, but better than expected by the community of Eatonville. Liberation from domestic violence. During the early 20th century, the African-American community asked African-American women to set aside self-realization and self-affirmation values. They imposed male-dominated values and often controlled who women married. Janie suffered domestic violence in her marriages with Joe Starks and Tea Cake. Starks initially seemed to be good for Janie, but later beat her several times, in an effort to exert his authority over her. Despite her husband's physical and emotional abuse, Janie did not complain, behavior that was approved by the townsmen. Domestic abuse was not entirely disapproved by the African-American community, and men thought it was acceptable to control their women this way. After Starks' death, Janie was freed from his abuse. Tea Cake showed his respect of her. Although Tea Cake was not a perfect husband, he was the only husband of hers that gave her the chance to love. Liberation from sexual norms. The early 1900s was a time in which patriarchal ideals were accepted and seen as the norm. Throughout the novel, Janie on multiple occasions suffers from these ideals. In her relationships, she is being ordered around by the man, but she did not question it, whether in the kitchen or bedroom. Janie in many ways expresses her growing distance from the sexual and social norms. After the death of Starks, Janie goes to his funeral wearing black and formal clothes. But for Tea Cake's funeral, she wears workers' blue overalls, showing that she cared less for what society thought of her as she got older. In addition, critics say that Tea Cake was the vehicle for Janie's liberation. She went from working in the kitchen and indoors to working more "manly" jobs, such as helping in the fields, fishing, and hunting. Tea Cake offered her a partnership; he didn't see her as an object to be controlled and possessed through marriage. Value of women in a relationship. Throughout the novel, Hurston vividly displays how African American women are valued, or devalued, in their marital relationships. By doing so, she takes the reader on a journey through Janie's life and her marriages. Janie formed her initial idea of marriage off the beautiful image of unity she witnessed between a pear tree and a bee. This image and expectation sets Janie up for disappointment when it came time to marry. From her marriage to Logan Killicks to Tea Cake, Janie was forced to acknowledge where she stood as a powerless female in her relationship. Starting with her marriage to Logan, Janie was put in a place where she was expected to prove her value with hard work. On top of all the physical labor expected from her, Janie endured constant insults and physical beatings from her male counterparts. Hoping for more value, Janie decides to leave Logan and run off with Joe Starks. However, in reaction to this decision, she's only faced with more beating and devaluement. Joe expected her stay in the home, work in the kitchen, and when she was in public, Janie was expected to cover her hair and avoid conversation with the locals. With one last hope, Janie engaged in a marriage with Tea Cake, a younger man, and things finally seemed to look up for her, even though she was still expected to help in the fields and tend to her womanly duties. Overall, throughout her marriages, Janie experienced the hardships that most African American women went through at that time. From the physical labor to the physical beatings, Janie was presented with the life that a woman was expected to live. [See detailed argument and synopsis in Addison Gayle, Jr.'s article, "The Outsider"] Janie was able to feel like a woman in her third marriage with Tea Cake. In her first marriage with Logan she was being controlled by her husband. She didn't feel like a woman in her first marriage. She didn't feel any love or affection either. In her second marriage with Jody, she was able to experience independence as a woman. With Jody's death, she became in charge of the store and his property. She was able to experience freedom and an economic stable life. She learned about ownership, self determination, self ruling, and home ruling. In her last marriage with Tea Cake Janie experienced true love. But she also learned who she was as an African American woman. Throughout her marriages she learned how to value herself as a woman, an African American woman, and a hard working woman. The novel is written in dialect and colloquial language that expresses it as a story of a black woman from Southern United States. Throughout the novel, Janie serves both as protagonist as well as occasional narrator, detailing the events of her life, her three marriages, and the aftermath of each, that eventually lead to her return to Eatonville. This is done with two contrasting writing styles, one in standard English prose when the narration is done in third person, and the other making use of black Southern vernacular in dialogue. The theme of having a voice and being able to speak out is a prevalent theme throughout the novel. During her first two marriages to Logan Killicks and Joe Starks, Janie is subjugated and held under their rule, the former comparing her to another mule to work his field and the latter keeping her in a powerless position of domesticity. Throughout both marriages she finds herself without the ability to speak out or to express herself, and when she tries she is usually shut down. This leaves her feeling like a "rut in the road," the isolation taking its toll until she finally confronts Joe and attacks his ego with a verbal assault against his manhood. The effect this takes is that it leaves Joe resenting Janie and in effect destroys what is left of their marriage. When Janie marries Tea Cake, we see how language affects the way Janie begins to feel about herself. The way Tea Cake speaks to her allows her to find the freedom in her own voice and to begin to learn how to use it. We are able to see how language helps Janie grow as a person once she learns that her voice is her power. Race. While the novel is written about Black people in the South, it is not primarily a book about a racist society. Nanny is the first character to discuss the effects of slavery. "Ah was born back due in slavery so it wasn't for me to fulfil my dreams of whut a woman oughta be and to do. Dat's one of de hold-backs of slavery." The novel is mostly concerned with differences within the black community. Starks is compared to the master of a plantation, as he has a huge house in the centre of the town. "The rest of town looked like servants' quarters surrounding the 'big house'. Starks becomes a figure of authority because he has money and is determined to create the first black town. But his plans seem to result in a town where people impose their own hierarchy. "Us talks about de white man keepin' us down! Shucks! He don't have tuh. Us keeps our own selves down." When Janie marries Tea Cake and moves to the Everglades, she becomes friendly with Mrs. Turner. This woman compliments Janie on her light skin and European features, from her mixed-race ancestry. Turner disapproves of her marriage to Tea Cake, as he is darker skinned and more "African" looking. Inspirations and influences. Perhaps the strongest inspiration for Hurston's writing of "Their Eyes Were Watching God" was her former lover Percival Punter. Hurston writes in her autobiography that the romance between Janie and Tea Cake was inspired by a tumultuous love affair. She described falling in love with the man as "a parachute jump". Like Janie in the novel, Hurston was significantly older than her lover. Like Jody, Punter was sexually dominant and sometimes violent. Hurston wrote "Their Eyes Were Watching God" three weeks after the tumultuous conclusion of her relationship with Punter. She wrote in her autobiography that she had "tried to embalm all the tenderness of [her] passion for him." With this emotional inspiration, Hurston went on to paint the picture of "Their Eyes Were Watching God" using her personal experience and research as a template. In 1927, a decade before writing "Their Eyes Were Watching God", Hurston traveled south to collect folk songs and folk tales through an anthropological research fellowship arranged by her Barnard College mentor Franz Boas. The all-black Eatonville of "Their Eyes Were Watching God" is based on the all-black town of the same name in which Hurston grew up. The town's weekly announced in 1889, "Colored People of the United States: Solve the great race problem by securing a home in Eatonville, Florida, a Negro city governed by negroes." The hurricane that symbolizes the climax of Hurston's story also has an historical inspiration; in 1928, "a hurricane ravaged both coastal and inland areas of Florida, bringing torrential rains that broke the dikes of Lake Okeechobee near Belle Glade". Scholars of the African diaspora note the cultural practices common to the Caribbean, Africa, and the United States in "Their Eyes Were Watching God". Hurston wrote "Their Eyes Were Watching God" while living in Belle Glade, at the home of Harvey Poole, who, as manager of one of the local labor camps, informed her tremendously about bean picking, and the labors of African-Americans on the muckland. The book was also written while on a Guggenheim Fellowship in Haiti to research Obeah practices in the West Indies. Reception. Initial reception. Hurston's political views in "Their Eyes Were Watching God" were met with resistance from several leading Harlem Renaissance authors. Novelist and essayist Richard Wright condemned "Their Eyes Were Watching God", writing in a review for "New Masses" (1937): Miss Hurston seems to have no desire whatsoever to move in the direction of serious fiction… [She] can write; but her prose is cloaked in that facile sensuality that has dogged Negro expression since the days of Phyllis Wheatley... Her characters eat and laugh and cry and work and kill; they swing like a pendulum eternally in that safe and narrow orbit in which America likes to see the Negro live: between laughter and tears. Ralph Ellison said the book contained a "blight of calculated burlesque." Alain Locke wrote in a review: "when will the Negro novelist of maturity, who knows how to tell a story convincingly—which is Miss Hurston's cradle gift, come to grips with motive fiction and social document fiction?" "The New Republic"s Otis Ferguson wrote: "it isn't that this novel is bad, but that it deserves to be better". But he went on to praise the work for depicting "Negro life in its naturally creative and unselfconscious grace". Not all African-American critics had negative things to say about Hurston's work. Carter G. Woodson, founder of "The Journal of Negro History" wrote, ""Their Eyes Were Watching God" is a gripping story... the author deserves great praise for the skill and effectiveness shown in the writing of this book." The critic noted Hurston's anthropological approach to writing, "She studied them until she thoroughly understood the working of their minds, learned to speak their language". Meanwhile, reviews of Hurston's book in the mainstream white press were largely positive, although they did not translate into significant retail sales. Writing for "The New York Times", Ralph Thompson states: "the normal life of Negroes in the South today—the life with its holdovers from slave times, its social difficulties, childish excitements, and endless exuberances... compared to this sort of story, the ordinary narratives of Negroes in Harlem or Birmingham seem ordinary indeed." For the "New York Herald Tribune", Sheila Hibben described Hurston as writing "with her head as with her heart" creating a "warm, vibrant touch". She praised "Their Eyes Were Watching God" as filled with "a flashing, gleaming riot of black people, with a limitless sense of humor, and a wild, strange sadness". "New York Times" critic Lucille Tompkins described "Their Eyes Were Watching God": "It is about Negroes... but really it is about every one, or at least every one who isn't so civilized that he has lost the capacity for glory." Rediscovery. As universities across the country developed Black Studies programs in the 1970s and 1980s, they created greater space for Black literature in academia. Several prominent academics, including Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Addison Gayle, Jr., established a new "Black Aesthetic" that "placed the sources of contemporary black literature and culture in the communal music and oral folk tradition". This new respect coupled with a growing Black feminism led by Mary Helen Washington, Audre Lorde, Alice Walker, and others would create the space for the rediscovery of Hurston. Hurston first achieved a level of mainstream institutional support in the 1970s. Walker published an essay, "Looking for Zora", in "Ms." magazine in 1975. In that work, she described how the Black community's general rejection of Hurston was like "throwing away a genius". The National Endowment for the Humanities went on to award Robert Hemenway two grants for his work to write Hurston's biography. The 1977 biography was followed in 1978 by the re-issue of "Their Eyes Were Watching God". In 1975, the Modern Language Association held a special seminar focusing on Hurston. In 1981 professor Ruth Sheffey of Baltimore's Morgan State University founded the Zora Neale Hurston Society. Hurston had attended the school, then known as Morgan Academy, in 1917. In 1978, Harper and Row leased its rights to "Their Eyes Were Watching God" to the University of Illinois Press. However, the printing was so profitable that Harper and Row refused to renew the leasing contract and instead reprinted its own new edition. This new edition sold its total print of 75,000 in less than a month. The "New York Times"s Virginia Heffernan explains that the book's "narrative technique, which is heavy on free-indirect discourse, lent itself to poststructuralist analysis". With so many new disciplines especially open to the themes and content of Hurston's work, "Their Eyes Were Watching God" achieved growing prominence in the last several decades. It is now firmly established in the literary canon. On November 5, 2019, the "BBC News" listed "Their Eyes Were Watching God" on its list of the 100 most influential novels. Critical analysis. In a conversation with Jody, Janie defends 'womenfolk,' disagreeing with the sexist claim that God made men "different" because they turn "out so smart" (70). When she states that men "don't know half as much as you think you do," Jody interrupts her saying, 'you getting too moufy Janie... Go fetch me de checker-board and de checkers' (70–71) so that he and the other men could play (Bernard 9).

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Oreo (novel) Oreo is a satirical novel published in 1974 by Fran Ross, a journalist and, briefly, a comedy writer for Richard Pryor. The novel, addressing issues of a mixed heritage child, was considered "before its time" and went out of print until Harryette Mullen rediscovered the novel and brought it out of obscurity. The book has since acquired cult classic status. Plot summary. Born into a taboo relationship that neither of her grandparents supported, having a Jewish father and black mother who divorce before she is two, Oreo grows up in Philadelphia with her maternal grandparents while her mother tours with a theatrical troupe. Soon after puberty, Oreo heads for New York with a duffel bag to search for her father; but in the big city she discovers that there are dozens of Sam Schwartzes (her father's name) in the phone book, and Oreo's mission turns into a humorous picaresque quest. The ambitious and playful narrative challenges accepted notions of race, ethnicity, culture, and even the novelistic form itself; its quest theme is inspired by that of the Greek tale of Theseus. In the end, Oreo witnesses her own father's death as he falls from a window. Ross uses the structure of the Theseus myth to both trap Oreo and allow her to reinvent it. Oreo's white father, who abandoned her, forces her to live out this inherently white, male narrative. However, the trope of lost patriarchy is essential in black cultures so Oreo can reappropriate the myth and make it entirely non-foreign. Furthermore, Oreo reinvents the archaic myth by living a black narrative through it, suggesting that blacks can reappropriate themes from the white culture they are forced to live in. The search for paternity within the Theseus myth is essentially futile since Oreo gains nothing from finding her father, which undermines the importance placed on the search for paternity. Genre. "Oreo" is a picaresque novel, that revolves around our picaroon, Oreo. It is a fictional tale about the adventures and conflicts she faces on her search for her father. It falls under the category of Post Soul Aesthetic, modern works that expands upon the possibilities of the Black experience, and arguably New Black Aesthetic, works that describes the black experience from the perspective of the culturally-hybrid, second generation middle class. The comedic style of the novel helps to subvert the trope of the "tragic mulatto" and position Oreo as a "thriving hybrid." Structure. The novel is told from the perspective of an omniscient, third-person. The novel strays from traditional narrative form. The novel exemplifies the essence of postmodernism, fragmentation through its structure.The chapters are broken into subsections. The novel uses diagram, equations, menus, tests, ads, letters, other sources to break and supplement the narrative. Ross employs different narrative structures throughout the course of the novel. Mainly, the episodic nature of the book is similar to the picaresque story structure. The charisma and wits of Christine, especially in contrast to the foolishness of characters like Parnell or even her father, exemplify the use of this narrative. Elements of the bildungsroman are also present, such as the contrast of the cultures of Christine's upbringing in Philadelphia compared to that of New York. Most notably, "Oreo" draws heavily upon the Theseus myth, so much so that a quick reading guide at the end of the book summarizes the story's events in terms of the myth. The names of the novel's chapters are also references to the Greek myth. Point of View. While the novel is told from a third person omniscient point-of-view, there was a strong and deliberate choice to have the reader still be limited in fully understanding what goes through Christine's mind. While her journey is fun and adventurous, Christine runs into certain situations in the novel that can be viewed as traumatic. For example, her near-rape at the hands of Parnell and her viewing of her father's accident are both very extreme events that elicit immediate and raw emotion, yet the reader does not get that from Christine. The reader never gets to go deeper into Christine's mind and is never let in to her true feelings about the journey that she takes to find her father. Themes. Identity. Identity, and its flexibility, proves to be a strong thematic presence in the novel. We see Oreo take on many different characters throughout the novel to fit any given situation, and all of these seem to become absorbed into her already complex identity. Oreo surrounds herself with family members on community members who have created a self-imposed identity, which always seems unfaltering and give the characters a certain inertia (or, in James' case, a very literal inertia), and takes on all of their identities, encouraging and allowing for her journey. She uses her malleable identity to her advantage in finding her father. Oreo's biracial familial history seems to give her the ability to meander about with different masks, becoming whatever will best fit her situation. She becomes a vessel through which her family history can be shone. This shifting identity brings into question, however, who Oreo is at her core. The origins and application of the name Oreo in itself provides insight into what Ross urges readers to understand about the main protagonist's identity. Oreo, named Christine at birth, receives her nickname from a dream her grandmother Louise had. In keeping with Ross' humor, it is the name “Oriole” that Louise hears in her dream, but due to her thick Southern accent, all of their family and friends interpret it as “Oreo.” Moreover, Oreo's “rich brown color and wide smile full of sugar white baby teeth” provides the imagery that justifies naming Christine after the cookie (39). The fact that this nickname functions within the context of the novel as one of endearment adds more dimensions to the use of “Oreo” more traditionally as a derogatory term to describe black people who engage in activities and/or behaviors that are not commonly considered “black” ("black on the outside, white on the inside" is the most common definition). In this way, the name "Oreo" with respect to the main character's identity falls within the boundaries of Trey Ellis' New Black Aesthetic and specifically speaks to the values of the cultural mulatto. According to Ellis, the cultural mulatto does not adhere to the rules of performative blackness or whiteness, but instead seeks to claim ownership to an identity that is all their own while easily navigating both black and white communities and issues-. Through Oreo's experiences and how they are characterized by non-traditional ideas of what it means to be "Black," Ross successfully employs the NBA by expressing the diversity of Blackness through new forms. Oreo's search of self throughout the novel also speak to inner ideals of Blackness and how, despite not aligning with traditional Blackness, these ideals still exist in the diaspora. By satirizing the word in a way that it was at first misheard and then applied in loving admiration of Christine's looks, it becomes empowering instead of limiting, and Oreo's fearless personality reflects the symbolism of her nickname. Representation. Ross brings to the forefront new figures that are usually not represented in talks of Black identity. In Oreo she presents the characters of Jimmie C., the feeble-hearted, fainting nerd, Jimmie's best friend, Fonzelle Scarsdale, a hyper-sexualized F-student with a choreographed heavy walk, the flamboyantly dressed pimp, Parnell, and Kirk the sexual beast with an oversized phallus. Additionally, Ross writes all of her female characters as complex and multifaceted. Oreo herself, the heroine of the story, is quick-witted and interesting, two qualities rarely found in female characters, especially at the time this novel was written. Oreo's mother is incredibly proficient in mathematics, even going so far as to think in mathematical equations in everyday situations. Louise, Oreo's grandmother, is a skilled chef and fluent in a language of her own invention, “Louise-ese.” Even the minor female characters are portrayed as complex and multifaceted. For example, when Oreo sees Parnell's prostitutes, she contemplates how they are feeling and what they may be thinking in the situation. The prostitutes are not just depicted as simplistic, but rather Ross shows that they can be multifaceted, through the way Oreo thinks about them. Ross's portrayal of women of color in the novel could even be called revolutionary, as they defy any and all stereotypes assigned to not just women, but specifically to women of color. The characters exist outside of both race- and gender-based expectations, and in doing so reflect the postmodern sentiments of Ross's novel. Language. The novels uses a broad spectrum of languages, including African American vernacular, Yiddish, superstandard language, louise-ese, math, rhyme, singing. Christine's skillful navigation among this broad array of languages points to her cultural hybridity. She is capable of code-switching and interchanging, and communicating with all these languages and their users. Language is very much associated with social standing, intelligence, geographical climates, socioeconomic status, and race. Ross uses an array of different languages and styles of languages; causing the reader to step outside of what is deemed as normative. Knowledge of multiple languages is usually associated with the word "cultured," meaning that one has had both the resources and the intellectual capacity to experience different international environments and learn the language of those environments. Louise's character is interesting in this way, because though her speech indicates a black, ill-educated southerner - her cooking does not. Her food also causes others to have responses of pleasure and delight, in a way that her verbal communication would not. Her complexity is duped by the idea that on the exterior, no one can understand her. Ross causes the reader to be confused and confounded by language when the audience might easily judge others for their various levels proficiency (or lack thereof) in language. Oreo represents this massive motherboard of languages (ranging from the scholarly English taught by her professor, to her brother's incoherent phrases. Oreo knows how to mix and meld languages, change "accents" and dialects, and use vocabulary in a way that cannot be done by the reader. The displacement of the reader in this context gives the effect of the foreignness experienced by the characters in the novel; particularly by a bi-racial child. The contradictions with language in the novel also serve to highlight the absurdity of labels that society places on people. Jimmie C speaks superstandard English, but also invents his own language “cha-key-key,” which he intermingles with superstandard English. Other contradictions with language are also apparent: Louise has white skin because she is albino, but she speaks using ebonics. James Clark professes to hate Jews, yet makes his living from the Jewish market, and has incorporated Yiddish words into his own speech. These situations all seem to be paradoxical, and that is part of Ross's satire. What she is poking fun at, and why she is poking fun at, is a little unclear at this point in the novel. Perhaps Ross is using the contradictions in language to say that assigning certain languages or dialects to certain races is nonsensical and a social construct, rather than indicative of an essential truth about black people and white people. Language is an important and necessary tool in society. Language can determine cultural bonds, relationships, and academic/economic positions. Whether it is displayed vocally or physically, language is not only used for communication and social interaction, but also serves as a foundation of social identity. Fran Ross emphasizes the importance of language in the literacy piece, Oreo, by mixing the different languages, Yiddish, formal English, and Ebonics or slang to allow readers to understand the significance of identity and environment adaption. Ross draws light to the common experience many black people share known as code-switching. In today's society there is one formal accepted type of professional language no matter where a person is from or cultural identity aligns, that individual is expected to use that form of language in certain environments. Understanding why Ross's character, Oreo chooses to speak formal around her teachers vs. slang talk around friends is a key element to the perception that language gives to a person's identity. People are born with identities that cannot be changed, but black people often have a unique experience of choosing which identities they want shown most or value most in society. In Ross, Oreo is shown to be in touch with her black identity, yet struggles to fully understand her Jewish identity due to being biracial with an absent father. Oreo seeks to connect with her father in a sense to find and accept a piece of her valued identity outside of her blackness. She uses language as a way to keep multiple elements of her identity intact, so that she is not only expected to identify with her black roots, but is known more as a multi-dimensional person with a variety of identities that make her who she is. Sexuality. Christine is the heroine of the tale is on a search for her father. This search is symbolic of her search for identity and history. Christine has few masculine figures in her life. Christine is abandoned by her father, who goes off to start a new family and commits suicide when she finds him. Her grandfather, one of the few present male figures in her life, is immobilized by a stroke. So Christine becomes the masculine figure. The heroine is an embodiment of masculinity. She is the brave, strong, rugged, and powerful protector. She also embodies femininity. The narrator predicts that soon Christine “would be the ideal beauty of legend and folklore-name the nationality, specify the ethnic group. Whatever your legends and folklore bring to mind for beauty of face and form, she would be it.” She is beautiful, caring, and gentle, towards those she chooses of course. In Christine, we achieve this tender balance of empathy for both sexes, a woman who could not just “break your balls” but “twist your tits” . Christine disbands many male characters of their masculinity through WIT, her offensive self-defense system. . Christine devises this system in response to her mother's biased lessons of femininity. Specifically in response to her mother's theory that “men can knock the shit out of woman” and in her resolve she declares the motto “Nemo me impune lacessit-‘No one attacks me with impunity’”. The WIT system is her mode of protection throughout her journey and the manner by which she exerts masculinity on other male figures as she progresses through her journey. The character Christine is striking in the respect that she refuses to abide by the patriarchal social system and she claims power in society. Ross complicates Black masculinity through the character of Christine and redefines what Black femininity can entail. Humor. One of the most important aspects of the novel is Ross’ use of humor. As one critic comments, “her throwaway lines have more zing than most comic writers’ studied arias." Her use of language is incredibly playful and acerbic, both prosaic and poetic. And the humor is not limited to sentences; the very form of the book is funny bouncing between character descriptions to menus, mathematical equations, and other surprising deviations from the traditional novel format. In her foreword to the novel, author Danzy Senna calls Ross a comic mulatto, stating that her verbal precocity turns the word on its head. Part of why Oreo is so different from the stereotypical narratives of the black experience is because of Ross’ boundary-breaking sense of humor. In placing such an emphasis on humor, Ross calls attention to the cultural importance of comedy and the right to laugh, regardless of race or gender. Greek Mythology. Through the mythical framework of the story of Theseus, Oreo's picaresque narrative reinvents themes from the white culture she is forced to live in, claiming ownership of an identity that is “borrowed” across racial and class cultures and ultimately embodying Elis's “cultural mulatto.” Ross’ reinterpretations serve to point out the inherently racial and patriarchal nature of Western origin stories. The majority of the chapter titles make some reference to the events and characters of the myth, such as Cercyon, Periphetes, and Sinis. Also, the plot generally follows the same arc. Like Theseus, Oreo embarks on a journey to search for her missing father with the help of few clues. Ross even provides a succinct and extremely satirical commentary in the last chapter to highlight the parallel between the two stories. However, Ross does not replicate myth so much as satirize it. Traditional aspects of the myth – such as the shoes and sandals Theseus is given before embarking on his quest – are reworked to seem unnecessary and slightly ridiculous. For example, the fearsome Minotaur is cast as bulldog puppy with a studded collar [. Ross’ reinterpretations serve to point out the inherently racial and patriarchal nature of Western origin stories. By introducing such a well-known Greek myth to racial world of Oreo, Ross comments on how the sense of American culture is derived from a specific racial context that tends to exclude the black experience. Introducing Oreo as Theseus is a way of reclaiming a typically white Western mythology. Oreo, an unapologetically complex, biracial woman, being portrayed as Theseus is a way of reclaiming a typically white Western mythology, through a post soul lens, proving there are no genre limitations for contemporary black art. By virtue of her black skin and her Jewish cultural knowledge, Oreo is able to blend into both black and Jewish social spheres. Oreo's ammunition through her journey to self discovery is very much her wit. She knows how to mix and mold languages, alter accents and dialects, and use vocabulary in a way that in many ways can lead the reader lost. The displacement of the reader in this context gives the effect of the foreignness experienced by the characters in the novel; particularly for a biracial child. In certain Greek myths, solving a riddle is a test of the hero's ingenuity, suggesting that life itself is a game of wits. Though, Oreo's journey is not merely an entertaining adventure, but a meaningful quest for self knowledge. If Theseus’ entry into the Labyrinth suggests the masculine hero's search for wholeness followed by the rebirth of a new self through the feminine power of his guide, Ariadne, Oreo's quest to meet her deadbeat father suggests a feminist daughter's claim to self knowledge as well as her determination to challenge and contest the patriarchy (seeing as though meeting her father played no significant role in her journey). “Oreo put her package down at the intersection, resting one sandaled foot lightly on top of it as she waited for the light to change. She idly twirled her walking stick, smiled her cookie smile, and whispered slowly and contentedly to herself, "Nemo me impune lacessit” (Ross, 207). Oreo ends her journey capturing and understanding the complexity of her black identity not through her father but through her interactions along the way. Analysis. In "Oreo", the main character Christine and her entire maternal family is cultured in both Jewish and Black cultures. She is a thriving hybrid, capable of switching from the languages of Yiddish, Standard English, and African American Vernacular English and transforming herself depending on the situation at hand. She is capable of fitting within the Black world because of her skin color and due to the cultural knowledge she possesses of the Jewish cultural background of her maternal family, she is able to blend in within Jewish social spheres. Although Oreo is an example the New Black Aesthetics’ concept of a cultural mulatto,"Oreo" is more thematic of Post-Soul Aesthetic since it introduces a very unusual Black-Jewish cultural mulatto that conflicts the practice of erasure,the practice of removing other races from the discussion of race and focusing on the White-Black binary. Though Oreo is able to switch between languages (which is another way she is capable of Style- Shifting throughout the novel to show solidarity with the different aspects that make up her genetic and social make-up) of Yiddish and English, almost being able to adapt to any situation, according to Trey Ellis' "New Black Aesthetic" she exists in the world as a "neutered mutation." A "Neutered mutation" is one that conforms to mainstream society by ridding themselves of their "blackness." Oreo would be deemed a "neutered mutation" because she is in search of her "whiteness" and not her "blackness." Oreo does subtle things to stray away from what she believes is authentic "blackness." In doing these things she is trying to avoid her "blackness" as if she is not really apart of the Black community but because she has been immersed in it since she was a child then she cannot get away from it, she's forced into it. Oreo believes by searching for her Jewish father her identity will take shape and she will finally be whole when in actuality her identity has already taken shaped because of her constant interaction with the Black community. Oreo is in search of something that she believes will almost rid herself of this feeling of emptiness. Her longing for her “whiteness” can be interpreted as her longing to get away from her “blackness.” Oreo can also be viewed as searching for her identity, since she feels that neither "Jewish" nor "Black" fully define her experience. Oreo is in multiple spaces where others assume her identity and treat her according to their assumptions. Oreo never had the opportunity to immerse herself into both of her racial designations, and she believed that finding her father would give her the missing piece of her identity. She was trying to transcend race and find her individual identity. Parnell. Parnell is the pimp Oreo encounters outside of Mr. Soundman, Inc. who she named after the British politician and adulterer, Charles Stewart Parnell. Oreo observes Parnell demanding each of his women shine his shoes, then one by one kicking them from behind. Oreo plays a trick on Parnell by walking past him, dropping several dollars on the ground, and waiting for him to bend over before she clubs him to ground with her walking stick. Parnell tumbles to the gutter and Oreo takes off. Before long, Parnell finds Oreo and takes her back to the brothel where he unleashes his beast Kirk, a full grown, primitive man "virtually on all fours, caparisoned in a black loincloth" (156). Oreo is forced to fight Kirk. Thanks to a "protective device," when Kirk attempted to rape Oreo, he recoiled in severe pain. She beat Parnell using one of her sandals, giving him a "to-blo" to the lower jaw and an "el-bo-krac" to the ear. Each prostitute took their vengeance on Parnell by stepping on his boots. Parnell serves as an antagonist for Oreo to be tested against. Her fight with Parnell correlates to the slaying of bandits that Theseus accomplishes during his journey from Troezen to Athens. Miss Hap. Towards the end of the novel, Ross introduces the relatively minor character, Miss Hap (196), who plays the role of the hired cook/caretaker of Oreo's father's family. While Miss Hap is only present for a few chapters, her role in the grander scheme and themes presented within the novel is significant. In light of the novel's relation to the Post-Soul Aesthetic, Miss Hap is the only character that fully exhibits the one-dimensional and stereotypical qualities of the literary "Mammy" figure. This is especially evident in her speech, small mannerisms (197, 198), and dialogue directed towards a relatively antiquated, southern slave narrative. She is positioned in direct opposition to the rest of the characters Oreo encounters within the warped world of the novel, who all, in some way or another, muddy the waters of black and white dichotomies. She serves, in a way, as a dialogue between the new and the old, and while she is viewed as a slightly comical character, especially in her literal naming, it is she who serves as a final tool and solution for the end of Oreo's quest (203). Critical response. Upon its republication by Northeastern University Press in 2000, the then nearly thirty-year-old novel was praised for being ahead of its time. "Oreo" has been hailed as "one of the masterpieces of 20th century American comic writing." Furthermore, one critic elaborated that "Oreo" was "a true twenty-first century novel." The novel's "wit is global, hybrid and uproarious ... simultaneously irreverent, appropriative and serious. It is post-everything: post-modern, post-identity politics, post-politically correct." Novelist Paul Beatty also included an excerpt of "Oreo" in his 2006 anthology of African-American humor "Hokum". In June 2007, Cultural critic Jalylah Burrell listed the book on VIBE.com as the number one work in African-American literature that should be adapted into a major motion picture, writing, "Quirky comedy with surrealist elements, i.e., Wes Anderson meets Kaufman/Gondry." Mat Johnson chose "Oreo" for his 2011 appearance on the NPR program "You Must Read This", describing it as "one of the funniest books I've ever read, but I've never quoted it. To do so, I would have to put quotations before the first page and then again at the last." He too stated that as a "feminist odyssey", published eight years before Alice Walker's "The Colour Purple", the book had simply been ahead of its time: "A truly original view of our world is what we yearn for in fiction, but sometimes when something is so original, so many years ahead of its time, it takes time for the audience to catch up to it. It's a statement of how far we've come that for this quirky, hilarious, odd, little biracial black book, that time is now." Relationship to "Roots". Oreo came out around the same time as Alex Haley’s seminal novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family. Both boundary-breaking books for their time in terms of shedding light on the contemporary black experience, Roots went on to be wildly successful, occupying the number one spot on the New York Times best-seller list for twenty two weeks. It was then adapted into an extremely popular television miniseries, one that defined the cultural iconography of the American black experience for many generations. [1] [2] Oreo, in contrast, fell into obscurity soon after publication. It fell out of print for years, until 2000 when the efforts of black poets and writers, in particular Harryette Mullen and Danzy Senna, brought it back into publication and to a certain cult-status There are many reasons for Oreo’s initial obscurity. Perhaps the most notable is that Haley’s work presented a more unified picture of the black experience, one that was easier for viewers to latch onto during the tumultuous years of the Civil Rights era. Oreo, a story about a biracial black girl, is a far more complicated look at racial identity than Haley’s exploration of heritage. Published eight years before Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, it was also ahead of its time in the way it addressed feminist themes and the intersection between black and Jewish identity. One critic pointed out that being published in 1974, “during the height of the Black Power movement with its focus on African-based identity and black male power” Oreo almost had no chance at success because the public audience was not ready to take in such a complicated work. Film adaptation. The novel was adapted by Adam Davenport into a screenplay intended as a starring vehicle for Keke Palmer. The project is yet to be produced.

