The Color Purple by Alice Walker

African American literature is the body of literature produced in the United States by writers of African descent. The genre traces its origins to the works of such late 18th century writers as Phillis Wheatley and Olaudah Equiano, reaching early high points with slave narratives and the Harlem Renaissance, and continuing today with authors such as Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou and Walter Mosley being ranked among the top writers in the United States. Among the themes and issues explored in African American literature are the role of African Americans within the larger American society, African-American culture, racism, slavery, and equality. African American writing has also tended to incorporate within itself oral forms such as spirituals, sermons, gospel music, blues and rap.^[1] The Color Purple book cover This image is a book cover. ... The Color Purple book cover This image is a book cover. ... This article is about about the novel. ... Alice Malsenior Walker (born February 9, 1944) is an American author and feminist. ... For other uses, see Literature (disambiguation). ... World map showing location of Africa A satellite composite image of Africa Africa is the worlds second_largest continent in both area and population, after Asia. ... Phillis Wheatley, as illustrated by Scipio Moorhead in the frontispiece to her book Poems on Various Subjects. ... Olaudah Equiano Olaudah Equiano (c. ... The slave narrative is a literary form which grew out of the experience of enslaved Africans in the New World. ... The Harlem Renaissance(also known as the Black Literary Renaissance and The New Negro Movement) refers to the flowering of African American cultural and intellectual life during the 1920s and 1930s. ... For the Louisiana politician, see deLesseps Morrison, Jr. ... Maya Angelou (IPA: [1]), born Marguerite Ann Johnson April 4, 1928 in St. ... Walter Mosley Walter Mosley (born January 12, 1952) is a prominent American novelist, most widely recognized for his crime fiction. ... Manifestations Slavery Racial profiling Lynching Hate speech Hate crime Genocide (examples) Ethnocide Ethnic cleansing Pogrom Race war Religious persecution Gay bashing Blood libel Paternalism Police brutality Movements Policies Discriminatory Race / Religion / Sex segregation Apartheid Redlining Internment Anti-discriminatory Emancipation Civil rights Desegregation Integration Equal opportunity Counter-discriminatory Affirmative action Racial... Slave redirects here. ... EQUAL is a popular artificial sweetener Equal (sweetener) Equality can mean several things: Mathematical equality Social equality Racial equality Sexual equality Equality of outcome Equality, a town in Illinois See also Equity Egalitarianism Equals sign This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might... == Historical background on spiritual music Spirituals were often expressions of religious faith, although they may also have served as socio-political protests veiled as assimilation to white, American culture. ... Gospel music is a musical genre characterized by dominant vocals (often with strong use of harmony) referencing lyrics of a religious nature, particularly Christian. ... Blues music redirects here. ... Rap redirects here. ...

As African Americans' place in American society has changed over the centuries, so, too, have the foci of African American literature. Before the American Civil War, African American literature primarily focused on the issue of slavery, as indicated by the subgenre of slave narratives. At the turn of the 20th century, books by authors such as W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington debated whether to confront or appease racist attitudes in the United States. During the American Civil Rights movement, authors such as Richard Wright and Gwendolyn Brooks wrote about issues of racial segregation and black nationalism. Today, African American literature has become accepted as an integral part of American literature, with books such as Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, and Beloved by Toni Morrison achieving both best-selling and award-winning status. Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total... Slave redirects here. ... The slave narrative is a literary form which grew out of the experience of enslaved Africans in the New World. ... W. E. B. Du Bois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (pronounced ) (February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was a civil rights activist, sociologist, educator, historian, writer, editor, poet, and scholar, and socialist. ... Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856 – November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author and leader of the African American community. ... The civil rights movement in the United States has been a long, primarily nonviolent struggle to bring full civil rights and equality under the law to all citizens of United States. ... For other persons of the same name, see Richard Wright. ... Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks (June 7, 1917 – December 3, 2000) was an African American poet. ... Racial segregation characterised by separation of different races in daily life, such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a rest room, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... American literature refers to written or literary work produced in the area of the United States and Colonial America. ... Categories: Literature stubs | 1976 books | American novels | Books starting with S ... Alexander Murray Palmer Haley (August 11, 1921 – February 10, 1992) was an American writer. ... This article is about about the novel. ... Alice Malsenior Walker (born February 9, 1944) is an American author and feminist. ... Beloved is a 1987 Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Nobel laureate Toni Morrison. ...

Characteristics and themes

In broad terms, African American literature can be defined as writings by people of African descent living in the United States of America. However, just as African American history and life is extremely varied, so too is African American literature.^[2] That said, African American literature has generally focused on themes of particular interest to Black people in the United States, such as the role of African Americans within the larger American society and what it means to be an American.^[3] As Princeton University professor Albert J. Raboteau has said, all African-American studies, including African American literature, "speaks to the deeper meaning of the African-American presence in this nation. This presence has always been a test case of the nation's claims to freedom, democracy, equality, the inclusiveness of all."^[4] As such, it can be said that African American Literature explores the very issues of freedom and equality which were long denied to Black people in the United States, along with further themes such as African American culture, racism, religion, slavery, a sense of home.^[5] and more. Look up black in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Princeton University is a private coeducational research university located in Princeton, New Jersey. ... Albert J. Raboteau (b. ... In the United States, African American culture or Black culture includes the various cultural traditions of African American communities. ... Manifestations Slavery Racial profiling Lynching Hate speech Hate crime Genocide (examples) Ethnocide Ethnic cleansing Pogrom Race war Religious persecution Gay bashing Blood libel Paternalism Police brutality Movements Policies Discriminatory Race / Religion / Sex segregation Apartheid Redlining Internment Anti-discriminatory Emancipation Civil rights Desegregation Integration Equal opportunity Counter-discriminatory Affirmative action Racial... Slave redirects here. ...

African American literature constitutes a vital branch of the literature of the African diaspora, with African American literature both being influenced by the great African diasporic heritage^[6] and in turn influencing African diasporic writings in many countries. In addition, African American literature exists within the larger realm of post-colonial literature, even though scholars draw a distinctive line between the two by stating that "African American literature differs from most post-colonial literature in that it is written by members of a minority community who reside within a nation of vast wealth and economic power."^[7] The African diaspora is the diaspora created by the movements and cultures of Africans and their descendants throughout the world, to places such as the Americas, (including the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America); Europe and Asia. ... Postcolonial literature is a branch of Postmodern literature concerned with the political and cultural independence of peoples formerly subjugated in colonial empires. ...

African American oral culture is rich in poetry, including spirituals, African American gospel music, blues and rap. This oral poetry also appears in the African American tradition of Christian sermons, which make use of deliberate repetition, cadence and alliteration. African American literature—especially written poetry, but also prose—has a strong tradition of incorporating all of these forms of oral poetry.^[8] == Historical background on spiritual music Spirituals were often expressions of religious faith, although they may also have served as socio-political protests veiled as assimilation to white, American culture. ... Gospel music is a musical genre characterized by dominant vocals (often with strong use of harmony) referencing lyrics of a religious nature, particularly Christian. ... Blues music redirects here. ... Rap redirects here. ... For other uses, see Christian (disambiguation). ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      A sermon is an oration by...

However, while these characteristics and themes exist on many levels of African American literature, they are not the exclusive definition of the genre and don't exist within all works within the genre. In addition, there is resistance to using Western literary theory to analyze African American literature. As Henry Louis Gates, Jr., one of the most important African American literary scholars, once said, "My desire has been to allow the black tradition to speak for itself about its nature and various functions, rather than to read it, or analyze it, in terms of literary theories borrowed whole from other traditions, appropriated from without."^[9] Henry Louis Skip Gates, Jr. ...

History

Early African American literature

Just as African American history predates the emergence of the United States as an independent country, so too does African American literature have similarly deep roots. African American history is the portion of American history that specifically discusses the African American or Black American ethnic group in the United States. ...

