DOCSLIB.ORG

Black Sophists: a Critique of Demagoguery

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Black Sophists: a Critique of Demagoguery University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2013 Black Sophists: A Critique of Demagoguery Garry Bertholf University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the African American Studies Commons, History Commons, and the Political Science Commons Recommended Citation Bertholf, Garry, "Black Sophists: A Critique of Demagoguery" (2013). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 736. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/736 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/736 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Black Sophists: A Critique of Demagoguery Abstract This dissertation investigates the narrative strategies and performative devices of African-American politics in the post-civil rights era. My inquiry focuses on demagoguery--a term dating from classical antiquity--in order to implicate it in African-American political discourses, in particular those of Tavis Smiley's former State of the Black Union, 2000-2010. Indeed, I posit that Smiley's former annual event is an important site for thinking about modern black demagoguery and the aestheticization of black politics. Through close readings and original transcriptions of Louis Farrakhan (b. 1933), Cornel West (b. 1953), and Michael Eric Dyson (b. 1958), I show that the inevitable practice of demagoguery--what the dissertation theorizes as the "allegorical," "epideictic," and "polytropic" modes of emplotment--now threatens to undermine the political opportunities afforded by the success of the modern civil rights movement, even though it sustains the illusion, today, of an autochthonous black public sphere. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Africana Studies First Advisor Guthrie P. Ramsey Keywords Cornel West, Demagoguery, Louis Farrakhan, Michael Eric Dyson, State of the Black Union, Tavis Smiley Subject Categories African American Studies | History | Political Science This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/736 BLACK SOPHISTS: A CRITIQUE OF DEMAGOGUERY Garry J. Bertholf A DISSERTATION in Africana Studies Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2013 Supervisor of Dissertation: _______________________ Guthrie P. Ramsey, Jr. Edmund J. and Louise Kahn Term Professor of Music and Africana Studies Graduate Group Chairperson: _______________________ Barbara D. Savage Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought and Professor of History and Africana Studies Dissertation Committee: Barbara D. Savage Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought and Professor of History and Africana Studies John L. Jackson, Jr. Richard Perry University Professor of Communication, Africana Studies and Anthropology Adolph L. Reed, Jr. Professor of Political Science BLACK SOPHISTS: A CRITIQUE OF DEMAGOGUERY COPYRIGHT 2013 Garry James Bertholf For Kambili iii ACKNOWLEDGMENT This dissertation was supported in part by fellowships from the William Fontaine Society and the Critical Writing Program of the Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing. I am grateful to all those who have made this possible. To Paul Machlin and Cheryl Townsend Gilkes for believing in me; to Barbara Savage, John Jackson and Adolph Reed, for their inspiration and guidance; to Guthrie Ramsey, mentor and friend, for seven years of patience and encouragement; to Kali Gross, for showing me the ropes; to Quang Pham, Lowell Lamb, Christopher Bleakley, Sam Taylor, Marc D’Amico and Warner Robinson, for their friendship; to my siblings, Troy and Amanda Bertholf, for needing me; to Ruhi Vasa, my life partner, for loving me; and, of course, to my parents, William and Debbie Bertholf, for their sacrifice. iv ABSTRACT BLACK SOPHISTS: A CRITIQUE OF DEMAGOGUERY Garry J. Bertholf Guthrie P. Ramsey, Jr. This dissertation investigates the narrative strategies and performative devices of African- American politics in the post-civil rights era. My inquiry focuses on demagoguery—a term dating from classical antiquity—in order to implicate it in African-American political discourses, in particular those of Tavis Smiley’s former State of the Black Union, 2000-2010. Indeed, I posit that Smiley’s former annual event is an important site for thinking about modern black demagoguery and the aestheticization of black politics. Through close readings and original transcriptions of Louis Farrakhan (b. 1933), Cornel West (b. 1953), and Michael Eric Dyson (b. 1958), I show that the inevitable practice of demagoguery—what the dissertation theorizes as the “allegorical,” “epideictic,” and “polytropic” modes of emplotment—now threatens to undermine the political opportunities afforded by the success of the modern civil rights movement, even though it sustains the illusion, today, of an autochthonous black public sphere. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENT………………………………………………………………...IV ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………………V PROLEGOMENON: THE AESTHETICIZATION OF “CHARISMATIC AUTHORITY”: OR, MODERN BLACK DEMAGOGUERY….………………………..1 CHAPTER 1: SPECTERS OF DEMAGOGUERY: THE LONGUE DURÉE…………...6 CHAPTER 2: THE CULT OF DEMAGOGUERY: LOUIS FARRAKHAN’S “TRAGIC DILEMMA”……………………………………………………………………………...36 CHAPTER 3: THE SOUNDTRACK TO DEMAGOGUERY: MICHAEL ERIC DYSON, EPIDEIXIS, AND THE UTILITY OF THE LYRIC……….…………………84 CHAPTER 4: CORNEL WEST, POLYTROPOS, AND THE POLITICS OF KINGMAKING: THE RISE (AND FALL?) OF TAVIS SMILEY……………………133 CONCLUSION: ON THE BLACK PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL’S PRIVATE USE OF REASON; OR, THE BLACK PETIT BOURGEOIS “PUBLIC SPHERE”…………...173 WHAT IS DEMAGOGUERY?………………………………………………...188 BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………………....…191 vi ______________________ Prolegomenon THE AESTHETICIZATION OF “CHARISMATIC AUTHORITY”: OR, MODERN BLACK DEMAGOGEURY “Charismatic leadership has emerged in all places and in all historical epochs. Since the time of the constitutional state, and definitely since democracy has been established, the ‘demagogue’ has been the typical political leader in the Occident.” —Max Weber, “Politics as a Vocation,” 1919 It is fair to say that some of the most seminal works on affective (commonly called “prophetic”) black politics have been couched in Max Weber’s sociology of “charismatic authority”; but few have taken as their aim the understanding of changing institutional apparatuses and media for the creation and dissemination of demagoguery, and new technologies and machinery by which it is reproduced and transmitted.1 Indeed, technological shifts have opened new outlets and introduced new networks for African- Americans to engage in political activity outside of the so-called “black church,” upending previous notions of traditional or appropriate situations for experiencing black politics. What we call demagoguery today, then, is a new practice, in the sense that it 1 Some works are particularly noteworthy: Stephen H. Marshall, The City on the Hill from Below: The Crisis of Prophetic Black Politics (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2012), 173-175; Jonathan L. Walton, Watch This!: The Ethics and Aesthetics of Black Televangelism (New York: New York University Press, 2009), xv, 5-6, 10, 51, 61, 76, 86-101, 132; Barbara D. Savage, Your Spirits Walk Beside Us: The Politics of Black Religion (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2008), 14, 44, 98, 104, 115, 272; and Fredrick C. Harris, Something Within: Religion in African-American Political Activism (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), 14, 33, 147, 163, 183. 1 most probably bears very little resemblance to Weber’s original typology, or perhaps even to what W. E. B. Du Bois once meant by that term.2 In The Philadelphia Negro (1899), for example, Du Bois pursues his early preoccupation with demagoguery in more specifically religious directions: The Baptist minister is the elected chairman of a pure democracy, who, if he can command a large enough following, becomes a virtual dictator; he thus has the chance to be a wise leader or a demagogue, or, as in many cases, a little of both. the ranks of the clergy are overcrowded and they present all degrees, from excellent and well-trained spiritual guides to blatant demagogues.3 But this is not the worst. Indeed, Du Bois’ anxieties about religion seem to have come to a head in Black Reconstruction in America, 1860-1880 (1935): . to most of the four million black folk emancipated by civil war, God was real. They knew Him. They had met Him personally in many wild orgy of religious frenzy, or in the black stillness of the night. His plan for them was clear; they 2 W. E. B. Du Bois, “The Demagog” in The Crisis: A Record of the Darker Races, April 1922, 252. 3 Du Bois, The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1899), 112-115. 2 were to suffer and be degraded, and then afterwards by Divine edict, raised to manhood and power; and so on January 1, 1863, He made them free. It was all foolish, bizarre, and tawdry. Gangs of dirty Negroes howling and dancing; poverty-stricken ignorant laborers mistaking war, destruction and revolution for the mystery of the free human soul . .4 Clearly, Du Bois understands religion and the “arts of the demagogue” alike—that is, as distractions from “real” politics.5 In stark contrast to Du Bois (and any number of other committedly pessimistic scholars, cf., Carter
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Struggles of the Black Female Voice in Rap