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Erasure (novel) Erasure is a 2001 novel by Percival Everett and originally published by UPNE. The novel reacts against the dominant strains of discussion surrounding the publication and criticism of African American literature. Plot. Erasure is about a writer dealing with death, murder, and growing old. The novel's plot revolves around many things, but is essentially about the consequences of turning one's art into a simple commodity; i.e. giving into market forces. The market force within Erasure mirrors the late-90s reality around how the publishing industry pigeon-holed Black writers, and centered or valued certain experiences [those of the urban poor] over others. Themes around race, class, loyalty to family, sex, the theory of language, the life of canonical western artists, abortion, and sexual identity are also explored as the novel unfolds. The protagonist, Thelonious "Monk" Ellison, a professor of English literature, is in a rut with his own writing. His agent repeatedly explains to him that publishing houses don't believe his writing to be "black enough". To make matters worse, Ellison experiences this angst, as another book called "We's Lives In Da Ghetto" by Juanita Mae Jenkins is becoming a national best seller and critical darling. Monk is angered by the success of Jenkins' book, so he composes a satirical response based on Richard Wright's "Native Son" and Sapphire's novel "Push", which he first entitles "My Pafology" before changing it to "Fuck". This novel is published in its entirety within Erasure and creates a meta-narrative that asks the reader about the value and merits of such writing in contrast to the supposedly more erudite text of Erasure. Structure. Like many Everett novels, "Erasure" is experimental in structure. Part of the novel's structure involves the multiple embedded narratives, written by the main character Thelonious "Monk" Ellison, including his mock-novel titled "My Pafology". "The Guardian" described as a "skilful, extended parody of ghetto novels such as Sapphire's "Push"." The novel includes other narrative styles within the larger narrative frame, including an academic paper, personal letters, story ideas, imagined dialogue between fictionalized historical characters, and, in the final section, the end of "Erasure" as written by Stagg R Leigh, Monk's alter ego. Criticism. The novel was well received. "The Guardian" focused on the dark comedy that it represents, describing it as moving towards "bleakest comedy" and "sly work." Ready Steady Book focused more on the novel being "full of anger" about the African American literary establishment, but describes the most redeeming elements of the plot coming from " moving portrait of a son coming to terms with his mother’s life."

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The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman is a 1971 novel by Ernest J. Gaines. The story depicts the struggles of African Americans as seen through the eyes of the narrator, a woman named Jane Pittman. She tells of the major events of her life from the time she was a young slave girl in the American South at the end of the Civil War. The novel was dramatized in a TV movie in 1974, starring Cicely Tyson. Realistic fiction novel. The novel, and its main character, are particularly notable for the breadth of time, history and stories they recall. In addition to the plethora of fictional characters who populate Jane's narrative, Jane and others make many references to historical events and figures over the close-to-a hundred years Miss Jane can recall. In addition to its obvious opening in the American Civil War, Jane alludes to the Spanish–American War and her narrative spans across both World Wars and the beginning of the Vietnam War. Jane and other characters also mention Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Jackie Robinson, Fred Shuttlesworth, Rosa Parks, and others. Corporal Brown's voice give these historical meditations a kind of "setting the record straight" mood to the storytelling presented in this novel. For instance, an entire section is dedicated to Huey P. Long in which Miss Jane explains "Oh, they got all kinds of stories about her now ... When I hear them talk like that I think, 'Ha. You ought to been here twenty-five, thirty years ago. You ought to been here when poor people had nothing.'" Because of the historical content, some readers thought the book was non-fiction. Gaines commented: Some people have asked me whether or not "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman" is fiction or nonfiction. It is fiction. When Dial Press first sent it out, they did not put "a novel" on the galleys or on the dustjacket, so a lot of people had the feeling that it could have been real. ... I did a lot of research in books to give some facts to what Miss Jane could talk about, but these are my creations. I read quite a few interviews performed with former slaves by the WPA during the thirties and I got their rhythm and how they said certain things. But I never interviewed anybody. Motifs. Slavery again. The novel, which begins with a protagonist in slavery being freed and leaving the plantation only to return to another plantation as a sharecropper, stresses the similarities between the conditions of African Americans in slavery and African Americans in the sharecropping plantation. The novel shows how formerly enslaved people lived after freedom. It shows how the patrollers and other vigilante groups through violence and terror curtailed the physical and educational mobility of African Americans in the south. Access to schools and political participation was shut down by plantation owners. Between physical limitations, not having money, and having to deal with ambivalent and hostile figures, Jane and Ned's travels don't take them very far physically (they do not leave Louisiana) nor in lifestyle. At the end of the chapter "A Flicker of Light; And Again Darkness", Miss Jane remarks of Colonel Dye's plantation, "It was slavery again, all right". In the depiction of Miss Jane's telling of the story, Jim, the child of sharecroppers parallels if not resoundingly echoes the earlier story of Ned, the child born on a slave plantation. Through these stories the novel further highlights the conditions of Louisiana sharecropping in relationship to the conditions of slavery. Film adaptation. The book was made into an award-winning television movie, "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman", broadcast on CBS in 1974. The film holds importance as one of the first made-for-TV movies to deal with African-American characters with depth and sympathy. It preceded the ground-breaking television miniseries "Roots" by three years. The film culminates with Miss Pittman joining the civil rights movement in 1962 at age 110. Critics have noted the language to be difficult to understand by viewers not familiar with the dialect and accent of the characters. The movie was directed by John Korty; the screenplay was written by Tracy Keenan Wynn and executive produced by Roger Gimbel. It starred Cicely Tyson in the lead role, as well as Michael Murphy, Richard Dysart, Katherine Helmond and Odetta. The film was shot in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and was notable for its use of very realistic special effects makeup by Stan Winston and Rick Baker for the lead character, who is shown from ages 23 to 110. The television movie is currently distributed through Classic Media. The film won nine Emmy Awards in 1974 including Best Actress of the Year, Best Lead Actress in a Drama, Best Directing in a Drama, and Best Writing in Drama. Differences between the novel and film. Preceding Alex Haley's miniseries "Roots", the film was one of the first films to take seriously depictions of African Americans in the plantation south. The film, like the book, also suggests a comparison between the contemporary moment of the Civil Rights Movement and the plight of African Americans at various points in history. The film, however, has some noticeable divergences from the novel. In the film the person who interviews Miss Jane is European American (played by Michael Murphy). There is no indication of the interviewer's race in the novel. In fact after the first couple of pages the interviewer completely falls out of the frame of the story though he continues to appear between flashbacks in the film. The film also opens with the book's final story about Jimmy coming to an almost 110-years-old Miss Jane to ask for her participation in a Civil Rights demonstration. The film appears to be a series of flashbacks that happen during this time of Jimmy's Civil Rights organizing. In the novel, Corporal Brown gives Jane her name. Originally she had been called Ticey. The Corporal exclaims that "Ticey" is a slave name but then declares "I'll call you Jane" after his own girl back in Ohio. In the film however, Corporal Brown only suggests the name "Jane" as one option in a list of potential names, so that it is Jane who says "I like 'Jane'". The movie never shows Tee Bob killing himself.

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Joy (Hunt novel) Joy (1990) is a novel by Marsha Hunt about the relationship between two African-American women that is based on secrets, lies and delusion. Mainly set in a posh New York apartment in the course of one day in the spring of 1987, the novel contains frequent flashbacks that describe life in a black neighbourhood in the 1950s and 1960s. The book also deals with stardom in the music business and some people's inability, despite their riches, to make their own American Dream come true and to lead fulfilled lives. Plot summary. The first person narrator of the novel is Palatine Ross, a 70-year-old cleaning woman originally from New Orleans, whose childhood is dominated by poverty and loss. Shutting her eyes to all the evil in the world and firmly relying on God and the words of the Bible as guidance, Palatine tries to raise Joy and her sisters to be educated, honest and religious members of society. The fact that, growing up in a rough neighbourhood, the not-yet-teenaged girls are very early in their lives confronted with sex willingly escapes her notice. It troubles Palatine a great deal when Dagwood, her neighbour's new boyfriend, starts spending the night with the girls' mother. One morning during the summer vacation, while his girlfriend is at work and Palatine is taking care of the children, Dagwood stays on in the apartment. Right from the start, Palatine tries to take the three girls along to church, seeing that their blaspheming mother will never do so. Time and again, in the course of more than twenty years, Palatine tries to convince Joy that finding herself a nice coloured boyfriend whom she could marry and have children with would be the right thing to do. However, "Chocolate Chip" remains a one-hit wonder after an interview given by Brenda to some gay magazine in which she announces her coming out as a lesbian. However, rather than being able to mourn Joy's death, she for the first time learns things about Joy which finally force her to abandon her blinkered view of her "God-sent child" and admit that she was a sinner rather than a saint.

