Intro to African American Literature

King, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”

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Homework

Looking ahead…

• The film and assignment for Thursday (online class) focus on the Black Power Movement
• The readings for Tuesday (after break) focus on the Black Arts Movement: the artistic wing of the Black Power Movement

Housekeeping

• Many event reviews have been posted
• They are excellent – check them out!

Housekeeping: Blog Comments

• Must incorporate and analyze a quote from the reading that hasn’t already been used by the blogger or another commenter
• Must use MLA-style in-text citations
• King writes, “We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed” (838).

Small Group Questions

• What stood out to you most from the film?
• How is race both an illusion and real?
• What is redlining?
• In what ways do we continue to live in a world structured by racist housing policies?
• What is “color blindness” or “colorblind racism”? In what sense can the idea of “color blindness” be understood as a form of racism?
• How can this documentary help us think about the historical context of A Raisin in the Sun?

Color Blindness (or Color-Blind Racism)

• “I don’t see race, I see people”
• The misconception that we live in a world where race doesn’t matter
• This makes it harder to address ongoing systemic and structural racism

Small Group Questions

• What stood out to you most from the film?
• How is race both an illusion and real?
• What is redlining?
• In what ways do we continue to live in a world structured by racist housing policies?
• What is “color blindness” or “colorblind racism”? In what sense can the idea of “color blindness” be understood as a form of racism?
• How can this documentary help us think about the historical context of A Raisin in the Sun?

• For every $100 earned by an average white family, how much do you think is earned by an average black family? (earned = take-home pay)
• $0-25 (1)
• $26-50 (2)
• $51-75 (13)
• $76-100 (4)
• $100+
• For every $100 in wealth accumulated by an average white family, how much wealth has the average black family accumulated? (wealth=value of assets you own such as money and property minus debt)
• $0-25 (4)
• $26-50 (11)
• $51-75 (4)
• $76-100 (3)
• $100+ (0)

• For every $100 earned by an average white family, how much do you think is earned by an average black family? (earned = take-home pay)
• $0-25
• $26-50
• $51-75
• $76-100
• $100+
• For every $100 in wealth accumulated by an average white family, how much wealth has the average black family accumulated? (wealth=value of assets you own such as money and property minus debt)
• $0-25
• $26-50
• $51-75
• $76-100
• $100+

Answer =

$57.30

Answer =

$5.04

Racial wealth gap

In 2021, the average Black, Hispanic, or Latino households earned about half as much as the average White household and own only about 15 to 20 percent as much net wealth (The Federal Reserve)

Racial wealth gap

Research has found it represents the accumulated effects of four centuries of institutional and systemic racism.

“After the end of slavery and the failed Reconstruction, Jim Crow laws, which existed till the late 1960s, virtually ensured that Black Americans in the South would not be able to accumulate or to pass on wealth. And through the Great Migration and after, African Americans faced employment, housing, and educational discrimination across the country. After World War II many white veterans were able to take advantage of programs like the GI Bill to buy homes — the largest asset held by most American families — with low-interest loans, but lenders often unfairly turned down Black applicants, shutting those vets out of the benefit. (As of the end of 2020 the homeownership rate for Black families stood at about 44 percent, compared with 75 percent for white families, according to the Census Bureau.) Redlining — typically the systemic denial of loans or insurance in predominantly minority areas — held down property values and hampered African American families’ ability to live where they chose.” (Harvard Gazette)

Martin Luther King Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (1963)

Facilitations: Erin and Giulia

Historical Context: What Were Civil Rights Activists Protesting?