    Butler University Digital Commons @ Butler University Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection Undergraduate Scholarship 2016 Stealing the Mic: Struggles of the Black Female Voice in Rap Miranda Flores Butler University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/ugtheses Part of the Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons Recommended Citation Flores, Miranda, "Stealing the Mic: Struggles of the Black Female Voice in Rap" (2016). Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection. 347. https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/ugtheses/347 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Undergraduate Scholarship at Digital Commons @ Butler University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Butler University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Stealing the Mic: Struggles of the Black Female Voice in Rap A Thesis Presented to The Honors Program of Butler University In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for Graduation Honors Miranda R. Flores May 5, 2016 “You’ve taken my blues and gone-You sing ‘em on Broadway-And you sing ‘em in Hollywood Bowl- And you mixed ‘em up with symphonies-And you fixed ‘em-So they don’t sound like me. Yep, you done taken my blues and gone” -Langston Hughes From Langston Hughes to hip hop, African Americans have a long history of white appropriation. Rap, as a part of hip hop culture, gave rise to marginalized voices of minorities in the wake of declining employment opportunities and racism in the postindustrial economy beginning in the 1970s (T. Rose 1994, p.
    [Show full text]
  • In Defense of Rap Music: Not Just Beats, Rhymes, Sex, and Violence
    In Defense of Rap Music: Not Just Beats, Rhymes, Sex, and Violence THESIS Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Master of Arts Degree in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Crystal Joesell Radford, BA Graduate Program in Education The Ohio State University 2011 Thesis Committee: Professor Beverly Gordon, Advisor Professor Adrienne Dixson Copyrighted by Crystal Joesell Radford 2011 Abstract This study critically analyzes rap through an interdisciplinary framework. The study explains rap‟s socio-cultural history and it examines the multi-generational, classed, racialized, and gendered identities in rap. Rap music grew out of hip-hop culture, which has – in part – earned it a garnering of criticism of being too “violent,” “sexist,” and “noisy.” This criticism became especially pronounced with the emergence of the rap subgenre dubbed “gangsta rap” in the 1990s, which is particularly known for its sexist and violent content. Rap music, which captures the spirit of hip-hop culture, evolved in American inner cities in the early 1970s in the South Bronx at the wake of the Civil Rights, Black Nationalist, and Women‟s Liberation movements during a new technological revolution. During the 1970s and 80s, a series of sociopolitical conscious raps were launched, as young people of color found a cathartic means of expression by which to describe the conditions of the inner-city – a space largely constructed by those in power. Rap thrived under poverty, police repression, social policy, class, and gender relations (Baker, 1993; Boyd, 1997; Keyes, 2000, 2002; Perkins, 1996; Potter, 1995; Rose, 1994, 2008; Watkins, 1998).
    [Show full text]
  • Lorraine Hansberry Lecture Series October 11, 12, & 13
    Friends of The James Brown African American Room Proudly Present: Lorraine Hansberry Lecture Series October 11, 12, & 13 Film Screening & Discussion Thursday, October 11, 2018 @ 6PM Join us for a special viewing of A Raisin in the Sun with screened commentary by Lorraine Hansberry and members of the original cast. Discussion to follow and light refreshments served. Film Screenings Friday, October 12, 2018 @ 10AM – 4:45PM All day viewing of films featuring Lorraine Hansberry. Discussion and Book Signing Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant Life of Lorraine Hansberry by author Imani Perry, Ph.D. Saturday, October 13, 2018 @ 11AM The Hughes-Rogers Professor of African American Studies and faculty associate in the Program in Law and Public Affairs and Gender and Sexuality Studies at Princeton, Imani Perry has written and taught on a number of topics regarding race and African American culture. In her 2011 book, More Beautiful and More Terrible: The Embrace and Transcendence of Racial Inequality in the United States, for example, Perry discusses the ongoing intersection of race and politics in America. Perry is also the author of Prophets of the Hood: Politics and Poetics in Hip Hop and May We Forever Stand: A History of the Black National Anthem, a cultural history of the black national anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Perry received a bachelor’s degree from Yale University. She then obtained both her J.D. from Harvard Law School and a Ph.D in the history of American civilization from Harvard University. ALL PROGRAMS ARE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Main Library / James Brown African American Room The Newark Public Library 5 Washington Street, Newark, NJ 07102 www.npl.org [email protected] 973-733-5411 .
