DOCSLIB.ORG

The Black Arts Enterprise and the Production of African American Poetry

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Black Arts Enterprise and the Production of African American Poetry The Black Arts Enterprise and the Production of African American Poetry The Black Arts Enterprise and the Production of African American Poetry Howard Rambsy II The University of Michigan Press • Ann Arbor First paperback edition 2013 Copyright © by the University of Michigan 2011 All rights reserved Published in the United States of America by The University of Michigan Press Manufactured in the United States of America c Printed on acid-free paper 2016 2015 2014 2013 5432 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher. A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Rambsy, Howard. The black arts enterprise and the production of African American poetry / Howard Rambsy, II. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-472-11733-8 (cloth : acid-free paper) 1. American poetry—African American authors—History and criticism. 2. Poetry—Publishing—United States—History—20th century. 3. African Americans—Intellectual life—20th century. 4. African Americans in literature. I. Title. PS310.N4R35 2011 811'.509896073—dc22 2010043190 ISBN 978-0-472-03568-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-472-12005-5 (e-book) Cover illustrations: photos of writers (1) Haki Madhubuti and (2) Askia M. Touré, Mari Evans, and Kalamu ya Salaam by Eugene B. Redmond; other images from Shutterstock.com: jazz player by Ian Tragen; African mask by Michael Wesemann; fist by Brad Collett. Dedicated to Donald Garcia, Maryemma Graham, Cynthia Spence, Mae G. Williams, and Jerry W. Ward Jr. A Preface “We Will Change the World Before Your Eyes” At some point during the late 1960s, black poetry reached a tipping point. No fewer than sixty anthologies featuring African American verse appeared between 1965 and 1976 alone. This ›ourishing of black poetry was Harlem Renaissance 2.0 and then some. A large number of African American poets enjoyed unprecedented popular and critical success—their images regularly appeared in magazines, their words were frequently published in periodicals, and their voices resonated alongside the sounds of jazz musicians and gospel choirs on albums. Their poetry and pronouncements were sometimes forceful, sometimes outrageous, and often infused with a militant, black nationalist ethos. “We are building publishing houses, and newspapers, and armies, and factories,” wrote Amiri Baraka. “We will change the world before your eyes.” An explanation of the forces that created an environment for the display of these kinds of provocative statements constitutes the major focus of this study. The Black Arts Enterprise and the Production of African American Poetry illuminates the often underexamined publishing factors that facilitated one of the most decisive moments in American literary history. In par- ticular, this book explains how a diverse range of writers, editors, pub- lishers, illustrators, and musicians collaborated to enact a dynamic cul- tural movement. The central argument of this project is that the coordinated and innovative efforts of black artists and their supporters greatly increased the visibility and implications of African American poetry. An examination of the production—not merely the composi- tion—of black verse from the late 1960s to the mid-1970s reveals what made the Black Arts Movement such an enduring cultural enterprise. viii • A Preface Acknowledgments Years ago, I informed the people in my circles that I was writing a book. They somehow misheard me and thought I said I was building a house. So for some time now, they have been offering all kinds of assistance and materials for a project much larger than a study of poetry and pub- lishing history. First, my mom and dad, my siblings, Kenton and Phillis, and my ex- tended family gave invaluable support when I was laying my earliest groundwork. Later, at Pennsylvania State University, Bernard Bell, Keith Gilyard, William Harris, and James Stewart—all wonderful builders—provided me with formal direction on developing a solid foundation. Later still, Aldon Nielsen, Lovalerie King, Earleen Patter- son, James Smethurst, Vorris Nunley, Stefan Bradley, and my big sister Alondra Nelson gave me stimulating and diverse models for envisioning the types of structures that I wanted to create. I have bene‹ted from a broad range of building support, including grants from the Woodrow Wilson Foundation and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) and assistance from Julie Hansen in tracking down rare materials. Emily and Scott VanDette, my friends and colleagues at SIUE and in the College Language Association, and my fellow travelers with the SIUE Black Studies Program, were tremen- dously supportive at all stages of the process. LeAnn Fields and the good people at the University of Michigan Press have generously pro- vided a platform for what I produced. At a crucial moment in the project, I met Psyche