Keith Gilyard The Pennsylvania Stale Ijnivcrsity, Department of English Anissa Janine Wardi Chatham College, Department of English
PENGUIN ACADEMICS
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Preface xxi
CHAPTER 1 The Middle Passage, Mourning, and Survival 1
Further Reading 5
OLAUDAH EQUIANO (1745-1797) from The Interesting Narrative 6
ROBERT HAYDEN (1913-198O) "Middle Passage" 20
HENRY DUMAS (1934-1968) "Ark of Bones" 25
TONI MORRISON (1931-) from Beloved 37
CHARLES JOHNSON (1948-) from Middle Passage 41
AUGUST WILSON (1945-) from/oe Turner's Come and Gone 45
EVERETT HOAGLAND (1942-) "Homecoming" 49 "Goree" 52 "Dust" 56
W. E. B. Du Bois (1868-1963) from The Souls of Black Folk 57 Contents
PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR (1872-1906) "A Death Song" 62
COUNTEE CULLEN (1903-1946) "A Brown Girl Dead" 63
ARNA BONTEMPS (1902-1973) from Black Thunder 64
ZORA NEALE HURSTON (1891-1960) from Their Eyes Were Watching God 72
ALICE WALKER (1944-) from In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens 79 "Burial" 96 "View from Rosehill Cemetery" 99
ERNEST GAINES (1933-) from A Gathering of Old Men 100
JULIE DASH (1952-) from Daughters of the Dust 107
Writing Assignments 116
CHAPTER 2 The Influence of the Spirituals 117
Further Reading 121
ANONYMOUS "God's Going to Trouble the Water" 122
ANONYMOUS "Didn 't My Lord Deliver Daniel?" 122
ANONYMOUS "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" 125
ANONYMOUS "StealAway tofesus" 126
JUPITER HAMMON (1711-1806) "An Evening Thought" 127 Contents °
PHILLIS WHEATLEY (1753?-1784) "On Being Brought from Africa to A merica " 130 "Letter to Samson Occum" 130
ANONYMOUS "Go Down, Moses" 131
FRANCES E.W HARPER (I825-1911) from "Moses:A Story of the Nile" 136
PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR (1872-1906) "An Ante-Bellum Sermon" 159
ANONYMOUS "God's Gonna Set This World on Fire" 161
ANONYMOUS "Dry Bones" 162
JAMES WELDON JOHNSON (1871-1938) "O Black and Unknown Bards" 163 "The fudgment Day" 164
ROBERT HAYDEN (1913-198O) "Runagate Runagate " 167
LAURYN HILL (1975-) "Final Hour" 170
ANONYMOUS "Walk Together Children" 171
JOHN OLIVER KILLENS (1916-1987) from Youngblood 173
WILLIAM MELVIN KELLEY (1937-) from A Different Drummer 204
AMIRI BARAKA (1934-) "When We'll Worship fesus" 222
CAROLYN RODGERS (1945-) "fesus Was Crucified" 225 "It Is Deep" 228
ANONYMOUS "There's No Hiding Place Down There" 229 Contents
CURTIS MAYFIELD (i 942-1997) "People Get Ready" 230
ANONYMOUS "I've Been'Buked" 231
JAMES BROWN (1933-) "Say It Loud" 232
CHARLIE BRAXTON (1961-) "Apocalypse" 233
NICOLE BREEDLOVE (1970-) "The New Miz Praise De Lawd" 234
Writing Assignments 235
CHAPTER 3 The South as Literary Landscape 237 Further Reading 240
FREDERICK DOUGLASS (1818-1895) from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, American Slave, Written by Himself 241
MARGARET WALKER a 915-1988) "Southern Song" 260
JEANTOOMER (1894-1967) from Cane 261
RICHARD WRIGHT (1908-1960) "Big Boy Leaves Home" 272
