Published in 1926, Fire!! A Quarterly Devoted to the Younger Artists, was a one-hit wonder. The magazine appeared only once, and the stock of unsold copies were, ironically, destroyed in a fire. It is all the more remarkable, then, Fire!! survives as a groundbreaking record of African American literary and artistic achievement, featuring work by seven "younger … [Read more...]
Seeing beyond Stereotypes
Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie, who some of you will remember from her novel, Americana, which was the first year orientation book for 2015, is famous for her powerful TED talk on "The Danger of a Single Story." Adichie discusses the power of storytelling—and the necessity of multiple stories—in order to dispel stereotypes: We've been reading articles, stories, and poems from … [Read more...]
“The New Negro…How Shall He Be Portrayed”
In the Crisis in 1926, W. E. B. DuBois staged a forum in which leading thinkers debated the question: "The New Negro in Art: How Shall He Be Portrayed?" For this Friday's Open Mic discussion, I've assigned a range of short essays that offer differ positions in relation to this debate. As you read them, think about which position you most identify or agree with. In keeping … [Read more...]
Souls of Black Folk, then and now
The first sentence of Chapter 1: "Of Our Spiritual Strivings," of W. E. B. DuBois's Souls of Black (1903) might sound eerily familiar to you: Between me and the other world there is ever an unasked question: unasked by some through feelings of delicacy; by others through the difficulty of rightly framing it. (9) The unasked question is, "How does it feel to be a problem?" The … [Read more...]
Picturing the New Negro
As you read through Survey Graphic, you may be aware of a subtext that haunts many of the articles, images, and advertisements. They seem to be resisting certain assumptions, arguments, or representations of African Americans, which they may or may not explicitly address. You can read closely to get a sense of what arguments they are resisting, and it also helps to read around … [Read more...]