Understanding the Publicized Eulogies of African American Cultural Figures As an Empowering Rhetorical Discourse Melody Shelton Williams Old Dominion University
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Old Dominion University ODU Digital Commons English Theses & Dissertations English Summer 2014 Death on Display: Understanding the Publicized Eulogies of African American Cultural Figures as an Empowering Rhetorical Discourse Melody Shelton Williams Old Dominion University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/english_etds Part of the African American Studies Commons, and the Rhetoric Commons Recommended Citation Williams, Melody S.. "Death on Display: Understanding the Publicized Eulogies of African American Cultural Figures as an Empowering Rhetorical Discourse" (2014). Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), dissertation, English, Old Dominion University, DOI: 10.25777/4e6d-pn84 https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/english_etds/67 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the English at ODU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in English Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ODU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. DEATH ON DISPLAY: UNDERSTANDING THE PUBLICIZED EULOGIES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL FIGURES AS AN EMPOWERING RHETORICAL DISCOURSE by Melody Shelton Williams B.A. December of 2005, Virginia Commonwealth University M.A. August of 2009, Old Dominion University A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Old Dominion University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ENGLISH OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY August 2014 Approved by: Dana Heller Delores Phillips (Member) Jody Allen/(Member) UMI Number: 3581844 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Di!ss0?t&iori Publishing UMI 3581844 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 ABSTRACT DEATH ON DISPLAY: UNDERSTANDING THE PUBLICIZED EULOGIES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL FIGURES AS AN EMPOWERING RHETORICAL DISCOURSE Melody Shelton Williams Old Dominion University, 2014 Director: Dr. Timothy Robinson This dissertation names and identifies the African American Eulogic Tradition as a specific custom within Black culture in the U.S. that originated during slavery and resulted from a fusion of West African burial traditions and Protestant Christianity. The emergence of the Black Church as an influential social institution led by free Blacks cemented the use of funerary practices to support and preserve the bonds of community. This project explores how modem eulogists collectively empower African American audiences through their delivery of Eulogic oratory by analyzing the contextual framework and rhetorical modes of eulogies delivered for Whitney Houston, James Brown, Michael Jackson, Luther Vandross, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King. Through studying the social impact of public, oral performances given by African American preachers and orators in the last decade, this dissertation establishes that the African American Eulogic Tradition still exists and that Black Americans use it to disseminate African American Compound Collective Rhetoric, a term I coined to classify the strategic, open communication shared by Blacks, in open spaces, to aid them in overcoming injustices that permeate their life experiences as Black Americans. This dissertation is dedicated to the late Dr. Jeffrey H. Richards, who mentored me from the first day we met and never waivered in his support of this research project. Dr. Richards always said, “Every day is a gift,” and I never fully understood the importance of that saying until the day I had to continue working on this project without him. Thank you for everything Dr. Richards—thank you. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Without my devoted husband, this dissertation would not be possible. I am truly grateful for him and appreciate all his loving care and encouragement. Thanks are also in order to my dissertation chair, Dr. Robinson, who always knows just what to say and how to say it, and to my committee members, for appreciating the value of this project. V TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES..................................... vii GOIN’ UP A YONDER: THE EULOGIC TRADITION AND THE PHENOMENON OF SPEAKING LIFE IN THE PRESENCE OF DEATH...........................................................1 THE HERITAGE OF THE EULOGY AS A SERMON........................................12 SPEAKING IN SAFE SPACES................................................................................14 PUBLIC PERFORMANCES: THE EULOGIZED AND THE EULOGISTS.....20 THE RACE IN THE RHETORIC AND THE GENDER IN THE JEREMIAD ..32 THE LESSONS AND LIMITS OF A LEGACY.................................................... 36 HAVIN’ CHURCH: OUTLINING THE SERMONIZING LEGACY THROUGH THE LENS OF WHITNEY HOUSTON’S LAST RITES............................................................44 ORIGINS OF THE AFRICAN AMERICAN CHURCH.......................................45 THE PRAXIS OF PREACHING............................................................................. 61 EULOGY HOMILETICS VIA HOUSTON............................................................70 CELEBRITY AND MAKING BLACK MAINSTREAM......................................84 THE VALUE OF THE MODERN EULOGY’S EXAMINATION......................95 WE’VE COME THIS FAR BY FAITH. VIEWING THE BODIES OF JAMES BROWN, MICHAEL JACKSON, AND LUTHER VANDROSS AS EVOLVING REPRESENTATIONS OF BLACK MASCULINITY....................................................... 97 JAMES BROWN: A MAN’S M AN.......................................................................104 MICHAEL JACKSON: THE KING OF POP........................................................125 LUTHER VANDROSS: YOUR SECRET LOVE................................................ 138 EYES HAVEN’T SEEN, EARS HAVEN’T HEARD: ROSA PARKS, OPRAH WINFREY, AND TWO KINGS—CORETTA AND THE REV. BERNICE—REDEFINING AND REWRITING BLACK WOMEN’S CULTURAL CAPITAL.......................................... 153 THE HISTORY AND EMERGENCE OF BLACK FEMALE PREACHERS AND TEACHERS....................................................................................................154 ROSA PARKS: ACTION SPEAKING LOUDER THAN WORDS................... 163 CORETTA SCOTT KING: A KING IN HER OWN RIGHT..............................179 LET THE CHURCH SAY AMEN: THE INTERCULTURAL IMPACT AND IMMINENT FUTURE OF AFRICAN AMERICAN EULOGIC ORATORY......................................193 WORKS CITED................................................................................................................... 206 APPENDICES EULOGY TRANSCRIPTS.................................................... 222 vi FOOTNOTES CATALOG......................................................................................245 VITA.....................................................................................................................................246 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Bishop Marvin Winans preaching in a Cassock Robe and glasses (Short shot) 66 2. View of funeral service before Bishop Winans begins preaching (Long shot) ............ 68 3. Whitney Houston arriving to a charity ball in 2006 ...................................................... 92 4. Stage at the Janies Brown funeral service .................................................................... I ll 5. Head shot of James Brown singing in 2006 ................................................................. 117 6. James Brown funeral audience standing in applause ...................................................122 7. Reverend A1 Sharpton speaking at Michael Jackson’s memorial service ................... 127 8. Side by side comparison of Michael Jackson’s face as a young performer versus his face before he died ................................................................................................................ 132 9. Patti Labelle speaking at Luther Vandross’ funeral .....................................................143 10. Luther Vandross performing live in 1994.................................................................... 143 11. White police officer fingerprinting Parks after her arrest for refusing to give up her bus seat on Dec. 1,1955.......................................................................................................165 12. Booking photo of Parks taken at the Montgomery, AL Sheriffs Department after she was arrested on Feb. 22,1956............................................................................................. 165 13. Oprah Winfrey speaking at Rosa Parks’ memorial service ......................................... 172 14. Coretta Scott King speaking at Stanford University in 1986......................................180 15. The Rev. Bernice King actively preaching her mother’s eulogy in the pulpit of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church ......................................................................................... 183 1 GOIN’ UP A YONDER: THE EULOGIC TRADITION AND THE PHENOMENON OF SPEAKING LIFE IN THE PRESENCE OF DEATH I knew something was happening. “She ain’t give up—so you can’t give up!” The bold, dynamic Black preacher began