Southwell, and her generosity and intellectualism inspired me to think and then build in new and exciting ways. Finally, I could never say enough about all I have gained observing and tracing the workings of that wonderful East St. Louis, world-traveling architect Eugene B. Redmond. Contents Introduction: “A Group of Groovy Black People” 1 1•Getting Poets on the Same Page: The Roles of Periodicals 17 2•Platforms for Black Verse: The Roles of Anthologies 49 3•Understanding the Production of Black Arts Texts 77 4•All Aboard the Malcolm-Coltrane Express 101 5•The Poets, Critics, and Theorists Are One 125 6•The Revolution Will Not Be Anthologized 149 List of Anthologies Containing African American Poetry, 1967–75 161 Notes 165 Bibliography 173 Index 185 Introduction “A Group of Groovy Black People” In the June 1965 issue of Liberator, Larry Neal described the arrival of the Black Arts School in Harlem, which opened on April 30 with “an explosive evening of good poetry.” According to Neal, however, the most memorable event of the black arts weekend was the parade held that Saturday morning in Harlem. “Imagine jazz musicians, African dancing, and a group of groovy black people swinging down Lenox Av- enue,” wrote Neal. “It was Garvey all over again. It was informal and spontaneous and should illustrate something of the potential for cre- ative encounter existing in our community.” Just in case readers needed help envisioning the scene, a photograph accompanied the story show- ing two men leading a group down the middle of the street, carrying a large ›ag that read, “The Black Arts Repertory Theatre/School.” The caption for the photo identi‹ed “LeRoi Jones and Hampton Clanton leading the Black Arts parade down 125th Street, New York City.”1 They were on a mission, on the move. As a result, when Neal assessed the activities of these groovy black people a few years later, he de‹ned their efforts as a movement, a Black Arts Movement. The operation of the Black Arts School in Harlem was relatively brief; however, the spirit of activism and explosiveness expressed by those black artists “swinging down Lenox Avenue” typi‹ed the vitality and outlook of African American writers and organizers across the country during the time period. Those writers who ventured to take lit- erary art to the people in such dramatic fashion suggested that they wanted to expand and transform conventional notions about what it meant to be artists. Not content with being only composers of verse and prose, they sought to become active on multiple fronts in the processes of artistic production. In fact, given Larry Neal’s abilities 2 • The Black Arts Enterprise and the Production of African American Poetry crafting insightful essays about the nature of black art, Amiri Baraka’s talents constructing compelling artistic productions, and Hoyt Fuller’s and Dudley Randall’s signi‹cant work designing sites of publication, there is little wonder as to why observers often refer to these ‹gures, among others, as “architects” of the Black Arts Movement. Their col- lective artistic activities and organizing efforts were integral to the con- struction of an extensive series of interconnected cultural productions. During the 1960s, a large number of poets achieved unprecedented levels of exposure in the literary marketplace and academy. This is not to say that the Harlem Renaissance was anything less than a crucial mo- ment in American and African American literary history. The New Ne- gro Movement of the 1920s certainly paved the way for the New Black Poetry of the 1960s. Yet the tremendous body of writings produced by and about African American poets between 1965 and 1976 was unparal- leled. Even if we accept the assessment of critic Henry Louis Gates Jr. that the Black Arts Movement “was the most short-lived of all” African American literary movements, we would be hard-pressed to identify a moment in literary history with such a remarkable and memorable at- tentiveness to black poets and poetry.2 But of course, the characterization “most short-lived” is untenable, especially since the legacies of the Black Arts Movement are continually unfolding. Consider, for instance, that the ‹rst edition of Gates and Nel- lie McKay’s Norton Anthology of African American Literature (1997) presents “The Black Arts Movement: 1960–1970,” while the second edition, re- leased in 2004, presents “The Black Arts Era, 1960–1975.” The shifting views of the Black Arts Movement (or is it the Black Arts Era?) testify to the substantial yet elusive power of a diverse range of artists and cultural activists to affect the shape of literary history. An investigation into the series of smaller movements—of poets, of poems, of books, of maga- zines—that comprised the Black Arts Movement reveals what made it such a fascinating and apparently dif‹cult to de‹ne artistic enterprise.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Ishmael Reed Interviewed
