THE BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT: THE AESTHETICS OF BLACK POWER AN ORAL HISTORY WITH E. ETHELBERT MILLER MONA RAI AP UNITED STATES HISTORY MR. GLENN WHITMAN OH RAI 2004 Rai, Moiia Table of Contents I. Contract page 3 II. Slatemenl of Purpose page 4 III. Biography of Mr. E. Ethelbert Miller page 5 IV. Fhstorical Contextualization, "In Partnership with Black Power: The Contribution of the Black Aits Movemenl" page 7 V. Interview ofMi. E. Ethelbert Miller page 19 VI. Interview Analysis page 41 VII. Works Consulted page 48 ST ANDREW'S EPISCOPAL SCHOOL Oral History Project Release Form I, 1?- r^-'^^\v--h t^^-tW^ ^ hereby give and grant to St. Andrew's Episcopal School (interviewee) the absolute and iiiiqiialified right to the use of my oral history memoir conducted by /vlQAfX 1M^\ on I ^ I IDIP—* . I understand that the puipose of this project is to (student intei'viewer) (date) collect audio- and video-taped oral histories of first-hand memories of a particular period or event in histoiy. I understand that tliese intei'views will be protected by copyright and deposited in the Saint Andrew's Episcopal School library and archives for the use of ftiture students, educators and scholars. 1 also understand that the tapes and transcripts may be used in public presentations including, bul not limited to, books, audio or video documentaries, slide-tape presentations, exhibits, articles, or presentation on the World Wide Web at the project's web site www.doingoralhistory.org or successor technologies. 1 hereby release and discharge St, Andrew's Episcopal School and project coordinator, r<^- iD\M^tiAU/Y\ , from any and all claims and demands arising out of, or in connection with, (coordinator's name) the use of such observations, memories and experiences drawn from my tapes and transcript, including, but not limited to, any and all claims of libel, slander, and invasion of privacy. This gift does not preclude any use that I myself want to make of tbe information in these transcripts and recordings. The interviewee acknowledges that he/she will receive no remuneration or compensation for either his/lier participation in tiiis project for the rights assigned hereunder. I herein warrant that I have not assigned or in any manner encumbered or impaired any of the aforementioned rights in my oral niemoir. This release replaces any prior release signed by the inlerviewee related to this project and that any prior document is therefore deemed invalid. The only conditions which 1 place on this unrestricted gift are: 2. 3. ^7d^ Signature of Interviewee/Donor Type or Print Name S-lt pAJ^rvA-J -iV (V^W Address f 2, -O - =^3 Date 8804 Postoak Road • Potomac, Maryland 208.54 • (301)983-5200 • Fax:(301)983-4710 • http:/Avww.saes.oig Rai 4 Statement of Purpose The puipose of this oral histoiy project is lo leain more aboul the turbulent times and Ihenies of the Black Arts Movement, ll is an aspect of history that is vastly overlooked and deseives more recognition for what il has done for the black conimunily. Il enabled black artists to express themselves in an authentic and honest way in ordei" lo produce self-pride in their own communities. An interview with E. Ethelbeit Miller, a student at Howard University at the peak of this cultural movement, will help to illustrate how this overlooked movement impacted young people and fills in the gaps of more traditional sources. Rai 5 E. Ethelbert Miller: A Biography E. (Eugene) Ethelbert Miller was born in New York City, New York on November 20, 1950. Growing up in the now-famous neighborhood of Soulh Bronx, liis parents instilled him with a great respect for education. AOer graduating from a predominantly white high school, to wliich he was bused because of new legislation enforcing integration, Mr. Millei' attended Howard University. During that lime, he was exposed to the ideology of the Black Power and Black Arts Movement through exhibitions of its most famous figures. Under the tutelage of innovative teachers who nursed his newfound interest in poetry and black civil rights, Mr. Miller changed his major fiom pre-law to Afiican American studies. After he graduated fiom Howard University, he traveled extensively lo Cuba, Nicaragua, Chile, and El Salvador. He describes the Black Aits Movement as being liis baptism into black radicalism and as an event that changed his life. E. Ethelbert Miller is now a writer (poet) and the director of African American Resource Center of Howard University. He is a founding member of the Humanities Council of Washington D.C, and a commissioner for the D.C. Commission on the Aits Rai 6 and Humanities. Mr. iVhIler was awarded an honorary doctorate of literature fiom Emory & Hemy College in 1996. He was also an honoraiy member of the Arts Club of Washington, and, on several occasions, has had days named afier him. He has also received numerous literaiy awards and is