Phillis Wheatley

Lucy Terry is the author of the oldest piece of African American literature known which was "Bars Fight", 1746. This poem was not published until 1855 in Josiah Holland's "History of Western Massachusetts". Also, Briton Hammon's "The Narrative of the Uncommon Sufferings and Surprising Deliverence of Briton Hammon, A Negro Man", 1760. Poet Phillis Wheatley (1753–84), who published her book Poems on Various Subjects in 1773, three years before American independence. Born in Senegal, Africa, Wheatley was captured and sold into slavery at the age of seven. Brought to America, she was owned by a Boston merchant. Even though she initially spoke no English, by the time she was sixteen she had mastered the language. Her poetry was praised by many of the leading figures of the American Revolution, including George Washington, who personally thanked her for a poem she wrote in his honor. Despite this, many white people found it hard to believe that a Black woman could be so intelligent as to write poetry. As a result, Wheatley had to defend herself in court by proving she actually wrote her own poetry. Some critics cite Wheatley's successful defense as the first recognition of African American literature.^[10] Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (806x1024, 397 KB) Date 1773-09-01 Author Scipio Moorhead Permission No known restrictions on publication. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (806x1024, 397 KB) Date 1773-09-01 Author Scipio Moorhead Permission No known restrictions on publication. ... Phillis Wheatley, as illustrated by Scipio Moorhead in the frontispiece to her book Poems on Various Subjects. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... Slave redirects here. ... John Trumbulls Declaration of Independence, showing the five-man committee in charge of drafting the Declaration in 1776 as it presents its work to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia The American Revolution refers to the period during the last half of the 18th century in which the Thirteen... George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799)[1] led Americas Continental Army to victory over Britain in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and in 1789 was elected the first President of the United States of America. ...

Another early African American author was Jupiter Hammon (1711–1806?). Hammon, considered the first published Black writer in America, published his poem "An Evening Thought: Salvation by Christ with Penitential Cries" as a broadside in early 1761. In 1778 he wrote an ode to Phillis Wheatley, in which he discussed their shared humanity and common bonds. In 1786, Hammon gave his well-known Address to the Negroes of the State of New York. Hammon wrote the speech at age seventy-six after a lifetime of slavery and it contains his famous quote, "If we should ever get to Heaven, we shall find nobody to reproach us for being black, or for being slaves." Hammon's speech also promoted the idea of a gradual emancipation as a way of ending slavery.^[11] It is thought that Hammon stated this plan because he knew that slavery was so entrenched in American society that an immediate emancipation of all slaves would be difficult to achieve. Hammon apparently remained a slave until his death. His speech was later reprinted by several groups opposed to slavery. Hammons Address to the Negroes of New York State, 1806 Jupiter Hammon (born October 17, 1711 – died 1806?) was a Black poet and the first published Black writer in America. ... A broadside is a large sheet of paper, generally printed on one side and folded into a smaller size, often used as a direct-mail piece or for door-to-door distribution. ... For other uses, see Ode (disambiguation). ... Phillis Wheatley, as illustrated by Scipio Moorhead in the frontispiece to her book Poems on Various Subjects. ... Categories: Historical stubs | African-American history | U.S. history of slavery ... Slave redirects here. ... For other uses, see Heaven (disambiguation). ... This article is about the abolition of slavery. ...

William Wells Brown (1814–84) and Victor Séjour (1817–74) produced the earliest works of fiction by African American writers. Séjour was born free in New Orleans and moved to France at the age of 19. There he published his short story "Le Mulâtre" ("The Mulatto") in 1837; the story represents the first known fiction by an African American, but written in French and published in a French journal, it had apparently no influence on later American literature. Séjour never returned to African American themes in his subsequent works. Brown, on the other hand, was a prominent abolitionist, lecturer, novelist, playwright, and historian. Born into slavery in the Southern United States, Brown escaped to the North, where he worked for abolitionist causes and was a prolific writer. Brown wrote what is considered to be the first novel by an African American, Clotel; or, The President's Daughter (1853). The novel is based on what was at that time considered to be a rumor about Thomas Jefferson fathering a daughter with his slave, Sally Hemings. William Wells Brown (November 6, 1814 – November 6, 1884) was a prominent abolitionist lecturer, novelist, playwright, and historian. ... Juan Victor Séjour Marcou et Ferrand (1817 – 1874) was an American expatriate writer who worked in France. ... New Orleans is the largest city in the state of Louisiana, United States of America. ... This article is in need of attention. ... Mulatto (Spanish mulato, small mule, person of mixed race, mulatto, from mulo, mule, from Old Spanish, from Latin mÅ«lus. ... This article is about the abolition of slavery. ... Lecturer is a term of academic rank. ... A novel is an extended work of written, narrative, prose fiction, usually in story form; the writer of a novel is a novelist. ... A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is a person who writes dramatic literature or drama. ... This article is about the occupation of studying history. ... Historic Southern United States. ... Clotel; or, The Presidents Daughter is a novel by William Wells Brown (1815-84), a fugitive from slavery and abolitionist and was published in London, England in December 1853. ... Thomas Jefferson (13 April 1743 N.S.–4 July 1826) was the third President of the United States (1801–09), the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), and one of the most influential Founding Fathers for his promotion of the ideals of Republicanism in the United States. ... Sally Hemings (Shadwell, Albemarle County, Virginia, circa 1773 or 1773 – Charlottesville, Virginia, 1835) was a quadroon slave owned by Thomas Jefferson. ...

However, because the novel was published in England, the book is not considered the first African American novel published in the United States. This honor instead goes to Harriet Wilson, whose novel Our Nig (1859) details the difficult lives of Northern free Blacks. Harriet E. Wilson (1829?–1863?)was the first female African-American novelist. ...

Slave narratives

Main article: slave narrative

A subgenre of African American literature which began in the middle of the 19th century is the slave narrative. At the time, the controversy over slavery led to impassioned literature on both sides of the issue, with books like Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) representing the abolitionist view of the evils of slavery, while the so-called Anti-Tom literature by white, southern writers like William Gilmore Simms represented the pro-slavery viewpoint. The slave narrative is a literary form which grew out of the experience of enslaved Africans in the New World. ... Slave redirects here. ... Uncle Toms Cabin, or Life Among the Lowly, is American author Harriet Beecher Stowes fictional anti-slavery novel. ... Anti-Tom literature refers to the 19th century pro-slavery novels and other literary works written in response to Harriet Beecher Stowes Uncle Toms Cabin. ... William Gilmore Simms William Gilmore Simms (April 17, 1806 – June, 1870) was a southern American poet, novelist and historian whose novels achieved great prominence during the 19th century, with Edgar Allan Poe pronouncing him the best novelist America had ever produced. ...

To present the true reality of slavery, a number of former slaves such as Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass wrote slave narratives, which soon became a mainstay of African American literature. Some six thousand former slaves from North America and the Caribbean wrote accounts of their lives, with about 150 of these published as separate books or pamphlets. Harriet Jacobs was an American author. ... Frederick Douglass, ca. ... North America North America is a continent[1] in the Earths northern hemisphere and (chiefly) western hemisphere. ... West Indies redirects here. ...

Slave narratives can be broadly categorized into three distinct forms: tales of religious redemption, tales to inspire the abolitionist struggle, and tales of progress. The tales written to inspire the abolitionist struggle are the most famous because they tend to have a strong autobiographical motif. Many of them are now recognized as the most literary of all 19th-century writings by African Americans, with two of the best-known being Frederick Douglass's autobiography and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs (1861). Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is book that was published in 1861 by Harriet Jacobs, using the nom de plume Linda Brent. It is considered a work of feminist literature. ... Harriet Jacobs was an American author. ...

