Below is an explanation of the inspiration for this page:
by: Simone Shadd
My semester with African American literature has been truly eye-opening. Before taking this class, I was not familiar with very many African American authors. Of course, in my formative education, I was required to read authors like Maya Angelou but not many others. In fact, if you asked me about famous black authors I read in high school I would have trouble naming one. Because these authors were often not included on the syllabi, I never thought to take a meaningful look into their body of work. Despite my unfamiliarity with the literary traditions of the black community, I was still curious enough about the subject to enroll in the class.
I enjoy poetry and song more than other literary forms and African American literature is rife with a rich collection of poems. Sonia Sanchez’s “blk/ rhetoric”, Billie Holiday’s rendition of “Strange Fruit”, Nikki Giovanni’s “Ego Tripping” and June Jordan’s “Poem about My Rights” are the works that impacted me the most this semester. Each conveys a different message, but the strong emotionality of these pieces is a part of what makes them so valuable.
“blk/ rhetoric” and “Poem about My Rights” are both inherently feminist texts that make strong pleas for leaders to emerge from within the ranks of the black community. Both Sanchez and Jordan understand that the white community will not be the ones to make the necessary changes to achieve true equality, but that the black community must wrestle back the liberties that were rightfully theirs to begin with. Nikki Giovanni’s “Ego Tripping” is also a feminist text but it focuses more on self-perception than it does on others’ reactions. Giovanni chooses to claim her power without the expectation that others will acknowledge it because it is her truth. I admire that approach to womanhood, because women of color are all too often discouraged from embracing their strengths.
Billie Holiday’s performance of “Strange Fruit” is both haunting and fascinating. While her voice is beautiful, the lyrics depict great violence and this juxtaposition highlights the willing blindness of the white community regarding black pain. I appreciate the piece’s overt criticisms and its subtlety. While it very clearly condemns lynching, it also quietly shames the culture of silence that allows it to happen.
African American literature may have roots in African tradition, but it is a truly critical tenant of American culture at large. The struggle is one of the most predominant themes in the genre. However, the struggle is a portrait of victory against the odds. Black people deserve to be the heroes of the story instead of the stock characters they are often reduced to by white writers. If African American literature has taught me anything, it is that the black experience is as variable as the people in the black community. It is important to recognize the dimension and richness of black art, while also maintaining a nuanced discussion around it. Black people are not a monolith, and neither is their art.
Moving forward, I fully expect to engage with the prominent black artists of today. I will always respect the artists of the past, but there is no time like the present. I am living alongside the poets of today and I can see their experiences right before my eyes. There are new singers, rappers and writers who will add their perspective to the very large body of work produced by the African American community. I am excited to see where the new waves of artists take us, what new lessons we can learn, and what action art inspires in my generation and the next.