• Violence and murder, especially by white lynch mobs
• “Unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches” (King 836)
• “Grossly unjust treatment in the courts” (King 836)
• Employment discrimination
• Poverty: “an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society” (King 839)
• Voter discrimination and intimidation
• Poll taxes
• Literacy tests
• Rules - you have to own property to vote
• Violence and intimidation

Historical Context: “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (1963)

• Written while serving a jail sentence for participating in a peaceful demonstration in Birmingham, Alabama
• Response to an open letter, written by 8 white clergymen criticizing King’s civil rights activism and arguing him to focus on integration in local and federal courts
• King’s response also took the form of an open letter

Reception and Impact

• Widely circulated on national and international media
• Shook the conscience of its many readers
• Led to increasing activism and political support for civil rights
• It helped King and other conceptualize the famous 1963 March on Washington
• Influenced the passing of the 1963 Civil Rights Bill
• National Council of Churches urged its 31 member denominations to initiate nationwide demonstrations against racial discrimination

Negotiation vs. Direct Action (837-838)

Direct action: the use of strikes, demonstrations, boycotts, or other public forms of protest rather than negotiation to achieve one’s demands.

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1955: Montgomery Bus Boycott

Negotiation vs. Direct Action (837-838)

Direct action: the use of strikes, demonstrations, boycotts, or other public forms of protest rather than negotiation to achieve one’s demands.

These are often intended to disrupt daily life or directly affect a business and pressure people to make changes.

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Nonviolent tactics force people to confront social tensions

“Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has consistently refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue” (837-838)

Their goal was to “create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood” (838)

“We who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with” (842)

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The alternative to civil disobedience is violence

“The Negro has many pent-up resentments and latent frustrations, and he must release them. So let him march; let him make prayer pilgrimages to the city hall; let him go on freedom rides--and try to understand why he must do so. If his repressed emotions are not released in nonviolent ways, they will seek expression through violence; this is not a threat but a fact of history” (King 845)

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Just vs. Unjust Laws (840)

“One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws” (King 840)

• What is a just law? What is an unjust law?

Thomas’s Comment

Hey Erin, I really liked your discussion post…To answer the first question you proposed, I agree with Dr. King’s perspective of differing connotations of ‘extremists’. In the letter, he exposes how the public ridiculed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and why they were labeled as ‘extremists.’ Dr. King points out how extremists can be a positive title in his argument. History is remembered by the victor; in many cases, the people who started these significant changes were considered extremists from their time. The most significant aspect of this is the Founding Fathers; these were men who completely went against the typical government with many actions, such as the Boston Tea Party being labeled as “a massive act of civil disobedience.” (841.) Even with these names, they went on to change history and define the new freedoms of the nation. Furthermore, Dr. King mentions extremists of love. These are people who rose against the social norms of their time through peace and were able to make the changes they fought for. The best example Dr. King uses is that of Jesus Christ, who was “an extremist for love, truth, and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment.” (845.) Throughout the letter, Dr. King argues that this movement should be one of peace and rise above the injustice given by the white moderate.

Frederick Douglass, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” (1852)

Martin Luther King Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (1963)

“One day the South will know that when these disinherited children of God sat down at lunch counters, they were in reality standing up for what is best in the American dream and for the most sacred values in our Judeo-Christian heritage, thereby bringing our nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in their formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence” (King 850)

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“This Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we would do his memory justice by honoring all of his legacy. Not just the parts that make white Americans comfortable.”

Intro to African American Literature

The Black Arts Movement

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Homework

• No class Thursday
• Get ahead on next week’s reading

Housekeeping

The use of A.I. for assignments in this class is prohibited – it constitutes plagiarism

Mid-Semester Check In

• What you want to see more of: group work, discussions, lectures, in-class writing
• More background on the readings (historical context?)
• Debriefs after the facilitations: what went well? What could be improved?
• “I think that people should come in with some questions about the reading/material in addition to the annotations they took throughout.”

Martin Luther King Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (1963)

Just vs. Unjust Laws (840)

“One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws” (King 840)

• What is a just law? What is an unjust law?

