Volume 3, Number 1 Fall/Winter 1993 From the Afterword of Wright's Forthcoming Rite of Passage by Arnold Rampersad, Princeton University Reprinted by permission of damn good cause," he confided to his HarperCollins Publishers journal, "because it is trying to reha­ bilitate broken boys, emotionally The publication ofRite of Passage smashed boys who need a chance." now is opportune, for Wright was far ahead of his time in several ways, but In Rite of Passage, his pri­ above all in illuminating the relation­ mary concern is the psychology of the ships among racism, juvenile delin­ delinquent youths. Developing the quency, violent crime, and the black plot, Wright sought to find "the seeds" urban ghettos of America. for a "good psychological study," as he wrote in his journal. More than by the Wright'sjoumals from 1945 bloody consequence of rage, he was reveal quite clearly his deep interest in fascinated by "the whole psychology the problems of Harlem, especially of anger," which he called "a terribly among its juveniles, and in the complex thing [that] ought to be gone Wiltwyck School and its assumptions into more closely." In judging the and methods. On several occasions he merits of a plot that would include the discussed his work-in-progressRiteof kidnaped black woman, Wri ght noted: Passage (then called "The Jackal") with "I have many opportunities here to a black social psychiatric caseworker deal with these boys' emotionS,-Lheir at Wiltwyck, who visited Wright at his relations to their families, their friends, home and facilitated Wright's visit to their ultimate hopes." Concerned about the school. In fact, through this case­ understanding the mentality Lhatdrove worker, and usually in his company, the delinquents to their antisocial ac ts, Wright visited, over a four-month pe­ Wright probed the possibility of unre­ riod, several schools, courts, and other solved and conflicted Oedipal fix a­ institutions concerned with juvenile tions; in his journals, he even pondered delinquency as he gathered material the possibility of a relationship be­ for his new work. Wright was even tween the most common ghetto ob­ drawn willingly into fund-raising ef­ scenity ("mother ") in the forts for Wiltwyck, and was present on mouths of young men and "the incest March 6, 1945, when Eleanor complex." Roosevelt, the wife of President Rite of Passage sets out for us Franklin D. Roosevelt, was guest of many of the principal factors involved honor at a tea organized to raise funds in the deterioration of youth culture in for the school. Wiltwyck stood in the black community of New York contrast to the growing hopelessness City in the 1940s, with an accuracy and cynicism that seemed to plague that still helps us to understand the social work among the black youth of phenomenon of similar delinquency New York, with overburdened case­ today. Although it depicts certain of workers and overwhelmed judges and the juveniles more as parodies of hu­ little official understanding, apparently, manity than as dignified individuals, it of the special circumstances in the black seeks to locate and understand the community. To Wright, Wiltwyck causes of this loss of dignity and hu­ stood as a beacon of enlightenment. manity rather than to rest in censure of ''I'm convinced that Wiltwyck is a and contempt for the young. FalllWintel· 1993 Page 1 Film Biography of Richard Wright Abstracts from Mississippi Nearly Complete Council of Teachers of English September 24-25, 1993 According to Madison Davis Lacy interviews are expected with Constance ofFirethom Productions and The Mis­ Webb Pearlstein and Leslie Himes, "Cultural Diversity in the Capital City: sissippi Authority for Educational Tele­ wife of the late Chester Himes. Film­ Jackson and the Work of Eudora Welty, vision (METV), ~cl( Boy. the work­ ing also took place in St. Louis, Chi­ Richard Wright, and Samuel Beadle." ing title for a film biography of Rich­ cago, New York, and Europe. ard Wright, is currently in the editing Madison D. Lacy, J r., an indepen­ Mississippi's capital city is the set­ stages. As the first film biography on dent producer with over twenty-five ting of autobiographical works by two Wright, says Lacy, "Our film will re­ years work in public television, wrote, of the state's best known writers. Eudora veal him to be a complex man who produced, and directed the documen­ Welty's One Writer's Beginnings de­ long ago challenged America by show­ tary. Lacy also wrote, produced, and tails her childhood and young adulthood ing the rage, fear, and alienation that directed the fustand last films of PBS 's in what she called "a sheltered life" in every African American possesses. Our Eyes on the Prize II, an eight-program Jackson. In many ways, Richard task is to match his passion on the series which stands as the premier docu­ Wright's Black Boy presents just the screen." mentary series on the nation's