    Boxing on Paper: Ishmael Reed Interviewed by Don Starnes [email protected] http://www.donstarnes.com/dp/ Don Starnes is an award winning Director and Director of Photography with thirty years of experience shooting in amazing places with fascinating people. He has photographed a dozen features, innumerable documentaries, commercials, web series, TV shows, music and corporate videos. His work has been featured on National Geographic, Discovery Channel, Comedy Central, HBO, MTV, VH1, Speed Channel, Nerdist, and many theatrical and festival screens. Ishmael Reed [in the white shirt] in New Orleans, Louisiana, September 2016 (photo by Tennessee Reed). 284 Africology: The Journal of Pan African Studies, vol.10. no.1, March 2017 Editor’s note: Here author (novelist, essayist, poet, songwriter, editor), social activist, publisher and professor emeritus Ishmael Reed were interviewed by filmmaker Don Starnes during the 2014 University of California at Merced Black Arts Movement conference as part of an ongoing film project documenting powerful leaders of the Black Arts and Black Power Movements. Since 2014, Reed’s interview was expanded to take into account the presidency of Donald Trump. The title of this interview was supplied by this publication. Ishmael Reed (b. 1938) is the winner of the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship (genius award), the renowned L.A. Times Robert Kirsch Lifetime Achievement Award, the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a Rosenthal Family Foundation Award from the National Institute for Arts and Letters. He has been nominated for a Pulitzer and finalist for two National Book Awards and is Professor Emeritus at the University of California at Berkeley (a thirty-five year presence); he has also taught at Harvard, Yale and Dartmouth.
    [Show full text]
  • Vindicating Karma: Jazz and the Black Arts Movement
    University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 1-1-2007 Vindicating karma: jazz and the Black Arts movement/ W. S. Tkweme University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1 Recommended Citation Tkweme, W. S., "Vindicating karma: jazz and the Black Arts movement/" (2007). Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014. 924. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1/924 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. University of Massachusetts Amherst Library Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2014 https://archive.org/details/vindicatingkarmaOOtkwe This is an authorized facsimile, made from the microfilm master copy of the original dissertation or master thesis published by UMI. The bibliographic information for this thesis is contained in UMTs Dissertation Abstracts database, the only central source for accessing almost every doctoral dissertation accepted in North America since 1861. Dissertation UMI Services From:Pro£vuest COMPANY 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106-1346 USA 800.521.0600 734.761.4700 web www.il.proquest.com Printed in 2007 by digital xerographic process on acid-free paper V INDICATING KARMA: JAZZ AND THE BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT A Dissertation Presented by W.S. TKWEME Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY May 2007 W.E.B.
    [Show full text]
  • The Black Arts Enterprise and the Production of African American Poetry
    0/-*/&4637&: *ODPMMBCPSBUJPOXJUI6OHMVFJU XFIBWFTFUVQBTVSWFZ POMZUFORVFTUJPOT UP MFBSONPSFBCPVUIPXPQFOBDDFTTFCPPLTBSFEJTDPWFSFEBOEVTFE 8FSFBMMZWBMVFZPVSQBSUJDJQBUJPOQMFBTFUBLFQBSU $-*$,)&3& "OFMFDUSPOJDWFSTJPOPGUIJTCPPLJTGSFFMZBWBJMBCMF UIBOLTUP UIFTVQQPSUPGMJCSBSJFTXPSLJOHXJUI,OPXMFEHF6OMBUDIFE ,6JTBDPMMBCPSBUJWFJOJUJBUJWFEFTJHOFEUPNBLFIJHIRVBMJUZ CPPLT0QFO"DDFTTGPSUIFQVCMJDHPPE The Black Arts Enterprise and the Production of African American Poetry The Black Arts Enterprise and the Production of African American Poetry Howard Rambsy II The University of Michigan Press • Ann Arbor First paperback edition 2013 Copyright © by the University of Michigan 2011 All rights reserved Published in the United States of America by The University of Michigan Press Manufactured in the United States of America c Printed on acid-free paper 2016 2015 2014 2013 5432 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher. A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Rambsy, Howard. The black arts enterprise and the production of African American poetry / Howard Rambsy, II. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-472-11733-8 (cloth : acid-free paper) 1. American poetry—African American authors—History and criticism. 2. Poetry—Publishing—United States—History—20th century. 3. African Americans—Intellectual life—20th century. 4. African Americans in literature. I. Title. PS310.N4R35 2011 811'.509896073—dc22 2010043190 ISBN 978-0-472-03568-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-472-12005-5 (e-book) Cover illustrations: photos of writers (1) Haki Madhubuti and (2) Askia M. Touré, Mari Evans, and Kalamu ya Salaam by Eugene B. Redmond; other images from Shutterstock.com: jazz player by Ian Tragen; African mask by Michael Wesemann; fist by Brad Collett.