    [Show full text]
  • Tricia Rose. 2008. the Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop-And Why It Matters
    Tricia Rose. 2008. The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop-And Why It Matters. New York: Basic/Civitas Books. Reviewed by Beau Bothwell As hip hop slowly settles into middle age, the pitched battles of its younger years have frozen in a stalemate. Critics of hip hop repeat the same attacks they leveled at NWA, decrying violence, misogyny, and homophobia in hip­ hop lyrics, and in the most extreme cases branding its creators as Typhoid Marys for a particularly virulent social pathology. Defenders respond with rebuttals codified in the early 1990s, lauding the aesthetic value and social relevance of their favorite corners of the hip-hop world, eliding any problems inherent in the rest, and questioning the true motives of hip hop's critics. As Tricia Rose tells it, these arguments have remained essentially static, even as hip hop experienced two remarkable-though opposing-developments. First, hip hop expanded. The dress, music, dance, and visual style that grew up in the South Bronx not only took hold throughout American culture, but throughout cultures of the world. Within the US media landscape, hip hop music, fashion, and visual aesthetics became ubiquitous. Outside of the US, local hip-hop movements emerged around the world, whether in the form of a few MCs in a bedroom reciting Tupac lyrics in English, or a full-fledged scene in a local language and style. Remaining closely identified with urban, black youth (in ways that Rose describes as sometimes quite unhealthy), hip hop has become an aspect of self-definition for a widespread and diverse group of people, many of whom identify as part of the "Hip-Hop Generation" united less by a period of birth than by a set of shared cultural practices (Kitwana 2002).
    [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]
  • American Forces Network Radio Programming Decisions (D-2006-117)
    September 27, 2006 Information Technology Management American Forces Network Radio Programming Decisions (D-2006-117) Department of Defense Office of Inspector General Quality Integrity Accountability Additional Copies To obtain additional copies of this report, visit the Web site of the Department of Defense Inspector General at http://www.dodig.mil/audit/reports or contact the Secondary Reports Distribution Unit at (703) 604-8937 (DSN 664-8937) or fax (703) 604-8932. Suggestions for Future Audits To suggest ideas for or to request future audits, contact the Office of the Deputy Inspector General for Auditing at (703) 604-8940 (DSN 664-8940) or fax (703) 604-8932. Ideas and requests can also be mailed to: ODIG-AUD (ATTN: Audit Suggestions) Department of Defense Inspector General 400 Army Navy Drive (Room 801) Arlington, VA 22202-4704 Acronyms AFIS American Forces Information Service AFN American Forces Network AFRTS American Forces Radio and Television Service AFN-BC American Forces Network - Broadcast Center ASD(PA) Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) OIG Office of Inspector General Department of Defense Office of Inspector General Report No. D-2006-117 September 27, 2006 (Project No. D2006-D000FI-0103.000) American Forces Network Radio Programming Decisions Executive Summary Who Should Read This Report and Why? This report will be of interest to DoD personnel responsible for the selection and distribution of talk-radio programming to overseas U.S. Forces and their family members and military personnel serving onboard ships. The report discusses the controls and processes needed for establishing a diverse inventory of talk-radio programming on American Forces Network Radio.
    [Show full text]
  • The Rise of Talk Radio and Its Impact on Politics and Public Policy
    Mount Rushmore: The Rise of Talk Radio and Its Impact on Politics and Public Policy Brian Asher Rosenwald Wynnewood, PA Master of Arts, University of Virginia, 2009 Bachelor of Arts, University of Pennsylvania, 2006 A Dissertation presented to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Virginia in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of History University of Virginia August, 2015 !1 © Copyright 2015 by Brian Asher Rosenwald All Rights Reserved August 2015 !2 Acknowledgements I am deeply indebted to the many people without whom this project would not have been possible. First, a huge thank you to the more than two hundred and twenty five people from the radio and political worlds who graciously took time from their busy schedules to answer my questions. Some of them put up with repeated follow ups and nagging emails as I tried to develop an understanding of the business and its political implications. They allowed me to keep most things on the record, and provided me with an understanding that simply would not have been possible without their participation. When I began this project, I never imagined that I would interview anywhere near this many people, but now, almost five years later, I cannot imagine the project without the information gleaned from these invaluable interviews. I have been fortunate enough to receive fellowships from the Fox Leadership Program at the University of Pennsylvania and the Corcoran Department of History at the University of Virginia, which made it far easier to complete this dissertation. I am grateful to be a part of the Fox family, both because of the great work that the program does, but also because of the terrific people who work at Fox.