ZORA NEALE HURSTON (1891-1960) from Their Eyes Were Watching God 306
GLORIA NAYLOR (1950-) from Mama Day 311
MAYA ANGELOU (1928-) from Gather Together in My Name 319
BILLIE HOLIDAY (1915-1959) "Strange Fruit" 327 Contents
ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT "Tennessee" 328
Writing Assignments 330
CHAPTER 4 Folklore and Literature 331
Further Reading 335
ANONYMOUS "The Signifying Monkey" 336
CHARLES W. CHESNUTT (1858-1932) "Goophered Grapevine" 338 "Po'Sandy" 350
ANONYMOUS "Railroad Bill" 359
ISHMAEL REED (1938-) "Railroad Bill, A Conjure Man " 360 from Flight to Canada 366
ANONYMOUS "Stagolee" 374
ANONYMOUS "The Sinking of the Titanic" 375
ETHERIDGE KNIGHT (1931-1991) "I Sing of Shine" 377
ANONYMOUS John Henry" 378
MELVIN B.TOLSON (1898-1966) "The Birth offohn Henry" 382
COLSON WHITEHEAD (1969-) from fohn Henry Days 383
NTOZAKE SHANGE (1948-) from Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo 389
TINA MCELROY ANSA (1949-) from Baby of the Family 428 x • Contents
Writing Assignments 449
CHAPTER 5 Expressions of Blues and Jazz 451
Further Reading 454
W. C. HANDY (1873-1958) "St. Louis Blues" 455
BESSIE SMITH (1894-1937) "Backwater Blues" 457
LANGSTON HUGHES (1902-1967) "The Weary Blues" 458 "Midwinter Blues" 459 "Ma Man" 460 "Wide River" 460 "Flatted Fifths" 461 "fam Session" 462 'T/be Backlash Blues" 462 MA RAINEY (1886-1939) "See, See Rider" 463 "Sissy Blues" 464 "Prove It on Me Blues" 464
STERLING BROWN (1901-1989) "Ma Rainey" 466 "New St. Louis Blues" 461
QUINCY TROUPE (1939-) "River Town Packin House Blues" 470
MARI EVANS "Liberation Blues" 475 "Lee Morgan" 474
JAMES BALDWIN (1924-1987) "Sonny's Blues" 476
TED JOANS (1928-2003) "fazz Is" 505 "Jazz Is My Religion" 506 "Him the Bird" 506 Contents ° xi
BOB KAUFMANN (1925-1986) "His Horn" 508 "OJAZZ-O" 508
AMIRI BARAKA (1934-) "AM/TRAK" 509
SONIA SANCHEZ (1934-) "a/coltrane/poem" 515
JAYNE CORTEZ (1936-) "Into This Time" 518 "Solo Finger Solo" 521
XAM WILSON CARTIER (1949-) from Be-Bop, Re-Bop 522
STERLING PLUMPP (1940-) "Law Giver in the Wilderness" 534 "Ornate with Smoke" 537 "Riffs" 542 "My History" 544
YUSEF KOMUNYAKAA (1947-) "Elegy for Thelonius" 548 "February in Sydney" 549
ANGELA JACKSON (1951-) "Billie in Silk" 550 "Make/n My Music" 552
BRIAN GILMORE (1962-) "d.c.-harlem suite" 553
Writing Assignments 560
CHAPTER 6 Stories of Migration 561
Further Reading 565
PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR (I872-1906) from The Sport of the Gods 566
MA RAINEY (1886-1939) "Traveling Blues" 657 Contents
BESSIE SMITH (1894-1937) AND CLARA SMITH (1894-1935) "Faraway Blues" 658
ALAIN LOCKE (1886-1954) "The New Negro " 659
TONI MORRISON (1931-) fromjazz 670
RALPH ELLISON (1913-1994) from Invisible Man 675
ARTHUR FLOWERS (1950-) from Another Good Loving Blues 685
Writing Assignments 692
CHAPTER 7 Urban Landscapes 695
Further Reading 698
NATHAN MCCALL (1955-) from Makes Me Wanna Holler 699
JOHN EDGAR WIDEMAN (1941-) from Brothers and Keepers 714
