Rage, Rape, Riot and the Gender Politics of Black Resistance

“Choking Down that Rage”: Rage, Rape, Riot and the Gender Politics of Black Resistance Shermaine M. Jones Bronx, New York B.A., Dartmouth College 2006 A Dissertation presented to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Virginia in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of English University of Virginia July, 2015 Deborah McDowell (Advisor) Marlon Ross Mrinalini Chakravorty Claudrena Harold ii ABSTRACT “Choking Down that Rage”: Rage, Rape, Riot and the Gender Politics of Black Resistance James Baldwin famously stated, “To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all of the time.” Baldwin identifies what Cornel West describes as the “existential dimension of black rage,” which suggests that rage is a key means of mediating blacks’ relationship to the physical and psychic violence of racism (100). I build on Baldwin’s understanding of the significance of rage to black life in my dissertation, “Choking Down that Rage”: Rage, Rape, Riot and the Gender Politics of Black Resistance. My project asserts that rage is an affective register through which black writers negotiate gender, identity, and national belonging. My argument breaks with the more commonly accepted perspective that black rage is a marker of pathology and is the property of the black male underclass. This common perspective is perhaps most evident in what is still the sole book-length examination of black rage, Black Rage (1968) by clinical psychiatrists William H. Grier and Price M. Cobbs, a book which received much attention upon its release in the aftermath of the racial riots that swept the country following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. bell hooks observes that Grier and Cobbs use their Freudian standpoint “to convince readers that rage was merely a sign of powerlessness. They named it pathological, explained it away. They did not urge the larger culture to see black rage as something other than sickness...” (12). My work expounds on hooks and seeks to intervene in this dismissal of rage: I posit that if racial violence serves to discipline the black subject into submission, then black rage—in its fierce insistence on the value of black life—represents a potentially transformative affective response and mode of political resistance. iii To pursue my research questions and challenge the ways rage has been pathologized and identified as an affect of the masculine domain, I consider several literary and historical moments and movements in which rage figures as a mode of resistance to racism: The 1940s protest novels of key literary figures Richard Wright and Ann Petry, The Civil Rights and Black Power Movements (1954-1980), and lastly the artistic responses to the Rodney King beating and subsequent LA Riots (1992). I also consider the centrality of gender in constructions and expressions of rage. For example, my dissertation begins with a chapter that juxtaposes Richard Wright’s Native Son and Anne Petry’s The Street. In subsequent chapters, I interrogate the registers of rage in such works as Alice Walker’s novel Meridian, the autobiography of Angela Davis, Nick Cave’s “Soundsuits” sculptures, and selections from Gangsta rap. I argue that there is an “ethics of rage.” In using this terminology, I call attention to the various dimensions of rage as a moral imperative, a philosophical principle, and a political strategy. My objective is to recuperate black rage as a useful and potentially healing affective response to racial terror. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” Philippians 4:13 First, I first want to give praise and honor to Christ Jesus because without His strength, favor, and blessings this dissertation would not be possible. This project was generously supported by the financial investment of several institutions, the love and encouragement of my family, friends, faith communities, and students, as well as the advice and direction of my advisors and mentors. I am grateful to my dissertation committee without whom this project would not have been completed; my advisor Deborah McDowell, and committee members Marlon Ross, Mrinalini Chakravorty, and Claudrena Harold. Their deep interest in my work is evident in their thought provoking questions, extensive feedback, constructive criticism, and encouragement throughout the process. I am especially thankful for my advisor Deborah McDowell’s commitment to rigorously challenging my thinking and argument to produce the best possible dissertation; Marlon Ross’s encouragement and generosity of spirit at times when I felt discouraged; Mrinalini Chakravorty’s practical advice and ability to help me see the big picture; and Claudrena Harold’s insight that always reminded me of the importance of my project. I want to express my deepest gratitude to my cohort, colleagues, mentors, friends, and the administrative staff at the University of Virginia for their encouragement, insightful comments, provocative questions, and assistance