Frederick Douglass

Main article: Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass

While Frederick Douglass (c. 1818–95) first came to public attention as an orator and as the author of his autobiographical slave narrative, he eventually became the most prominent African American of his time and one of the most influential lecturers and authors in American history. Frederick Douglass, ca. ... From [1], in the public domain This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... From [1], in the public domain This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ...

Born into slavery in Maryland, Douglass eventually escaped and worked for numerous abolitionist causes. He also edited a number of newspapers. Douglass' best-known work is his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, which was published in 1845. At the time some critics attacked the book, not believing that a black man could have written such an eloquent work. Despite this, the book was an immediate bestseller. A bestseller is a book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on lists of currently top selling titles that are based on publishing industry and booktrade figures and published by newspapers, magazines, or bookstore chains. ...

Douglas later revised and expanded his autobiography, which was republished as My Bondage and My Freedom (1855). In addition to serving in a number of political posts during his life, he also wrote numerous influential articles and essays.

Post-slavery era

After the end of slavery and the American Civil War, a number of African American authors continued to write nonfiction works about the condition of African Americans in the country.

Among the most prominent of these writers is W.E.B. Du Bois (1868–1963), one of the original founders of the NAACP. At the turn of the century, Du Bois published a highly influential collection of essays titled The Souls of Black Folk. The book's essays on race were groundbreaking and drew from DuBois's personal experiences to describe how African Americans lived in American society. The book contains Du Bois's famous quote: "The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line." Du Bois believed that African Americans should, because of their common interests, work together to battle prejudice and inequity. This article or section needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ... The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), is one of the oldest and most influential hate organizations in the United States. ... The title page of the second edition The Souls of Black Folk is a well-known work of African-American literature by activist W.E.B. Du Bois. ...

Another prominent author of this time period is Booker T. Washington (1856–1915), who in many ways represented opposite views from Du Bois. Washington was an educator and the founder of the Tuskegee Institute, a Black college in Alabama. Among his published works are Up From Slavery (1901), The Future of the American Negro (1899), Tuskegee and Its People (1905), and My Larger Education (1911). In contrast to Du Bois, who adopted a more confrontational attitude toward ending racial strife in America, Washington believed that Blacks should first lift themselves up and prove themselves the equal of whites before asking for an end to racism. While this viewpoint was popular among some Blacks (and many whites) at the time, Washington's political views would later fall out of fashion. Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856 – November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author and leader of the African American community. ... There is also the Tuskegee Airmen, a corps of African-American military pilots trained there during World War II Tuskegee University is an American institution of higher learning located in Tuskegee, Alabama. ...

A third writer who gained attention during this period in the US, though not a US citizen, was the Jamaican Marcus Garvey (1887–1940), a newspaper publisher, journalist, and crusader for Pan Africanism through his organization the UNIA. He encouraged people of African ancestry to look favorably upon their ancestral homeland. He wrote a number of essays published as editorials in the UNIA house organ the Negro World newspaper. Some of his lecture material and other writings were compiled and published as nonfiction books by his second wife Amy Jacques Garvey as the Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey Or, Africa for the Africans (1924) and More Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey (1977). // Possession of Citizenship U.S. citizens have the right to participate in the political system of the United States (with reservations for prisoners, ex-prisoners, and naturalized persons), are represented and protected abroad by the United States (through U.S. embassies and consulates), and are allowed to reside in the... Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr. ... Pan-Africanism literally means all Africanism. It is a sociopolitical world view, as well as a movement, which seeks to unify and uplift both native Africans and those of the African diaspora, as part of a global African community.[1] // Pan-Africanism is usually seen as a product of the... Unia, released on May 25, 2007, is the fifth full-length studio album by the Finnish power metal band Sonata Arctica, following the album Reckoning Night. ... Weekly newspaper published by Marcus Mosiah Garvey during the 1920s and 30s. ... Amy Jacques Garvey (1895-1973) was born on December 31, 1895 to George and Charlotte Henrietta (South) Jacques, in Kingston, Jamaica. ...

Paul Lawrence Dunbar, who often wrote in the rural, black dialect of the day, was the first African American poet to gain national prominence. His first book of poetry, Oak and Ivy, was published in 1893. Much of Dunbar's work, such as When Malindy Sings (1906), which includes photographs taken by the Hampton Institute Camera Club, and Joggin' Erlong (1906) provide revealing glimpses into the lives of rural African-Americans of the day. Though Dunbar died young, he was a prolific poet, essayist, novelist (among them The Uncalled, 1898 and The Fanatics, 1901) and short story writer. Paul Laurence Dunbar (June 27, 1872 - February 9, 1906) was a seminal African-American poet in the late 19th and early 20th century. ... Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... Hampton University is a historically black university located in Hampton, Virginia. ...

Even though Du Bois, Washington, and Garvey were the leading African American intellectuals and authors of their time, other African American writers also rose to prominence. Among these is Charles W. Chesnutt, a well-known essayist. Charles W. Chesnutt at the age of 40 Charles Waddell Chesnutt (June 20, 1858 – November 15, 1932) was an African American author and political activist best known for novels and short stories from Fayetteville, North Carolina. ...

Harlem Renaissance

Main article: Harlem Renaissance

The Harlem Renaissance from 1920 to 1940 brought new attention to African American literature. While the Harlem Renaissance, based in the African American community in Harlem in New York City, existed as a larger flowering of social thought and culture—with numerous Black artists, musicians, and others producing classic works in fields from jazz to theater—the renaissance is perhaps best known for the literature that came out of it. The Harlem Renaissance(also known as the Black Literary Renaissance and The New Negro Movement) refers to the flowering of African American cultural and intellectual life during the 1920s and 1930s. ... The Harlem Renaissance(also known as the Black Literary Renaissance and The New Negro Movement) refers to the flowering of African American cultural and intellectual life during the 1920s and 1930s. ... This article is about the Harlem neighborhood in New York City. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ...

Langston Hughes, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1936

Among the most famous writers of the renaissance is poet Langston Hughes. Hughes first received attention in the 1922 poetry collection, The Book of American Negro Poetry. This book, edited by James Weldon Johnson, featured the work of the period's most talented poets (including, among others, Claude McKay, who also published three novels, Home to Harlem, Banjo and Banana Bottom and a collection of short stories). In 1926, Hughes published a collection of poetry, The Weary Blues, and in 1930 a novel, Not Without Laughter. Perhaps, Hughes' most famous poem is "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," which he wrote as a young teen. His single, most recognized character is Jesse B. Simple, a plainspoken, pragmatic Harlemite whose comedic observations appeared in Hughes's columns for the Chicago Defender and the New York Post. Simple Speaks His Mind (1950) is, perhaps, the best-known collection of Simple stories published in book form. Until his death in 1967, Hughes published nine volumes of poetry, eight books of short stories, two novels, and a number of plays, children's books, and translations. Langston Hughes photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1936. ... Langston Hughes photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1936. ... Carl Van Vechten (June 17, 1880 – December 21, 1964) was an American writer and photographer who was a patron of the Harlem Renaissance and the literary executor of Gertrude Stein. ... Langston Hughes (February 1, 1902 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, novelist, playwright, short story writer, and columnist. ... Claude McKay (September 15, 1889[1] – May 22, 1948) was a Jamaican writer and communist. ... For other uses, see Harlem (disambiguation). ... The Chicago Defender announces President Harry S. Trumans order in 1948 desegregating the United States Armed Forces. ... The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and the oldest to have been published continually as a daily. ... A play (noun) is a common literary form, usually consisting chiefly of dialog between characters, and usually intended for performance rather than reading. ... Basic Characteristics There is some debate as to what constitutes childrens literature. ...