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Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down, by the African-American writer Ishmael Reed, is a satirical take on the traditional Western. It is Ishmael Reed's second novel, following "The Freelance Pallbearers" (1967), and was first published in 1969. It tells the story of the Loop Garoo Kid, an African-American cowboy who practices the religion of Neohoodooism, and describes his struggle against established religion and cultural oppression. Plot introduction. "Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down" is a western that spans some three centuries of history and references locations from across the United States landscape. Through the three colorful protagonists, Chief Showcase, a Native American, Drag Gibson, a white land capitalist, and the Loop Garoo Kid, an African-American cowboy, Reed criticizes the hypocrisy of the American Church, the warping of history to degrade the portrayal of African Americans, and ways the "white man" attempts to destroy the "black man". Explanation of the title. The novel's title summarizes both its literary and cultural messages. “Yellow Back” references the traditionally yellow covers of lurid dime Westerns, while “Radio” references Reed's strategy of writing the book in an oral, broadcast tradition. In a 1974 interview, Reed states that he “based the book on old radio scripts in which the listener constructed the sets with his imagination; that’s why 'radio'; also because it’s an oral book, a talking book…there’s more dialogue than scenery or description.” The “broke-down” indicates a deconstruction of the traditional American Western novel. “Yellow Back Radio” can also be seen as symbolic of a media broadcasting traditional American values of capitalism and monotheism. The Loop Garoo Kid, bearing a strange religion from that “strange continent which serves as the subconscious of our planet” (152), uses Neohoodooism to “Break Down” this cultural broadcast. Plot summary. "Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down" jumps into the narrative of the main protagonist, Loop Garoo, a black, silver tongued, circus cowboy, who represents the devil to the white men. The circus troupe heads into Yellow Back Radio, a sparsely populated ghost town overtaken by a child population in Indian garb. The circus troupe and the children are massacred by the adults that were chased out by the children, while Loop Garoo escapes with his life and a desire for vengeance. Drag Gibson, a homosexual and influential land-owner who is head of the city, is also introduced. As Drag deals with the problems from a deteriorating city, Loop Garoo is saved from being eaten by wild animals by Chief Showcase, a Native American who fights his oppressors through suave and underhanded means. Loop begins his Hoodoo curses on Drag, giving him the retroactive itch and other inconveniences, as the conflict builds. Drag murders his sixth wife and orders his seventh through the mail-order service. Her name is Mustache Sal, a nymphomaniac who seeks to murder Drag to inherit his vast fortunes. She proceeds to have sex with just about every main and minor male character, showing a complete lack of discrimination. As Drag continues into a progressively more deteriorating state of mind because of the uncontrollable loss of power and influence around him, Loop Garoo continues to gain influence through his appearance in town, soundly whipping the marshal and pushing the Preacher into the brink of insanity. Mustache Sal's attempt to poison her husband fails and she is fed to the iron-jawed pigs. Drag then brings in John Wesley Hardin, a sharp-shooting racist who kills black people out of pleasure. When Loop Garoo quickly kills him, Drag's health quickly deteriorates until his savior, the Pope, arrives riding on red bull. He describes to the city's citizens the Hoodoo Loop Garoo is putting on them and proceeds to capture Loop with no difficulty. However, when the Pope fails in persuading Loop to return to Rome with him, he leaves in defeat. Drag sets the execution of Loop up but fails to execute him; instead through the sudden appearance of children with new technology, Amazonian women, and Field Marshal Theda Doompussy Blackwell's Raygun wielding detectives, Drag falls into the pit of pigs and dies. Characters. Major characters. The Loop Garoo Kid is an African-American cowboy and Neohoodoo houngan. He combats the imperialism and monopolistic greed of Drag Gibson and organized religion, casting spells and summoning Loa to assist him. His struggle against Gibson symbolizes his fight against the power structure and repressive elements of white culture. He embodies African-American culture and religion; his art is as diverse and adaptable as the Hoodoo rituals he performs. Loop Garoo is the apocryphal brother of Jesus Christ, the love interest of the Virgin Mary, and the high priest of Neohoodooism. Drag Gibson is an influential landowner who represents the impact of white culture on the West, the rapacious greed of land capitalists, and the rigidity of Judeo-Christian values. He rules the town of Yellow Back Radio from his ranch house with a small army of ranch hands. A blatant racist with no regard for human life, he kills off a total of seven wives by the end of the novel. Drag clashes with Loop Garoo and Neohoodooism until he is finally eaten by Yellow Back Radio's steel-jawed hogs. Chief Showcase is the last surviving Native-American in the Yellow Back Radio region. After Drag Gibson slaughtered his tribe, he began writing militant poetry about white imperialism. Reed portrays Showcase as spiritual and advanced - he travels in a helicopter that confuses and terrifies his provincial white adversaries. Showcase fights back against his oppressors by playing both sides of an escalating conflict between Drag Gibson and the powers in Washington, D.C., working to stir up trouble between the powerful Western landowner and the greedy Federal Government. Minor characters. Zozo Labrique is a Hoodoo mambo who travelled with Loop Garoo's circus. She taught Loop Garoo connaissance, or Hoodoo magic, and was killed by Drag Gibson's cowhands when they burned down the circus. She reappears in the novel as a Loa called upon by Loop Garoo during his summoning ritual. Mustache Sal is Drag Gibson's nymphomaniac mail-order bride. She marries Drag with the intention of poisoning him and inheriting his land, but he discovers her plan and feeds her to the executioner's steel-jawed hogs. In contrast to the Black Cougar Saloon's Hurdy Gurdy girls and Drag's previous wife, The Horrible Hybrid, Mustache Sal displays independence, intelligence, and open-mindedness. She doesn't discriminate racially in her personal associations, consorting with Loop Garoo, the ranch hands, and Chief Showcase alike. Reverend Boyd is the Protestant minister of Yellow Back Radio. He tries to connect with the youth of the town, hosting light shows for them, but his efforts fail. He turns to alcohol for comfort and is ridiculed by Loop Garoo and Pope Innocent. He is killed by the Pope with a can of DDT-based insecticide. Field Marshal Theda Doompussy Blackwell is a member of the U.S. military brass who schemes with Chief Showcase to take control of Drag Gibson's land. Reed portrays the Field Marshal as weak, petulant, and possibly homosexual, poking fun at the typically virile stereotype of the military man. Major themes. Neohoodooism. Reed interweaves the basic tenets of a religious aesthetic called Neohoodooism throughout the text. He achieves this chiefly through the statements of the Loop Garoo Kid, the spiritual high priest of Neohoodooism. The religious side of Neohoodooism has its roots in the African-American folk magic of Hoodoo, which Reed claims is based on the West African religion of Vodoun. Loop Garoo's summoning of various Loa and hexing of Drag Gibson confirms these religious roots. Neohoodooism is also an artistic aesthetic which values multicultural hybridism. The Loop Garoo Kid uses Neohoodooism to fight Drag Gibson, a symbol of the intolerance in white culture. Their battle represents the struggle of an inclusive African-American culture against a rigid Judeo-Christian one. Reed explains that he linked the religious and aesthetic aspects of Neohoodooism together because the one is a metaphor for the other; both aspects are essentially amalgamations: "Voodoo is the perfect metaphor for the multicultural. Voodoo comes out of the fact that all these different tribes and cultures were brought from Africa and Haiti. All of their mythologies, knowledges, and herbal medicines, their folklores, jelled. It's an amalgamation like this country." Religious conflict. "Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down" is rife with religious conflict. Protestantism conflicts with Catholicism, and Catholicism with Neohoodooism. Yellow Back Radio's reverend, Preacher Boyd, symbolizes the failure of Protestantism. Despite his best efforts, the young people of the town ignore him, and as a result he descends into despair and alcoholism. The representatives of both the novel's other major religions scorn him. The Loop Garoo Kid, high priest of Neohoodooism, lashes the crucifix off Reverend Boyd's neck with a bullwhip, and Pope Innocent, leader of the Catholic Church, kills him with a can of insecticide. Protestantism in the town Yellow Back Radio is out of touch and dying. Catholicism and Neohoodooism conflict during an argument between Loop Garoo and Pope Innocent. Loop Garoo launches a scathing attack on the violent nature of the Catholic Church: “You and your crowd are the devils. The way you massacred the Gnostics, not to mention the Bogomils, Albigenses, and Waldenses” (165). Reed compares African-American Neohoodooism to Catholicism, contrasting the tolerance and inclusiveness of the former with the massacres and bigotry of the latter. Racial conflict. The struggle between a pluralistic African-American culture and an intolerant white culture is central to the novel. Loop Garoo, the impromptu spell-casting Hoodoo houngan, diametrically opposes the bigoted Drag Gibson. The conflict between these two men and the forces they represent leads to direct, racist violence. Drag Gibson sets fire to Loop Garoo's circus, killing his associates and forcing him to flee into the desert. He then hires the genocidal John Wesley Hardin to finish Loop Garoo off. Hardin symbolizes the racist tendencies of the Old West; he sees African Americans as the devil incarnate and slaughters them without mercy. The Loop Garoo Kid responds to Drag's violence by calling on a diverse array of resources, unleashing the power of nature and the innumerable hexes and spells of the Hoodoo religion on Gibson and his cronies. Drag is quickly overwhelmed by the forces assembled against him, and not even Pope Innocent can save him from Loop Garoo. Reed argues that the transparent violence employed by white society is no match for the diversity and adaptability of African-American religion and culture. Reed also comments on the ethnocidal history of the Western Expansion. Chief Showcase's poetry bitterly reflects the atrocities committed against Native Americans by white imperialists, and Showcase sardonically jeers at the promises of white leaders. Literary significance and reception. "Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down" was received with varied criticisms: "Neil Schmitz, in an essay on Reed's fiction in "Twentieth Century Literature" (April 1974), judged "Yellow Back Radio" "to exhibit a 'simplistic' focus and 'diffused' energy, although many readers found it to be a comic tour de force." "Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down" has been cited as an important precursor or model for the 1974 satirical Western film "Blazing Saddles", a connection that Reed himself has made. Awards and nominations. "Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down" was rated one of the 100 Best Books in the 20th Century by the "American Book Review" and a "San Francisco Chronicle" poll.

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The Salt Eaters The Salt Eaters is a 1980 novel, the first such work by Toni Cade Bambara. The novel is written in an experimental style and is explicitly political in tone, with several of the characters being veterans of the civil rights, feminist, and anti-war movements of the 1960s and 1970s. It is set in the fictional town of Claybourne, Georgia. Plot. The novel opens on Minnie Ransom, the "fabled healer of the district", performing a healing on Velma Henry who has attempted suicide by slitting her wrists and sticking her head into a gas oven. Velma, a community activist who has worked in various leftist movements, has suffered a nervous breakdown due to the increasing factionalism in the activist community of Claybourne as well as her failing marriage to Obie, another activist, and the pressures of her job as a computer programmer at Transchemical, a chemical plant in the neighboring town. Minnie, an unmarried eccentric, calls on her spiritual guide, a "haint" she called Old Wife, to guide her through the healing as she feels Velma is resisting her efforts. (Old Wife was the elderly woman who helped Minnie deal with the emotional breakdown she experienced after she ran away from the bible college that her well-to-do parents sent her to and headed to New York City.) Many chapters of the book feature long internal dialogues between Minnie and Old Wife, with the two of them having spirited debates about the "loas" that Old Wife refuses to acknowledge. The healing, which is conducted in the infirmary that Velma helped to establish to serve the community is witnessed by several visitors, most of whom have some sort of connection to Velma. The entirety of the novel's action revolves around the healing, with the planning of the upcoming Spring Festival serving as backdrop. The point-of-view of the novel shifts numerous times between characters. "At once spiritual, apocalyptic, mysterious, cacophonic, and destabilizing, "The Salt Eaters" offers a unifying epiphany of creation and community."

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The Between The Between (1995) is the first novel by writer Tananarive Due. It was nominated for the 1996 Bram Stoker Award. Plot. A middle-class African American couple's life is shattered when the wife begins receiving death threats. The husband begins to experience an alternative reality so real he has trouble grasping which is real. His psychiatrist diagnosis him as a latent schizophrenic. The family must decide if its schizophrenia, are the dreams a cosmic death threat or has the husband become unstuck from this reality and become stuck between worlds. Reviews. Part horror novel, part detective story and part speculative fiction, "The Between" is a mix of genres. Yet it is no hybrid. It is a finely honed work that always engages and frequently surprises. <br>-- JAMES POLK, "The New York Times" Development of novel. The lengthy autobiographical essay by Due elucidates the history and context of her first novel "The Between" among many other works and details of her life. Due also subtly suggests the horrifying thought that pervades the story but is left tactfully unspoken: if each of us creates our own reality, then ultimately we are all alone in the world.

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On the Come Up On the Come Up, published on February 5, 2019 by Balzer + Bray, is a young adult novel by Angie Thomas . It tells the story of Bri, a sixteen-year old rapper hoping to fill the shoes of her father and 'make it' as an underground hip-hop legend. Overnight, Bri becomes an internet sensation after posting a rap hit which sparks controversy. As Bri defeats the odds to 'make it' she battles controversy to achieve her dreams. It is set in the same universe (Garden Heights) as Thomas' first book "The Hate U Give". Reception. The book was well reviewed by The New York Times, Vox, and The Washington Post. The American Library Association named the book one of the best released for young adults in 2020. Awards. "On the Come Up" received several accollades: Film adaptation. On February 4, 2019, Fox 2000 Pictures acquired the rights to adapt the novel with George Tillman Jr. directing and producing with Robert Teitel, and Jay Marcus from State Street Pictures, alongside Thomas Marty Bowen, Isaac Klausner and John Fischer of Temple Hill Entertainment. On December 11, 2019, after Disney acquisition of 21st Century Fox and closing of Fox 2000, Paramount Players acquired the film adaptation with Kay Oyegun hired to write the script and Tillman Jr. still attached to direct. On October 19, 2020, Wanuri Kahiu replaced Tillman Jr. as director of the film.

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If He Hollers Let Him Go If He Hollers Let Him Go is the first novel by American writer Chester Himes, published in 1945, about an African-American shipyard worker in Los Angeles during World War II. It earned him critical acclaim and was considered a "protest novel", in the tradition of Richard Wright. The book was adapted as a 1968 film, starring Raymond St. Jacques, Dana Wynter, Kevin McCarthy, Barbara McNair, and Arthur O'Connell. The screenplay differed markedly from the novel. Plot and characters. The story spans four days in the life of Robert "Bob" Jones, a newcomer to Los Angeles from Ohio. With some college education, he works as a crew leader in a naval shipyard. In this period, black workers are gaining opportunities in the defense industry as a result of executive orders of President Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II. However, Jones cannot escape the pressures of racism. He believes he was promoted as a supervisor only to gain the cooperation of black workers in the war effort. He is forced to deal with anti-communist paranoia, resentment from whites on the floor working at the same jobs as "colored boys", and the baiting of black workers by some white females. His fears invade his dreams, aspirations, and passions. His dream of making something of himself in California is jeopardized as he reacts to the actions of the white people around him. He struggles to contain his urges to fight, kill, and rape as ways to overcome his resentment of white power arrayed against him. The main characters are the protagonist, Bob Jones, and two women: Madge Perkins, who is white; and Alice Harrison, his higher-class African-American girlfriend. Bob struggles for place in a white-dominated world and is filled with violent thoughts against white people, but does not act on them. In what is described as a "sexually charged novel", Madge makes a racial slur toward Bob. His calling her a "bitch" results in his demotion. He considers raping her as a way to get back at white America, seeing her as a symbol of "whiteness", but when she expresses sexual attraction to him, he rejects her. Alice tells Bob it is no use getting angry about the inequality that blacks must live with, and he has to learn to deal with it. Themes. Themes addressed in the novel include racism suffered by blacks, color differentiation among African Americans (Alice's light skin is associated with her higher class), employment discrimination against blacks, and class divisions among whites and blacks. Communism is featured generously, as the Communist unionists ("agitators") are the only ones who talk about the issue of race in any way with which the protagonist agrees. There is some reference to jazz. The novel is referred to in Frantz Fanon's book, "Black Skin White Masks" (1952), first published in French, in the chapter titled "The Fact of Blackness". Reception. Critics praised this first novel by Himes, classifying it in the "protest novel" tradition established by Richard Wright.

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Brown Girl, Brownstones Brown Girl, Brownstones is the debut novel by the internationally recognized writer Paule Marshall, first published in 1959, and dramatized by CBS Television Workshop in 1960. The story is about Barbadian immigrants in Brooklyn, New York. The book gained further recognition after it was reprinted in 1981 by the Feminist Press. Synopsis. Book 1. A Long Day and a Long Night. Ten-year-old Selina Boyce lives in a brownstone in Brooklyn with her Barbadian immigrant family: her mother Silla, father Deighton, and sister Ina. Silla is a strict, no-nonsense woman whose goal is to save enough money to purchase the brownstone they are leasing. Deighton is lackadaisical, impulsive, and he frequently cheats on his wife. His dreams of returning to Barbados and his frivolousness are a source of tension between Silla and him. Deighton inherits a piece of land; Silla wants him to sell it so they can buy the brownstone, but Deighton has fantasies about moving back and building an extravagant house. Suggie Skeete, Miss Mary, and Miss Thompson are a few other characters who appear sporadically; Selina goes to them for companionship and advice. Book 2. Pastorale. Book 2 opens with a brief description of Deighton and Silla's drawn-out argument over selling the piece of land, and Selina imagining herself as one of the sleeping children who lived in the brownstone before the Boyces. Selina starts to think about womanhood and growing up. She goes to the park with her friend Beryl, where they have an argument about how babies are born: c-section or vaginal birth. Beryl confides to Selina that she has started menstruating. Selina is confused and somewhat repulsed by the idea, as she believes it will never happen to her. In reality, Selina feels left out and confused by puberty. Book 3. The War. World War II is in progress at the start of the third book; this section spans a few years, beginning when Selina is around eleven and ends when she is fifteen. Book 3 is titled "The War" partially in reference to the war, but also in reference to the continuing argument between Silla and Deighton about his piece of land. A group of a few other Bajan women visits Silla in her kitchen while she makes Barbadian cuisine to sell. She vents her frustrations about the land, but she comes with a plan that will get it taken care of. Selina overhears, and Silla threatens to punish her if she tells her father. Selina searches for someone she can tell about Silla's plans because she wants to protect her father. Deighton, still jobless, begins to devote his time to studying the trumpet. He believes that music will be his next get-rich-quick scheme. Selina tells him about the conversation Silla had with the other Bajan women and her plans to somehow sell the land, but reassures him that it's probably nothing to worry about. She fights with her sister, feeling ignored and unloved. Ina says that no one will ever like her because of her bold and brash personality. Selina tells Miss Thompson about her fight and her concerns about her mothers plans. Miss Thompson, being a maternal and nurturing person, tries to help by distracting her. She fixes Selina's hair in curls, then Selina heads to her mother's work with the intention of confronting her about her plans to sell the land behind Deighton's back. Silla chastises her for travelling to the part of town by herself at night. Silla reveals that she has successfully sold Deighton's land for nine hundred dollars. Over the course of a year, Silla forged letters to Deighton's sister and granted his sister the power of attorney to sell the land. Deighton seems to be resigned to this fact, and agrees to take out the money the following day. He is gone the entire day, which raises Silla's suspicions. Deighton comes home with an abundance of frivolous and extravagant gifts. Silla mourns the loss of the money that could have gotten them the brownstone. The community attends the wedding of ’Gatha Steed’s daughter, which turns out to be an extravagant celebration. Deighton shows up to the reception, but it is clear that everyone know what he’s done, and he is essentially excommunicated. He severely injures his arm while incorrectly using machinery at a factory job, then begins to follow a cultist religion lead by a man called Father Peace. Deighton he demands to be called "Brother Boyce", and he renounces his family to be with other followers of Father Peace. Silla calls the authorities to have him deported back to Barbados. The family receives news that Deighton either jumped or fell off the ship that was on its way to Barbados, and he drowned. Book 4. Selina. Since her father's death, Selina's grief has removes her even further from the community. She attends a party hosted by her childhood friend, Beryl, where Selina learns about the Association. She realizes that her peers are all conforming to their parents’ wishes rather than deciding their futures for themselves. Selina begins college. Silla owns the brownstone, and she works to get rid of Miss Mary and Suggie. Miss Mary passes away, and Silla is able to evict Suggie on the grounds that her promiscuous behavior seems suspiciously like prostitution. Selina loses two of the people she's closest to in a short span. Convinced Silla's doing it on purpose, she becomes even angrier and more reclusive. Miss Thompson reveals to Selina how she got the sore on her leg. It was the result of a racist attack while she was in the South, where a man injured her with a shovel. She also encourages her to attend an Association meeting so she can re-connect with her "people" and her culture a bit more and stop feeling so alienated. Selina begrudgingly agrees to go, but she tells the group they are money-hungry, narrow-minded, etc. and their concerns are petty compared to what they have to face in the white world. Selina meets Clive, a melancholy artist about ten years her senior. He initially seems to share a lot of Selina's personal values, and they begin a secret relationship. Selina joins her school dance team, discovering she has natural talent and enjoys it. Silla finds out about Clive, but Selina lies and says they are just friends. Silla warns Selina about him, saying that he is not the sort of person she should hang around with. Selina decides to rejoin the Association under the pretense of wanting the scholarship they are offering. She plans to take the money and use it to run away with Clive. Selina dances a sola in a recital and has a racist encounter with one of the other dancer's mother afterwards. Selina goes straight to Clive's, and realizes that he never meant to go away with her. Selina leaves her copy of the key to his apartment and returns home to cry herself to sleep. Selina wins the Association scholarship, but she declines the award. In private, she tells her mother she never stopped seeing Clive and what she had planned to do with the money. Selina plans to leave school and go to Barbados alone. The novel ends with Selina walking alone and tossing one of the silver bangles she has had since she was a baby towards a set of brownstones that are being torn down for a city project. Reviews. "Remarkable for its colorful characters, the cadence of its dialogue and its evocation of a still-lingering past." — "New York Times Book Review"" "Marshall brings to her characters ... an instinctive understanding, a generosity and free humor that combine to form a style remarkable for its courage, its color, and its natural control." — "The New Yorker"" "An unforgettable novel written with pride and anger, with rebellion and tears." — "New York Herald Tribune" Criticism. Trudier Harris in her essay "No Outlet for the Blues: Silla Boyce’s Plight in "Brown Girl, Brownstones"" highlights the opposing ideals of Selina's mother and father, and the effect of their ideas on their daughter Selina. Harris writes: "Paule Marshall's "Brown Girl, Brownstones" presents a clash of cultures not only for the young protagonist Selina Boyce, who is torn between her father's love for Barbados and her mother's desire to succeed to the American Dream, but also for Silla Boyce, who has similar conflicts. This strong, bitter, frustrated, disappointed, loving, vindictive woman, who keeps striving in the face of all disappointments, is perhaps one of the most complex black women characters in contemporary American literature". By the end of the novel, however, the author concludes that Silla is unable to change sufficiently to escape her blues: “She has grown in her knowledge of herself and of the actions of the people with whom she identifies, but she has not grown to the point of accepting the changes which should be dictated by such knowledge. She continues to give up something of her humanity by her refusal to change, and that perfect control of one's destiny, that inability to give oneself up to the release of music or of love, is what insures that her state of the blues will never find an outlet". The tension between the themes of individualism and ethnicity are explored in Martin Japtok's essay "Paule Marshall's "Brown Girl, Brownstones": Reconciling Ethnicity and Individualism", which concludes: "The simultaneous assertion of ethnicity and individualism must thus be accomplished through a constructionist conceptualization of ethnicity that allows one to see ethnic solidarity as an original response to an Old World environment that still has validity in the New World, though maybe not the same urgency. […] Selina accepts ethnic communalism while pursuing an individualist agenda, creating a new conceptualization of ethnicity in the process". Gavin Jones begins his essay "'The Sea Ain’ Got No Back Door': The Problems of Black Consciousness in Paule Marshall's "Brown Girl, Brownstones"" by quoting Marshall saying that unlike Ralph Ellison’s protagonist in "Invisible Man", her own mother and friends "'suffered a triple invisibility, being black, female, and foreigners'". The essay goes on to explore this complex triple-identity. Jones concludes: "Marshall's novel is a radical expression of how the black self, when it exists at the intersections of ethnicity, nationhood, and gender, has its wholeness challenged by alternative and frequently conflicting definitions. Just as the sea in "Brown Girl" contains contradictory multitudes—it is the sea of female creativity, diasporic consciousness, and African history, yet also the sea of colonial exploitation, industrial decay, and obliteration of the black past—Marshall’s novel as a whole proposes a sense of selfhood which, like a prism, contains many faces, each one refracting at an acute angle of difference".

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Betsey Brown Betsey Brown is an African-American literature novel by Ntozake Shange, published in 1985. Plot. "Betsey Brown" is the story of an adolescent African-American girl growing up in 1959 St. Louis, Missouri, who is part of the first generation of students to be integrated in the public school system. She navigates common adolescent issues such as family dynamics, first love, and identity questions. Major themes. Thematic concerns of the novel include African-American family life, coming of age, feminism, and racial freedom. One critic described the narrative structure of the novel as paralleling "the personal story of Betsey’s attaining self-confidence with the social achievements of the Civil Rights Movement." This structure allows Shange to address feminist issues in addition to racial issues. Development history. In order to write the novel, Shange drew on her own experiences growing up in St. Louis, but the resulting novel is not entirely autobiographical. Nevertheless, like Betsey Brown, Shange really did know such African-American celebrities as Chuck Berry and W. E. B. Du Bois. Publication history. "Betsey Brown" was published in 1985 by St. Martin's Press. Explanation of the novel's title. Set in the aftermath of Brown v. Board of Educationm —the landmark case in which the US Supreme Court ruled that laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students were unconstitutional—the novel is eponymous. Literary significance and reception. Though perhaps the least known of Shange's work, the novel has been called "a little gem." Adaptations. Shange adapted the novel into a musical play, which has been performed in various cities.

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Love (Morrison novel) Love (2003) is the eighth novel by Toni Morrison. Written in Morrison's non-linear style, the novel tells of the lives of several women and their relationships to the late Bill Cosey. Cosey was a charismatic hotel owner, and the people around him were affected by his life — even long after his death. The main characters are Christine, his granddaughter and Heed, his widow. The two are the same age and used to be friends but some forty years after Cosey's death they are sworn enemies, and yet share his mansion. Again Morrison uses split narrative and jumps back and forth throughout the story, not fully unfolding until the very end. The characters in the novel all have some relation to the infamous Bill Cosey. Similar to the concept of communication between the living and the dead in her 1987 novel "Beloved", Morrison introduced a character named Junior; she was the medium to connect the dead Bill Cosey to the world of the living. The storytelling techniques in "Love", namely the split narrative, suggest a recent trend in Morrison's literature that divides the plot among different time periods.

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Casanegra (novel) Casanegra: A Tennyson Hardwick Story is a 2007 mystery novel by actor Blair Underwood and writers Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes. The book was released on June 19, 2007 through Atria Books and is the first book in the "Tennyson Hardwick" series. "Casanegra" follows the adventures of Tennyson Hardwick, an actor and former gigolo. A sequel, "In the Night of the Heat", was released in 2009. Underwood has expressed interest in filming an adaptation of "Casanegra" with himself potentially starring as the character of Tennyson Hardwick. Synopsis. Tennyson "Ten" Hardwick is an actor trying to make it big in Hollywood, which is made difficult by his past as a gigolo that sold his body to anyone willing to pay the right price. This past has caused a distance between Tennyson and his family, especially his LAPD captain of a father. However overcoming his past proves to be harder than he imagined after Tennyson finds himself the prime suspect for the murder of Afrodite, a rapper and former client of his. Development. Underwood came up with the book's concept after working on a project with Diana Ross that would have had the two acting as a client and her gigolo. The project never came to fruition, but Underwood continued to work on the concept until he approached Due with the idea of writing a novel based upon a gigolo. The first draft of "Casanegra" was written by Due and subsequent drafts were co-written with Underwood and Barnes. The team drew on Walter Mosley and Zane for some of the book's influences and included several recognizable Hollywood features such as the restaurant chain Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles and the African-American owned bookstore Eso Won Books. Reception. Critical reception was mostly positive. Entertainment Weekly and Publishers Weekly both gave mostly positive reviews for "Casanegra", with Publishers Weekly praising the book as a "seamlessly entertaining novel".