civil opposite-a young African American's Scenes have been shot in Jackson, rights movement. In addition to the life of struggle against various oppres­ Natchez, and other locations in Missis­ program's receiving DuPont and sive forces, including racial discrimina­ sippi, in some cases with young actors Peabody Awards, Lacy's writing won tion and blatant injustice. During the portraying key characters in the film. him an Emmy in 1991. Other recent time seen in Welty's and Wright's books, Overtwcnty-five interviews have been projects of Lacy's include "Your Loan Samuel Beadle also lived and worked in held with Margaret Walker Alexander, is Denied" in June 1992 for PBS's Jackson as a member of the African­ Ralph Ellison, Julia Wright, John Frontline, a multimedia presentation American professional community. Henrick Clark, Joyce Ann Joyce, John for the 1992 Black Caucus Annual Born into slavery in the 1850s, he was a A. Williams, Haki R. Madhubuti,Amiri Congressional Weekend, and two films practicing attorney and a writer hav,ing Baraka, Mark Naison, Jean Fouillon, for the new Birmingham Civil Rights published three books of stories and Michel Fabre, Louis Achille, Essie Lee Institute. poems-Sketches of Life in Dixie Ward Davis, and Jerry Ward. Other (1899), Adam Shuftler(1901), and 1.yr; ics of the Underworld(1912). Making extensive use of slides, the presentation looked at the various and diverse cul­ tures seen in the lives and works of these writers. Letter from the Editors Randy Patterson, Jackson Statc I University-Professor of English "Race and Gender in Richard Wright's Black Boy' Greetings at this holiday season. We look forward to a very good year in 1994 given the new materials, especially the publication of Traditional readings of Black Boy Ri te of Passage and the film biography. Please continue to send news in classrooms emphasize the racial con­ of Wright activities in your area and by all means, RENEW YOUR tent of the autobiography, but students may profit more from explorations that SUBSCRIPTION TODAY. We would welcome any additional raise questions about race and gender in contributions as well, which are, or course, tax deductible. Black Boy (American Hunger) When race and gender are used as catcgories of Maryemma Graham and Jerry W. Ward Jr. analysis, they serve to expose rhetorical forces embedded in the text and to ill u­ minate the continuing significance of Wright' sartistry in constructing a "self." Jerry W. Ward, Jr., Tougaloo Col­ lege-Professor of English Page 2 Richard Wright Newsletter rio us death in December 1960 and her Julia Wright Visits Rhode Island College own pain and bafflement at the occa­ Reported by Amritjit Singh, Rhode Island College sional barbs or accusations directed at family members. A major event of Spring 1993 was to consider a career in journalism by In ,the course of her wide-ranging the visit of Julia Wright to the Rhode suggesting that she write about her ex­ and richly allusive remarks, Ms. Wright Island College campus on Friday, April periences as a student who sprained her offered valuable glimpses into her bio­ 2, 1993, at the invitation of its Arts and ankle to gain access to the crowded graphical method aimed at bringing Out Science Faculty, the Department of En- classrooms at the Sorbonne, the univer­ the psychological, artistic, and political glis h, African and Afro-American S tud­ sity in Paris. Richard Wright asked her complexity of Wright's personality and ies Program, Women's Studies Program, to "investigate the reasons why students work. She hopes to offer in her memoir 'and HARAMBEE, the Black Students are made to suffer so they can learn" a series of open-ended narratives which Organization. Ms. Wright's busy day from what he humorously called her will have the effect of removing the on campus included a variety of oppor­ "window-ledge perspective." She also "brambles" from the life of Richard tunities for students, faculty, and staff to told the audience about how her chroni­ Wright known so far. Since her child­ interact with her. She met in the morn­ call y troublesomeank1e has served since hood memories of Wright are her main ing with President John Nazarian and 1960 as a reminder to her to empower resource, she wonders where biography Vice President John Salesses; gave a her voice (a voice her father clearly had ends and autobiography begins. She is talk on Richard Wright at l1AM; met faith in) as someone who knows the concerned especially in exploring the with African American-American stu­ Richard Wright his readers know little triangular relationships among her bio­ dents for an informal conversation and abouL "My ankle will heal the day my graphical subject, herself as the writer, recorded an interview with Shorel,ine, book is finished, "she stated atone point and the still unrealized legacy of Ric h­ the creative writing magazine, in the during her prepared remarks.