Another famous writer of the renaissance is novelist Zora Neale Hurston, author of the classic novel Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937). Altogether, Hurston wrote 14 books which ranged from anthropology to short stories to novel-length fiction. Because of Hurston's gender and the fact that her work was not seen as socially or politically relevant, her writings fell into obscurity for decades. Hurston's work was rediscovered in the 1970s in a famous essay by Alice Walker, who found in Hurston a role model for all female African American writers. Zora Neale Hurston (January 7, 1891 – January 28, 1960) was an American folklorist and author during the time of the Harlem Renaissance, best known for the 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. ... See also the television film of the same name, Their Eyes Were Watching God (2005 television). ... Anthropology (from Greek: ἀνθρωπος, anthropos, human being; and λόγος, logos, knowledge) is the study of humanity. ... This article is in need of attention. ... Alice Malsenior Walker (born February 9, 1944) is an American author and feminist. ...

While Hurston and Hughes are the two most influential writers to come out of the Harlem Renaissance, a number of other writers also became well known during this period. They include Jean Toomer, who wrote Cane, a famous collection of stories, poems, and sketches about rural and urban Black life, and Dorothy West, author of the novel The Living is Easy, which examined the life of an upper-class Black family. Another popular renaissance writer is Countee Cullen, who described everyday black life in his poems (such as a trip he made to Baltimore, which was ruined by a racial insult). Cullen's books include the poetry collections Color (1925), Copper Sun (1927), and The Ballad of the Brown Girl (1927). Frank Marshall Davis's poetry collections Black Man's Verse (1935) and I am the American Negro (1937), published by Black Cat Press, earned him critical acclaim. Author Wallace Thurman also made an impact with his novel The Blacker the Berry: A Novel of Negro Life (1929), which focused on intraracial prejudice between lighter-skinned and darker-skinned African Americans. Jean Toomer (December 26, 1894–March 30, 1967) was a poet, novelist and an important figure of the Harlem Renaissance. ... For other persons named Dorothy West, see Dorothy West (disambiguation). ... Upper class refers to the group of people at the top of a social hierarchy. ... Countee Cullen, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1941 Countee Cullen (May 30, 1903–January 9, 1946) was an African-American Romantic poet and an active participant in the Harlem Renaissance. ... Wallace Henry Thurman (1902-1934) was an African American novelist during the Harlem Renaissance. ... African Americans, also known as Afro-Americans or black Americans, are an ethnic group in the United States of America whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Sub-Saharan and West Africa. ...

The Harlem Renaissance marked a turning point for African American literature. Prior to this time, books by African Americans were primarily read by other Black people. With the renaissance, though, African American literature—as well as black fine art and performance art—began to be absorbed into mainstream American culture.

Civil Rights Movement era

A large migration of African Americans began during World War I, hitting its high point during World War II. During this Great Migration, Black people left the racism and lack of opportunities in the American South and settled in northern cities like Chicago, where they found work in factories and other sectors of the economy.^[12] “The Great War ” redirects here. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The states in blue had the ten largest net gains of African-Americans during the Great Migration, while the states in red had the ten largest net losses[1]. The Great Migration was the movement of over 1 million[1] African Americans out of the rural Southern United States from... Nickname: Motto: Urbs in Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location in the Chicago metro area and Illinois Coordinates: , Country State Counties Cook, DuPage Settled 1770s Incorporated March 4, 1837 Government  - Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Area  - City 234. ...

Richard Wright, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1939

This migration produced a new sense of independence in the Black community and contributed to the vibrant Black urban culture seen during the Harlem Renaissance. The migration also empowered the growing American Civil Rights movement, which made a powerful impression on Black writers during the 1940s, '50s and '60s. Just as Black activists were pushing to end segregation and racism and create a new sense of Black nationalism, so too were Black authors attempting to address these issues with their writings. Image File history File links Richard_Wright. ... Image File history File links Richard_Wright. ... Carl Van Vechten (June 17, 1880 – December 21, 1964) was an American writer and photographer who was a patron of the Harlem Renaissance and the literary executor of Gertrude Stein. ... The civil rights movement in the United States has been a long, primarily nonviolent struggle to bring full civil rights and equality under the law to all citizens of United States. ...

One of the first writers to do so was James Baldwin, whose work addressed issues of race and sexuality. Baldwin, who is best known for his novel Go Tell It on the Mountain, wrote deeply personal stories and essays while examining what it was like to be both Black and homosexual at a time when neither of these identities was accepted by American culture. In all, Baldwin wrote nearly 20 books, including such classics as Another Country and The Fire Next Time. James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – November 30, 1987) was an American novelist, short story writer, playwright, poet, and essayist, best known for his novel Go Tell It on the Mountain. ... Sexual orientation refers to the direction of an individuals sexuality, usually conceived of as classifiable according to the sex or gender of the persons whom the individual finds sexually attractive. ... Go Tell It on the Mountain is a 1953 autobiographical novel by James Baldwin. ... Homosexuality refers to sexual interaction and / or romantic attraction between individuals of the same sex. ... Another Country is a 1962 novel by James Baldwin. ... The Fire Next Time, by James Baldwin, originally published by Dial Press in America, in 1963. ...

Baldwin's idol and friend was author Richard Wright, whom Baldwin called "the greatest Black writer in the world for me". Wright is best known for his novel Native Son (1940), which tells the story of Bigger Thomas, a Black man struggling for acceptance in Chicago. Baldwin was so impressed by the novel that he titled a collection of his own essays Notes of a Native Son, in reference to Wright's novel. However, their friendship fell apart due to one of the book's essays, "Everybody's Protest Novel," which criticized Native Son for lacking credible characters and psychological complexity. Among Wright's other books are the autobiographical novel Black Boy (1945), The Outsider (1953), and White Man, Listen! (1957). For other persons of the same name, see Richard Wright. ... For other uses, see Native Son (disambiguation). ... James Baldwin, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1955 James Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an African-American novelist, short story writer, and essayist, known for his novel Go Tell it on the Mountain. ... This article is about a novel. ... The Outsider may mean: The Outsider (Colin Wilson), a 1956 book by Colin Wilson The Outsider (Howard Fast), a 1984 novel by Howard Fast The Stranger (novel), an alternate translation of LÉtranger, the title of a 1941 Albert Camus novel The Outsider (Richard Wright), a 1952 book by Richard...

The other great novelist of this period is Ralph Ellison, best known for his novel Invisible Man (1952), which won the National Book Award in 1953. Even though Ellison did not complete another novel during his lifetime, Invisible Man was so influential that it secured his place in literary history. After Ellison's death in 1994, a second novel, Juneteenth (1999), was pieced together from the 2,000-plus pages he had written over 40 years. A fuller version of the manuscript will be published as Three Days Before the Shooting (2008). Jones, Edward " The Known World", 2003 Carter Stephen, "New England White" 2007 Wright W.D. "Crisis of the Black Intellectual",2007 Ralph Ellison (March 1, 1913[1] – April 16, 1994) was a scholar and writer. ... Invisible Man, a novel written by Ralph Ellison, chronicles the experiences and conflicts of identity in the unnamed narrator within the context of mid-twentieth-century America. ... The National Book Awards is one of the most preeminent literary prizes in the United States. ... Juneteenth is the title of African American writer Ralph Ellisons second novel (ISBN 0-394-46457-5), published posthumously as a 368-page condensation of over 2000 pages written by him over a period of forty years. ... Three Days Before the Shooting is the title of the edited manuscript of Ralph Ellisons never-finished second novel. ...

Ralph Ellison circa 1961

The Civil Rights time period also saw the rise of female Black poets, most notably Gwendolyn Brooks, who became the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize when it was awarded for her 1949 book of poetry, Annie Allen. Along with Brooks, other female poets who became well known during the 1950s and '60s are Nikki Giovanni and Sonia Sanchez. Image File history File links Ellison_ralph. ... Image File history File links Ellison_ralph. ... Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks (June 7, 1917 – December 3, 2000) was an African American poet. ... The Pulitzer Prize is an American award regarded as the highest national honor in print journalism, literary achievements, and musical composition. ... Yolande Cornelia Nikki Giovanni (born June 7, 1943 in Knoxville, Tennessee) is a Grammy-nominated American poet, activist and author. ... Sonia Sanchez is an African American poet most often associated with the Black Arts Movement. ...