Civil Disobedience

• Refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes as a peaceful form of political protest

(King 841)

Thomas’s Comment

Hey Erin, I really liked your discussion post…To answer the first question you proposed, I agree with Dr. King’s perspective of differing connotations of ‘extremists’. In the letter, he exposes how the public ridiculed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and why they were labeled as ‘extremists.’ Dr. King points out how extremists can be a positive title in his argument. History is remembered by the victor; in many cases, the people who started these significant changes were considered extremists from their time. The most significant aspect of this is the Founding Fathers; these were men who completely went against the typical government with many actions, such as the Boston Tea Party being labeled as “a massive act of civil disobedience.” (841.) Even with these names, they went on to change history and define the new freedoms of the nation. Furthermore, Dr. King mentions extremists of love. These are people who rose against the social norms of their time through peace and were able to make the changes they fought for. The best example Dr. King uses is that of Jesus Christ, who was “an extremist for love, truth, and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment.” (845.) Throughout the letter, Dr. King argues that this movement should be one of peace and rise above the injustice given by the white moderate.

Frederick Douglass, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” (1852)

Martin Luther King Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (1963)

“One day the South will know that when these disinherited children of God sat down at lunch counters, they were in reality standing up for what is best in the American dream and for the most sacred values in our Judeo-Christian heritage, thereby bringing our nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in their formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence” (King 850)

Black Power and The Black Arts Movement

Highlights from Online Class (3/7): The Black Power Mixtape

• Black Panther Party’s efforts to provide schools, free medical clinics, free breakfast, employment opportunities
• How the Party’s emphasis on self defense, including violence if necessary, differed from Martin Luther King Jr.’s emphasis on direct actions and peaceful nonviolent protests (marches, boycotts, sit-ins)
• Connections to other things we’ve read this semester
• Thomas on Frederick Douglass, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”
• Kerry on Langston Hughes’ “Let America Be America Again”

The party supported other causes like disability rights

The Black Arts Movement

(1965-1975)

The Black Arts Movement was the artistic wing of the Black Power Movement

Facilitations: Hannah and Michelle

The Black Arts Movement (1965-1975)

• A literary movement of politically-motivated Black poets, artists, dramatists, musicians, and writers inspired by the Black Power Movement
• Literature reflected pride in Black history and culture
• Wrote for Black audiences
• Writing was provocative, shocking, often violent, sometimes hyper-masculine and anti-semitic
• Began in NYC but spread to cities like Chicago, Detroit, and San Francisco

Major Figures of the Black Arts Movement

Larry

Neal

Amiri Baraka

Sonia Sanchez

June Jordan

Nikki Giovanni

Ntozake Shange

Larry Neal, “The Black Arts Movement” (1968)

• Art and politics are connected (784)
• Belief in political power of art (786)
• Embraces Black people’s self-determination and self-definition (784)
• Establishing a separate literary tradition (784-785)
• Black art for Black audiences (784)
• Rejection of protest literature (785)

Small Group Questions

• With reference to some specific quotes from Larry Neal’s essay, how does The Black Arts Movement reflect the values and perspectives of the Black Power Movement?
• In what ways do these poems reflect the artistic principles associated with the Black Arts Movement? What within the poems surprised or stood out to you? Pick one poem to focus on and identify specific words, lines, and phrases to support your response.
• How is the Black Arts Movement similar to the Harlem Renaissance? How is it different?

Review: Harlem Renaissance (1920s)

• Flourishing of poetry, novels, music, painting, sculpture, theater
• Inspired by blues and jazz
• Remember: we read poems by Langston Hughes & listened to Duke Ellington’s “Creole Love Song” (jazzy, fun, upbeat, raunchy, flirtatious, playful)

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Characteristics of the Harlem Renaissance

• Spirit of reinvention
• Black artists creating with a new sense of confidence and purpose
• Black art that responded to social conditions of oppression
• Rejection of racist stereotypes
• Affirmative art: art that celebrated the dignity, humanity, creativity, and brilliance of Black people in the face of poverty and racism
• Belief in the freedom of expression
• Creative experimentation
• Transgression of racial, class, and sexual norms
• Spirit of playfulness and exuberance