    [Show full text]
  • Download the Transcript
    1 BLACK-2016/11/21 THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION BLACK AMERICA SINCE MLK: AND STILL I RISE Washington, D.C. Monday, November 21, 2016 Welcome: GLENN HUTCHINS Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive, Silver Lake Partners Vice Chairman of the Board, The Brookings Institution Remarks: ROBERT LOUIS GATES, JR. Alphonse Fletcher, Jr. University Professor Harvard University Moderator: CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT Journalist Panelists: DAYNA BOWEN MATTHEW Visiting Fellow, Center for Health Policy The Brookings Institution MICHAEL ERIC DYSON Professor of Sociology, Georgetown University ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON (D-DC) U.S. House of Representatives JAMES PETERSON Director of Africana Studies and Associate Professor of English Lehigh University RICHARD REEVES Senior Fellow and Co-Director, Center on Children and Families The Brookings Institution Closing Remarks: SHARON PERCY ROCKEFELLER President and Chief Executive Officer WETA * * * * * ANDERSON COURT REPORTING 706 Duke Street, Suite 100 Alexandria, VA 22314 Phone (703) 519-7180 Fax (703) 519-7190 2 BLACK-2016/11/21 P R O C E E D I N G S MR. HUTCHINS: My name’s Glenn Hutchins. It’s my privilege to welcome you here tonight. I’m vice chairman of Brookings and founder of the Hutchins Center. In the Amazon, the rain forest, not the retailer, Skip, near the rubber trading entrepot of Manaus there’s a phenomenon known as “the Meeting of the Waters” at which the confluence of two mighty rivers form the Amazon. They are the Rio Negro, which true to its name looks completely black, and the sandy-colored Rio Solimões. I think that’s how you pronounce it in Portuguese.
    [Show full text]
  • What Is the True Economic Value of a Black College Athlete
    A Note on Professional Amateurism: What does the NCAA earn from its black athletes? Dr. Boyce Watkins Assistant Professor of Finance Syracuse University Abstract Using standard financial discounting techniques, I calculate the value of the black athlete to the NCAA to be over $250 billion. This value nearly exceeds the GNP of Russia and the market value of the largest company in the United States. Reasons for nonpayment of athletes are considered, and the nonprofit status of the NCAA is called into question. New models of revenue distribution are discussed, and the economic struggles of the black community are found to be in stark contrast to the revenues earned by the NCAA via black athletes. Finally, the college degree granted to roughly 1/3 of those black athletes who graduate is worth only 5% of the total economic value of their athletic participation. I. Introduction The NCAA recently inked a contract with CBS Sports for $6 Billion for the rights to air the NCAA tournament. An additional quarter of a billion dollars are earned each year from bowl games and football championships. This revenue does not include funds earned during the regular season. Few professional sports enjoy the financial success generated by collegiate athletics. A disproportionate amount of this revenue is created by two major sports: football and basketball. Many would argue that these sports are fueled by the athletic prowess of black male athletes. As of 2003, black males represented 80 - 100% of the first the first team preseason basketball All-Americans (depending on the poll) and roughly 70% of the first-team football All-Americans.