During this time, a number of playwrights also came to national attention, notably Lorraine Hansberry, whose play A Raisin in the Sun focuses on a poor Black family living in Chicago. The play won the 1959 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award. Another playwright who gained attention was Amiri Baraka, who wrote controversial off-Broadway plays. In more recent years, Baraka has become known for his poetry and music criticism. Lorraine Hansberry (May 19, 1930 - January 12, 1965) was an American playwright and litigant in the United States Supreme Court case, Hansberry v. ... A Raisin in the Sun is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959. ... Amiri Baraka was born Everett LeRoi Jones on October 7, 1934 in Newark, New Jersey. ...

It is also worth noting that a number of important essays and books about human rights were written by the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. One of the leading examples of these is Martin Luther King, Jr's "Letter from Birmingham Jail". Martin Luther King Jr. ... Martin Luther King Jr The Letter from Birmingham Jail or Letter from Birmingham City Jail, commonly but incorrectly rendered Letter from a Birmingham Jail, was an open letter on April 16, 1963 written by Martin Luther King, Jr. ...

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Beginning in the 1970s, African American literature reached the mainstream as books by Black writers continually achieved best-selling and award-winning status. This was also the time when the work of African American writers began to be accepted by academia as a legitimate genre of American literature.^[13] Image File history File links AmericaAfrica. ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... African American history is the portion of American history that specifically discusses the African American or Black American ethnic group in the United States. ... Slave sale in Easton, Maryland The history of slavery in the United States (1619-1865) began soon after the English colonists first settled in Virginia and lasted until the passage of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. ... Military history of African Americans is that of African Americans in the United States since the arrival of the first black slaves in 1619 to the present day. ... Manifestations Slavery Racial profiling Lynching Hate speech Hate crime Genocide (examples) Ethnocide Ethnic cleansing Pogrom Race war Religious persecution Gay bashing Blood libel Paternalism Police brutality Movements Policies Discriminatory Race / Religion / Sex segregation Apartheid Redlining Internment Anti-discriminatory Emancipation Civil rights Desegregation Integration Equal opportunity Counter-discriminatory Affirmative action Racial... For the automotive term, see redline. ... See also: American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968) The civil rights movement in the United States has been a long, primarily nonviolent struggle to bring full civil rights and equality under the law to all Americans. ... Prominent figures of the African-American Civil Rights Movement. ... Reparations for slavery is a movement in the United States, which suggests that the government apologize to slave descendants for their hardships, and bestow on them reparations, whether it be in the form of money, land, or other goods. ... In the United States, African American culture or Black culture includes the various cultural traditions of African American communities. ... African American studies, or Black studies, is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to the study of the history, culture, and politics of African Americans. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... In the United States, Historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) are colleges or universities that were established before 1964 with the intention of serving the African American community. ... Kwanzaa (or Kwaanza) is a week-long Pan-African festival primarily honoring African-American heritage. ... African American art is a broad term describing the visual arts of the American black community. ... African American dances in the vernacular tradition (academically known as African American vernacular dance) are those dances which have developed within African American communities in everyday spaces, rather than in dance studios, schools or companies. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... This reproduction of a 1900 minstrel show poster, originally published by the Strobridge Litho Co. ... Detail from cover of The Celebrated Negro Melodies, as Sung by the Virginia Minstrels, 1843 The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, was an American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, performed by white people in blackface or, especially after the American Civil War, African Americans in blackface. ... This is a list of museums about, or otherwise focused on African Americans. ... The term black church refers to Christian churches that minister to the African American community. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious and social/political organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930 with the self-proclaimed goal of resurrecting the spiritual, mental, social, economic condition of the black man and woman of America and belief that God will bring... Black Hebrew Israelites (also Black Hebrews, African Hebrew Israelites, and Hebrew Israelites) are groups of people of African ancestry situated mostly in the United States who claim to be descendants of the ancient Israelites. ... Voodoo redirects here. ... Hoodoo is a form of predominantly African American, Christian, traditional folk magic. ... For other uses, see Santeria (disambiguation). ... Pan-African people are all people with African physical features. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... ‹ The template below is being considered for deletion. ... Black Capitalism is a name for a movement among African Americans to build wealth through the ownership and development of businesses. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... The Black Panther Party (originally called the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was an African American organization founded to promote civil rights and self-defense. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP, generally pronounced as EN Double AY SEE PEE) is one of the oldest and most influential civil rights organizations in the United States. ... The Southern Christian Leadership Conference Logo. ... “CORE” redirects here. ... The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (or SNCC, pronounced snick) was one of the principal organizations of the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. ... National Urban League Logo The National Urban League (NUL) is a nonpartisan civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of African Americans and against racial discrimination in the United States. ... The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) is a non-profit organization founded in Chicago, Illinois, in 1915 as The Association for the Study of Negro Life and History by Carter G. Woodson and Jesse E. Moorland. ... United Negro College Fund logo The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) is a Fairfax, Virginia-based American philanthropic organization that fundraises college tuition money for African-American students and general scholarship funds for 39 historically black colleges and universities. ... National Black Chamber of Commerce The National Black Chamber of Commerce, (NBCC), was “incorporated in March of 1993, in Washington D.C.” The organizations mission is “To economically empower and sustain African American communities, through the process of entrepreneurship and capitalistic activity within the United States and via interaction with... The National Pan-Hellenic Council, Inc. ... The Links, Incorporated is an exclusive non-profit organization based upon the ideals of combining friendship and community service and was was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on November 9, 1946, from a group of ladies known as the Philadelphia Club to have focuses on civic, cultural, and educational endeavors[1... Bud Fowler, the first professional black baseball player with one of his teams, Western of Keokuk, Iowa The Negro Leagues were American professional baseball leagues comprising predominantly African-American teams. ... The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) is a college athletic conference made up of historically black colleges in the southeastern United States. ... logo of Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) is a College athletic conference consisting of historically black colleges located in the southern United States. ... The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is a collegiate athletic conference which consists of historically black colleges in the southeastern United States. ... The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is a college athletic conference made up of historically black universities in the southern United States. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The Gullah language (Sea Island Creole English, Geechee) is a creole language spoken by the Gullah people (also called Geechees), an African American population living on the Sea Islands and the coastal region of the U.S. states of South Carolina and Georgia. ... Louisiana Creole (Créole Louisiane and Kourí-Viní, as it is known in and near St. ... Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... Notable African-American or Black people, other than Black Caribbeans. ... This is a list of landmark legislation, court decisions, executive orders, and proclamations in the United States significantly affecting African Americans. ... This is an alphabetical list of African-American-related topics: Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A African American African American contemporary issues African American culture...

As part of the larger Black Arts Movement, which was inspired by the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements, African American literature began to be defined and analyzed. A number of scholars and writers are generally credited with helping to promote and define African American literature as a genre during this time period, including fiction writers Toni Morrison and Alice Walker and poet James Emanuel. // The Black Arts Movement is commonly known as the artistic branch of the Black Power movement. ... ‹ The template below is being considered for deletion. ...

James Emanuel took a major step toward defining African American literature when he edited (with Theodore Gross) Dark Symphony: Negro Literature in America, the first collection of black writings released by a major publisher.^[14] This anthology, and Emanuel's work as an educator at the City College of New York (where he is credited with introducing the study of African-American poetry), heavily influenced the birth of the genre.^[15] Other influential African American anthologies of this time included Black Fire: An Anthology of Afro-American Writing, edited by LeRoi Jones (now known as Amiri Baraka) and Larry Neal in 1968 and The Negro Caravan, co-edited by Sterling Brown, Arthur P. Davis and Ulysses Lee in 1969. James Emanuel is a poet and scholar from Nebraska. ... “City College” redirects here. ... Languages Predominantly American English Religions Protestantism (chiefly Baptist and Methodist); Roman Catholicism; Islam Related ethnic groups Sub-Saharan Africans and other African groups, some with Native American groups. ... This article is about the art form. ... Amiri Baraka Amiri Baraka (born October 7, 1934) is a U.S. writer. ... Sterlin Allen Brown was an influential African-American teacher, literary critic, and poet whose poetry was rooted in folklore sources and black dialect. ...