    [Show full text]
  • INTRODUCTION: BLUE NOTES TOWARD a NEW JAZZ DISCOURSE I. Authority and Authenticity in Jazz Historiography Most Books and Article
    INTRODUCTION: BLUE NOTES TOWARD A NEW JAZZ DISCOURSE MARK OSTEEN, LOYOLA COLLEGE I. Authority and Authenticity in Jazz Historiography Most books and articles with "jazz" in the title are not simply about music. Instead, their authors generally use jazz music to investigate or promulgate ideas about politics or race (e.g., that jazz exemplifies democratic or American values,* or that jazz epitomizes the history of twentieth-century African Americans); to illustrate a philosophy of art (either a Modernist one or a Romantic one); or to celebrate the music as an expression of broader human traits such as conversa- tion, flexibility, and hybridity (here "improvisation" is generally the touchstone). These explorations of the broader cultural meanings of jazz constitute what is being touted as the New Jazz Studies. This proliferation of the meanings of "jazz" is not a bad thing, and in any case it is probably inevitable, for jazz has been employed as an emblem of every- thing but mere music almost since its inception. As Lawrence Levine demon- strates, in its formative years jazz—with its vitality, its sexual charge, its use of new technologies of reproduction, its sheer noisiness—was for many Americans a symbol of modernity itself (433). It was scandalous, lowdown, classless, obscene, but it was also joyous, irrepressible, and unpretentious. The music was a battlefield on which the forces seeking to preserve European high culture met the upstarts of popular culture who celebrated innovation, speed, and novelty. It 'Crouch writes: "the demands on and respect for the individual in the jazz band put democracy into aesthetic action" (161).
    [Show full text]
  • Alternative Perspectives of African American Culture and Representation in the Works of Ishmael Reed
    ALTERNATIVE PERSPECTIVES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURE AND REPRESENTATION IN THE WORKS OF ISHMAEL REED A thesis submitted to the faculty of San Francisco State University In partial fulfillment of Zo\% The requirements for IMl The Degree Master of Arts In English: Literature by Jason Andrew Jackl San Francisco, California May 2018 Copyright by Jason Andrew Jackl 2018 CERTIFICATION OF APPROVAL I certify that I have read Alternative Perspectives o f African American Culture and Representation in the Works o f Ishmael Reed by Jason Andrew Jackl, and that in my opinion this work meets the criteria for approving a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree Master of Arts in English Literature at San Francisco State University. Geoffrey Grec/C Ph.D. Professor of English Sarita Cannon, Ph.D. Associate Professor of English ALTERNATIVE PERSPECTIVES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURE AND REPRESENTATION IN THE WORKS OF ISHMAEL REED Jason Andrew JackI San Francisco, California 2018 This thesis demonstrates the ways in which Ishmael Reed proposes incisive countemarratives to the hegemonic master narratives that perpetuate degrading misportrayals of Afro American culture in the historical record and mainstream news and entertainment media of the United States. Many critics and readers have responded reductively to Reed’s work by hastily dismissing his proposals, thereby disallowing thoughtful critical engagement with Reed’s views as put forth in his fiction and non­ fiction writing. The study that follows asserts that Reed’s corpus deserves more thoughtful critical and public recognition than it has received thus far. To that end, I argue that a critical re-exploration of his fiction and non-fiction writing would yield profound contributions to the ongoing national dialogue on race relations in America.