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Legendborn Legendborn is a debut young adult fantasy novel by Tracy Deonn. Called "a modern day twist on Arthurian legend" it follows a Black teenage girl who discovers a secret historically white magic society while attending a UNC-Chapel Hill residential pre-college program. The book is the first in the "Legendborn" series. It was released on September 15, 2020 and published under Simon & Schuster/McElderry. The book was recommended by BuzzFeed, Nerdist, and io9. Plot. The book centers 16-year-old Bree Matthews, who attempts to infiltrate a historically white magical society to get help hunting the demons that are terrorizing the participants at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill pre-college summer program she is attending. Background. Tracy Deonn was inspired by "The Dark is Rising" series by Susan Cooper. She was also influenced by the death of her mother. Having worked in video games, she took that knowledge to help develop the stringent rules that guide the magical system described in the book. Reception. "Legendborn" received positive critical reception. "Publisher's Weekly" stated, "Though hazy exposition initially slows the narrative, Deonn adeptly employs the haunting history of the American South [...] to explore themes of ancestral pain, grief, and love, balancing them with stimulating worldbuilding and multiple thrilling plot twists." In a starred review Bookpage stated, "Legendborn establishes Deonn as an important new voice in YA. Its gorgeous prose and heart-splitting honesty compel an eyes-wide-open reading experience." Syfy.com called the book "a refreshing twist on classic Arthurian legend with a lot of Southern Black girl magic to boot". Natalie Berglind wrote in a review for the "Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books", "Deonn brings Arthurian legend to life with originality, a dash of heart-pounding demon-slaying, and a deep and meaningful acknowledgement of the violent roots of slavery in U.S. history." "Kirkus Reviews" noted "Representation of actualized, strong queer characters is organic, not forced, and so are textual conversations around emotional wellness and intergenerational trauma [...] Well-crafted allusions to established legends and other literary works are delightful easter eggs." Awards & Accolades. "Legendborn" received the following accolades:

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Harlem Detective The Harlem Detective series of novels by Chester Himes comprises nine hardboiled novels set in the 1950s and early 1960s: Their protagonists are two black NYPD detectives (whose origins can be traced to a short story Himes published (1933) in "Abbott's Monthly Magazine") — Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson — whose names suggest the nature of their police methods and reputation. Jones and Johnson generally go easy with, and even tolerate, numbers operators, madames, whores, and gamblers; but they are extremely hostile to violent criminals, drug dealers, confidence tricksters and pimps. Himes says that they are tough, "but they never came down hard on anybody that was in the right". One reviewer states: Himes's two Harlem detectives are mythic heroes of sorts—indomitable forces of nature, their status as heavy-handed enforcers for the Man elevated to Harlem legends. So pervasive is the legend that their presence isn't needed to inspire awe or fear, mention of their name is enough. They are the law, the Man, the "mens", also a law onto themselves, using extralegal means to induce compliance. The "extralegal means" frequently include physical brutality in the case of men suspected of violent crime, and psychological torture and intimidation with women who withhold information, such as when Grave Digger threatens to pistol-whip a woman "until no man will ever look at you again" ("A Rage in Harlem"), or strips another woman naked, tying her up, and making a hairline incision across her neck with a razor, then forcing her to look at the blood in a mirror. Himes attempts to portray this brutality in such a way that the reader does not wholly lose sympathy with the detectives. For example, in the throat-cutting incident, the woman was a key witness in a case where a young girl was being held hostage and threatened with death by a street gang, and Himes says of Grave Digger's actions: "He knew what he had done was unforgivable, but he couldn't stand any more lies". Jones and Johnson get away with these methods because they manage to solve high-profile cases under great pressure and because the victims of their brutality always either get killed off by other criminals, or are found to be implicated in serious crimes themselves. Notwithstanding the above, Grave Digger and Coffin Ed have deep and genuine sympathy for the innocent victims of crime. They frequently intervene to protect their black brothers and sisters from the random and truly pointless brutality of the white cops (as portrayed by Himes). Finally, the detectives seem sympathetic because they are under constant pressure to prove themselves, as the only black detectives in a precinct where the other cops are openly racist; and the flip side of their brutality is their willingness to put their own reputations and their own lives on the line whenever the interests of justice require it. There is abundant, and very effective, use of "black" (i.e., macabre) humor to lighten the mood of the stories, and they also contain many interesting sidelights touching on subjects as diverse as political corruption, jazz, soul food, and the sexual underside of Harlem life in that era. Three films have been made based on the characters of Coffin Ed and Grave Digger: "Cotton Comes to Harlem" (1970), "Come Back, Charleston Blue" (1972) and "A Rage in Harlem" (1991).

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A Small Place A Small Place is a work of creative nonfiction published in 1988 by Jamaica Kincaid. A book-length essay drawing on Kincaid's experiences growing up in Antigua, it can be read as an indictment of the Antiguan government, the tourist industry and Antigua's British colonial legacy. The book, written in four sections, "combines social and cultural critique with autobiography and a history of imperialism to offer a powerful portrait of (post)colonial Antigua." History and background. In 1493, Christopher Columbus became the first European to visit Antigua on his second voyage. He named it Antigua after the Santa Maria de la Antigua, an icon found in Seville's cathedral. Sir Thomas Warner from England was able to colonize the island in 1632 by starting plantations that included tobacco and sugarcane. Warner also introduced slavery to the island. Slaves from West Africa worked on these plantations. Antigua became known as the English Harbourtown for its great location in the Caribbean. In 1834 slavery was finally abolished, but blacks' economic conditions failed to improve due to “land shortages and the universal refusal of credit”. In her work, Jamaica Kincaid presents an anti-imperialist dialogue which is particularly critical of tourism and government corruption, both of which became prevalent after independence. She criticizes Antigua's dependence on tourism for its economy. Kincaid also mentions the damage caused by the 1974 earthquake, which destroyed many buildings. The author also explains how many people in office were charged with all forms of corruption. This social critique led to it being described as "an enraged essay about racism and corruption in Antigua" by one reviewer. Major ideas. Tourism as a neo-colonial structure. In the first section of "A Small Place", Kincaid employs the perspective of the tourist in order to demonstrate the inherent escapism in creating a distance from the realities of a visited place. Nadine Dolby dissects the theme of tourism in "A Small Place" and places Kincaid's depiction of tourism in a globalized context that justifies Kincaid's strong feelings toward it. Dolby corroborates Kincaid's depiction of the tourist creating separation by "othering" the locale and the individuals that inhabit it. Furthermore, the tourist industry is linked to a global economic system that ultimately does not translate into benefits for the very Antiguans who enable it. The tourist may experience the beauty on the surface of Antigua while being wholly ignorant of the actual political and social conditions that the Antiguan tourism industry epitomizes and reinforces. Corinna Mcleod points out the disenfranchising nature of the tourism industry in its reinforcement of an exploitative power structure. In effect, the industry recolonizes Antigua by placing locals at a disenfranchised and subservient position in a global economic system that ultimately does not serve them. Racism and legacies of colonialism. While Kincaid expresses anger towards slavery, colonialism and the broken Antiguan identity that it has left in its wake, she avoids retreating to simple racialization in order to explain the past and present, for doing so would further "other" an already marginalized group of people. Kincaid sheds light on the oppressive hierarchical structures of colonialism, which is still evident in the learned power structures of present-day, post-colonial Antigua. While she indeed acknowledges the justifications of oppression based on race in England's colonization of Antigua, she also attempts to transcend the notions of an inescapable racialized past. In doing so she attempts to shape readers’ view of Antigua by creating a sense of agency. Critical reception. Positive. Kincaid's work has received mixed reviews, both positive and negative. Some of her overall reactions in the United States were characterized as immediate and enthusiastic. The anger that people felt from her attacking nature in her reading simultaneously lent certain strength to her argument about the postcolonial condition of the Antiguan people by manifesting itself as an authentic and emotional account. She uses her anger about the situation as a way to definitively inform readers about the postcolonial Antiguan daily life. Being an enraged essay focusing on racism and the effects of colonialism, some people account for the most consistent and striking aspect of her work to be what critic Susan Sontag calls her "emotional truthfulness". Sontag describes Kincaid's writing as "poignant, but it's poignant because it's so truthful and it's so complicated. ... She doesn't treat these things in a sentimental or facile way." Negative reception. In 1988, "A Small Place" was criticized as a vitriolic attack on the government and people of Antigua. "New Yorker" editor Robert Gottlieb refused to publish it. According to "Jamaica Kincaid: Writing Memory, Writing Back to the Mother" she was not only banned unofficially for five years from her home country but she voiced concerns that had she gone back in that time, she worried she would be killed. Jane King, in "A Small Place Writes Back", declared that "Kincaid does not like the Caribbean very much, finds it dull and boring and would rather live in Vermont. There can really be no difficulty with that, but I do not see why Caribbean people should admire her for denigrating our small place in this destructively angry fashion." Moira Ferguson, a feminist academic, argued that as "an African-Caribbean writer Kincaid speaks to and from the position of the other. Her characters are often maligned by history and subjected to a foreign culture, while Kincaid herself has become an increasingly mainstream American writer”

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Parable of the Sower (novel) Parable of the Sower is a 1993 science fiction novel by American writer Octavia E. Butler, the first in a two-book series. It is an apocalypse science fiction novel that provides commentary on climate change and social inequality. It is the first of a series of two books. The novel follows Lauren Olamina in her quest for freedom. Several characters from various walks of life join her on her journey north and learn of a religion she has crafted titled Earthseed. In this religion, the destiny for believers is to inhabit other planets. "Parable of the Sower" was the winner of two awards and adapted into a concert and a graphic novel. "Parable of the Sower" has influenced music and essays on social justice. Plot. Beginning in 2024, when society in the United States has grown unstable due to climate change, growing wealth inequality, and corporate greed, "Parable of the Sower" takes the form of a journal kept by Lauren Oya Olamina, an African American teenager. Her mother abused drugs during her pregnancy and left Lauren with "hyper-empathy" or "sharing" – the uncontrollable ability to feel the sensations she witnesses in others, particularly pain. Lauren grows up in the remnants of a gated community in Robledo, just twenty miles from Los Angeles, where she and her neighbors struggle but are separate from the abject poverty of the world outside. Outside of the community are numerous homeless and mutilated individuals who resent the community members for their relative affluence. Public services such as police or firefighters are untrustworthy, exploiting their positions for profit and making little effort to help. Lauren's father, a Baptist pastor, holds the community together through mutual aid and careful use of resources, such as making bread from acorns. However, Lauren is increasingly certain that despite all efforts, society will continue to deteriorate and the community will no longer be safe; she secretly prepares to travel north, as many do in search of rare paying jobs. The newly elected radical, authoritarian President Donner loosens labor protection, creating a rise in company towns owned by foreign businesses. Lauren privately develops a new belief system based on the belief that "God is Change" is the only lasting truth, and humanity, dubbed Earthseed, should "shape God" in order to aid themselves. She comes to call this religion Earthseed. Lauren's youngest brother, Keith, rebelliously runs away to live outside the walls of the community. For a time, he survives by joining a group of ruthless thieves who value him for his rare literacy, but he is eventually found dead after torture. Later, Lauren's father disappears while leaving the community for work, and is accepted as dead. When Lauren is eighteen in 2027, the community's security is breached in an organized attack by outsiders: most of the community is destroyed, looted, and murdered, including Lauren's family. She travels north, disguised as a man, with Henry and Zahra, two survivors from her community. Society outside the community walls has reverted to chaos due to resource scarcity and poverty. U.S. states have become akin to city-states, with strict borders. Money still has value, but travellers constantly fear attacks for resources or by pyromaniac drug-users, cannibals, and wild dogs. Mixed-race relationships are stigmatized and women constantly fear sexual assault. Slavery has returned in the form of indebted servitude. Lauren gathers people to protect along her journey and begins to share the Earthseed religion, which is developing into a collection of texts titled "Earthseed: The Books of the Living". She believes that humankind's destiny is to travel beyond Earth and live on other planets, forcing humankind into its adulthood, and that Earthseed is preparation for this destiny. Lauren begins a relationship with Bankole, an older doctor who joins the group, and agrees to marry him. Bankole leads the group to the land he owns in Northern California, where the group settles and Lauren founds the first Earthseed community, Acorn. Proposed future novels. Butler had planned to write a third "Parable" novel to finish her trilogy, tentatively titled "Parable of the Trickster", which would have focused on the community's struggle to survive on a new planet. Along with the idea of a third novel, there were several others titled "Parable of Teacher, Parable of Chaos," and "Parable of Clay." She began "Parable of the Trickster" after finishing "Parable of the Talents", and mentioned her work on it in a number of interviews, but at some point encountered writer's block. She eventually shifted her creative attention, resulting in "Fledgling", her final novel. The various false starts for the novel can now be found among Butler's papers at the Huntington Library, as described in an article at the "Los Angeles Review of Books". Butler passed away in 2006, leaving the trilogy unfinished. Publication and award history. Published by Four Walls Eight Windows in 1993, by Women's Press Ltd. in 1995, by Warner in 1995 and 2000, and by Seven Stories Press in 2017. Adaptations. "Parable of the Sower" was adapted as "Parable of the Sower: The Concert Version", a work-in-progress opera written by American folk/blues musician Toshi Reagon in collaboration with her mother, singer and composer Bernice Johnson Reagon. The adaptation's libretto and musical score combine African-American spirituals, soul, rock and roll, and folk music into rounds to be performed by singers sitting in a circle. It was performed as part of The Public Theater's Under the Radar Festival in New York City in 2015 and in 2018. In 2020 it was adapted by Damian Duffy and John Jennings, the team which had previously adapted Butler's novel "Kindred", and published by Abrams ComicArts. The graphic novel was named to the Black Lives Matter Reading Lists compiled by the Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table and the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. In popular culture. The work of hip hop/R&B duo THEESatisfaction was influenced by Octavia Butler. The third track from their 2012 album "awE NaturalE", "Earthseed", contains themes from the "Parable" series: "Change there are few words / That you can say / We all watch things morphing everyday." In 2015, Adrienne Maree Brown and Walidah Imarisha co-edited "Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements", a collection of 20 short stories and essays about social justice inspired by Butler. In 2020, adrienne maree brown and Toshi Reagon began collaborating on a podcast called Octavia's Parables.

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The Good House The Good House is a horror novel by American writer Tananarive Due, first published in 2003 by Atria Books. The story follows Angela Toussaint as she returns to her late grandmother's home in Sacajawea, Washington. Plot Summary. The home that belonged to Angela Toussaint's late grandmother is so beloved that townspeople in Sacajawea, Washington, call it the Good House. But that all changes one summer when an unexpected tragedy takes place behind its closed doors...and the Toussaint's family history -- and future -- is dramatically transformed. Angela has not returned to the Good House since her son, Corey, died there two years ago. But now, Angela is finally ready to return to her hometown and go beyond the grave to unearth the truth about Corey's death. Could it be related to a terrifying entity Angela's grandmother battled seven decades ago? And what about the other senseless calamities that Sacajawea has seen in recent years? Has Angela's grandmother, an African American woman reputed to have "powers," put a curse on the entire community?

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Possessing the Secret of Joy Possessing the Secret of Joy is a 1992 novel by Alice Walker. Plot summary. It tells the story of Tashi, an African woman and a minor character in Walker's earlier novel "The Color Purple". Now in the US she comes from Olinka, Alice Walker's fictional African nation where female genital mutilation is practiced. Tashi marries an American man named Adam then leaves Olinka because of the war. Tashi chooses to go back to Olinka to undergo circumcison because she is a woman torn between two cultures, Olinkan and Western. Instead of feeling free from not having the procedure done as a child, she feels bothered by it. She wants to honor her Olinkan roots and has the operation in her teen years, although it is usually performed on female children. Tashi later sees several psychiatrists because she goes crazy due to the trauma she has suffered before finding the strength to act. The novel is told in many different voices, which are the characters in the novel. The novel explores what it means to have one's gender culturally defined and emphasizes that, according to Walker, "Torture is not culture." Characters. Tashi "Evelyn" Johnson- The main protagonist of the novel. She is haunted by her experiences as a child and on the run from her memories, especially the act of female circumcision that she underwent as a young adult rather than a young child like other children following the tradition of her village. The novel delves into her struggles recuperating emotionally and physically from the circumcision as she is enveloped in revelations about the underlying meaning of her culture. Once she has the procedure done things go downhill pretty quickly and Tashi goes mad. Adam Johnson- The son of Celie from The Color Purple, he is Tashi's lovingly supportive husband. Adam watches Tashi's downward spiral into darkness with the miserable frustration of being incapable of helping her. His intensely powerful insecurity and fear causes him to indulge in a merely comforting affair with his longtime friend, the French feminist, Lissete. As a result of their extramarital union, their son, Pierre is born. Adam is heartbroken as his affair pushes Tashi further away, and must face the consequences of his actions. Benny Johnson- Tashi and Adam's adult son; Benny has an intellectual disability as a result of his brain being damaged during his birth, which was complicated because of Tashi's infibulation. Benny's limited abilities make Tashi increasingly depressed because she blames her circumcised vulva for Benny's agonizing journey from her womb. Benny is very curious about the world and is willing to study about it in order to keep up conversations with his parents. Lisette- Adam's lover and mother of Pierre, Adam's second son. Dura- Tashi's older sister that bled to death in childhood due to the ritual circumcision. Tashi comes to view Dura's death as a murder, and repeatedly emphasizes that Dura has been "screaming in her ears" since her death. M'Lissa- "Tsunga" of the tribe into which M'Lissa was born. The "tsunga" performs circumcisions (e.g. excision and infibulation) on the girls of the tribe. M'Lissa performed the circumcision on Dura that caused her to bleed to death. Carl Gustav Jung- Jung appears as the therapist of Tashi, the novel's protagonist. He is usually called "Mzee" but is identified by Alice Walker in the afterword.

