Top 5 things to read this week

‘Historically engrained into western society, the ghost of slavery is a perpetuated presence of racial injustice’.

Looking back at this same line that introduced my last uni essay, it’s hard to comprehend just how significant these words would prove in light of the cultural uproar of the last few weeks. I thought I’d use this week’s post to do a little synopsis of some of my favourite books featured in the African American literary tradition.

No amount of reading can ever supply me with the full understanding of what it means to live through the black experience. However, I hope these suggestions provide a helpful start for those who want to do some reading and learning!

Native Son – Richard Wright (Novel).

Native Son follows the life of Bigger Thomas, a young black man living in poverty-stricken Chicago during the 1930s. As the novel develops, we see the effects of black poverty, discrimination, and violence, as Bigger becomes a prisoner of the American Criminal Justice System. There is certainly a lack of richness in this text, especially in terms of love, hope and economic success. Instead, Bigger is riddled with anger, fear, and a desperately hopeless outlook on life under racial prejudice.

Whilst marked as a milestone in African American literature, Wright was criticised for morphing Bigger into a dangerously aggressive black male stereotype. However, readers do see a parallel between the fictional and modern-day view of black males through a white gaze. Reading this book in light of the Black Lives Matter Movement forces the question: how are black males truly seen in modern society? How has history influenced the way black males are viewed – not only by the white community, but also by their own?

I’ll leave those thoughts to those who read the book… ;)

(Native Son was also adapted into a 2019 film so check it out if you’re not a book person!)

Selected Poems of Langston Hughes – Langston Hughes (Poetry).

Constantly testing the boundaries of powerful and painful subject matter, Hughes’ poems explore the subjective experiences of various black lives throughout the 20th century. The fact that many other African American novels honour Hughes’ poetry at the beginning of their work speaks volumes to the extensive impact of his words. It’s hard to summarise the multitudes of Hughes’ efforts in a few lines, however I can say he provides large insights into: the American South, lynching, spirituality, mixed-race identity, racial terror, sexual politics, and the significance of music (to name a few).

Here are some of my favourites:

Song for a Dark Girl

Way Down South in Dixie

(Break the heart of me)

They hung my black young lover

To a cross roads tree.

Way Down South in Dixie

(Bruised body high in air)

I asked the white Lord Jesus

What was the use of prayer.

Way Down South in Dixie

(Break the heart of me)

Love is a naked shadow

On a gnarled and naked tree.

Still Here

I been scarred and battered. My hopes the wind done scattered. Snow has friz me, Sun has baked me, Looks like between 'em they done Tried to make me Stop laughin', stop lovin', stop livin'-- But I don't care! I'm still here!

And finally:

Little Lyric (Of Great Importance)

I wish the rent Was heaven sent.

Quicksand – Nella Larsen (Novel).

In Quicksand, readers follow Helga Crane as she restlessly moves from one town to another during the early 20th century. Starting off in the fictional town of Naxos, Helga moves to New York, Denmark, and Alabama, constantly trying to navigate her mixed-race identity. Despite her desperate attempts to settle, Helga shows that it is her internal turmoil that causes her to feel so out of place. Never feeling accepted by the white or black community, Helga embodies the subjective experience of having a black father and a white mother, and lives up to Langston Hughes’ poem ‘Cross’ (which gives the novel its epigraph).

On top of a confused identity, Helga’s sexuality is exploited – especially in Europe – as she is turned into a black feminine object. Constantly decorated by extravagant jewellery and exotic clothing, Helga is turned into a mystical creature, a living wonder to be looked at, and classified as strictly ‘Other’ to white European society.

A Raisin in the Sun – Lorraine Hansberry (Play).

With its name deriving from another of Hughes’ poems (Harlem), this play depicts the excruciating frustration of dreams being deferred as a result of racial discrimination. Set in 1950s Chicago, the play follows the Younger family as they try to navigate their individual aspirations during the Civil Rights Movement. Playing with themes of race, class, money, and gender roles, this play embodies what it truly means to possess the American Dream – and what happens when this dream is crushed by racial inequality.

One of the most significant moments is seen when the Younger family are denied access to a house in a white neighbourhood, with a white official claiming: ‘people can get awful worked up when they feel that their whole way of life and everything they’ve ever worked for is threatened’ – a quote gaining scarily more significance as the days go by during the Black Lives Matter Movement!

Commended for her efforts, Hansberry successfully used this play to move beyond conventional domestic drama, and created a world deeply enriched in political and racially charged themes that are still hugely important today.

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl – Harriet Jacobs (Autobiographical Novel).

Last but certainly not least, Harriet Jacobs writes about her journey from enslavement in the American South to her eventual escape to the North during the 19th century. As you can imagine, this journey is not easy, and the novel offers a shocking account of the physical, emotional, and mental struggles endured by the extraordinary woman. Constantly at the mercy of her white male owner, Jacobs protects her children at the expense of her own physical and mental health, hiding in a small attic for 7 years in order to evade her tormentors.

Whilst this novel reveals just one of the thousands of appalling stories soaked in the blood of slavery, Jacobs’ story of self-emancipation is one I feel like everybody should know, as it is key in understanding the history of our society that was built on the exploitation of a single race.

Other novels worthy of note:

Beloved and Song of Solomon (Toni Morrison)

Their Eyes Were Watching God (Zora Neale Hurston)

Wide Sargasso Sea (Jean Rhys)

The Souls of Black Folk (W.E.B. Du Bois)

Turner (David Dabydeen)

Here are some helpful links to continue the momentum:

Ways you can help: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/

Black Lives Matter: https://blacklivesmatter.com/

Color of change: https://colorofchange.org/

Free financial support for the cause: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCgLa25fDHM&feature=youtu.be

Abs xx