Toni Morrison, meanwhile, helped promote Black literature and authors when she worked as an editor for Random House in the 1960s and '70s, where she edited books by such authors as Toni Cade Bambara and Gayl Jones. Morrison herself would later emerge as one of the most important African American writers of the 20th century. Her first novel, The Bluest Eye, was published in 1970. Among her most famous novels is Beloved, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1988. This story describes a slave who found freedom but killed her infant daughter to save her from a life of slavery. Another important novel is Song of Solomon, a tale about materialism and brotherhood. Morrison is the first African American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. For the Louisiana politician, see deLesseps Morrison, Jr. ... // Random House is a publishing house based in New York City. ... Toni Cade Bambara (March 25, 1939-December 9, 1995) was an American author, social activist, and college professor. ... Beloved is a 1987 Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Nobel laureate Toni Morrison. ... The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction has been awarded since 1948 for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life. ... Song of Solomon (ISBN 0-452-26011-6) is a novel by Pulitzer-prize and Nobel-prize winner Toni Morrison, published in 1977. ... In philosophy, materialism is that form of physicalism which holds that the only thing that can truly be said to exist is matter; that fundamentally, all things are composed of material and all phenomena are the result of material interactions; that matter is the only substance. ... Nobel Prize in Literature medal. ...

In the 1970s novelist and poet Alice Walker wrote a famous essay that brought Zora Neale Hurston and her classic novel Their Eyes Were Watching God back to the attention of the literary world. In 1982, Walker won both the Pulitzer Prize and the American Book Award for her novel The Color Purple. An epistolary novel (a book written in the form of letters), The Color Purple tells the story of Celie, a young woman who is sexually abused by her stepfather and then is forced to marry a man who physically abuses her. The novel was later made into a film by Steven Spielberg. Alice Malsenior Walker (born February 9, 1944) is an American author and feminist. ... Zora Neale Hurston (January 7, 1891 – January 28, 1960) was an American folklorist and author during the time of the Harlem Renaissance, best known for the 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. ... See also the television film of the same name, Their Eyes Were Watching God (2005 television). ... The Pulitzer Prize is an American award regarded as the highest national honor in print journalism, literary achievements, and musical composition. ... The American Book Award was established in 1978 by the Before Columbus Foundation. ... This article is about about the novel. ... Titlepage of Aphra Behns Love-Letters (1684) An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of documents. ... Spousal abuse refers to a wide spectrum of abuse. ... Steven Spielberg (born December 18, 1946)[1] is an American film director and producer. ...

The 1970s also saw African American books topping the bestseller lists. Among the first books to do so was Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley. The book, a fictionalized account of Haley's family history—beginning with the kidnapping of Haley's ancestor Kunta Kinte in Gambia through his life as a slave in the United States—won the Pulitzer Prize and became a popular television miniseries. Haley also wrote The Autobiography of Malcolm X in 1965. Categories: Literature stubs | 1976 books | American novels | Books starting with S ... Alexander Murray Palmer Haley (August 11, 1921 – February 10, 1992) was an American writer. ... Kunta Kinte (or Kunta Kunte) is the central character of the novel, Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley, and of the television mini-series Roots, based on the book. ... The Pulitzer Prize is an American award regarded as the highest national honor in print journalism, literary achievements, and musical composition. ... A miniseries (sometimes mini-series), in a serial storytelling medium, is a production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. ... The Autobiography of Malcolm X cover The Autobiography of Malcolm X (ISBN 0-345-35068-5) was written by Alex Haley between 1964 and 1965, based on interviews conducted shortly before Malcolm Xs death (and with an epilogue for after it), and was published in 1965. ...

Other important writers in recent years include literary fiction writers Gayl Jones, Ishmael Reed, Jamaica Kincaid, Randall Kenan, and John Edgar Wideman. African American poets have also garnered attention. Maya Angelou read a poem at Bill Clinton's inauguration, Rita Dove won a Pulitzer Prize and served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 1993 to 1995, and Cyrus Cassells's Soul Make a Path through Shouting was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1994. Cassells is a recipient of the William Carlos Williams Award. Lesser-known poets like Thylias Moss, and Natasha Trethewey also have been praised for their innovative work. Notable black playwrights include Ntozake Shange, who wrote For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf; Ed Bullins; Suzan-Lori Parks; and the prolific August Wilson, who won two Pulitzer Prizes for his plays. Most recently, Edward P. Jones won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Known World, his novel about a black slaveholder in the antebellum South. Literary fiction is a somewhat uneasy term that has come into common usage since around 1970, principally to distinguish serious fiction from the many types of genre fiction and popular fiction. ... Ishmael Scott Reed (b. ... Jamaica Kincaid (b. ... Randall Kenan (b. ... John Edgar Wideman (born June 14, 1941 in Washington, DC) is an American writer. ... Maya Angelou (IPA: [1]), born Marguerite Ann Johnson April 4, 1928 in St. ... William Jefferson Bill Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III[1] on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. ... Rita Frances Dove (born August 28, 1952 in Akron, Ohio, USA) is an African American United States poet and author. ... A Poet Laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and often expected to compose poems for State occasions and other government events. ... Cyrus Cassells (born 1957) is an American poet. ... The William Carlos Williams Award is given out by the Poetry Society of America. ... Thylias Moss (b. ... Ntozake Shange (pronounced En-toe-ZAK-kay SHONG-gay) (born October 18, 1948) is an African American playwright, performance artist, and writer who is best-known for her Obie Award winning play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/when the rainbow is enuf. ... For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf is a 1975 stageplay by Ntozake Shange. ... Ed Bullins (born July 2, 1935) is an African American playwright. ... Suzan-Lori Parks (1964 - ) is an African-American playwright and novelist. ... August Wilson August Wilson (April 27, 1945 – October 2, 2005) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright. ... Edward P. Jones is an African American author and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. ... The Known World is Edward P. Jones first novel and second book, published in 2003. ...