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The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (1912/1927) by James Weldon Johnson is the fictional account of a young biracial man, referred to only as the "Ex-Colored Man," living in post-Reconstruction era America in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He lives through a variety of experiences, including witnessing a lynching, that convince him to "pass" as white to secure his safety and advancement, but he feels as if he has given up his dream of "glorifying" the black race by composing ragtime music. History. Johnson originally published "The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man" anonymously in 1912, via the small Boston publisher Sherman, French, & Company. He decided to publish it anonymously because he was uncertain how the potentially controversial book would affect his diplomatic career. He wrote openly about issues of race and discrimination that were not common then in literature. The book's initial public reception was poor. It was republished in 1927, with some minor changes of phraseology, by Alfred A. Knopf, an influential firm that published many Harlem Renaissance writers, and Johnson was credited as the author. Despite the title, the book is a novel. It is drawn from the lives of people Johnson knew and from events in his life. Johnson's text is an example of a roman à clef. Plot summary. The novel begins with a frame tale in which the unnamed narrator describes the narrative that follows as "the great secret of my life." The narrator notes that he is taking a substantial risk by composing the narrative, but that it is one he feels compelled to record, regardless. The narrator also chooses to withhold the name of the small Georgia town where his narrative begins, as there are still living residents of the town who might be able to connect him to the narrative. Throughout the novel, the adult narrator from the frame interjects into the text to offer reflective commentary into the events of the narrative. Early life. Born shortly after the Civil War in a small Georgia town, the narrator's African-American mother protected him as a child and teenager. The narrator's father, a wealthy white member of the Southern aristocracy, is absent throughout the narrator's childhood but, nevertheless, continues to provide financial support for the narrator and his mother. Because of that financial support, she had the means to raise her son in an environment more middle-class than many black people could enjoy at the time. The narrator describes learning to love music at a young age as well as attending an integrated school. It is through his attendance at this school that the narrator first realizes he is African-American and thus subject to ridicule and mistreatment for his racial heritage. This "discovery" occurs when he is publicly corrected by his teacher and the headmaster when he stands when "the white scholars" (schoolchildren) are asked to stand. Returning from school, the distraught narrator confronts his mother, asking her if he is a "nigger." His mother reassures him, however, noting that while she is not white, "your father is one of the greatest men in the country—the best blood of the South is in you." The narrator notes that this event became a racial awakening and loss of innocence that caused him to suddenly begin searching for—and finding—faults in himself and his mother, setting the stage for his eventual decision (though far in the future) to "pass" as a white man. While in school, the narrator also grows to admire and befriends "Shiny," an unmistakably African-American boy, who is described as one of the brightest and best-spoken children in the class. After the narrator's mother dies, he becomes a poor orphan and subject to harsh conditions. He adapted very well to life with lower-class black people and was able to move easily among the classes of black society. During this carefree period, he taught music and attended church, where he came in contact with upper-class black people. Living in an all black community, he discovers and describes three classes of black people: the desperate, the domestics, and the independent workmen or professionals. The Ex-Colored Man believed the desperate class consists of lower-class black people who loathe the whites. The domestic worker class comprises black people who work as servants to whites. And the artisans, skilled workers, and black professionals class included black people who had little interaction with the whites. Many white readers, who viewed all black people as a stereotype of a single class, were unfamiliar with class distinctions described among black people. Time with the Rich White Gentleman. While playing ragtime at a late night hot spot in New York, the Ex-Colored Man caught the attention of a wealthy white gentleman. The gentleman's liking for ragtime develops as liking for the Ex-Colored Man himself. The white gentleman hired him to play ragtime piano for guests at parties. Soon the Ex-Colored Man spent most of his time working for the white gentleman, who paid him to play ragtime music for hours at a time. He would play until the white gentleman would say "that will do." The Ex-Colored man would tire after the long hours but would continue playing as he saw the joy and serenity he brought the white gentleman. The white gentleman frequently "loaned" the Ex-Colored Man out to other people to play at their parties. The gentleman was not "loaning" him out as a piece of property, but simply giving the narrator a broader palette to display his talents. The Ex-Colored man saw how the rich lived; he was thrilled to live in this lifestyle. The Rich White Gentleman influenced the Ex-Colored Man more than anyone else he met. In his relationship toward the Rich White Man he was aware of aspects of the slave/master, but saw there was also one of friendship. While he was with the white gentleman, the Ex-Colored Man decided he would use his skills to aid in abolitionism. Even though life was pleasant, it was void of substance; using his music to aid poor African Americans he felt would be a better use of his talents. The Ex-Colored Man continued to show devotion to the white gentleman, as the white gentleman treated him with kindness, which eventually led to the forming a friendship while in Paris. The Ex-Colored Man's devotion to the white gentleman expresses the relationship that some slaves had with their masters (slaves who showed devotion to the slave-owner). Johnson suggests that, although the Ex-Colored Man had "freedom," he was still suffering from the effects of slavery. After playing for the white gentleman while touring Europe, the Ex-Colored Man decided to leave him and return to the South to study Negro spirituals. He planned to use his knowledge of classical and ragtime music to create a new Black American musical genre. He wanted to "bring glory and honor to the Negro race," to return to his heritage, and proud and self-righteous race. Many critics have suspected that the Rich White Gentleman may not be white but is passing, as well. His love for ragtime music and his conviction that the Ex-Colored Man not embrace his blackness to pursue a career as a definitively black composer could be used to argue that he experienced inner turmoil with his racial identity similar to that experienced by the Ex-Colored Man. The narrator's time in Paris, however, is cut short when he goes to see a performance of "Faust", during which he sits next to a beautiful young woman for whom he initially expresses great admiration. However, throughout the performance, he notices the young woman speaking to an older couple whom she refers to as "mother" and "father." The narrator is shocked when he recognizes the man as his own, wealthy white father, whom he has not seen for ten years, and realizes that the two women must be the man's lawful wife and daughter, making the young woman the narrator's biological half-sister. This event leaves a deep impression upon the narrator and causes him to decide to leave the company of his patron (the Rich White Gentleman) to return to the United States on his mission of advancing African-American musical forms. The lynching. Just as the Ex-Colored Man began to work on his music in the South, he witnessed the lynching of a black man. The crowd wanted to hang the man but burned him instead. The Ex-Colored Man narrates in detail what he saw, "He squirmed, he withered, strained at his chains, then gave out cries and groans that I shall always hear." The narrator is horrified by the extent of this violent racism played out in the town square. He continues, "The cries and groans were choked off by the fire and smoke; but his eyes, bulging from their sockets, rolled from side to side, appealing in vain for help." The scene that day stuck vividly in his mind and burned a sharp image in his brain. He finishes with, "Some of the crowd yelled and cheered, others seemed appalled at what they had done, and there were those who turned away sickened at sight. I was fixed to the spot where I stood powerless to take my eyes from what I did not want to see". Many critics believe that Johnson wrote this scene to heighten awareness of and opposition to lynchings. The turn of the century was the peak of lynchings conducted against blacks, mostly in the South, in the period when southern states disfranchised blacks through new constitutions and practices such as poll taxes, literacy tests, grandfather clauses and white primaries. Michael Berube writes, "there is no question that Johnson wrote the book, in large part, to try to stem the tide of lynchings sweeping the nation." After the lynching, the Ex-Colored Man decides to "pass" as white. He gives up his dream of making music to glorify his race and thinks he does not want to be "identified with people that could with impunity be treated worse than animals," or with people who could treat other humans that way. He simply wishes to remain neutral. The Ex-Colored Man declares that he "would neither disclaim the black race nor claim the white race." Passing. The world accepted the Ex-Colored Man as white. Our narrator has been "passing" as a white man for the remainder of his life, and titles his autobiographical narrative "Ex-Colored Man." At the same time, the narrator learns that his childhood friend, "Shiny," is now teaching as a professor at a Negro college, suggesting a contrast between himself, who has chosen to pass, and Shiny, who has embraced his African-American heritage. The narrator eventually begins a courtship with a white woman, causing an internal dilemma as to whether or not to reveal his African-American heritage, and he asks her to marry him. After the two have a chance meeting with Shiny, in which the narrator is "surprised at the amount of interest a refined black man could arouse," the narrator decides to reveal his secret to her. At first shocked, she flees, and the narrator resolves to give her sufficient space to let her make up her mind. Eventually, she returns to him, having absorbed his revelation and chosen to accept him. They are eventually married and have two children, and the narrator lives out his life as a successful yet mediocre businessman. His wife dies during the birth of their second child, leaving the narrator alone to raise their two children. At the end of the book, the Ex-colored Man says: My love for my children makes me glad that I am what I am, and keeps me from desiring to be otherwise; and yet, when I sometimes open a little box in which I still keep my fast yellowing manuscripts, the only tangible remnants of a vanished dream, a dead ambition, a sacrificed talent, I cannot repress the thought, that after all, I have chosen the lesser part, that I have sold my birthright for a mess of pottage. "Passing" could be interpreted as a decision to avoid the black race. He states that he "regrets holding himself back." He may have been implying that if he had, he embraced the Negro community and let the community embrace him, that he could have made a difference. The Ex-Colored Man was one of the few people who was not held back by being black. He had a strong education, smart wits, and light skin. The masses all assumed he was white. However, his talent was in black music. Because of his fear of being a Negro, he threw away his talent as a musician to "become" a white man. This is one portrayal of the social strains due to racial discrimination; he felt that society forced him to choose between his love of African-American music and the safety and convenience of being white with the majority. The white gentleman fully accepted the Ex-Colored Man for who he was, but he feared that others would not. He decided to protect his mixed-race children by having them grow up "white." He wanted to give them every advantage he could. Themes. Race, Passing, and the Tragic mulatto. The narrator in some ways reflects the trope of the Tragic mulatto, however, rather than suffering a catastrophic downfall; as a result, the narrator's tragedy is much more subversive. The "Ex-colored Man" is compelled by fear, not only for himself but for his children's sake (so they can grow up "white"), to exist in degraded mediocrity, despite his apparent potential and lofty goals of advancing the African-American race. In this way, his boyhood friend, "Shiny," and his symbolic name, act as a foil for the narrator. The narrator has admired since childhood, his inability to "pass" forces him to accomplish, rather than merely aspire as the narrator does. At the end of the novel, Shiny has risen to refinement and prestige while embracing his racial heritage and contributing to the community, while the narrator is relegated to mediocrity and obscurity, unable to risk revealing his racial background. A major shift in the plot occurs during a performance of "Faust" in Paris, when the narrator sees his wealthy white father and his legitimate family, including his biological half-sister. Throughout the novel, the narrator is locked in a continual cycle of bargaining. The final bargain is trading his aspirations and talents for mediocrity to "pass" and allow his children to pass, raising the question as to whether this is damnation or continual striving.

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A Mercy A Mercy is Toni Morrison's ninth novel. It was published in 2008. "A Mercy" reveals what lies beneath the surface of slavery in early America. It is both the story of mothers and daughters and the story of a primitive America. It made the "New York Times Book Review" list of "10 Best Books of 2008" as chosen by the paper's editors. In Fall 2010 it was chosen for the One Book, One Chicago program. Synopsis. Florens, a slave, lives and works on Jacob Vaark's rural New York farm. Lina, a Native American and fellow laborer on the Vaark farm, relates in a parallel narrative how she became one of a handful of survivors of a smallpox plague that destroyed her tribe. Vaark's wife Rebekka describes leaving England on a ship for the new world to be married to a man she has never seen. The deaths of their subsequent children are devastating, and Vaark accepts a young Florens from a debtor in the hopes that this new addition to the farm will help alleviate Rebekka's loneliness. Vaark, himself an orphan and poorhouse survivor, describes his journeys from New York to Maryland and Virginia, commenting on the role of religion in the culture of the different colonies, along with their attitudes toward slavery. All these characters are bereft of their roots, struggling to survive in a new and alien environment filled with danger and disease. When smallpox threatens Rebekka's life, Florens, now 16, is sent to find a black freedman who has some knowledge of herbal medicines. Her journey is dangerous, ultimately proving to be the turning point in her life. Morrison examines the roots of racism going back to slavery's earliest days, providing glimpses of the various religious practices of the time, and showing the relationship between men and women in early America that often ended in female victimization. They are "of and for men", people who "never shape the world, The world shapes us". As the women journey toward self-enlightenment, Morrison often describes their progress in Biblical cadences, and by the end of this novel, the reader understands the significance of the title, "a mercy".

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Silver Sparrow Silver Sparrow is the third novel by the American author Tayari Jones, which was first published in 2011. The novel follows the complicated relationship between two families, joined together by a bigamist father. Jones was inspired to write the book by her own relationship with her sisters who were over a decade older than her and who she felt lived very different lives than her own. In 2019, the writer and actress Issa Rae announced plans to adapt the novel into a film. Plot. Dana Lynn Yarboro's parents meet in Atlanta, Georgia when her father is buying an anniversary present for his wife. Her mother, a young divorcée named Gwen Yarboro, becomes James Witherspoon's mistress. Dana is born shortly before the birth of James's daughter Chaurisse, from his marriage to his wife Laverne. After Chaurisse's birth, Gwen pressures James to illegally marry her which he consents to though he does not leave Laverne. Dana grows up with the knowledge that her father is married to another woman and has another daughter. Dana and her mother are kept secret, however the only individual from James's other life that is aware of the situation is his childhood friend and adopted brother, Raleigh. Dana is prevented from participating in certain jobs and going to certain schools in order to protect Chaurisse, however while attending a high school science competition she runs into Chaurisse who she notices is wearing the exact same fur jacket as her, both presents given to them by their father, James. While still a teenager, Dana becomes involved with a young adult man, Marcus McCready, and while her father is displeased he does nothing to stop her as he knows McCready from his married life. In her final year of high school Dana is introduced to her paternal grandmother, Bunny Witherspoon, as she is dying. Her grandmother bequeaths her her favourite brooch as a parting gift. Bunny Chaurisse Witherspoon grows up the protected and beloved daughter of James Witherspoon and Laverne Witherspoon. Her parents met at the age of 14 when her mother lost her virginity to her father and subsequently became pregnant and was forced to marry James and leave school. Their son was a stillborn but Laverne remained with the Witherspoons. They managed to claw their way to being middle-class business owners with James and his brother Raleigh running a chauffeur business and Laverne running a beauty salon out of their garage. While out shopping Chaurisse meets a young girl and saves both of them from being caught shoplifting. The girl is named Dana, and Chaurisse grows infatuated with her believing she is a "silver" girl who is beautiful and leads a charmed life. The two become friends with the shy Dana eventually meeting and befriending Laverne as well. When the girls are seventeen they go to a party together but the tire on their car blows before they are able to make it. Chaurisse calls her father and Raleigh for help and is confused when Dana subsequently panics and calls her own mother before locking herself in a gas station bathroom. When James arrives, Chaurisse is shocked that he insists on leaving her friend behind. However, Gwen arrives before they can leave and is infuriated that James intended to leave their daughter alone. Gwen and Dana subsequently visit Laverne's beauty parlour where she presents her marriage certificate and also presents Bunny's brooch as proof that James is Dana's father. Laverne throws James out of their home and falls into a depression. However, after two weeks James and Laverne reconcile. Some fifteen years later Dana has a daughter. Though, she does not marry her daughter's father he publicly claims his daughter as his own which Dana considers progress. She is visited by Chaurisse who asks Dana if James continued to see her and her mother after reconciling with Laverne. Dana reveals that after reuniting with Laverne she only saw James briefly at his vow renewal to Laverne. At this point, James told her she had finally achieved what she wanted: recognition of her paternity at the cost of her private relationship with him. She understands that nevertheless Laverne and Chaurisse have never been able to believe that they have won. Reception. "The Washington Post" described Jones's writing as "realistic and sparkling". "The Chicago Tribune" praised the novel as "an exciting read all the way through." However, "Publishers Weekly" criticized the novel as "growing increasingly histrionic and less believable" as it went on.

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Sarah Phillips (novel) Sarah Phillips is a novel written by Andrea Lee in 1984. The novel takes place in Philadelphia in the period after the civil rights movement, and centers the protagonist, Sarah Phillips, born in 1953, a daughter of a black middle class family living in the suburbs of Philadelphia. From a first-person narrative point of view, Sarah offers chronological snapshots of her and her family's lives. She illuminates realities of middle-class Black American life, particularly around the time after the Civil Rights Movement via fictionalized stories. A later version of the book begins with a foreword by Valerie Smith. She talks about her experiences teaching this novel in her own class, and how her students did not take a liking to the protagonist, Sarah Phillips. She then contextualizes the novel, which actually began as a set of short stories debuted in "The New Yorker," published during a period in which the black middle class rose in numbers. Sarah Phillips, Smith says, is in a lot of ways everything that her predecessors, both in terms of fictional characters like her and real world individuals who identified with her story, could dream of: being black and middle class, achieving success in the eyes of white America. Plot. The vast majority of the novel is Sarah's reflection and retelling of her childhood and young adult experiences. However the first chapter, "In France", is set in the present day. Here, Sarah is traveling with three French men in Paris, including her primary lover, Henri. A lot of the content of this chapter centers the racialized romance that Sarah—a light-skinned American black woman—and Henri—a white European man—share. For example,(put quote here about the exotic women in Brazil comment Henri makes). Another thing evident from this chapter is that Sarah purposefully escaped her life back in Philadelphia (insert paraphrase or quote here), though while there, she does express a general nostalgia for her old life: "Some chemistry of air, soil, and civilization filled me with unwilling nostalgia, and I kept a sharp lookout in London for certain types of tourists: prosperous black Americans..." The novel consists, from this first chapter on, of Sarah's reflections on her life until the present. The second chapter, taking place in the summer of 1963—recognizable because of the Civil Rights Movement—commences the flashback. Sarah takes readers back to her childhood in "New African", so they see the life and community she misses back in France. Sarah's father, Reverend James Phillips, is the pastor of New African Baptist Church in South Philadelphia, though as Sarah points out in her narration, "there was little very new or African about [it]" The church had been around since 1813, and since then, had a membership of predominantly middle-class, light-skinned Black attendees. Sarah reveals that since she and her brother, Matthew, were children, they were "dispelling" the traditions of the church, taking a secular pride in knowing how Communion was prepared. Although their father is a pastor, this was not forbidden in their household. Sarah's parents are not strict about religion for their kids, and do not force them to be super involved in the church or the religion beyond attending services. Other family members, however, disagree with that parenting, and pressure Sarah, in particular, to get more involved and get baptized. A brief physical conflict ensues between Sarah and Aunt Bessie, in which Aunt Bessie tries to physically push Sarah to get baptized after her brother Matthew had been baptized. What surprises Sarah is that her father never brings the fight up, and does not force her to attend church either. She regards this as a nonverbal, peculiar arrangement between. In the next chapter, "Mother", Sarah focuses more on her mother, Grace Renfrew Phillips. She describes her mother's background as having "been brought up with all the fussy little airs and graces of middle-class colored girls born around the time of World War I" and having a bit of a classical education. She goes on to talk about how her mother and other little girls she grew up around aspired to marry high-status, light-skinned men. She also shares that her mother has a bit of a strange connection to the bizarre, and gets excited by strange stories. Grace also worked as a schoolteacher. Outside of that occupation, she did a lot of housekeeping for their family, such as cooking large meals. The chapter then moves into the aftermath of Judge Barber's suicide. Judge Roland Barber was both a member of the NAACP and Sarah's father's congregation. Sarah and her mom go to Judge Barber's house to pay respects to the family, bringing food, and encounter his daughter Phyllis. There is an uncomfortable air about the entire event, and even Sarah and Grace are not really sure how to speak about it beyond an odd dialogue about loss. The chapter ends with the pair returning home, and Grace cooking. In "Gypsies", Sarah describes her black suburban, middle-class neighborhood near Philadelphia, Franklin Place, in the summer. She plays a lot with her best friend at the time, Lynn Yancy, a girl often confused as Sarah's sister because of their similar light-skin and frizzy braided hair. One day, while the two of them are hanging out, a red truck they had never seen before pulls into their neighborhood. A man and woman get out of the truck, and the woman asked Sarah if the neighborhood was all-colored, and she seems surprised that colored people are living there. She also tells the girls that they are lucky that they get to play, because her own son has to work very hard and therefore cannot play. The couple then leaves, and later that night, Sarah relays the story to her parents, who explain that the man and woman were "gypsies" who sold furniture. This sparks a particular comment from Sarah's father, who says: "Well, everybody's got… to… feel… better… than… somebody… Most of the world despises Gypsies, but a Gypsy can always look down on a Negro. Heck, that fellow was right to spit! You can dress it up with trees and big houses and people who don't stink too bad, but a nigger neighborhood is still a nigger neighborhood!" Sarah's mother yells for him to stop, and Sarah narrates that she had never heard him speak that way before. She remains scared of the "gypsies", and they never returned to Franklin Place. "Marching" begins with a story about Sarah, her brother Matthew, her father, and her Uncle Freddy on a trip to Harlem in 1959. Her father and Uncle Freddy have a playful exchange where they say things in a distinctive voice such as "Look at the tenements and the trash! I'm awfully glad "I'm" not a Negro, aren't you Frederick?" Matthew then explains to Sarah "They're joking, silly -- pretending to be white" Sarah then details her upbringing specifically in terms of their father's instructions. While Reverend Phillips tells Sarah and Matthew to "say 'Negro' with near-military briskness when we spoke of ourselves in the classrooms of our Quaker school" and also talks a lot about civil rights, he also speaks about Negroes, or "we" as people who ruin neighborhoods and communities when they move in. Later, in July, Reverend Phillips and Sarah go to D.C. in 1963 to visit some family. While in a cab on its way to Union Station, soon to head home to Philadelphia, the cab driver and Reverend Phillips strike up a conversation about the upcoming march on August 28, which the reader can infer is the March on Washington. Afterwards, Sarah tells her father that she wants to attend the march, too, and he refuses. Two months later, she and Matthew watcht the march on television while under the care of Aunt Bessie, and Sarah begins to imagine her parents and her parents' friends there. Matthew declares that the march is stupid, and this begins an argument between him and Sarah, who says that the folks marching really believe in something. This concludes the chapter. Sarah begins attending middle school in "Servant Problems". The Prescott School for Girls where she attends is a school where the teachers and students are white but all the domestic staff are black. There is a cook whom Sarah describes as having yellowish-brown skin who waves often at her and her friend, but she never returns his greeting unlike her white friend. As the first and only black student at that school during the mid-1960s, Sarah experiences social isolation with the exception of her one friend, a student named Gretchen Manning. Gretchen and Sarah share a common isolating experience, and met after both being put in Squad Six, which Sarah defines as the group for "athletic pariahs" in the school. They thought of themselves as "revolutionaries", at the school, and thus decide to break the school rule one day by climbing to the forbidden top floor. What they see is a bed with a black woman in it, whom Sarah recognizes as one of the maids at the school. Another black figure comes into view, soon to enter the room, but before they do, Sarah and Gretchen run from the floor, with Gretchen being indignant about the "conditions of the top floor", and Sarah wishing to avoid thinking about any of the black workers due to her discomfort. At some point, the two also begin to share a love of theater, and act on this by auditioning for the school play. However when Sarah gets cast for a role for which she did not auditio—the role of Rheba, the "very black" maid of the play—she decides to not take the role and instead laughs uncontrollably. This ability to laugh, she reflects, "seems to bring [her] closer to growing up". The chapter ends with Sarah and Gretchen again seeing the black cook, and Sarah again not waving back at him, except that this time, "[she] looked seriously at him, as if he had something to teach [her]". By the time of the chapter "Matthew and Martha", Sarah is about fourteen. Her brother, Matthew, is a first-year at Swarthmore College, and decides to visit home for a Sunday dinner with a guest: his new girlfriend, Martha Greenfield, also a first-year at Swarthmore. Martha is white, and so the family—namely Grace and Cousin Polly—is not particularly pleased. While Reverend Phillips seeks to smooth things over, Grace and Matthew get into an argument over his having a white girlfriend. Matthew argues that his mother is being unbelievable considering she sent her kids to predominantly white schools their entire lives, and then get upset when "the inevitable happens". The argument ends with Matthew and Martha taking off in their car. Later, Sarah overhears her mother and father arguing, and Grace yells at Sarah as well in frustration from the argument with Matthew. In "The Days of the Thunderbirds", Sarah is away at Camp Grayfeather. Her two friends at the camp are Ellen and Chen-Cheu. The three of them see their camp as an integration camp, a site for racially diverse children of middle-class professional parents. Sarah even comments that the camp looks like a UNICEF poster. As further proof of their sentiments, one of the latest "integration" moves announced by the camp directors is to have Thunderbirds be at the camp for a week. Thunderbirds are a gang of black teenagers, and the director of Camp Grayfeather lectured the campers about being ambassadors and bridging a gap that society created in having the Thunderbirds stay with them for a week. Once the students arrive, a number of conflicts ensue between the two groups of kids and also between the Thunderbirds and the workers at Camp Grayfeather. Chen-Cheu makes a loud comment about some of her clothes being stolen from her bag, and the girls in the cabin fight, for example. At some point before this, Sarah and Ellen see Marvin Jones, leader of the Thunderbirds, demonstrate the Thunderbird song with some of his fellow members. This is significant because ultimately, when the students are made to leave before their week is up due to all the conflicts that had occurred, Sarah and Ellen perform their song. After having practiced the song and taught it to other campers, Sarah and about four other students stop the bus that Thunderbirds are on, soon to leave, to show them the Thunderbird song and movements as they themselves had memorized it. The chapter ends with the Thunderbirds applauding while on the bus and then the bus pulling off after Marvin Jones says that they're "sorry to leave". "An Old Woman" centers a home visit from Grace and Sarah to Ms. Jeller's house when Sarah is sixteen years old. Ms. Jeller used to be one of Reverend Phillips most faithful church attendees before her old age relegated her to in-home care. The chapter does start off with Sarah narrating a common argument at the time between her and her mom where Sarah would ask for particular jeans and clothes, her mother would refuse to buy them and tell her that she should not be chasing the next trend, and Sarah arguing that her mom is just trying to keep her young forever and not let her grow up. When Sarah and Grace go to Ms. Jeller's house, with pound cake to give her, she is watching television with Ms. Bryant, her residential staff worker. Their conversation turns into Ms. Jeller telling a narrative of a traumatic event in her childhood when Grace asks if the woman in a photograph in the house is Ms. Jeller's mother. Ms. Jeller's mother was not very present during her childhood because she worked for white folks elsewhere, and so while growing up in Kentucky, Ms. Jeller was raised by her uncle and aunt. Ms. Jeller was raped at the age of 12 by a man in the community, and so her guardians organized a wedding between the two of them, and once the baby arrived, they got the marriage annulled. The baby got sick and died, and so by the time Ms. Jeller was 14, she had been rid of her husband and her child. After this, Sarah reflects that her mother then let her buy whatever jeans she wanted. "Negatives" gives a first glimpse of Sarah's life at college, specifically at Harvard University. While there, Sarah reconnects with a distant family friend, and they become best friends. Curry Daniels and Sarah are very similar in that they are both light-skin and middle class. Sarah even describes his face as similar to hers, showing an even balance between black, white and "Indian blood". These similarities lead them to joke about how they should get together or get married, but that a nice colored boy and a nice colored girl might be too boring. They both already have romantic partners, both of whom are not black, and constantly make fun of each other's partners. Curry also has a knack for photography, and has been called to take numerous photos of women, including nude photos. He often tries to convince Sarah to let him take photos of her, and one day she agrees. The experience for her was very awkward, as can be seen from the faces she was making during the photos once they're developed. Though she and Curry both agree that the photos of her are not the best, he still prompts her to keep the negatives of the photos so he has a base to work off of—she still tosses them in the trash shortly after. Curry is older than Sarah, and the chapter ends with him graduating and her beginning a summer without her close friend. In "Fine Points", Sarah and her roommate Margaret plot to engage romantically with their professor crushes at the university. Both Margaret and Sarah have a friendship where they often talk about and make fun of their partners. At this point, Sarah is invited by her professor to coffee with him and other students. She puts a lot of care into her outfit, and the professor seems surprised upon her entrance. She begins to get bored at the conversation and lose interest in the professor, although he attempts to compliment her in relation to her work in his class. When she returns to the room and tells Margaret the story, Margaret is disappointed that Sarah did not adequately make a move at the professor. Margaret herself "succeeds" with her professor crush when he gets tipsy at a function, pulls Margaret aside, and kisses her. However Margaret, similar to Sarah, realizes she is no longer interested in the professor and is only left with awkward tension between her and the professor during their lab sessions. "A Funeral at New African" details the death and the aftermath of Sarah's father, Reverend Phillips. Sarah's major reflection around this time in her and her family's life is how her father, and his death, started to belong to everyone else but the immediate family. Themes. Education—Sarah's education primes her to attend Harvard, live in Paris, meet European lovers, and escape the confines of her religious middle-class home life. She simultaneously seeks her parents' utter disapproval, and their unconditional worship. Boarding school, then the elite university provide her with the opportunity to escape their grasp and explore the world. This opportunity exposes the often condescending or ignorant attitudes of Sarah's peers. It gives a window into a world in which people who looked like Sarah did not, historically, have a place. This opportunity also exposes some of Sarah's privilege, and naivety. Privilege—Sarah is a black student at an all-white boarding school. In one scene, after an audition she feels is strong, Sarah is cast as the black housemaid in the school play. It is clear to her, in that moment, how her appearance shapes some outcomes more than her talent, determination, or character. Still, Sarah has privileges many black Americans do not have at the time Lee wrote the novel. She belongs to a stable, prosperous family that educates and loves her. She receives the opportunity to improve her own future when she is invited to boarding school. Navigating the intersections of these identities thus becomes part of Sarah's coming-of-age process. Coming of age—Although she deals with the added complications of being black in a predominantly white space, and being minimally religious in a devout household, Sarah struggles to find her identity throughout her adolescence and young adulthood like any other character. She navigates these by developing a heightened self-awareness—of her positionality in different spaces, as well as of her own strengths, weaknesses, feelings, and tendencies. Racial identity—As a result of her educational experiences, fair complexion, family status, and class standing, Sarah has a difficult time identifying where she fits alongside her peers racially. She is black, but does not fit many of the stereotypes others attribute to her. She is black, but not too dark-skinned. She is black, and she speaks well. There is a tension between her identity and the expectations others have for her as a result of the way she looks. "It astonished me considerably", Sarah says, "to discover a world in which the lines were so clearly drawn, and in which I was the object of a relentless, discreet curiosity mingled with wariness on the part of some teachers, as if I were a small, unexploded bomb." She wants "to fit in, really fit in", with Lissa Randolph and Kemp Massie, the "rulers of the Olympic band of suntanned, gold-bangled popular girls, shimmering in their Fair Isle sweaters." These, along with other facets of her identity, cause Sarah to ask what it means to be black, to belong to the black community, and to experience blackness in different times and places. Intersections of race and class: Sarah sometimes struggles to be seen as an equal among her white peers. At the same time, she sometimes exhibits similarly exclusive tendencies. For example, she initially ignores the black cook at school, thinking she is too good for him. Her church communities demonstrates some of the same class tensions. Many well-off black families drive into South Philly to go to Sunday morning services. But then they drive expensive cars back out to the suburbs, while poorer black families are left to live in the "inner-city". She lives in an "earnest, prosperous black family in which Civil Rights and concern for the underprivileged are served up". Family approval—Sarah reminisces on her friendship with Curry, the son, also studying at Harvard, of her mom's distant cousin and childhood best friend. She says they "both harbored ill-conceived ideals of leading lives that would almost geometrically contravene anything of which our parents would approve". Memory: Intimacy—Sarah finds intimacy challenging in a number of the stories contained in "Sarah Phillips". She sometimes struggles to identify the lines between friendship and romance (with Curry Daniels), or the difference between passionate romance and abusive relationship behavior. Critical reception. While Andrea Lee's first novel, "Russian Journal", was nominated for a National Book Award for Nonfiction, "Sarah Phillips" received no awards. It has, however, become the topic of academic literature, journal articles, and much classroom conversation. Both the popular reception to the novel and academic opinions vary widely. Some examples are included below: In a November 1984 review in "The New York Times", novelist Susan Richards Shreve described "Sarah Phillips" as an "unsentimental autobiography". She continued, it "is clear that Miss Lee intended her to be a child of the civil rights movement, representative of a new black woman, educated, sassy, worldly, harshly critical, somewhat self- deprecating and bound for a kind of glory". Invoking the philosophies of W.E.B. DuBois and William Faulkner, Don N. Enomoto argued, in a 1999 Journal article published by MELUS, "Sarah Phillips" is ideal material for exploring the tensions between "theory and tradition". He wrote that Sarah Phillips, the character, fights "to liberate herself from restrictive conditions while constructing a new identity that better reflects her own subjective experience of reality". In March, 1985, a student writer for "The Harvard Crimson" said "Sarah Phillips" is "really a collection of finely shaped autobiographical short stories". Adrienne McCormick, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Winthrop University, said in a 2004 essay published by the Johns Hopkins University Press that "Sarah Phillips" "raises questions about the middle class black woman's ability to recognize, let alone resist, racism and sexism as they intersect with class privilege". In a January 1985 "Los Angeles Times" review, Lola D. Gillebaard said "Sarah is not consciously clashing with issues of history in these chapters, but author Lee has clearly made her a child of the educated, cheeky, cosmopolitan, critical and bound for achievement". This variety in response to, and interpretation of, "Sarah Phillips", is part of what Valerie Smith discusses in her introduction to the novel, as mentioned earlier.