    [Show full text]
  • Publishing Blackness: Textual Constructions of Race Since 1850
    0/-*/&4637&: *ODPMMBCPSBUJPOXJUI6OHMVFJU XFIBWFTFUVQBTVSWFZ POMZUFORVFTUJPOT UP MFBSONPSFBCPVUIPXPQFOBDDFTTFCPPLTBSFEJTDPWFSFEBOEVTFE 8FSFBMMZWBMVFZPVSQBSUJDJQBUJPOQMFBTFUBLFQBSU $-*$,)&3& "OFMFDUSPOJDWFSTJPOPGUIJTCPPLJTGSFFMZBWBJMBCMF UIBOLTUP UIFTVQQPSUPGMJCSBSJFTXPSLJOHXJUI,OPXMFEHF6OMBUDIFE ,6JTBDPMMBCPSBUJWFJOJUJBUJWFEFTJHOFEUPNBLFIJHIRVBMJUZ CPPLT0QFO"DDFTTGPSUIFQVCMJDHPPE publishing blackness publishing blackness Textual Constructions of Race Since 1850 George Hutchinson and John K. Young, editors The University of Michigan Press Ann Arbor Copyright © by the University of Michigan 2013 All rights reserved This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publisher. Published in the United States of America by The University of Michigan Press Manufactured in the United States of America c Printed on acid- free paper 2016 2015 2014 2013 4 3 2 1 A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Publishing blackness : textual constructions of race since 1850 / George Hutchinson and John Young, editiors. pages cm — (Editorial theory and literary criticism) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978- 0- 472- 11863- 2 (hardback) — ISBN (invalid) 978- 0- 472- 02892- 4 (e- book) 1. American literature— African American authors— History and criticism— Theory, etc. 2. Criticism, Textual. 3. American literature— African American authors— Publishing— History. 4. Literature publishing— Political aspects— United States— History. 5. African Americans— Intellectual life. 6. African Americans in literature. I. Hutchinson, George, 1953– editor of compilation. II. Young, John K. (John Kevin), 1968– editor of compilation PS153.N5P83 2012 810.9'896073— dc23 2012042607 acknowledgments Publishing Blackness has passed through several potential versions before settling in its current form.
    [Show full text]
  • Reggie Workman Working Man
    APRIL 2018—ISSUE 192 YOUR FREE GUIDE TO THE NYC JAZZ SCENE NYCJAZZRECORD.COM REGGIE WORKMAN WORKING MAN JIM JONNY RICHARD EDDIE McNEELY KING WYANDS JEFFERSON Managing Editor: Laurence Donohue-Greene Editorial Director & Production Manager: Andrey Henkin To Contact: The New York City Jazz Record 66 Mt. Airy Road East APRIL 2018—ISSUE 192 Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520 United States Phone/Fax: 212-568-9628 New York@Night 4 Laurence Donohue-Greene: Interview : JIM Mcneely 6 by ken dryden [email protected] Andrey Henkin: [email protected] Artist Feature : JONNY KING 7 by donald elfman General Inquiries: [email protected] ON The COver : REGGIE WORKMAN 8 by john pietaro Advertising: [email protected] Encore : RICHARD WYANDS by marilyn lester Calendar: 10 [email protected] VOXNews: Lest WE Forget : EDDIE JEFFERSON 10 by ori dagan [email protected] LAbel Spotlight : MINUS ZERO by george grella US Subscription rates: 12 issues, $40 11 Canada Subscription rates: 12 issues, $45 International Subscription rates: 12 issues, $50 For subscription assistance, send check, cash or vOXNEWS 11 by suzanne lorge money order to the address above or email [email protected] Obituaries by andrey henkin Staff Writers 12 David R. Adler, Clifford Allen, Duck Baker, Stuart Broomer, FESTIvAL REPORT Robert Bush, Thomas Conrad, 13 Ken Dryden, Donald Elfman, Phil Freeman, Kurt Gottschalk, Tom Greenland, Anders Griffen, CD REviews 14 Tyran Grillo, Alex Henderson, Robert Iannapollo, Matthew Kassel, Marilyn Lester, Suzanne
    [Show full text]
  • June 2020 Volume 87 / Number 6