    [Show full text]
  • Public Opinion and Discourse on the Intersection of LGBT Issues and Race the Opportunity Agenda
    Opinion Research & Media Content Analysis Public Opinion and Discourse on the Intersection of LGBT Issues and Race The Opportunity Agenda Acknowledgments This research was conducted by Loren Siegel (Executive Summary, What Americans Think about LGBT People, Rights and Issues: A Meta-Analysis of Recent Public Opinion, and Coverage of LGBT Issues in African American Print and Online News Media: An Analysis of Media Content); Elena Shore, Editor/Latino Media Monitor of New America Media (Coverage of LGBT Issues in Latino Print and Online News Media: An Analysis of Media Content); and Cheryl Contee, Austen Levihn- Coon, Kelly Rand, Adriana Dakin, and Catherine Saddlemire of Fission Strategy (Online Discourse about LGBT Issues in African American and Latino Communities: An Analysis of Web 2.0 Content). Loren Siegel acted as Editor-at-Large of the report, with assistance from staff of The Opportunity Agenda. Christopher Moore designed the report. The Opportunity Agenda’s research on the intersection of LGBT rights and racial justice is funded by the Arcus Foundation. The statements made and views expressed are those of The Opportunity Agenda. Special thanks to those who contributed to this project, including Sharda Sekaran, Shareeza Bhola, Rashad Robinson, Kenyon Farrow, Juan Battle, Sharon Lettman, Donna Payne, and Urvashi Vaid. About The Opportunity Agenda The Opportunity Agenda was founded in 2004 with the mission of building the national will to expand opportunity in America. Focused on moving hearts, minds, and policy over time, the organization works with social justice groups, leaders, and movements to advance solutions that expand opportunity for everyone. Through active partnerships, The Opportunity Agenda synthesizes and translates research on barriers to opportunity and corresponding solutions; uses communications and media to understand and influence public opinion; and identifies and advocates for policies that improve people’s lives.
    [Show full text]
  • Racial Justice Resources
    Racial Justice Resources Books Non-Fiction • So You Want To Talk About Race? By Ijeoma Oluo Honest conversations about race and racism, and how they infect almost every aspect of American life. • White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo This in-depth exploration examines how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what we can do to engage more constructively. • How To Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi This is an essential work for anyone who wants to go beyond the awareness of racism to the next step: contributing to the formation of a just and equitable society". • The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin • Across the Bridge by John Lewis • Tears We Cannot Stop by Michael Eric Dyson • I Am Not Your Negro by James Baldwin • Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson • The Black Friend by Frederick Joseph • Shifting: The Double Lives of Black Women in America by Charisse Jones & Kumea Shorter-Gooden • More Than Enough by Elaine Welteroth • 7 Anti-Racist Books Recommended by Educators and Activists • 20 Must Read Non-Fiction Books by Black Authors Fiction • Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi • Cane River by Lalita Tademy • Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult • The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor • The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas • Black Water Rising by Attica Locke • Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke Poetry • African American Poetry 250 Years of Struggle & Song edited by Kevin Young 50 Books by Black Authors Fiction, Non-Fiction, & Poetry, because they are excellent books not just tools for you to be less Racist. Black Authors should be given
    [Show full text]
  • Second Novel No End: an Open Letter to Ralph Ellison
    Second Novel No End 175 Second Novel No End: An Open Letter to Ralph Ellison Horace Porter March 8, 20141 Skirvin Hotel Oklahoma City Dear Ralph, I’ve arrived in Oklahoma City for the first time. I’m recalling how you and I talked about Oklahoma City the first time I visited you and Fanny at your Harlem apartment. I was twenty-six and a graduate student at Yale. I wrote you a letter during the fall of 1976. I received your reply just before Christmas—a long eloquent letter—a special Christmas gift indeed. The letter, which I still treasure, has evidence of your characteristic style and wit: “once I shocked a white man whose shoes I was shining by revealing that I was familiar with Freud’s theory of dreams, but neither of us was prepared to communicate on that level, for it would have placed too great a strain on the arrangements of social hierarchy—and on the two of us!”2 You suggested that I come to see you. On Friday, February 17, 1977, I visited you and Fanny. I’ve already written about that special day.3 Suffice it to say on this occasion that it was an unforgettable and inspiring afternoon. Now thirty-seven years later, I’m standing here in Oklahoma City’s Skirvin Hotel, where you worked as a teenager. I’m reading this open letter to you at a conference and symposium dedicated to your work. We’re also celebrating your 0026-3079/2015/5403-175$2.50/0 American Studies, 54:3 (2015): 175-184 175 176 Horace Porter hundredth birthday.
    [Show full text]