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Devil in a Blue Dress Devil in a Blue Dress is a 1990 hardboiled mystery novel by Walter Mosley, his first published book. The text centers on the main character, Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins, and his transformation from a day laborer into a detective. Plot. Set in 1948, the story begins in the Watts area of Los Angeles, with Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins, a Houstonian — from that city's Fifth Ward — who lost his job at an aviation defense plant in Los Angeles and is unable to pay the mortgage on his LA home. Easy is sitting in a bar run by Joppy, a friend who is also from Houston, when a man named DeWitt Albright walks into the bar and offers him a job finding a young white woman named Daphne Monet, who is rumored to be hanging out in bars frequented mostly by African Americans, although white women are allowed inside. At the bar, Easy meets two old friends, Coretta and Dupree, among many other people that he knew from his former life in Houston. Coretta says that she knows Daphne, but gives an incorrect address to Easy. He goes home with them and has sex with Coretta, while Dupree is asleep in the next room. Easy then leaves her early the next morning, only to be arrested by the LAPD. Shortly thereafter, following police interrogation, Easy is told that Coretta is dead, and that he is a suspect in her murder. When Easy finally does find Monet, he figures out that she has stolen a large amount of money from a man named Todd Carter, who is a local wealthy businessman. Albright wanted this money for himself. Eventually, Albright finds Monet through Easy, who is trying to shield the thieving woman. Easy enlists the help of a friend and fellow Houstonian, Mouse, who shows up due to a half-hearted invitation from Easy, and domestic strife back home. Easy and Mouse find Monet with Albright and Joppy. They rescue her, and kill Joppy and Albright. Then Mouse reveals that Monet is actually Ruby, an African-American woman passing as white, and the sister of a local gangster named Green. Mouse and Easy blackmail Ruby, taking her money and dividing it into thirds for each of them. Daphne/Ruby leaves shortly thereafter, and Easy has to clean up the mess with the police, as well as Carter, who had initially hired Albright to find her, since he really did love her and not his money. Easy approaches Carter and requests his help with the police. He blackmails him by saying that he will leak the information about his love for a black woman unless he is protected from the law. Carter helps him. At the conclusion, Mouse returns to Houston, Easy takes up detective work, and Ruby disappears. Analysis. The novel is an important contribution to African-American and ethnic detective fiction in that it focuses on a black protagonist who falls into the role of detective, but by the series' end, has made his own both the profession and the identity that often comes along with it. Particularly noteworthy are Easy's use of African-American English and the emergence of "the Voice" (an inner voice that advises Easy during particularly stressful or dangerous situations). Literary scholars of ethnic detective fiction have explored the qualities in conjunction with approaches in genre study and gender identity approaches. Reception. First published by W.W. Norton in 1990, "Devil In a Blue Dress" won the 1991 Shamus Award in the category of "Best First P. I. Novel". Adaptations. "Devil In a Blue Dress" was adapted into a 1995 film of the same name, which starred Denzel Washington as Easy Rawlins, and also featured Jennifer Beals, Tom Sizemore, Maury Chaykin, as well as Don Cheadle as the unhinged 'Mouse'. In 1996, a 10-part abridgement by Margaret Busby, read by Paul Winfield, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4, starting on April 1.

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Push (novel) Push is the debut novel of American author Sapphire. Thirteen years after its release in 1996, the novel was made into the 2009 film "Precious", which won numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards. Plot. Claireece Precious Jones is an obese, illiterate 16-year-old girl who lives in Harlem with her abusive mother Mary. Precious is a few months pregnant with her second child, the product of her father raping her; he is also the father of her first child (who has Down syndrome). When her school discovers the pregnancy, it is decided that she should attend an alternative school. Precious is furious, but the counselor later visits her home and convinces her to enter an alternative school, located in the Hotel Theresa, called Higher Education Alternative Each One Teach One. Despite her mother's insistence that she apply for welfare, Precious enrolls in the school. She meets her teacher, Ms. Blu Rain, and fellow students Rhonda, Jermaine, Rita, Jo Ann, and Consuelo. All of the girls come from troubled backgrounds. Ms. Rain's class is a pre-GED class for young women who are below an eighth-grade level in reading and writing and therefore are unprepared for high school-level courses. They start off by learning the basics of phonics and vocabulary building. Despite their academic deficits, Ms. Rain ignites a passion in her students for literature and writing. She believes that the only way to learn to write is to write every day. Each girl is required to keep a journal. Ms. Rain reads their entries and provides feedback and advice. By the time the novel ends, the women have created an anthology of autobiographical stories called "LIFE STORIES – Our Class Book" appended to the book. The works of classic African-American writers such as Audre Lorde, Alice Walker and Langston Hughes are inspirational for the students. Precious is particularly moved by "The Color Purple". While in the hospital giving birth to son Abdul Jamal Louis Jones, Precious tells a social worker that her first child is living with her grandmother. The confession leads to Precious' mother having her welfare taken away. When Precious returns home with Abdul, her enraged mother chases her out of the house. Homeless and alone, she first passes a night at the armory, then turns to Ms. Rain, who uses all of her resources to get Precious into a halfway house with childcare. Her new environment provides her with the stability and support to continue with school. The narrative prose, told from Precious' voice, continually improves in terms of grammar and spelling, and is even peppered with imagery and similes. Precious has taken up poetry, and is eventually awarded the Mayor's office's literacy award for outstanding progress. The accomplishment boosts her spirits. As her attitude changes and her confidence grows, Precious thinks about having a boyfriend, and a real relationship with someone near her age who attracts her interest. Her only sexual experience thus far has been the rape and sexual abuse by her mother and father. As she's trying to move beyond her traumatic childhood and distance herself from her parents, her mother turns up to announce that her father has died from AIDS. Testing verifies that Precious is HIV positive, but her children are not. Her classmate Rita encourages Precious to join a support group, as well as an HIV-positive group. The meetings provide a source of support and friendship for Precious as well as the revelation that her color and socioeconomic background weren't necessarily the cause of her abuse. Women of all ages and backgrounds attend the meetings. The book concludes with no specific fate outlined for Precious; the author leaving her future undetermined. Style. Critics have gone in both directions as far as their opinions of the style in which "Push" is written. Some consider "the harrowing story line [to be] exaggerated," saying that it doesn't seem realistic to "saddle one fictional character with so many problems straight from today's headlines" (Glenn). Others have stated that while the dialect is problematic, Precious herself is believable because she "speaks in a darting stream of consciousness of her days in an unexpectedly evocative fashion" (Mahoney). Dialect/Voice. Precious begins the novel functionally illiterate. She spells words phonetically. She uses a "minimal English that defies the conventions of spelling and usage and dispenses all verbal decorum" (Mahoney). She employs variations such as "nuffin'" for "nothing", "git" for "get", "borned" for "born", "wif" for "with", and "chile" for "child". She also uses an array of profanity and harsh details that reflect the life she has experienced. Michiko Kakutani, a book reviewer for "The New York Times", states that Precious' "voice conjures up [her] gritty unforgiving world." As the book progresses and Precious learns to read and write, there is a stark change in her voice, though the dialect remains the same. Sequel. In 2011, Sapphire published a semi-sequel, "The Kid". It follows the life of Precious' son Abdul from the age of nine to 19. Precious herself has died following complications from HIV, but was accepted to college before her death.

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All American Boys All American Boys, published in 2015 by Atheneum, is a young adult novel written by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely. The book tells the story of two teenage boys, Rashad Butler and Quinn Collins, as they handle racism and police brutality in their communityThe novel has gained attention in recent years due, becoming the third most banned book of 2020, due to its inclusion of anti-police messages, alcohol, drug usage and profanity. Background and publication. Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely met on a Simon & Schuster book tour in 2013. While sharing a room on the book tour, they heard the news that George Zimmerman had been acquitted of the murder of Trayvon Martin. Reynolds and Kiely began to share their feelings and frustrations, developing a friendship. After Michael Brown was shot and killed in Ferguson on August 9, 2014, Reynolds and Kiely began writing All American Boys as a way to address police brutality and racial profiling. The book was published in 2015 by Simon & Schuster. Plot. The book follows two characters, Rashad Butler and Quinn, as they navigate racism. The novel switches between the perspective of a black boy, Rashad, written by Jason Reynolds, and a white boy, Quinn, written by Brendan Kiely.Rashad is a 16-year-old who is assaulted by a white police officer in a convenience store. Quinn is a witness to the incident. Analysis. Educational uses. According to professor Luke Rodesiler’s suggested lesson plan concerning All American Boys, the novel provides educators with many opportunities to discuss current social and political issues including police violence, racism, athletes as activists, and protesting. Rodesiler recommends that educators have their students complete projects such as researching incidents of police violence and studying judicial rulings on student protests and police violence as a way to connect All American Boys to American society. High school teachers Jody Pollock and Tashema Spence-Davis provide a model to incorporate  All American Boys into a curriculum to increase students’ understanding of socio political issues. This novel helped uplift their majority minority and marginalized students by initiating conversations about racial bias and equity. As Rodesiler explains, teachers can frame discussion questions around each issue, prompting students to identify social justice issues throughout the novel, and connect them to current day America. Reception. Awards. "All American Boys" won the inaugural Walter Dean Myers Award from the We Need Diverse Books organization inn 2016 and the Coretta Scott King Award. In 2016, the novel won the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award for Young Adult Fiction. Reviews. Since its release in 2015, "All American Boys" has been praised by critics for its discussions of police brutality and racism. In a favorable review, "Publishers Weekly" called the novel “painful and all-too-timely." The review went on: “the scenario that Reynolds and Kiely depict has become a recurrent feature of news reports, and a book that lets readers think it through outside of the roiling emotions of a real-life event is both welcome and necessary." In her starred review in "School Library Journal", Ashleigh Williams said that "All American Boys" is able to effectively illustrate the aftermath of police brutality through the conflicting emotions, which affect entire communities. Williams notes that the novel provides many diverse perspectives and emphasizes the tension between these perspectives resulting from racism and privilege. In his starred review, "Booklist" reviewer Michael Cart said that "All American Boys" starts a necessary dialogue surrounding race relations and police brutality. At the same time, Cart says, the novel is “more than a problem novel; it’s a carefully plotted, psychologically acute, character-driven work of fiction that dramatizes an all-too-frequent occurrence." Censorship. In 2020, "All American Boys" landed the third position on the American Library Association's list of the most commonly banned and challenged books in the United States. The book was banned, challenged, and/or restricted "for profanity, drug use, and alcoholism, and because it was thought to promote anti-police views, contain divisive topics, and be 'too much of a sensitive matter right now.'" South Carolina. In South Carolina, police have spoken out against the teaching of All American Boys in a Wando High School English class. The novel was one of eight choices for summer reading for incoming freshmen. Police argued that the novel teaches children to not trust police officers or law enforcement in general. The law enforcement union argued that students reading the novel at Wando are at an age where the majority of them have not had experiences with law enforcement, and are therefore very impressionable on the subject. The school librarian fought for the book to continue being taught, and criticized police in the area for not being open to having difficult discussions with students. The National Coalition Against Censorship wrote to the principal, urging them not to remove the book from Wando High School’s curriculum. In response, Principal Dr. Sherry Eppelsheimer of Wando High School agreed to reconsider the decision on banning All American Boys. Cornelius, North Carolina. Two parents, one of whom a police officer with children at Bailey Middle School in Cornelius, North Carolina, challenged All American Boys. Police officers, faculty members and community members were all involved in the review process, with the school inviting officers to attend classes in which the novel was taught. After the review process, Board members decided in September 2019 to keep the book as a part of the eighth-grade curriculum. Board members and leaders stated that the novel has the ability to open student’s’ minds to social justice issues and contemporary issues they face.