EUGENE B. REDMOND (1937-) "City Night Storm " 723 "We're Tight, Soul-Tight—Like Lincolnites" 724 "Indigenous Daughter Awake in the Dreams ofNana" 728 "Choreo-Empress'Leg-a-cy Lands on East Saint Earth, 2nd Take" 729 "Wishing..." 731
TERRY MCMILLAN (1951-) from Mama 732
RITA DOVE (1952-) "The Zulus" 740 "Maple Valley Branch Library, 1967" 743 "My Mother Enters the Work Force" 745 Contents *> xih
WANDA COLEMAN (1946-) "Fast Eddie" 746 "Flight of the California Condor (2) " 747 "Dominoes" 749 "Low English" 750 "Sears Life" 751 "South Central Los Angeles Deathtrip 1982" 752
LAMONT B. STEPTOE (1949-) "Window Shopping" 757 "Kennywood" 758 "Three Legged Chairs" 759 "Spooked" 759 "Seamstress" 760 "A Ghosted Blues" 761
MURSALATA MUHAMMAD (1969-) "Detroit" 762 "Street Play" 763 "Women at the House of Braids Discuss Flo Jo" 764
KEITH GILYARD (1952-) "The Hatmaker" 766 "Anyone Heard from Manuel?" 770
WALTER MOSLEY (1952-) "The Thief" 781
Writing Assignments 794
CHAPTER 8 A Strand of Social Protest 795
Further Reading 798
RICHARD WRIGHT (1908-1960) from Native Son 799
CHESTER HIMES (1909-1984) from If He Hollers Let Him Go 815
ANN PETRY (1908-1997) from The Street 825 xiv ° Contents
LANGSTON HUGHES (1902-1967) "Tell Me" 839 "Harlem [2]" 839
LORRAINE HANSBERRY (i 930-1965) A Raisin in the Sun 840
Writing Assignments 928
CHAPTER 9 Jeremiads 931
Further Reading 936
DAVID WALKER (1785-1830) Article III of the Appeal 937
FREDERICK DOUGLASS (1818-1895) "The Blood of the Slave on the Skirts of the Northern People" 945 "Emancipation, Racism, and the Work Before Us" 949
BOOKER T.WASHINGTON (1856-1915) "Speech at the Atlanta Exposition" 960 from The Future of the A merican Negro 963
IDA B.WELLS-BARNETT (I862-1931) from A Red Record 977 from Mob Rule in New Orleans 981
W. E. B. Du Bois (I868-1963) "The Niagara Movement" 983 "Awake America" 986 from The Autobiography of WE. B. Du Bois 987
MARY MCLEOD BETHUNE (1875-1955) "Certain Unalienable Rights" 993
MARTIN LUTHER KINGJR. (1929-1968) "Speech at Holt Street Baptist Church" 1003 "IHave a Dream" 1007 from Where Do We Go From Here? 1011 Contents a xv
CORNEL WEST (1953-) "Beyond Multiculturalism & Eurocentrism " 1017 "A Twilight Civilization" 1031
Writing Assignments 1034
CHAPTER 10 Discourses of Black Nationalism 1037
Further Reading 1041
DAVID WALKER (1785-1830) Preamble plus Articles I and II of the Appeal 1041
MARIA STEWART (1803-1879) "Address at the African Masonic Hall" 1069
MARTIN ROBISON DELANY (1812-1885) "A Glance at Ourselves" 1076 "A Project for an Expedition of Adventure, to the Eastern Coast of Africa" 1083 W E. B. Du Bois (I868-1963) "The Conservation of Races" 1087
MARCUS GARVEY (1887-1940) "Africa for the Africans" 1098 "The Future as I See It" 1102 "First Speech after Release from Tombs Prison Delivered at Liberty Hall, New York City, September 13, 1923" 1107
MALCOLM X (1925-1965) "The Black Revolution " 1112 "The Ballot or the Bullet" 1118
HAKI MADHUBUn (1942-)
"Standing as an African Man " 1136
Writing Assignments 1139 xvi ° Contents
CHAPTER 11 Statements of Feminism 1141
Further Reading 1146