in the development of this project. Most notably, I would v like to recognize my dear friends and colleagues: Anuj Kapoor, Marvin Campbell, Maya Hislop, Mai-Linh Hong, Tamika Richeson, Larry Perry, and Travis Harris. I would also like to acknowledge the support of Randy Swift and Colette Dabney of the administrative staff. I extend a special thank you to Shoshana Seid-Green for her time and attention to my work. Words are powerless to express my gratitude to Kim Love for reading every word of this project with such attention and care. I am also grateful to my students at the University of Virginia who have been source of great joy and fulfillment. I am grateful to the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences Predoctoral Diversity Fellowship that provided financial support in the completion of the dissertation. This fellowship provided mentorship, and a supportive environment that allowed sustained focus on the dissertation with no teaching commitment. I extend a special thanks to the Literature Department at MIT for the faculty’s interest in my work and my professional development. I am thankful for Mary Fuller’s kindness and open door policy. I am particularly indebted to Sandy Alexandre, my mentor at MIT for her reassurance, advice, and feedback. The administrative staff of Daria Johnson, Benjamin Kemp, and Susan Wiedner was so welcoming and helpful as I navigated MIT. I must also acknowledge my cohort of predoctoral fellows, Rosa Martinez and Theresa Rojas, who braved the Boston winter with me and offered insightful comments during the fellowship year. The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship has continued to support me during my graduate study. It has provided opportunities for research funds through the Social Science Research Council Mellon Mays Graduate Initiatives Grants as well as professional development vi workshops like the Dissertation Writing Retreat. I am grateful for the continued support of Michelle Warren, Richard Wright, and Martin Favor of MMUF at Dartmouth College as well as Shanna Benjamin and Cally Waite who led the Dissertation Writing Retreat. Most importantly I am appreciative of my colleagues in MMUF who have been a constant source of inspiration and accountability. A special thanks to my accountability partners: Carmen Phillips, Shaeeda Mensah, and Diana Martha Louis. My family, friends, and faith communities have been a source of love, laughter, and restoration. I appreciate the prayers and encouragement of my faith communities: Bronx Baptist Church, Zion Union Baptist, First Baptist Church, Jubilee Christian Center as well as Iron Sharpens Iron, Community Group, and BSAP Bible study fellowship. I am grateful for the love and prayers of my grandmother, Rosetta Davis; my mother, Sandra Ellis; my sisters Camesha Dixon and Menniesha Thomas; my brother Jalen Ellis; my nephews Keshuan Watson and Mason Thomas; my niece Shye-Ann McIntosh. My closest friends: Andrine Wilson, Gifty Ampadu Adjei, Viness Eugene, Alanna Val-Hackett, Courtney Glymph, Claris Smith, Ricky Cole, Christopher Thomas, Ikechi Ogbonna, Daysi Cruz, Latoya Allen, Nicola Richards, Nicole Burrowes, Mia Logan, and Aisha Thomas. I am especially grateful to my confidante and best friend since the sixth grade, Roxanne Francis. Lastly, I am thankful for my love, Olaleye Ajibola, for his reassurance, prayers, and patience. vii DEDICATION I dedicate this dissertation to my mother, Sandra Ellis, whose brilliance and resilience inspires me. viii “Choking Down that Rage”: Rage, Rape, Riot and the Gender Politics of Black Resistance TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 Chapter One 20 “When One’s Back is Against the Wall: Theorizing Rap(g)e in Richard Wright’s Native Son and Ann Petry’s The Street” Chapter Two 72 Presenting Our Bodies, Laying Our Case: The Political Efficacy of Grief and Rage During the Civil Rights Movement in Alice Walker’s Meridian Chapter Three 99 “A Proper and Properly Placed Rage”: Rage as a Radical Ethic in The Autobiography of Angela Davis Chapter Four 123 “When Fear and Weapons Meet”: Fear, Rage, and Black Bodies in Public Space Coda 168 Confronting the Black Rage of our Day: Black Rage and the Black Lives Matter Movement Bibliography 178 ix Harlem What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up Like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore--- And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over --- Like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags Like a heavy load. Or does it explode? Langston Hughes 1 INTRODUCTION “Choking Down that Rage”: Rage, Rape, Riot and the Gender Politics of Black Resistance To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all of the time. James Baldwin The black artist in American society who creates without interjecting a note of anger is creating not as a black man, but as an American. For anger in black art is as old as the first utterances by black men on American soil.

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