    JUNE 2020 VOLUME 87 / NUMBER 6 President Kevin Maher Publisher Frank Alkyer Editor Bobby Reed Reviews Editor Dave Cantor Contributing Editor Ed Enright Creative Director ŽanetaÎuntová Design Assistant Will Dutton Assistant to the Publisher Sue Mahal Bookkeeper Evelyn Oakes ADVERTISING SALES Record Companies & Schools Jennifer Ruban-Gentile Vice President of Sales 630-359-9345 [email protected] Musical Instruments & East Coast Schools Ritche Deraney Vice President of Sales 201-445-6260 [email protected] Advertising Sales Associate Grace Blackford 630-359-9358 [email protected] OFFICES 102 N. Haven Road, Elmhurst, IL 60126–2970 630-941-2030 / Fax: 630-941-3210 http://downbeat.com [email protected] CUSTOMER SERVICE 877-904-5299 / [email protected] CONTRIBUTORS Senior Contributors: Michael Bourne, Aaron Cohen, Howard Mandel, John McDonough Atlanta: Jon Ross; Boston: Fred Bouchard, Frank-John Hadley; Chicago: Alain Drouot, Michael Jackson, Jeff Johnson, Peter Margasak, Bill Meyer, Paul Natkin, Howard Reich; Indiana: Mark Sheldon; Los Angeles: Earl Gibson, Andy Hermann, Sean J. O’Connell, Chris Walker, Josef Woodard, Scott Yanow; Michigan: John Ephland; Minneapolis: Andrea Canter; Nashville: Bob Doerschuk; New Orleans: Erika Goldring, Jennifer Odell; New York: Herb Boyd, Bill Douthart, Philip Freeman, Stephanie Jones, Matthew Kassel, Jimmy Katz, Suzanne Lorge, Phillip Lutz, Jim Macnie, Ken Micallef, Bill Milkowski, Allen Morrison, Dan Ouellette, Ted Panken, Tom Staudter, Jack Vartoogian; Philadelphia: Shaun Brady; Portland: Robert Ham; San Francisco: Yoshi Kato, Denise Sullivan; Seattle: Paul de Barros; Washington, D.C.: Willard Jenkins, John Murph, Michael Wilderman; Canada: J.D. Considine, James Hale; France: Jean Szlamowicz; Germany: Hyou Vielz; Great Britain: Andrew Jones; Portugal: José Duarte; Romania: Virgil Mihaiu; Russia: Cyril Moshkow.
    [Show full text]
  • The Progressive Stages of the Black Aesthetic in Literature
    Notes 1. TOTAL LIFE IS WHAT WE WANT: THE PROGRESSIVE STAGES OF THE BLACK AESTHETIC IN LITERATURE 1. This was the problem of nomenclature that had bogged down some of Douglass' thoughts toward the correction of racism. He was tom, as was true of many black leaders, between a violent response to white violence and arrogance, and his own Christian principles. Yet this dissonance did not lead to inaction: cf., the commentary preceding The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass' in Early American Negro Writers, edited by Benjamin Brawley (New York: Dover, 1970). 2. Although I have chosen as the focus of my inquiry Major, Baker, Gayle, and Baraka because of the quantity and quality of their comments, and because of their association with Reed, it is still an arbitrary choice which excludes many other critics who were import­ ant to the formation of the new black aesthetic. Certainly Hoyt Fuller, the former editor of Black World, deserves his place among the leading black aestheticians, as does Larry Neal. An excellent reference for a more full discussion of other personalities in the new black aesthetic is Propaganda and Aesthetics: The Literary Politics of Afro-American Maga­ zines in the Twentieth Century, by Abby A. Johnson and Ronald Mayberry Johnson (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1979). 3. This method of delivery was one of the mainstays of effective communication for those obsessed with the power of the word in the 1960s: Baraka, Cleaver, Sonia Sanchez, even Jane Fonda. Ntozake Shange would write in 1980 that blacks had so claimed 'the word' that it hardly mattered who spoke or what was said; the listener was immediately comfortable with simply the grace and rhythm of the words issuing forth.