Young African American novelists include Edwidge Danticat, David Anthony Durham, Tayari Jones, Mat Johnson, ZZ Packer and Colson Whitehead, just to name a few. African American literature has also crossed over to genre fiction. A pioneer in this area is Chester Himes, who in the 1950s and '60s wrote a series of pulp fiction detective novels featuring "Coffin" Ed Johnson and "Gravedigger" Jones, two New York City police detectives. Himes paved the way for the later crime novels of Walter Mosley and Hugh Holton. African Americans are also represented in the genres of science fiction, fantasy and horror, with Samuel R. Delany, Octavia E. Butler, Steven Barnes, Tananarive Due, Robert Fleming, Brandon Massey, Charles R. Saunders, John Ridley, John M. Faucette, Sheree Thomas and Nalo Hopkinson being just a few of the well-known authors. Edwidge Danticat (pronunciation Ed-WEEDJ Dan-tih-CAH) (b. ... David Anthony Durham is an American historical fictionalist, writing about the American Civil War and Ancient Carthage and Hannibal Barca. ... Tayari Jones is an African American author and winner of the Hurston-Wright Legacy Award for Debut Fiction. ... Mat Johnson (born in Philadelphia August 19, 1970) is the author of Drop and Hunting in Harlem. ... ZZ Packer (born January 12, 1973) is an American author, notable for her works of short fiction. ... Colson Whitehead (full name Arch Colson Chipp Whitehead) is a New York-based novelist, born in 1969. ... Genre fiction is a term for fictional works (novels, short stories) written with the intent of fitting into a specific literary genre in order to appeal to the fans of that genre. ... Chester Bomar Himes (July 29, 1909 – November 12, 1984) was a famous African American writer. ... Categories: Stub | Books ... Walter Mosley Walter Mosley (born January 12, 1952) is a prominent American novelist, most widely recognized for his crime fiction. ... Samuel Ray Delany, Jr. ... Octavia Estelle Butler (June 22, 1947 — February 24, 2006) was an American science fiction writer, one of very few African-American women in the field. ... Steven Barnes photo by Beth Gwinn Steven Barnes (born March 1, 1952 in Los Angeles, CA) is a self-titled writer, lecturer, creative consultant, and human performance technician. ... Tananarive Due (born 1966) is an American author. ... Robert Fleming Robert Fleming is a writer of Erotic fiction and Horror fiction, he is also a contributing editor for Black Issues Book Review . ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Charles R. Saunders also credited as Charles Saunders (born 1946[1]) is an African American author and journalist currently living in Canada. ... John Ridley John Ridley is an American film director, actor, inventor and writer. ... Crown of Infinity, Ace Books 1968 The Warriors of Terra, Belmont Books John M. Faucette (1943–2003) was an African American author of science fiction. ... Sheree Thomas Sheree Thomas also credited as Sheree R. Thomas and Sheree Renée Thomas is a writer, book editor and publisher whose groundbreaking Dark Matter series collected the works of some of the best African American Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy writers working at the time. ... Nalo Hopkinson (born December 20, 1960) is a Jamaica writer and editor living in Canada. ...

Finally, African American literature has gained added attention through the work of talk show host Oprah Winfrey, who repeatedly has leveraged her fame to promote literature through the medium of her Oprah's Book Club. At times, she has brought African American writers a far broader audience than they otherwise might have received. Oprah Winfrey, (born January 29, 1954) is a multiple-Emmy Award winning host of The Oprah Winfrey Show, the highest rated talk show in television history. ... Oprahs Book Club is a book club segment of the American talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show, highlighting books chosen by host Oprah Winfrey. ...

Critiques

While African American literature is well accepted in the United States, there are numerous views on its significance, traditions, and theories. To the genre's supporters, African American literature arose out of the experience of Blacks in the United States, especially with regards to historic racism and discrimination, and is an attempt to refute the dominant culture's literature and power. In addition, supporters see the literature existing both within and outside American literature and as helping to revitalize the country's writing. To critics, African American literature is part of a Balkanization of American literature. In addition, there are some within the African American community who do not like how their own literature sometimes showcases Black people. American literature refers to written or literary work produced in the area of the United States and Colonial America. ... Balkanization is a geopolitical term originally used to describe the process of fragmentation or division of a region into smaller regions that are often hostile or non-cooperative with each other. ...

Refuting the dominant literary culture

Throughout American history, African Americans have been discriminated against and subject to racist attitudes. This experience inspired some Black writers, at least during the early years of African American literature, to prove they were the equals of white authors. As Henry Louis Gates, Jr, has said, "it is fair to describe the subtext of the history of black letters as this urge to refute the claim that because blacks had no written traditions they were bearers of an inferior culture."^[16]

However, by refuting the claims of the dominant culture, African American writers weren't simply "proving their worth"—they were also attempting to subvert the literary and power traditions of the United States. Scholars expressing this view assert that writing has traditionally been seen as "something defined by the dominant culture as a white male activity."^[17] This means that, in American society, literary acceptance has traditionally been intimately tied in with the very power dynamics which perpetrated such evils as racial discrimination. By borrowing from and incorporating the non-written oral traditions and folk life of the African diaspora, African American literature thereby broke "the mystique of connection between literary authority and patriarchal power."^[18] This view of African American literature as a tool in the struggle for Black political and cultural liberation has been stated for decades, perhaps most famously by W.E.B DuBois.^[19] The African diaspora is the diaspora created by the movements and cultures of Africans and their descendants throughout the world, to places such as the Americas, (including the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America); Europe and Asia. ... A patriarch (from Greek: patria means father; arché means rule, beginning, origin) is a male head of an extended family exercising autocratic authority, or, by extension, a member of the ruling class or government of a society controlled by senior men. ... William Edward Burghardt DuBois (February 23, 1868 - August 27, 1963) was an African-American civil rights leader and scholar. ...

Existing both inside and outside American literature

According to James Madison University English professor Joanne Gabbin, African American literature exists both inside and outside American literature. "Somehow African American literature has been relegated to a different level, outside American literature, yet it is an integral part," she says.^[20] JMU redirects here. ...

This view of African American literature is grounded in the experience of Black people in the United States. Even though African Americans have long claimed an American identity, during most of United States history they were not accepted as full citizens and were actively discriminated against. As a result, they were part of America while also outside it.

The same can be said for African American literature. While it exists fully within the framework of a larger American literature, it also exists as its own entity. As a result, new styles of storytelling and unique voices are created in isolation. The benefit of this is that these new styles and voices can leave their isolation and help revitalize the larger literary world (McKay, 2004). This artistic pattern has held true with many aspects of African American culture over the last century, with jazz and hip hop being just two artistic examples that developed in isolation within the Black community before reaching a larger audience and eventually revitalizing American culture. In the United States, African American culture or Black culture includes the various cultural traditions of African American communities. ... For other uses, see Jazz (disambiguation). ... Hip hop music is a style of music which came into existence in the United States during the mid-1970s, and became a large part of modern pop culture during the 1980s. ...

Whether African American literature will keep to this pattern in the coming years remains to be seen. Since the genre is already popular with mainstream audiences, it is possible that its ability to develop new styles and voices—or to remain "authentic," in the words of some critics—may be a thing of the past.^[21]

Balkanization of American literature?

Despite these views, some conservative academics and intellectuals argue that African American literature only exists as part of a balkanization of literature over the last few decades or as an extension of the culture wars into the field of literature.^[22] According to these critics, literature is splitting into distinct and separate groupings because of the rise of identity politics in the United States and other parts of the world. These critics reject bringing identity politics into literature because this would mean that "only women could write about women for women, and only Blacks about Blacks for Blacks."^[23] Ths article deals with conservatism as a political philosophy. ... Balkanization is a geopolitical term originally used to describe the process of fragmentation or division of a region into smaller regions that are often hostile or non-cooperative with each other. ... The term culture war has been used to describe ideologically-driven and often strident confrontations typical of American public culture and politics since at least the 1980s. ... Identity politics is the political activity of various social movements for self-determination. ...

People opposed to this group-based approach to writing say that it limits the ability of literature to explore the overall human condition and, more importantly, judges ethnic writers merely on the basis of their race. These critics reject this judgment and say it defies the meaning of works like Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, in which Ellison's main character is invisible because people see him as nothing more than a Black man.^[24] Others criticize special treatment of any ethnic-based genre of literature. For example, Robert Hayden, the first African-American Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, once said (paraphrasing the comment by the black composer Duke Ellington about jazz and music), "There is no such thing as Black literature. There's good literature and bad. And that's all."^[25] Robert Hayden (August 4, 1913 - February 25, 1980), born as Asa Bundy Sheffey, was a United States African-American poet, essayist, and educator. ... The Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress is appointed by the United States Librarian of Congress and earns a stipend of $35,000 a year. ... This article is about the American Jazz composer and performer. ...

Proponents counter that the exploration of group and ethnic dynamics through writing actually deepens human understanding and that, previously, entire groups of people were ignored or neglected by American literature.^[26] (Jay, 1997)

The general consensus view appears to be that American literature is not breaking apart because of new genres like African American literature. Instead, American literature is simply reflecting the increasing diversity of the United States and showing more signs of diversity than ever before in its history (Andrews, 1997; McKay, 2004). This view is supported by the fact that many African American authors—and writers representing other minority groups—consistently reach the tops of the best-seller lists. If their literature only appealed to their individual ethnic groups, this would not be possible.