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A Business Career A Business Career is a novel by African-American author Charles Chesnutt that features the life of a "new woman" of the late 19th century; she enters the world of business instead of embracing the traditional roles of women. It explores a failed romance between two successful upper-class members. A family’s vendetta against the man who allegedly destroyed the family's fortune is revealed to be mistaken. The novel was unusual for its time as Chesnutt wrote only about white society. The book was completed in 1890 but Chesnutt, who had published only a few short stories by then, was unable to interest a publisher in it. The book's depiction of white society may have contributed to that failure. Editor Walter Hines Page, who declined the book, nevertheless encouraged Chesnutt in his writing and later published other works by him. Since the late 20th century, there has been a revival of interest in Chesnutt. This novel was published posthumously in 2005 with an introduction and editing by Matthew Wilson. Plot summary. The story takes place in 1890s in the Midwest city of Groveland (critics consider this a fictional stand-in for Cleveland, where Chesnutt lived). At the Truscott Refining Company, the male stenographer has just been fired. Stella Merwin fills in temporarily; she has already learned shorthand. When an opportunity opens up, she stays in the job longer than intended. The company is owned by the man whom her family believes has destroyed its reputation and honor. Stella Merwin's father, Henry, was a very successful man in the oil refining business, providing the Merwin family with status and a life of wealth. At the peak of his success, he hit financial troubles. These led to the loss of the family fortune as well as his death, attributed to heart disease. Before his death, Merwin assured his family: his wife, daughter Stella and son George, that they would be taken care of financially by his profitable investments. He directed them to see his most trusted employee, Wendell Truscott for assistance in the matter, as Merwin had given him related papers. With the loss of their wealth, the Merwins must change their lives. They move from the city to a small town where they lived off a small annual income produced by the estate and additional money earned from Mrs. Merwin’s writing career. This was enough money to give Stella a strong education, but a far cry from what the family was used to during their good times. Mrs. Merwin blames the family’s financial difficulties on Wendell Truscott because she believes that he ruined her husband and, stole money from him, and took over his company. Because of the complicated history between Wendell Truscott and the Merwin family, Stella Merwin takes her job under the false name Miss Smith. She wants the job in order to lean more about Truscott, whom she has been told to despise as the man who caused her family's financial downfall. Stella comes to swift judgments about her employer. She concludes that he is a cold-hearted boss who does not care about establishing relationships with his employees, but also that he is a very smart, savvy businessman who efficiently gets missions accomplished. Stella quickly takes a liking to her job, which starts out with her transcribing letters dictated by Truscott. Impressed with her performance, Truscott increases her responsibilities; he entrusts her to write letters according to his direction. instead of copying what the proprietor says, she gains his trust enough to write letters on her own, and gives her the charge of reviewing the financial books daily. Mrs. Merwin is thrilled that Stella is working for The Truscott Refining Company. She does not care that Stella is getting great experience in the business world and her schooling in shorthand is being put to good use; instead, she wants Stella to use her position in the office to infiltrate Truscott's files to find evidence that he committed fraud against Henry Merwin to restore the family to their previous position of wealth. Stella struggles slightly with the moral implications of betraying her boss, but she will do anything to help her family leading to her decision to find the incriminating documents. The mother visits her daughter and as they walk around the city she comments on how the rich residents made their money insisting that they did so in a dishonorable fashion. The only people that Mrs. Merwin believes amassed their fortune nobly are her husband and her friend Matilda Wedderburn. Besides for being Mrs. Merwin's old friend, Matilda Wedderburn is the love interest of Wendell Truscott. Matilda inherited great wealth from her father, and is a leader in literary and musical circles. She is a very independent woman whose only reason to marry is for true love because she has everything else on her own. Miss Weddburn and Truscott have known each other forever, but their courtship intensifies as they engage in activities together such as going to the theater. Matilda says Wendell is as close to her perfect man that she has ever met. She invites him to her home for dinner hoping that he will ask her to marry him there. Wendell has the same feelings for Miss Wedderburn so he writes a response to Matilda’s invitation that implies that he is planning on asking her to marry him that night; however, Truscott notices that his stenographer Miss Smith (Stella) is a beautiful young lady. He changes his mind when, "It occurred to him as he sat there, that perhaps a woman might be young in years, and yet not immature in mind, and that youth might possess a charm that maturity would lack." Truscott tears up the letter and instead writes a less passionate response. When that night comes the two are in an intimate setting in which Matilda expects Wendell to ask her to marry her, but instead he abruptly leaves crushing her hopes of marriage. Later on Miss Wedderburn visits the office of The Truscott Refining Company where she recognizes Miss Smith as the Merwin’s daughter, and she suspects that the young stenographer is the reason Truscott has a change of heart. While reviewing the daily reports Stella notices that something is inconsistent in the books, so she decides to look into the matter on a Sunday when nobody will be in the office. After reviewing the books she concludes that the bookkeeper Mr. Ross has stolen $20,000 from the company. While Stella is still there Ross comes in and finds the ledger on his desk along with a piece of paper that Stella had written on. Mr. Ross finds Stella hiding in the closet and knocks her out. Stella wakes up locks in a wardrobe; luckily she is able to escape by climbing through the roof of the wardrobe so she can go alert Mr. Truscott about Mr. Ross’s transgression. Truscott is very pleased that she discovers this crime, but by the time they inform the authorities Ross leaves town and makes it all the way to a South American country where there is no extradition. The next Sunday Stella again visits the office in order to search for the documents believed to because this time in search of the documents that will restore her family's wealth. Stella believes the necessary papers are in the safe in Truscott's private office that she access to because of his special trust in her. She looks through the safe without success, but she knows there is a special compartment with an additional lock. She gets the key from Truscott's desk and successful finds the papers in the locked compartment. At the same time Stella is in the office, Truscott goes to a dinner at the Country Club hosted by General Farwell. At the dinner the wealthy guests receive news from Wall Street that a bank in London collapsed and a financial crisis is imminent. Truscott is hit hard by the crisis and as a result cannot get banks to lend him money for the big project he has been working on thereby putting it on the verge of failure. Stella reviews the papers in her boarding house that night. The papers show the scheme that her father was planning that is very similar to Truscott's current endeavor revolutionizing the oil refining industry. The papers show $2 million in stock that her father has investment in his new company Universal Subterranean Development Company. She believes that this is the evidence that will prove their wealth; however, Stella then sees through the documents how her father's plan failed because of an economic collapse and the failures of his unscrupulous business partners. This proves that Wendell Truscott never stole from her father; it was Henry Merwin’s own fault that the family lost its fortune. Stella's findings cement the family's place outside the upper class of society and prevent Mrs. Merwin's dream of returning to their previous life impossible. She also learns that the income the family has been receiving was not generated by the Merwin estate but actually is Truscott's charity for the family. Stella returns the stolen papers to Mr. Truscott accompanied by a letter explaining her true identity as well as giving him her reason for resignation of the position. She thanks him for his generosity to the family and apologizes for taking advantage of the trust he showed her. The Truscott Refining Company is at the brink of collapse because the company needs $200,000 that it owes to its creditors. Luckily Matilda Wedderburn comes to Truscott’s rescue, even though he put their romance to an end, by offering her good friend the money that he desperately needs therefore saving the company. Stella moves back to Cloverdale leaving Groveland in her rear-view mirror because she wants to forget about her experience working for Wendell Truscott as much as possible. She soon receives a letter from Truscott asking her to come back to work because he cannot find anyone who did as good a job as she did, but more importantly he wants her to come back because she loves him. In the letter Truscott says, "Come back to me, dear child, or let me come to you, and we will part no more forever, as long as we both shall live." Characters. Stella Merwin (Miss Smith): The protagonist of the novel is a "new woman" of the late 19th century who pursues a life outside the traditional roles of wife and mother. As a junior in college, she learns shorthand, which enables her to secure a job as a stenographer. She works for The Truscott Refining Company with the objective of trying to find documents to restore her family’s wealth. Wendell Truscott: The wealthy proprietor of the Truscott Refining Company whom the Merwin family blames for their financial ruin. He is a crafty businessman. It is revealed that he never betrayed his mentor Henry Merwin, but provided for his family. Mrs. Paxton: Stella’s mentor who gets her the job at Truscott Refining. She guides Stella in the business world and becomes a friend. Mr. Peters: The former stenographer, fired for tardiness due to excessive drinking. Mr. Ross: The bookkeeper of Truscott Refining, who steals $20,000 from the company, but escapes to South America. Stella Merwin's judgment of him is proved true by events. Matilda Wedderburn: A beautiful, wealthy woman being courted by Wendell Truscott. Her hopes of marrying him end when he "falls for" Stella Merwin. As a friend, she loans Truscott money to save the company. Mrs. Merwin: The mother of Stella and George, and wife of Henry Merwin. The widow has trouble dealing with her decline in status and yearns to return to her high place in society George Merwin: Stella’s brother, who also lives and works in Groveland. George has a gambling problem and falls into debt, leading to his arrest. He is saved by a stranger, revealed to be Wendell Truscott, whom the Merwin family considers an enemy. He is sent to a ranch in the West for rehabilitation. Themes. The new women. The major theme of this novel is the emergence of the new woman in American society at the turn of the century. Mrs. Merwin exemplifies the traditional female role as a mother and wife, but Stella Merwin pursues higher education. Her schooling allows her to get a job in the business world that pays a substantial salary. Stella has the financial independence to thrive without relying on a husband. During this period, the number of women working in offices, previously limited to men, was on the rise. Gradually women replaced men as clerks and stenographers. Status. Chesnutt explores the financial inequality in the structure of society. This era was known for the vast disparity in wealth between the classes, as the upper class lived in luxurious mansions with many servants and enjoyed the theatre, but the lower class struggled through life by working long hours in a factory or office. The Merwins family's drastic decline in financial standing is similar to that of the title character in William Dean Howells' novel "The Rise of Silas Lapham", now considered a literary classic. Chesnutt explores Mrs. Merwin's difficulty as a beleaguered widow, no longer in the upper class. Realism. Chesnutt wrote a novel of Realism, portraying society, as was the major form of his time. He did not use a high style of elaborate language or refer to the mythical characters popular in an earlier generation. The novel effectively captures the business world by describing The Truscott Refining Company’s inner workings. Romance. The novel follows the form of a romance, as Matilda Wedderburn and Wendell Truscott engage in a courtship. This fails after he falls for his young stenographer. The courtship is highlighted by nights out at the theatre and dinner parties with the family. It omits the sexual component prevalent in modern courtship and portrayed in current literature. The romantic plot was also featured in Howells' novel, "The Rise of Silas Lapham." Context. When Chesnutt completed his novel in 1890, he was unable to find a publisher for it. At the time he had published only a few short stories set in the South, recounting the culture of slave life on plantations. Although Houghton Mifflin chose not to publish the novel, editor Walter Hines Page advised Chesnutt, "You will doubtless be able to find a publisher, and my advice to you is decidedly to keep trying till you do find one." Page encouraged Chesnutt in his career, and later Houghton Mifflin published other works by him. Twenty-first century scholar Matthew Wilson believes Chesnutt may have been trying to appeal in this work to white readers, who made up most of the market for literature. Chesnutt, along with Paul Laurence Dunbar, was one of the first African-American writers to write in the "white life" genre, to portray only white characters and white society. Dunbar’s novel, "The Uncalled", was published in 1901, but failed to sell successfully. Matthew Wilson says about African-American authors at the turn of the 20th century: "Very little expressed interest in representations of whiteness in the black imagination. Black cultural and social critics allude to such representations in their writing, yet only a few have dared to make explicit those perceptions of whiteness that they think will discomfort or antagonize readers."He describes Chesnutt and Dunbar as pushing the prescribed limits of race in their writings. Charles Chesnutt viewed his work differently than most in terms of its racial implications. After receiving an award from the NAACP in the early 1900s, Chesnutt said he was "Not a Negro writing about Negroes, but a human being writing about other human beings." He did not see color in his writing. But, many critics considered African Americans to be inferior writers who had to stay in their own "league". At the time, books about the antebellum South were popular. It was a time of reconciliation between the North and South, and members of the Northern literary establishment were interested in black writers who portrayed the slavery years. Chesnutt published his novels "A House Behind the Cedars" (1900) and "The Marrow of Tradition" (1901), following his success with two short story collections in 1899. They addressed issues of racial inequality and racial mixing. But "The Marrow of Tradition" went further, featuring a range of white characters, who included an elite white family, as well as a black family of mixed race. Young women in the two families were half-sisters who had the same white father, a man of the elite class. Chesnutt also addressed competition among classes of whites by the late 19th century, as some lower-class men achieved new wealth and political power. Based on the background to North Carolina's disfranchisement of blacks in the late 1890s and events of the 1898 Wilmington Race Riot, in which whites conducted a "coup d'état" of the elected city government, the novel was described by William Dean Howells as "bitter." It is not known whether Chesnutt tried to find another publisher for "A Business Career," but it was among his six unpublished manuscripts found at the time of his death. In his introduction to this novel, editor Mathew Wilson says, "African American writers have had no right to represent white-life exclusively because to grant that right would be to acknowledge the permeability of the color line". Wilson believes that Chesnutt has still not received the recognition he deserves for this pioneering effort in crossing the color line to write about white society. Critical reception. When it was published in 2005 over a century after it was written, "A Business Career" received little attention from critics or readers. One of the first of its kind, the novel has faded to the edge of American Literature.

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Where the Line Bleeds Where the Line Bleeds is the debut novel by American writer Jesmyn Ward. It was published in 2008 by Scribner. Background and publication history. Ward had difficulty finding a publisher for the novel. Between this and the low pay she received from her job as a composition instructor, Ward considered abandoning writing to pursue a career in nursing. But before she went gave up entirely, Doug Siebold of Agate Publishing accepted the novel, and the company published it in 2008. Shortly after, Ward was awarded a Stegner Fellowship which allowed her to continue writing. The book was reissued by Scribner in 2018. Characters from the novel have later appeared in other books by Ward. Plot. "Where the Line Bleeds" follows twin brothers who have just graduated from high school on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. Poor and Black, they find few economic opportunities as they struggle to undertake their adult lives. Reception. Critical reception. The novel received positive reviews. Reviews from "Kirkus" and "Publishers Weekly" praised the novel as a strong debut. In the "Austin Chronicle," Elizabeth Jackson compared Ward’s style to William Faulkner and noted the potential in “a female, black author invoking the (white) father of Southern letters to explore the world of a poor, rural, black family”, calling it “an exciting proposition, with original and subversive implications”. Jackson expresses some reservation, saying Ward’s potential remains just that—potential, with some overwritten scenes that Jackson anticipates will improve in future work—but nevertheless says “this reviewer would rather read such a distinctive voice portraying an underexplored landscape than another white author talking about ivory-tower malaise, any day.” Honors. The novel was shortlisted for the First Novelist Award and the Hurston-Wright Legacy Award.

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Black Girl in Paris Black Girl in Paris is a novel written by American author Shay Youngblood. It was originally published in 2000 by Riverhead Books and then reprinted in 2013 by Blue Cloud Press. The novel follows Eden Daniels, a black American woman in her mid-20s, who longs to be a writer and escapes to Paris in the mid-1980s. In 2013 the novel was adapted into a short film of the same name directed by Kiandra Parks and starring Zaraah Abrahams. Plot. In 1986 Eden Daniels, a 26 year old African-American woman decides to move to Paris to follow in the steps of other artists she's admired and try to become a writer. Eden arrives in Paris when a wave of terrorism sparks an anti-immigrant backlash. Nevertheless, she is able to find work in the ex-pat community and works as an artist's model, an au-pair and a poet's assistant. As she scrapes by Eden dreams of encountering one of her literary heroes, James Baldwin who still lives in Paris and who many of her employers have had brief encounters with. Eden falls in love with Ving, a white American jazz musician, but their relationship is complicated as they still face prejudice for being an interracial couple. When the family where Eden works as an au-pair leaves for the U.S. and Ving leaves around the same time to visit his ailing mother, Eden is left friendless and penniless. She befriends Luce, a Haitian born woman living in Paris who teaches Eden how to steal in order to survive. Luce leaves Paris and Ving returns, sending Eden to his friends near Saint-Paul-de-Vence, where James Baldwin has an estate. Eden tries to meet him but learns he has returned to Paris. Heartbroken she finally begins to write her story down. On Eden's last day in Paris she runs into Baldwin leaving a café. He greets her briefly before leaving. Reception. The novel had a mixed reception. "Salon" called Youngblood a lyricist but criticized her for "clichéd bohemian characters". "Publishers Weekly" called it "a bold if sometimes self-indulgent memoir-style account of an aspiring writer".

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Such a Fun Age Such a Fun Age is a 2019 novel by American author Kiley Reid. It is her debut novel and was published by G. P. Putnam's Sons on December 31, 2019. It tells the story of a young black woman who is wrongly accused of kidnapping while babysitting a white child, and the events that follow the incident. The novel received favorable reviews and was longlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize. Plot. Alix Chamberlain is a wealthy blogger and public speaker in her early thirties who has built a brand known as "LetHer Speak" around the practice of writing old-fashioned letters to businesses, often in exchange for free product samples, and encouraging women to be assertive. Alix's family has moved from New York City to her hometown of Philadelphia for her husband Peter's job as a television anchor, and her career is stalling as she raises two children and attempts to write her first book. Alix hires Emira Tucker, a 25-year-old African-American college graduate, as a babysitter to care for her three-year-old daughter Briar. Alix also has an infant daughter named Catherine. Alix and Peter's home is egged at night and a window is broken after Peter received backlash for making a racist remark on-air, though he insists the comment was thoughtless. Alix calls Emira, who is at a party with friends, to take Briar with her to a local, trendy supermarket while she and Peter speak with the police. At the store, Emira, her friend Zara, and Briar dance to Whitney Houston and are noticed by an older white woman. After Zara leaves, a security guard approaches Emira at the white woman's behest and questions why Emira is with Briar. Emira explains the situation but the guard refuses to believe she is a babysitter, and Emira is freed only once Peter shows up and corroborates her story. The incident is recorded by a white bystander, Kelley Copeland, who urges Emira to seek justice against the store. Emira is shaken but does not want attention; she has him email the video to her and delete it from his phone. Alix is shocked by the incident and tries to treat Emira better, offering her extra pay and gifts, and becomes intent on developing a friendship with her, though Emira simply regards Alix as her employer. Meanwhile, Emira runs into Kelley again on the train, and the two start dating. For Thanksgiving, Alix invites Emira and her boyfriend to the Chamberlain home. Upon meeting, they realize that Alix (formerly Alex Murphy) and Kelley dated at in high school and parted on bad terms. Later, Kelley tells Emira that she needs to quit her job because Alix is racist: in high school she called the police to a party at her mansion home, indirectly caused a Black student, Robbie to lose his scholarship when he was arrested with drugs, and has a history of surrounding herself with black employees. Emira, feeling Kelley is being inconsiderate of her anxiety about her employment status and lack of professional career, refuses to quit. Alix tells Emira that she should break up with Kelley because he fetishized black people in high school: he invited Robbie and the cool kids to the house to become friends with them and later broke up with Alix in favor of them. When Emira dismisses her advice, Alix gains access to Emira's email and leaks the video of the grocery store incident. To Emira's shock, it goes viral. Believing that Kelley leaked it, she breaks up with him. Alix comforts her and offers her a full-time job as Briar's nanny, which she accepts. Alix also arranges an interview with Emira and herself on local television. Minutes before the interview, Emira comes to know that it was in fact Alix who leaked the video. On air, Emira embarrasses Alix by quitting and using the same line that Kelley had used to break up with her in high school. When Alix confronts her, Emira urges Alix to be a better mother to Briar. After the interview airs, Kelley tries to contact Emira but she does not respond. Years pass and Emira begins working as administrative assistant. She sees Kelley with his black girlfriend and Mrs. Chamberlain with an older Briar but does not approach any of them. Well into her thirties, Emira wonders what she learned from her time at the Chamberlain house and what kind of person Briar will grow up to become. Background. Reid started writing the novel in 2015, while she was applying to graduate school, and finished it while pursuing her MFA at the University of Iowa. It was during this period that the deaths of Freddie Gray and Philando Castile took place, and Reid said she was "absolutely inspired by the everyday terror" but that, in the novel, she wanted to explore "instances of racial biases that don't end in violence as a way of highlighting those moments that we don't see on the news but still exist every day." Reid has also said that the novel was partly inspired by the years she spent in her 20s working as a babysitter. Publication. The novel was published in the United States in hardcover and paperback by G. P. Putnam's Sons on December 31, 2019. It was published in the United Kingdom in hardcover by Bloomsbury Circus, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing, on January 7, 2020. The novel debuted at number three on "The New York Times" Hardcover Fiction best-sellers list. Themes. "Such a Fun Age" deals with the themes of interracial relations, privilege, millennial anxiety and wealth. Reid interrogates tropes of the white savior and unknowing racist in everyday life. Throughout the novel, the white characters assume they know what is best for the protagonist, without ever seeing anything from her perspective, and speak about her with a sense of ownership. The novel satirizes what has been described as "the white pursuit of wokeness", by having the two main white characters use their relationships with Emira as the battleground through which each intends to prove their racial virtue. Reid explained that she did not think of her characters as inherently bad, conversely, that they "were dying to help, but kind of going through mental gymnastics to ignore the broken systems that put people where they are to begin with." The novel also deals with millennial anxiety relating to job security and confusion over career choices. Over the course of the book, the main concern of Emira remains finding a secure job, as she will be removed from her parents' healthcare insurance cover upon turning 26. While she remains at her babysitting job, her group of friends start advancing in their careers, intensifying her desire for "a real adult job", which neither she nor her friends consider babysitting to be. In the context of Emira's job, the novel also explores emotional labour and transactional relationships. Reid stated in an interview that "the history of black women taking care of white children is at the forefront [of the book]. It's this job that is so important, with really high stakes and a very small margin of error—but also, a 13-year-old could do it." Reception. The novel was very well-received by critics, who described it as having timely themes, authentic dialogue and believable characters. Sara Collins of "The Guardian" gave the novel a rave review, calling it "the calling card of a virtuoso talent" and writing that it "skillfully interweaves race-related explorations with astute musings on friendship, motherhood, marriage, love and more." It also received praise from "Kirkus Reviews" and "Publishers Weekly", with the latter describing it as a "nuanced portrait of a young black woman struggling to define herself apart from the white people in her life who are all too ready to speak and act on her behalf." Hephzibah Anderson of "The Observer" criticized the character development of Alix Chamberlain as well as the novel's plot for "[pivoting] on an almighty coincidence" but nonetheless called it a "cracking debut" and wrote that "Reid writes with a confidence and verve that produce magnetic prose." "The Boston Globe" concurred, noting that the second half of the novel was based on a "contrived" coincidence but "once you buy into the path Reid chooses, she deftly ratchets up the tension and the characters always ring true." Lauren Christensen of "The New York Times Book Review" gave the novel a mixed review, criticizing the plot's "many lapses in credibility" as well as Reid's "cloying vernacular".

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The Secret Lives of Church Ladies The Secret Lives of Church Ladies is a debut short story collection by Deesha Philyaw. The book contains nine stories about Black women, church, and sexuality and was released on September 1, 2020 by West Virginia University Press. It was a finalist for the 2020 National Book Award for Fiction and received The Story Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. Plot. The collection consists of nine stories that explore the intersection of sexuality and Christianity. Black women protagonists appear in each story. Topics covered include infidelity, casual sex, and lesbian relationships. Background. The title refers to the catch-all term for church-going women that Philyaw learned growing up. These women were prim, conservatively dressed, "who makes sure not a hair is out of place, never speaks out of line, and does all the right Godly things." Philyaw stated in an interview for "Richmond Free Press", "I see the book as centering Black women in their own stories of the tug of war they experience between their desires and what they may have learned at church." Philyaw was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida. She was raised attending church and attended services under the denominations of AME, Baptist, Pentecostal, COGIC, and Missionary Baptist Church. Philyaw drew on those experience to write about how the church space influences female sexuality. She no longer attends church services but has fond memories of that time. Reception. "The Secret Lives of Church Ladies" received critical acclaim. Marion Wink reviewed the book for "Star Tribune" and stated: "This collection marks the emergence of a bona fide literary treasure." Wendeline O. Wright further praised Philyaw in "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette": "“The Secret Lives of Church Ladies” is an unforgettable look inside the hearts of Black women as they evaluate their relationships — with God, their families, and themselves." "Kirkus" wrote in a starred review, "No saints exist in these pages, just full-throated, flesh-and-blood women who embrace and redefine love, and their own selves, in powerfully imperfect renditions. Tender, fierce, proudly Black and beautiful, these stories will sneak inside you and take root." In a similarly positive review, "Publisher's Weekly" wrote, "Philyaw’s stories inform and build on one another, turning her characters’ private struggles into a beautiful chorus." The nuanced characters were further praised by Jordan Snowden, who described Philyaw's writing in "Pittsburgh City Paper": "She shows these women, these Black women, in spaces they aren’t usually seen — having sex in a parking lot, in same-sex relationships, going to therapy, as a person filled with longing and desire." TV adaptation. In January 2021 it was announced that Tessa Thompson's newly formed production company, Viva Maude, had picked up the collection to be adapted for television. Philyaw is slated to write the adaptation and co-executive produce with Thompson.

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Plan B (novel) Plan B is an unfinished novel published posthumously in America in 1993 by Chester Himes, which is the final volume in the Harlem Cycle. The story is even darker and more nihilistic than the preceding volumes, culminating in a violent revolutionary movement in the streets of America. The first edition was published in France, in 1983 (Editions lieu commun), translated by Helène Devaux-Minié. Plot summary. The story differs somewhat from the other volumes of the cycle in being less a detective story and more a surrealistic tale of a racial apocalypse in America. The story hinges on the efforts of community leader Tomsson Black to stir up racial tension in Harlem in order to force a radical change in race relations. The novel begins as a hardboiled detective story, then, when the characters' revolt begins, transitions to apocalyptic fiction. Major themes. In an interview, Himes once noted that he had wanted to "depict the violence that is necessary so that the white community will also give it a little thought, because you know, they're going around playing these games. They haven't given any thought to what would happen if the black people would seriously uprise." Most notably, "Plan B" features the death of both of the protagonists of the Harlem Cycle. Gravedigger Jones kills Coffin Ed Johnson in a dramatic final scene, before being killed himself by Tomsson Black. Throughout the story, the usually level-headed Gravedigger gets caught up in the revolutionary fervor, while Coffin Ed is uncharacteristically skeptical and calm.

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The Mothers (novel) The Mothers is a debut novel by Brit Bennett. The book follows Nadia, a young woman who left her Southern California hometown years ago after the suicide of her mother and is called back to attend to a family emergency. "The Mothers", released on October 11, 2016 by Riverhead Books, received critical acclaim and was a "New York Times" bestseller. A film adaptation is being produced by Kerry Washington's production company Simpson Street. Plot. Living in Southern California, 17-year-old Nadia, grieving her mother's suicide, becomes pregnant by her boyfriend Luke, a local pastor's son. She has an abortion and leaves her hometown to attend University of Michigan. Years later, her Christian friend Aubrey begins dating and then marries Luke. In her adulthood Nadia has to return to her hometown for a family emergency and reckon with her past. Themes. The book includes themes of Christianity in the context of the Black church, shame, and motherhood. Background. Bennett began writing the novel when she was 17 years old. She used many elements of her own life to craft the narrative; she and the protagonist, Nadia, were both high-achievers who maintained close ties to their families even after leaving home for college. Nadia's hometown is based on Bennett's hometown of Oceanside, California, an ethnically-diverse beach town. Bennett continued to work on the novel after leaving for college and while completing her MFA at University of Michigan. In 2014 Bennett published a viral essay on Jezebel.com called "I Don’t Know What to Do With Good White People", shortly after the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown. Literary agent Julia Kardon read the essay and contacted Bennett to offer her representation to write and sell a book, which became her manuscript, "The Mothers". Reception. The book generated buzz prior to its release, and received critical acclaim. In a positive review for "The New York Times Book Review" Mira Jacob wrote, "Despite Bennett’s thrumming plot, despite the snap of her pacing, it’s the always deepening complexity of her characters that provides the book’s urgency. Bennett’s ability to unwind them gently, offering insights both shocking and revelatory, has a striking effect." Reni Eddo-Lodge reviewed the book for "The Guardian": ""The Mothers" is a beautifully written, sad and lingering book – an impressive debut for such a young writer." Constance Grady praised Bennett's writing in Vox: "What elevates the book are the emotional underpinnings of each character, and Bennett’s lively, precise voice. Nadia may not have a surprising arc, but she feels every minute of it deeply and profoundly." Bethanne Patrick further praised the writing in "The Washington Post", "Bennett has written that rare combination: a book that feels alive on the page and rich for later consideration." "The Mothers" was a "New York Times" bestseller. Adaptations. In March 2017 it was announced that Kerry Washington was lead producer on a film adaptation for the novel, to be produced through her company Simpson Street for Warner Bros.