    [Show full text]
  • Magazines Timeline Workflow
    Black Magazines As a Mirror to 1960-1970s American History A Statistical Approach Kushal K Dey1, Lei Sun1 and Lauren M. Jackson2 1 Department of Statistics, 2 Department of English Word frequency analysis Word pair associations Timeline We apply word2vec on yearly text data, which learns vector embeddings for words and then computes cosine of angle between the embedded Relative frequencies of (black) vectors for a word pair to determine their association score - the higher and (negro) related words show the score, the more similar are the words contextually an identity shift towards the dr. king vs assassination trend plot dr. king vs assassination trend plot 0.8 end of civil rights movement 0.5 (martin luther king) 0.6 0.4 vs 0.3 Assassination of 0.4 Moon 1st Cuban missile Assassination of Dr. King and Watergate landing Negro Digest / Black World Ebony (assassination) 0.2 Earth 0.2 crisis John F. Kennedy score association Robert Kennedy scandal score association Day 0.1 0.0 Trend in association 0.0 1964 1968 1972 1976 Upon removing black and negro related words terms 1964 1968 1972 1976 year score across time year Clustering of texts (K=2) from each of the 2 magazines using their yearly data on frequencies Ebony Negro Digest / Black of the different words in the vocabulary (topic models). R package : CountClust World 1976 1975 1974 1973 1970 1971 1972 1965 1967 1962 1964 1963 1968 1961 1966 1969 Black, negro identity influencing associations Ebony Negro Digest / Black World Civil rights movement Ebony_1976 BL_1976 theater, watergate,
    [Show full text]
  • 2019 Nov 6-10
    PROUDLY PRESENTS 2019 Canadian Jazz Festival Nov 6-10 www.jazzyyc.com Instagram @jazz_yyc Twitter @Jazz_YYC Facebook @JazzYYC JAZZYYC Canadian Festival JazzYYC Canadian PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Festival Team Welcome to the 6th edition of the JazzYYC Canadian Artistic Producer Festival! JazzYYC is pleased to present our most diverse Kodi Hutchinson fall program yet, made possible by our growing base Operations of sponsors, donors and members, and supported Jason Valleau by our wonderful JazzYYC volunteers. Special thanks Operations Coordinator go to the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Calgary Arts Lucy Pasternak Development, Canada Council for the Arts, TD, Inglewood Marketing & Publicity BIA and the Calgary Public Library. BLP Arts Marketing JazzYYC strives to bring Calgary audiences the best of jazz in all of its forms so that we Social Media can build a vibrant scene in this city. Likewise, it’s our pleasure to provide a stage for Angela Wrigley, Mandy Morris the next generation of jazz artists honing their skills in the JazzYYC Youth Lab Band. As Website & Newsletter Management always, the festival brings Music Mile alive on Sunday afternoon when JazzWalk brings Ty Bohnet live jazz to the shops, restaurants and Brew pubs in Inglewood and this year we are Creative Director excited to include the Central Library in our JazzWalk series. Sharie Hunter Production Coordinator Your support as audience, through our membership program, donors, sponsors and Steven Fletcher volunteers keeps the spirit and sound of jazz alive and growing in Calgary! JazzYYC Board Gerry Hebert of Directors President, JazzYYC Gerry Hebert - President ARTISTIC PRODUCER’S MESSAGE Ken Hanley - Vice President Welcome to our annual JazzYYC Canadian Festival! Malcolm McKay - Treasurer Starting out as a small group of community events Shannon Matthyssen - Secretary back in 2012, it has been wonderful being a part of the Debra Rasmussen - Past President evolution of this Festival.
    [Show full text]
  • INFORMATION to USERS This Manuscript Has Been Reproduced
    INFO RM A TIO N TO U SER S This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI film s the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be fromany type of con^uter printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependentquality upon o fthe the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and inqjroper alignment can adverse^ afreet reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note wiD indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one e3q)osure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photogr^hs included inoriginal the manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for aiy photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI direct^ to order. UMJ A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor. Ml 48106-1346 USA 313.'761-4700 800/521-0600 LAWLESSNESS AND THE NEW DEAL; CONGRESS AND ANTILYNCHING LEGISLATION, 1934-1938 DISSERTATION presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By Robin Bernice Balthrope, A.B., J.D., M.A.
    [Show full text]