African American criticism

Some of the criticism of African American literature over the years has come from within the African American community; some argue that Black literature sometimes does not portray Black people in a positive light.

This clash of aesthetics and racial politics has its beginnings in comments made by W.E.B DuBois in the NAACP publication The Crisis. For example, in 1921 he wrote, "We want everything that is said about us to tell of the best and highest and noblest in us. We insist that our Art and Propaganda be one." He added to this in 1926 by saying, "All Art is propaganda and ever must be, despite the wailing of the purists."^[27] DuBois and the editors of The Crisis consistently stated that literature was a tool in the struggle for African American political liberation. The Parthenons facade showing an interpretation of golden rectangles in its proportions. ...

DuBois's belief in the propaganda value of art showed most clearly when he clashed in 1928 with African American author Claude McKay over McKay's best-selling novel Home to Harlem. To DuBois, the novel's frank depictions of sexuality and the nightlife in Harlem only appealed to the "prurient demand[s]" of white readers and publishers looking for portrayals of Black "licentiousness." DuBois also said, "Home to Harlem ... for the most part nauseates me, and after the dirtier parts of its filth I feel distinctly like taking a bath."^[28] This criticism was repeated by others in the Black community when author Wallace Thurman published his novel The Blacker the Berry in 1929. This novel, which focused on intraracial prejudice between lighter-skinned and darker-skinned Blacks, infuriated many African Americans, who did not like such a public airing of their culture's "dirty laundry."^[29] Claude McKay (September 15, 1889[1] – May 22, 1948) was a Jamaican writer and communist. ... Wallace Henry Thurman (1902-1934) was an African American novelist during the Harlem Renaissance. ...

Naturally, many African American writers did not agree with the viewpoint that all Black literature should be propaganda, and instead stated that literature should present the truth about life and people. Langston Hughes articulated this view in his essay "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain" (1926), when he said that Black artists intended to express themselves freely no matter what the Black public or white public thought. Langston Hughes (February 1, 1902 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, novelist, playwright, short story writer, and columnist. ...

A more recent occurrence of this Black-on-Black criticism arose in charges by some critics that Alice Walker's novel The Color Purple unfairly attacked Black men.^[30] In addition, African American author Charles R. Johnson, in the updated 1995 introduction to his novel Oxherding Tale, criticized Walker's novel for its negative portrayal of African-American males, adding "I leave it to readers to decide which book pushes harder at the boundaries of convention, and inhabits most confidently the space where fiction and philosophy meet." Walker later refuted these charges in her book The Same River Twice: Honoring the Difficult. Alice Malsenior Walker (born February 9, 1944) is an American author and feminist. ... This article is about about the novel. ... Charles R. Johnson (born 1948 in Evanston, Illinois) is an American scholar and author of novels, short stories, and essays. ...

See also

• African American
• African American culture
• African American history
• Afrofuturism
• American literature
• List of African-American writers
• Southern Gothic
• The Callaloo Journal
• Urban fiction

An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... In the United States, African American culture or Black culture includes the various cultural traditions of African American communities. ... African American history is the portion of American history that specifically discusses the African American or Black American ethnic group in the United States. ... Afrofuturism, or afro-futurism, is an African diaspora subculture whose thinkers and artists see science, technology and science fiction as means of exploring the black experience and finding new strategies to overcome oppression. ... American literature refers to written or literary work produced in the area of the United States and Colonial America. ... This is a list of African American authors and writers, all of whom are considered part of African American literature. ... Southern Gothic is a subgenre of the Gothic writing style, unique to American literature. ... Callaloo is a journal of African and African-American writing containing original work by and critical studies of black writers worldwide. ... Urban fiction is a literary genre set, as the name implies, in a city landscape; however, the genre is as much defined by the race and culture of its characters as the urban setting. ...

Notes

Construction of the Thomas Jefferson Building, from July 8, 1888 to May 15, 1894. ... Construction of the Thomas Jefferson Building, from July 8, 1888 to May 15, 1894. ...

References

• Andrews, W., Foster, F., and Harris, T. (Editors).The Oxford Companion to African American Literature. Oxford, 1997.
• Brodhead, R. "An Anatomy of Multiculturalism". Yale Alumni Magazine, April 1994. Excerpted here.
• Cashmore, E. "Review of the Norton Anthology of African-American Literature" New Statesman, April 25, 1997.
• Dalrymple, T. "An Imaginary 'Scandal'" The New Criterion, May 2005.
• Davis, M., Graham, M., and Pineault-Burke, S. (Editors). Teaching African American Literature: Theory and Practice. Routledge, 1998.
• Gates, H. The Trials of Phillis Wheatley: America's First Black Poet and Her Encounters With the Founding Fathers Basic Civitas Books, 2003
• Gilyard, K., and Wardi, A. African American Literature. Penguin, 2004.
• Greenberg, P. "I hate that (The rise of identity journalism)". Townhall.com, June 15, 2005.
• Groden, M., and Krieswirth, M. (Editors). "African-American Theory and Criticism" from the Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism.
• Grossman, J. "Historical Research and Narrative of Chicago and the Great Migration".
• Hamilton, K. "Writers' Retreat: Despite the proliferation of Black authors and titles in today's marketplace, many look to literary journals to carry on the torch for the written word". Black Issues in Higher Education, November 6, 2003.
• Jay, G. American Literature and the Culture Wars. Cornell University Press, 1997. Excerpted here.
• Lowney, J. "Haiti and Black Transnationalism: Remapping the Migrant Geography of Home to Harlem" African American Review, Fall, 2000.
• McKay, N., and Gates, H. (Editors). The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, Second Edition. W. W. Norton & Company, 2004.
• Mitchem, S. "No Longer Nailed to the Floor". Cross Currents, spring, 2003.
• Nishikawa, K. "African American Critical Theory." The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Multiethnic American Literature. Ed. Emmanuel S. Nelson. 5 vols. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2005. 36-41.
• Nishikawa, K. "Crime and Mystery Fiction." The Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Literature. Ed. Hans Ostrom and J. David Macey, Jr. 5 vols. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2005. 360-67.
• Roach, R. "Powerful pages: Unprecedented Public Impact of W.W. Norton and Co's Norton Anthology of African American Literature". Black Issues in Higher Education, September 18, 1997.
• Scott, D. "Harlem shadows: Re-evaluating Wallace Thurman's The Blacker the Berry". MELUS, fall-winter, 2004.
• John Callahan, Ph.D., In the African-American Grain: Call and Response in Twentieth-Century Black Fiction, University of Illinois Press, reprint ed., 2001. ISBN 025206982X

is the 115th day of the year (116th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the band, see 1997 (band). ... is the 166th day of the year (167th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 310th day of the year (311th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 261st day of the year (262nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the band, see 1997 (band). ...

Further Reading

• Dorson, Richard M., editor
  • "Negro Folktales in Michigan", Harvard University Press, 1956.
  • "Negro Tales from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and Calvin, Michigan", 1958.
  • "American Negro Folktales", 1967.

• Piacentino, Ed. "Seeds of Rebellion in Plantation Fiction: Victor Séjour's "The Mulatto"". Southern Spaces. August 28 2007.

Richard Mercer Dorson (1916-1981) was an American folklorist, author, professor, and director of the Folklore Institute at at Indiana University. ...

External links

African American Portal

• American Slave Narratives: An Online Anthology
• A Brief Chronology of African American Literature
• African American Women Writers of the 19th Century
• African American Literature Book Club
• Complete text of classic African American books and essays
• "Famous Writers Section", Mr. Africa Poetry Lounge
• North American Slave Narratives

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