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Juneteenth (novel) Juneteenth is Ralph Ellison's second novel, published posthumously in 1999 as a 368-page condensation of over 2,000 pages written by him over a period of 40 years. It was originally written without any real organization, and Ellison's longtime friend, biographer and critic John F. Callahan, put the novel together, editing it in the way he thought Ellison would want it to be written. The fuller version of the manuscript was published as "Three Days Before the Shooting..." on February 2, 2010. History. Ellison began work on his second novel around 1954, following the publication of Invisible Man. Ellison claimed to be devastated when part of the original manuscript of "Juneteenth" was destroyed by a fire in 1967. However, Arnold Rampersad advanced the opinion that the loss of the crucial, irrecoverable sections of his manuscript appears to have been something Ellison concocted after the fact to justify his lack of progress. In his 2007 biography of Ellison, Rampersad points out that, following the fire, Ellison wrote to critic Nathan Scott of his relief that he still "fortunately had a full copy" of all his writing. In different interviews, the lost manuscript pages were described as "360 pages, and "500 pages", and "about a summer’s worth of revisions". Ellison published eight excerpts from the novel during his lifetime, including an excerpt called "Juneteenth" in "the Quarterly Review of Literature" in 1965, and the story "Cadillac Flambé", published in "American Review" in 1973 and reprinted many times since, which received considerable critical attention, leading to a lot of interest in the unpublished work. However, although he had written over 2,000 pages by the time of his death, Ellison never finished the novel. Publication. Following Ellison's death, John F. Callahan, named Ellison's literary executor by his widow, was pressed to release the novel, despite the fact that the pages of manuscript were not organized and Ellison had left no notes on how they were to be put together. For this work, Callahan took the central episode from Ellison's manuscripts, and delivered as a single work, with a promise that the full version would be made available at a later time. Reviews. The long-awaited novel received mixed reviews. The review in "The Guardian" said that although the work was published with the subtitle "a novel," it "is decidedly not a novel: it lacks a novel's shape, rationale, and self-justifying propulsion." "Publishers Weekly" acknowledged Callahan's "difficulties" in putting the novel together from Ellison's incomplete manuscript, but concluded "this volume is a visionary tour de force, a lyrical, necessary contribution to America's perennial racial dialogue, and a novel powerfully reinforcing Ellison's place in literary history." Scott Saul in "Boston Review" states "The book is more than Ellison fans could expect, yet less than Ellison probably hoped--an ambivalent masterpiece." Longer Version. A fuller version of the manuscript was published as "Three Days Before the Shooting..." on February 2, 2010.

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Fledgling (novel) Fledgling is a science fiction vampire novel by American writer Octavia E. Butler, published in 2005. Plot. The novel tells the story of Shori, a 53-year-old member of the Ina species, who appears to be a ten-year-old African-American girl. The Ina are nocturnal, long-lived, and derive sustenance by drinking human blood. Though they are physically superior to humans, both in strength and ability to heal from injury, the Ina depend on humans to survive. Therefore, their relationships are symbiotic, with the Ina's venom providing significant boost to their humans' immune systems and extending their lives up to 200 years. However, withdrawal from this venom will also lead to the human's death. The story opens as Shori awakens with no knowledge of who or where she is, in a cave and suffering from critical injuries. Although she is burned and has skull trauma, she kills and eats the first creature that approaches her. Eating this creature allows her to heal quickly enough to walk and explore on her own. She runs into the ruins where a construction worker named Wright picks her up on the side of the road; Shori bites Wright because she finds his scent irresistible, and they begin their relationship. While staying at Wright's uncle's cabin, Shori realizes she's in need of more blood, so she feeds on other inhabitants in the town and develops a relationship with an older woman named Theodora. Shori and Wright return to the burned-out, abandoned village near where she woke up to learn more about her past. They eventually meet Iosif, Shori's father, who tells her the burned-out town was once her home where she had lived with her mother and sisters. They also learn that Wright and Shori's mutually beneficial relationship makes Wright Shori's symbiont. Further, Shori's dark skin is the result of a genetic modification: the Ina were experimenting to make their kind resistant to daylight. All other Ina are white-skinned. Later, before Shori is able to move in with Iosif, his settlement is burned down as Shori's home was. Shori and Wright meet the only two human symbionts who survived, Celia and Brook. Shori adopts Celia and Brook as her own symbionts to save their lives. Their bonding is initially uncomfortable for all of them, however, as symbionts become addicted to the venom of one particular Ina. The four flee to another house that Iosif owns. While at this new house during the day, they are attacked by several men with gasoline and guns. Because of the genetic enhancements made on Shori, she is awake and they are able to escape. The group travels to the settlement of the Gordon family (old friends of Iosif), where they are welcomed and guarded by human symbionts during the day. The attackers also raid the settlement, but Shori and the human symbionts are able to fight back. They capture three attackers alive. The Gordon family interrogates the intruders and finds that they are the same attackers who killed Shori's parents and have been sent by the Silks, another Ina family. The Gordons suspect the attacks on Shori are motivated by disdain for the genetic experimentation that created her. After failing to get a confession from the Silks, the Gordon family calls a Council of Judgment on Shori's behalf. Thirteen Ina families and their symbionts come to the Gordon settlement to discuss the Silks' attack on Shore. During the Council, the Silk representative, Katharine Dahlman, sends one of her symbionts to kill Theodora, Shori's symbiont. This attack succeeds. Thus, in addition to issuing a punishment upon the Silks, the Council must also punish Katharine Dahlman. The Silks' sons are taken from them to be adopted by other Ina families, ensuring that the Silk line will die out. Katharine Dahlman is sentenced to have her legs amputated. She refuses this punishment and attempts to kill Shori, who fights back and fatally wounds her. Katharine is killed by being decapitated and burned. After regaining consciousness, Shori decides to join the Brathwaite family and learn the ways of the Ina to create her own family. Main themes. Vampire figure. One of the most commented aspects of "Fledgling" is its unusual type of vampire, the result of Butler's fusion of vampire fiction with science fiction. While the Ina is simply another species coexisting with humanity, the traditional vampire's monstrosity and abnormality routinely symbolizes deviant sexuality and decadence, serves as a foil for humanity, or is a projection of repressed sexual desire or fear of sexual or racial contamination. Biological rather than supernatural, the Ina do not turn humans into vampires. They are not ruthless, threatening, predatory, intimidating, or generally antagonistic to humans. Instead, they create close-knit Ina-human communities where they cohabitate with selected humans in symbiotic relationships. In fact, as Pramrod Nayar notes, Butler creates an alternate history where humans and Ina have always coexisted in "non-hierarchic, interdependent and unified ecosystems". Aside from their unusual relationships with humans, the Ina is quite ordinary. Steven Shaviro describes them as having "a culture, with laws and customs, kinship groups, a religion and ethics and a politics, and disputes and power struggles about all these things—just as any group of human beings does". Butler even renders the Ina less than perfect in that they are prone to the intolerance and bigotry usually reserved for humans. Race. Some critics view Butler's decision to endow her protagonist with a larger dose of melanin than what is normal for the Ina as a metaphor for how the concept of race is created. Ali Brox, for example, points out that Shori is not just "made black" biologically, but also socially when Ina fixate on her difference. Thus, Shori's skin color forces her to defend herself from a hostile world before she has even learned about institutionalized hierarchies. Ina bias against humans also serves as a comment on the history of human bigotry, specifically the prejudices of whites against blacks. As Sanchez-Taylor explains, "[t]he displacement of the notion of race into a species conflict allows Butler to have a black protagonist and have a discussion of intolerance without the need to partake in the history of human racism". In "Fledgling", this racial discussion takes on a hopeful tone when the majority of the Ina acknowledge Shori as one of their own. Additionally, endowing Shori with a specific racial identity serves to deconstruct negative stereotypes of blackness. As a black protagonist, she becomes the vehicle through which Butler articulates the lack of Black in the vampire genre and challenges traditional notions of white males as heroes. Moreover, because her blackness was conceived as an evolutionary advantage, it inverts racist notions of blackness as a biological contaminant that leads to degeneracy. The vampire protagonist of "Fledgling" is even more unusual, as she has been genetically enhanced. While the Ina are stereotypically white, as is traditional for vampires, Shori's genetic makeup includes human melanin, which renders her skin brown, a necessary trait for her kind to be able to survive exposure to the sun. Sanchez-Taylor suggests that Butler's choice in making Shori dark-skinned aligns "Fledgling" 's narrative with the Afrofuturist idea of defying the predominantly white vampire stereotype, such as those represented in Bram Stoker's or Anne Rice's novels. Such characters traditionally symbolize white masculinity; instead, Butler replaces them with a black, female main character. Additionally, Shori is portrayed as less intimidating than stereotypical vampires. As Melissa Strong notes, Shori's diminutive size makes her seem non-threatening. Her treatment of symbionts is kind and understanding: instead of considering her symbionts as victims or pawns, Shori's relationship with them reflects mutuality and balance. When Shori awakes at the beginning of the novel she discovers that she is covered in scars: "My skin was scarred, badly scarred over every part of my body that I could see. The scars were broad, creased, shiny patches of mottled red-brown skin." This description recalls the scars on the bodies of enslaved Africans in the Americas, due to the wounds inflicted by slave masters. LaMonda Horton-Stallings describes Shori's memory loss at the beginning of Fledgling as invoking the erasure of physical and collective memory through Transatlantic slavery. At the beginning of the novel we do not know the race of the narrator, and she has forgotten about the social concept of race, which is first raised in the book when Wright asks Shori: "Ordinary sun exposure burns your skin even though you're black?" (37) Shori responds: "'I'm...' I stopped. I had been about to protest that I was brown, not black, but before I could speak, I understood what he meant." (37) This immediately triggers another memory, and Shori tells Wright, "I think I'm an experiment. I think I can withstand the sun better than... others of my kind." In this sequence the concept of human racial categories is connected with the theme of genetic experimentation and racial difference among the Ina. Speciesism as an allegory of racism. Several scholars have noted how Ina discrimination against Shori doubles as commentary on human racist practices. According to Steven Shaviro, racism is the major factor in the conflict between Shori and Ina speciesists such as the Silk family, who view humans as enemies who have annihilated Ina throughout history. These Ina maintain that Ina and human must remain separate species with the Ina as the dominant partner. They consider Shori to be somehow biologically different to the rest of the Ina population, as not even belonging to the same species as them. They refuse to see the shared characteristics between Shori and the rest of the Ina; instead, they deride her because of her difference. What rewrites these Ina's speciesism as racism, according to Shaviro, is that the genes that make Shori "part human" are also the genes that make her black, as opposed to their "almost grotesquely albino" skin tone. In fact, as Shari Evans notes, the racial insult Russell Silk hurls at Shori during the Council of Judgment ("murdering black mongrel bitch") negates the Ina's avowed difference from human prejudice and instead evoke white supremacy. These human-hating Ina, therefore, commit the equivalent of a hate-crime by destroying all of Shori's family, fueled by an ideology of racial purity and superiority that is not much different than that of Nazis or the Ku Klux Klan. As Ali Brox explains, Shori's hybridity becomes the focus of their hatred because it exposes the falsity of their claims to purity and reminds them of their past abject condition at the hands of humans. Hybridity. "Fledgling"s protagonist is a genetically manipulated creature who combines Ina and human DNA. Her hybridity is perceived as a threat by Ina speciecists, who insist that the separation of Ina and human is essential to maintain the purity of the Ina species. As Ali Brox argues, Shori's existence "opens up a space of cultural uncertainty and instability" that forces Ina families such as the Silks, who suffer the delusion that there is a "pure" and "superior" Ina race, to admit they were once weak, oppressed, and killed by humans. These Ina are hostile towards Shori and interpret her hybridity as a sign of degeneracy. As Gates points out, because her body is a sign of Ina-human miscegenation "[s]he is called at various times a dog, a dirty little nigger bitch, a murdering black mongrel bitch, and more". Butler's narrative, however, shows that Shori's hybridity is, in fact, an evolutionary advantage. First, it allows her to be awake during the day, which permits her to survive multiple attacks on herself and her symbionts. Second, it makes her venom very powerful, which makes her scent extremely attractive to male Ina and also allows her to collect symbionts easily, making her kind more adaptable than the average Ina. In addition, Shori's hybridity also symbolizes an enhanced or "correct" type of mutualistic symbiosis, as she literally embodies human and Ina DNA working together. Thus, Butler connects hybridity to the survival of not just the Ina, but also of humanity. As Pramrod Nayar contends, in "Fledgling" hybridity means to take on the qualities of the other race and thus becomes a "companionate species" of others in order to survive. Mutualistic symbiosis. In "Fledgling", humans and Ina are bonded into a form of mutualistic symbiosis, a type of relationship that Shari Evans connects to the concept of "partnership" as defined in Butler's "Parable of the Talents": "offering the greatest possible benefit while doing the least possible harm". While in the Parable novels the purpose of partnership is to ameliorate the negative effects of beings or processes that cannot be resisted or avoided, in "Fledgling" mutualistic symbiosis serves to challenge the idea that the Ina are a superior species by making Ina and humans interdependent of each other. As Susana Morris explains, even though the Ina can satisfy their need for companionship, physical contact, and sexual pleasure with one another, they also must have a deep emotional connection with their symbionts in order to survive. Likewise, humans crave intimacy with one particular Ina after they have been infected by her or his venomous bite, and may die when they lose their Ina. Butler devotes several moments in the novel to portray the discomfort this required loss of agency causes in the human symbionts. Nevertheless, "Fledgling" is the first time that Butler illustrates a co-dependent relationship from the point of view of the dominating partner, unlike in previous works such as her novel "Dawn" or her celebrated short story "Bloodchild". Scholars have linked "Fledgling"s mutualistic symbiosis to various theoretical positions. Pramrod Nayar sees it as a fictional depiction of the relationship that professor Donna Haraway defines as "companion species" in "Encounters with Companion Species: Entangling Dogs, Baboons, Philosophers, and Biologists". Joy Sanchez-Taylor and Shari Evans recognize it as a form of social commentary: human beings must move away from parasitic, hierarchical relationships and toward symbiosis with each other and other species. Critic Susana Morris connects "Fledgling"s symbiotic relationships to the Afrofuturistic feminist desire to portray liberation from current forms of hegemonic dominance. Thus, the "cooperation, interdependence, and complex understandings of power" that mutualistic symbiosis represents becomes Butler's "futurist social model, one that is fundamentally at odds with racism, sexism, and sectarian violence". Alternative sexualities. "Fledgling" challenges traditional expectations of sexual categorization and proposes alternative ways for individuals to relate to one another by having Ina sexual norms override human norms. Ina-human sexual relationships are polyamorous, with one Ina as the primary partner of several male and female human symbionts. Also, symbionts often engage in same-sex and/or opposite-sex relationships with other symbionts. Further, the Ina mate in family-based groups—a group of sisters mating with a group of brothers from a different family. An Ina household, therefore, blurs the boundaries between familial and erotic love by having its members involved with each other sexually. Butler highlights the strangeness of the Ina sexual arrangements through the reactions of Shori's first symbiont, Wright. According to Melissa Strong, Wright responds to Shori's pansexuality with biphobia; for him, proper sexuality has clear categories: male and female, heterosexuality and homosexuality. Ultimately, Butler's inclusion of alternative sexualities serves to erode rigid hierarchies. Strong explains that the fusing of family and sexual relations destabilizes the traditional relationship between slave and master. Similarly, Susana Morris argues that, in the spirit of Afrofuturistic feminism, "Fledgling"s queer sexualities "uncouple dominance from power", so that the patriarchal hold over those marginalized is replaced by "coalition and power sharing". Difference as means of survival. "Fledgling" is typical of Butler's work in that her protagonist's difference from the Ina norm marks her as an evolutionary step in the right direction, both in biological and in cultural terms. Biologically, her dark skin and ability to stay awake during the day allows her to save herself, her loved ones, and an entire Ina community from a series of attacks occurring during daylight. Culturally, her blackness symbolizes her closeness to humans, a trait that is portrayed as desirable for a proper Ina-human relationship. As Shari Evans explains, Shori's amnesia, which the Ina treat like a disability, in fact gives her an advantage. Her memory loss leads her to question her belief in the underlying arrangements forming Ina society that are normally left unchallenged. In addition, Shori must re-create her relationship to herself and her culture; this gives her an advantage, because she is able to decide what kind of Ina she will become with the support of her symbionts. Unburdened by cultural memory, Shori has the ability to choose what she wants to remember and how she wants to portray herself, using her own sense of morality. Likewise, Pramrod Nayar believes that Shori's loss is what makes her the best of all possible Ina, and therefore a symbol of the future. Butler proposes that vampires should become less vampiric by attaining more human qualities such as emotional attachments and sense of community. Meanwhile, humans should also lose certain aspects of themselves as well, such as their vulnerability to disease and tendency to be sexually possessive. Only by losing their weak characteristics and gaining stronger ones, the human and vampire species are able to evolve and improve. Fledgling creates a progressive plan by converting Ina and human into a companionate species through the adoption of qualities of the Other. Agency. "Fledgling "explores the complexities of self-determination through its protagonist's struggle to regain control of her life and through the dependence created by Ina-human symbiosis. Shori is a typical Bildungsroman protagonist who begins with little agency and ends in charge of her life. As Florian Bast argues, Butler's novel is a typical African American narrative where the victim of a racially motivated crime is in a quest for the truth about her former self, about the agony that she has endured, and about her assailants' identity. By the end of the story, Shori has conquered both her own ignorance and the speciesist discrimination that seeks to define her thanks to her personal strength and the help of her symbionts and Ina family and friends. She is ready to become a full-fledged member of Ina society. Shari Evans also notes that Shori's amnesia allows her to decide for herself, with the aid of her symbionts, what type of Ina she will become. In contrast, the symbiotic partnership between Ina and humans challenges traditional ways of thinking about agency, especially because the relationship is hierarchical, with the Ina as the masters of their symbionts. Wright, for example, begins the story as a free agent but his "happily ever after" ending with Shori requires that he give up some of his agency. In addition, the agency of both the Ina and the humans is restricted by biological realities, as the addictive relationship created by chemicals in the Ina saliva when they bite their symbionts cannot be undone. For the Ina, this chemical bond means they need to be in constant physical contact with their symbionts. For the symbionts, it means that they are physically dependent on their Ina, as they could die if their Ina dies, and that they are bound to follow their Ina's commands. These complications of agency, Bast argues, mean that "Fledgling "is "openly asking whether the highest degree of agency is automatically the most desirable state of being or whether there is a higher potential for happiness in choosing a specific kind of dependence". Childhood. Shori's depiction in "Fledgling" complicates normative notions of childhood as inherently innocent or devoid of sexual desire. Throughout the novel we learn that Shori is a 53 year old Ina that looks like 10 years old girl. Her petite stature is constantly articulated throughout the novel, potentially raising discomforts for attentive readers as pedophilia might come to mind---particularly when she has sexual encounters with her adult human symbionts. Scholars such as Habiba Ibrahim have turned to "Fledgling" as a commentary on Enlightenment notions of childhood innocence and how such ideologies do not apply to Black children, and certainly not to Black girls. In other words, childhood is not a luxury Black children are not bestowed. Ibrahim tells us, "The relegation of all slaves to the ranks of quasi-childhood was part and parcel of the Enlightenment-era tendency to distinguish reasoning subjects from irrational beings" (320). Through this reading, Shori emerges as an exemplar of disrupting normative Enlightenment conceptualizations of 'the child'. Backgrounds. In an interview with Juan Gonzalez and Amy Goodman for "Democracy Now!", Butler explained that she had written "Fledgling" as a diversion after becoming overwhelmed by the grimness of her Parable series. To distract herself, she had read vampire fantasy novels, which tempted her to try writing one. As she explained in an interview with Allison Keyes, it took her a while to find the focus of the novel until a friend suggested that what vampires wanted, besides human blood, was the ability to walk in the sun. She then decided to create vampires as a separate species and have them engineer the capacity to withstand sunlight by adding human melanin to their DNA. Though "Fledgling" is unique on its take on what motivates vampires, it is not the first story to have a black vampire as its protagonist. In the 1970s, the films Blacula and Scream Blacula Scream depicted a black vampire as the nemesis of white supremacists. In the 1990s, the Blade film series, based on a Marvel Comics character, introduced a black human-vampire superhero who can tolerate sunlight. In addition, according to scholars Joy Sanchez-Taylor and Susana M. Morris, "Fledgling" belongs to a flourishing tradition of Afrofuturistic black vampire fiction, as represented by Jewelle Gomez's novel "The Gilda Stories", as well as by the series "African Immortals" by Tananarive Due and "The Vampire Huntress Legend" by Leslie Esdaile Banks. Reception. "Fledgling" received mostly positive feedback. Novelist Junot Diaz declared it his "book of the year", calling it "[a] harrowing meditation on dominance, sex, addiction, miscegenation and race that completely devours the genre which gave rise to it". Butler scholar Sandra Y. Govan pronounced it "[a]n extremely well-crafted science fiction story... [that] engages us and is exciting because it invokes and riffs upon vampire myth and legend while wearing a number of masks—murder mystery, crime novel, coming-of-age, innocence-to-experience, initiation, quest tale, and outsider/survivor novel". Many critics also praised Butler's exploration of innovative and transgressive topics and themes. The "New York Times" declared "Fledgling" "a captivating novel that tests the limits of 'otherness' and questions what it means to be truly human." Susanna Sturgis from "Women's Review of Books" pointed out that "[t]he vampire premise is perfectly suited to themes that Butler has been exploring since her earliest novels: interdependence, freedom and unfreedom, and the cost of human survival". Susan Salter Reynolds of the "Los Angeles Times" praised Butler's ability to address controversial topics in a way that leaves the reader open to them: "[t]he idea of an ordinary man picking up an apparent 10-year-old girl, taking her home and having sex with her is beyond the bounds of civilized behavior. Yet somehow, Butler, with her quiet, spare language, helps us overcome this and many other cross-cultural hurdles in the book." Reviewers also commented favorably on Butler's reinvention of the vampire figure, with Ron Charles of "The Washington Post" arguing that ""Fledgling" doesn't just resurrect the pale trappings of vampire lore, it completely transforms them in a startlingly original story about race, family and free will." While reviewing the novel for the journal "Gothic Studies", Charles L. Crow noted that "[while] "Fledgling" may be the least Gothic of Butler's fictions... Butler makes unsettling demands of the reader, as always, and we must at the beginning accept as narrator and heroine a vampire whose first act is to kill and eat a man who is trying to help her." Even though many found "Fledgling"s plot skillfully rendered and gripping, a few reviewers described the novel as slow-paced and not very engaging. Rob Gates argues that ""Fledgling" is certainly not a perfect book. The pacing in the second half of the book is quite slow at times, and the dynamics of the Ina trial did not sustain my interest well." Reviewer Rachel Shimp claims that "Butler's sparse prose is meted out at times as painstakingly as it must feel for Shori each time she's flooded with a new memory. The slow pace of the book works with her character-in-progress, but it builds to a climax you see coming midway through. It's the only disappointing thing about "Fledgling", which otherwise offers a unique vision of the modern vampire, and a kick-ass heroine to boot." Sequels. The Octavia E. Butler Papers at the Huntington Library include multiple drafts for potential sequels of "Fledgling" which continue to follow the Shori and her growing family as they navigate their relationships and both human and Ina societies. New characters would have included additional human symbionts, the newest of whom, Darya, has a history of trauma and abuse. Possible conflicts may have included a return of the Silk family, seeking revenge on Shori. Possible versions included "Asylum" or "Shadow Rise" (alternatively "Shadow Memory"). In a journal entry in December 2005, Butler wrote, "I don't want to spend the last years of my life writing Shori stories but a Shori story is what I have now."