The Black Cultural Front: Black Writers and Artists of the Depression GenerationUniv. Press of Mississippi, 9.7.2012 - 288 sivua The Black Cultural Front describes how the social and political movements that grew out of the Depression facilitated the left turn of several African American artists and writers. The Communist-led John Reed Clubs brought together black and white writers in writing collectives. The Congress of Industrial Organizations's effort to recruit black workers inspired growing interest in the labor movement. One of the most concerted efforts was made by the National Negro Congress (NNC), a coalition of civil rights and labor organizations, which held cultural panels at its national conferences, fought segregation in the culture industries, promoted cultural education, and involved writers and artists in staging mass rallies during World War II. The formation of a black cultural front is examined by looking at the works of poet Langston Hughes, novelist Chester Himes, and cartoonist Ollie Harrington. While none of them were card-carrying members of the Communist Party, they all participated in the Left at one point in their careers. Interestingly, they all turned to creating popular culture in order to reach the black masses who were captivated by the movies, radio, newspapers, and detective novels. There are chapters on the Hughes' "Simple" stories, Himes' detective fiction, and Harrington's "Bootsie" cartoons. Collectively, the experience of these three figures contributes to the story of a "long" movement for African American freedom that flourished during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. Yet this book also stresses the impact that McCarthyism had on dismantling the Black Left and how it affected each individual involved. Each was radicalized at a different moment and for different reasons. Each suffered for their past allegiances, whether fleeing to the haven of the "Black Bank" in Paris, or staying home and facing the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Yet the lasting influence of the Depression in their work was evident for the rest of their lives. |
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... Hughes's time there. I was fortunate to have a phone conversation with Constance Webb Pearlstein before she passed away about her friendship with Chester Himes. Christine McKay, a researcher of the Schomburg Center, openly shared with ...
... Hughes, Chester Himes, and Ollie Harrington. Biographers have either minimized their radicalism, depicted it as a minor episode limited to the 1930s, or neglected it altogether. While recovering much of Hughes's radicalism during the ...
... Hughes and Himes have followed the narrative of political disillusionment also ascribed to Wright and Ellison. Indeed, both Hughes and Himes were radicalized in their younger years and would distance themselves from the Communist Party ...
... Hughes, I utilize a recently discovered speech from the early 1930s in which he observed, “Capitalist society is pregnant with the new social order.” I also discuss the columns Hughes wrote for the Chicago Defender showing his ...
... Hughes spoke angrily, “Hollywood insofar as Negroes are concerned, might just as well be controlled by Hitler” (Good Morning Revolution 140). Himes tried to break through Hollywood's color curtain in 1941 with the help of Hughes, who ...
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The Black Cultural Front: Black Writers and Artists of the Depression Generation Brian Dolinar Rajoitettu esikatselu - 2012 |
The Black Cultural Front: Black Writers and Artists of the Depression Generation Brian Dolinar Esikatselu ei käytettävissä - 2012 |