one of the editors o^Poet-lore magazine. He lives in Washington D.C. wilh his wife and two daughters, Jasmlne-Simone and Nyere- Gibran. Rai 7 Historical Context "In Partnership Wilh Black Power: The Contribution of the Black Arts Movement" For the African American living in America before 1960, life was an unchangeable burden. There was no leal enjoyment to be derived from the way tliey lived in comparison to the way wliites lived. Ever since the first slave ship arrived in America in 1619, whites determined an African American's life. They had no other option but to live under ihe harsh lifestyle their white, superior counterparts decided for them. They were subjected to an unimaginable ordeal under the yoke of slavery unlil 1865, when the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified, and they were set free from their literal bonds, but not from them subservient lole they had served for so long. The period afier the Civil War (1865-1877), appropriately entitled Reconstruction, saw the advancement of various anti-African American institutions such as the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), the increasing rates of lynching, the development of Jim Crow laws and Black Codes in the south; and the landmark case oi^Ple.s.sy v. Fergueson (1896), which ruled thai the two races would be "equally" segregated. During the late niiieteenth and early twentieth centuries, a number of African American leaders rose lo prominence, and helped lo change the consciousness of blacks, including Booker T. Wasliington, W. E. B. DuBois, and Marcus Garvey. Each had their own theoiy for how blacks could better themselves as a people and how to find Iheir place inside, and outside, of America. Resentment built up from almost four hundred years of oppression helped to make the African American realize who they were and what they represented in the United States. After the BroM>n v. Board of Education (1954) decision, many blacks fought for their civil rights, a fight which brought them squarely into the turbulent sixties. Tliroughout this battle for civic and personal equality, a split was sustained within the black community. There were those who, like Martin Rai 8 Luther King Jr., wanted to integrate and jusi be seen as equals in the whole of American society; and then there were others, like Malcolm X, who believed that blacks should not assimilate inlo American cuUure, and recognized that the system of American social politics had to transform in a militant and violent way. They believed this was brought about by abmpt change and revoh. It is they, the blacks who did nol care to mix with While America, who brought about an arts movement that would last aboul a decade, with which ihey would categorically define themselves. This became known as the Black Arts Movement. The sixties in general was a time for massive self-expression, exploration, and discoveiy. Many minorities were finding their own voices wilh which to fighl the establishment, with which (o protest. Many women were denying their forced position in sociely as a housewife and became students, intellectuals, radicals. They were experiencing a collective epiphany: they were essential to American society, so why were Ihey treated as second-class citizens? Most minorities were asking themselves the same question. Many gays and lesbians fought for their opinions to be heard and fought for their righl lo live as they wished. This "Rights Revolution" occurred against the vast backdrop of the Vietnam War, which lasled from 1955 to 1975. Producing one of the largest and most influential anti-war movemenis in Ainei ican histoiy, the Vietnam War took the lives of many young men, women, and imiocent civilians. During the tenure of tluee Presidents, John F. Kennedy (1960-1963), Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1968), and Richard M. Nixon (1969-1976), many events happened that helped lo shape the American psyche. Rai 9 This included several riots in major cities across the nation such as Watts, California, in 1965, wliich arose because of a scuffle involving Marquette Fiye, who was falsely accused of druken-and-disorderly driving by white police officers. When his brother and mother pleaded for liis fieedom, the police officers physically fought them as well. The entire black community of Walts resented this, and they wenl on a five-day rampage, firebombing and looting the city, particulariy while-owned businesses. Anolher such protest took place in Detroit, Michigan, in 1967, during the summer. This is considered to be one of the most gruesome race riots in recent American history. Once the police launched a raid in an illegal bar which also offered gambling, there were persistent minors of police brutality, and the resentment began to build, as il did in Watts, and exploded in a two day frenzy involving looting, burning of white-owned businesses, and sniper attacks.