SOJOURNER TRUTH (1797-1883) "Speech Delivered to the Woman's Rights Convention, Akron, Ohio " (Campbell and Gage versions) 1147 "Speech Delivered to the First Annual Meeting of the American Equal Rights Association" 1150
ANNA JULIA COOPER (1858-1964) "Womanhood:A Vital Element in the Regeneration and Progress of a Race (1886) " 1152
VICTORIA EARLE MATTHEWS (I861-1907) "The Awakening of the Afro-American Woman " 1171
GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON (1877-1966) "The Heart of a Woman " 1177 "My Little Dreams" 1178 "Free" 1178
GWENDOLYN BROOKS (1917-2000) from Maud Martha 1183
JUNE JORDAN (1936-2002) "A Song of Sojourner Truth " 1191 "Where Is the Love?" 1193 "A New Politics of Sexuality" 1199 "Report from the Bahamas" 1204
ALICE WALKER (1944-) from The Color Purple 1214 "A Name Is Sometimes an Ancestor Saying Hi, I'm With You" 1225
BELL HOOKS (1952-) "Feminism: It's a Black Thing" 1226
AUDRE LORDE (1934-1992) "The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House" 1235 Contents ° xvii
JOAN MORGAN (1965-) "thefword" 1238
Writing Assignments 1247
CHAPTER 12 The Black Aesthetic 1249
Further Reading 1253
LANGSTON HUGHES (1902-1967) "My People" 1253
COUNTEE CULLEN (1903-1946) "Heritage" 1254 "From the Dark Tower" 1257
CLAUDE MCKAY (1889-1948) "If We Must Die" 1258 "Enslaved" 1259 "Outcast" 1259
HELENE JOHNSON (1906-1995) "Poem" 1260 "Sonnet to a Negro in Harlem" 1261
MARGARET WALKER (1915-1998) "For My People" 1262
GWENDOLYN BROOKS (1917-2000) "The Mother" 1263 "Malcolm X" 1265
QUINCY TROUPE (1939-) "Old Black Ladies Standing on Bus Stop Corners #2" 1265
AMIRI BARAKA (1934-) "A Poem Some People Will Have to Understand" 1268 "Black Art" 1269 "A Poem for Black Hearts" 1270 xviii • Contents
JOHN A. WILLIAMS (1925-) from The Man Who Cried I Am 1272
HAKI MADHUBUTI (1942-) "Back Again, Home" 1276 "We Walk the Way of the New World" 1277
NIKKI GIOVANNI (1943-) "Black Power" 1280 "Poem for Black Boys" 1280 "The Great Pax Whitie" 1281
LARRY NEAL (1937-1981) "Black Writing" 1284 "One Spark Can Light a Prairie Fire" 1285
SARAH WEBSTER FABIO (1928-1979) "Black Man's Feast" 1287 "Evil Is No Black Thing" 1288 "Tripping with Black Writing" 1290
TONI CADE BAMBARA (1939-1995) "The Lesson" 1298
SONIA SANCHEZ (1934-) "Listenen to Big Black at S.E State" 1305 "This Is Not a Small Voice" 1306 "From a Black Feminist Conference Reflections on Margaret Walker: Poet" 1307 "Remembering and Honoring Toni Cade Bambara " 1309
GIL SCOTT-HERON (1949-) "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" 1312
DERRICK I. M. GILBERT (1970-) "The Revolution Will Be on the Big Screen " 1314 "Reparation" 1316 "Why I Would Never Buy a Jeep Cherokee" 1320
TONY MEDINA (1966-) "Doorway Dirge" 1323 "The Movie I Would Make " 1324 "This Week's Ebony/Jet Showcase's Top Ten Hip Hop Video Singles" 1325 "Taxes" 1325 Contents ° xix
KENNETH CARROLL (1959-) "On Watching the Republican Convention" 1327 "So What!" 1327
Writing Assignments 1330
Select Chronology of African American Literature 1331
Credits 1337
Index 1347