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EXTENSIONS of REMARKS October 7, 2005 EXTENSIONS of REMARKS 22724 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS October 7, 2005 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF Negro Digest created by the late John John- plays continued to receive accolades and AUGUST WILSON son. awards, solidifying his position in American However, it was not until August Wilson Theatrical history. HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL heard the voice of legendary Bessie Smith’s August Wilson was not only a champion of OF NEW YORK record ‘‘Nobody in Town Can Bake a Sweet Black America by representing and dignifying IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Jellyroll Like Mine,’’ he realized that it was his African American culture during a time when it responsibility to carry the torch of his ances- wasn’t otherwise appreciated; he was a pio- Friday, October 7, 2005 tors and assume the role as the representative neer in the world of literature and theatre. Al- Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to of Black American culture, telling the world our though his body is no longer with us, his work pay my recognition and respect to the extraor- history and dignifying our struggle. Hearing the and his impact on American History will con- dinary contributions of the world renowned blues motivated, challenged, and empowered tinue on for posterity. On October 17, Broad- playwright August Wilson who died October 2, the young poet to document Black American way’s Virginia Theatre will be renamed the Au- 2005 of liver cancer. Mr. Wilson was a Tony culture in his writings. Wilson describe this gust Wilson Theatre in Mr. Wilson’s honor. His Award winner and two time Pulitzer Prize win- epiphany as the ‘‘Universe stuttered and ev- final play, ‘‘Radio Golf’ is scheduled to be pro- ner whose plays not only chronicled and cap- erything fell to a new place . I cannot de- duced on Broadway during the 2006–2007 tured the harsh realities African American fam- scribe or even relate what I felt . it was a season. Mr. Wilson is survived by his wife, ilies faced throughout the 1900s, they have birth, a baptism, a resurrection, and a redemp- Constanza Romero; their daughter, Azula, 8, provided insight into Black life, depicting its tion all rolled up in one. It was the beginning and an adult daughter from a previous mar- struggles to overcome discrimination and pov- of my consciousness that I was a representa- riage, Sakina Ansari. erty with dignity and nobility amidst the pain tive of a culture and the carrier of some very I submit to you an article from the October and the struggle that all communities are able valuable antecedents . I had been given a 4, 2005 edition of the Washington Post, illus- to appreciate. His plays poetically depict the world that contained my image . The ideas trating the type of man and impact August Wil- effects of slavery and oppression on Black of self-determination, self-respect, and self-de- son had on this country. Americans in every decade of the 20th cen- fense . are still very much a part of my life [From the Washington Post, Oct. 4, 2005] tury, and show that despite the harshness of as I sit down and write. I have stood [these THE CYCLE OF AUGUST WILSON’S LIFE life, this crucible produced great strength and ideas] up in the world of Bessie Smith on the (By Peter Marks) resilience that have enabled us to overcome. ground captured by the Blues. Having started The death of August Wilson does not sim- August Wilson was born on April 27, 1945 my beginning consciousness there, it is no ply leave a hole in the American theater, but as Frederick August Kittel, in Pittsburgh, surprise that I would mature and my efforts a huge, yawning wound, one that will have to Pennsylvania. He later changed his name would come to fruition on that same ground.’’ wait to be stitched closed by some expansive, after his father left out of respect for his moth- As a result he established two organizations poetic dramatist yet to emerge. To say that Wilson was the greatest Afri- er. Mr. Wilson grew up on ‘‘the Hill,’’ which that promoted Black American writing: the can American playwright the nation has pro- was a predominantly Black and poor neighbor- Center Avenue Poets Theatre Workshop, and duced—as some inevitably do—is to limit the hood in Pittsburgh. It was the daily experi- Black Horizons. Plus, he continued writing scope of his significance as a contributor to ences of this African American community that plays chronicling different experiences that the country’s dramatic heritage. Wilson inspired the content of his plays. At 13 years Afiican Americans faced. wrote scathingly about racism, yes, in ‘‘Ma of age he moved to predominantly White Ha- His big break was the debut of the 1982 Rainey’s Black Bottom,’’ and the indelible zelwood, but he did not forget the unique cul- play ‘‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,’’ the first of scars of slavery, in ‘‘The Piano Lesson’’ and ture of the Hill, especially when he had to suf- a 10-drama series that would chronicle each ‘‘Gem of the Ocean.’’ He also wrote about the decade of the Twentieth Century, which Oedipal conflict of fathers and sons fer the racial taunts in Hazelwood. The racial (‘‘Fences’’) and the universal quest for the discrimination that Wilson faced led Wilson, at premiered at Broadway’s Cort Theater on Oc- easy score (‘‘Two Trains Running’’). His con- the age of 15 to drop out of high school be- tober 11, 1984. Set in Chicago in 1927, the cerns were as multifaceted as the hard- cause his teacher couldn’t believe that a Black play focuses on White record companies’ ex- pressed people he wrote about. student could create a well written term paper ploitation of Black musicians. This play mir- Over the past 20 years, Wilson had staked and accused him of plagiarism. This however, rored the images and positions that African a legitimate claim to the title of nation’s did not impede his thirst for knowledge or his Americans faced in a society dominated by most important dramatist. During that time White racism. The beauty of the play, grabbed he won two Pulitzers and a Tony, and among love for writing. With diligence and self dis- his plays he polished off at least three that cipline, August Wilson continued his education national attention earning Mr. Wilson several will rank among the classics: ‘‘Ma Rainey,’’ through self-study at Carnegie Library. He Tony nominations, and the New York Drama ‘‘Joe Turner’s Come and Gone’’ and ‘‘The began reading Black literature and other Black Critics Circle Award. ‘‘Fences’’, however, a Piano Lesson,’’ along with what will perhaps works, like Richard Wright, Langston Hughes, play depicting a 1950s Black family’s personal endure as his favorite with audiences: Ralph Ellison, and Arna Bontemps. and economic issues, grossed a record $11 ‘‘Fences,’’ the story of an embittered former His hopes of becoming a writer were quickly million in a year, which broke the record for baseball prospect, played on Broadway by challenged when his mother urged him to be- nonmusical plays. As a result, Wilson became James Earl Jones. All this may not have meant as much as it come an attorney. Disapproving of his dreams The Chicago Tribune’s Artist of the Year; the did in the days when playwriting giants for a writing career, his mother forced him to play won the New York Drama Critics Circle roamed the countryside, when a new play by leave the house. In 1963, Mr. Wilson enlisted Award for Best Play, four Tony Awards for Tennessee Williams or Arthur Miller or Eu- in the U.S. Army only to be discharged in Best Play, Best Director, Best Actor and Best gene O’Neill had the power to galvanize pub- 1964. Determined to continue his pursuit for a Featured Actress; and a Pulitzer Prize for lic discourse, and even land an actor on the writing career, he invested in the purchase of Drama. Finally, ‘‘The Piano Lesson,’’ inspired cover of a national magazine. We’ve moved his first typewriter and moved into a rooming by Romare Beardon’s painting illustrated fam- away, sad to say, from the era of the stage as house in Pittsburgh. To support himself he ily conflict over an heirloom built by a slave a truly vital pulpit. In the commercial realm, Wilson’s plays were usually not mon- worked a series of odd ‘‘blue collar’’ jobs, like ancestor. This 1986 play earned the New York eymakers. But the fact that he could con- short-order cook, dishwasher, porter, stock Drama Critics Award, the Tony for Best Play, sistently count on clicking the ‘‘send’’ but- boy, and gardener. Starting out as a poet, his the Drama Desk Award, the American Theatre ton and having a play end up in the in box of poems were published in the late 1960s and Critics Outstanding Play Award, and the Pul- Broadway—even in this lean and inhos- early 70s in several periodicals, one being the itzer Prize for Drama. Wilson’s subsequent pitable time for serious drama—stamps him ● This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. VerDate Sep 11 2014 13:16 Mar 29, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00176 Fmt 0689 Sfmt 0634 E:\FDSYS\BOUNDRECORD\BR07OC05.DAT BR07OC05 ejoyner on DSK2TWX8P1PROD with BOUND RECORD.
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