New Edition: The Souls of Black Folk

Now available for your classroom, Jonathan Scott Holloway's
new introduction to an iconic text of the 20th century

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The Souls of Black Folkby W. E. B. Du Bois; With an Introduction and Chronology by Jonathan Scott Holloway "Given that thousands of pages have been written on Du Bois and his magnum opus, it is truly remarkable that Holloway manages to convey the richness and diversity of both man and text in so short a space."—Nico Slate, Carnegie Mellon University "Jonathan Scott Holloway's graceful new introduction brings Souls forward to a new generation as more than a primary source of our racial past, now serving as a scythe to help cut through the maddening claims of a post-racial present."—Davarian L. Baldwin, author of Chicago's New Negroes A masterpiece in the African American canon—part prose poem, part sociological tract, part memoir, part manifesto—this collection of essays by arguably the most influential African American leader of the early twentieth century offers insightful commentary on black history, racism, and the struggles of black Americans following emancipation. See an excerpt of the book at yalebooks.com.

The Vernacular Tradition: Spirituals and Gospel Music

In our text, Henry Louis Gates points out the nebulous line between the 'spiritual' and 'gospel' music. This line, according to Gates "is so slight that it seems contrived" (19). The Spirituals that are featured in our text represent the early modes of coping during the early days of slavery. Spirituals such as "Go Down Moses" were the means by which slaves articulated their earthly sufferings and covertly militated against the horrors of bondage. These songs were not restricted to the church, but were integrated into the daily life of the slave. For the slave of the plantation, there was no finite distinction between 'the sacred and the secular,' for spirituality was part of daily existence. Gates quotes Lawrence Levine who observed that for the slave, "the concept of the sacred signified a strong will to incorporate 'within this world all the elements of the divine'": a characteristic thread that connected the generations back to their origins in West Africa (8).

Gospel music, like the early spirituals, is yet another vernacular form in which performers have signified on European traditions. The early hymns of Isaac Watts have, over time, been re-presented in a "Gospel Manner," that features the "highly percussive, polyrhythmically syncopated, and bluesy" form that is associated with this musical form (19). What is noteworthy about the gospel tradition here, is that the emphasis lies in a redemption that aligns heaven with freedom, drawing from the Exodus and Mosaic myths to envision the soul being elevated from a lifelong toil and oppression, to freedom with God.



Spirituals: Tuskegee Institute Jubilee Singers

Fisk University (Nashville): Founded in following the Civil War to educated freed slaves.

The Fisk Jubilee singers were organized by the university's treasurer, George L. White, as a means to garner income for the university as it was facing bankruptcy. In the fall of 1871, the group which consisted of nine members (two quartets and a pianist) commenced a multi-state tour throughout northern and midwestern cities.

In 2002, the Library of Congress honored the Fisk singers by including their 1900 recording of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" to the U.S. National Recording Registry. Below is a reproduction of that recording:

Samantha Thornhill to Appear at Southwest

Southwest’s Languages and Literature Department

   presents

Samantha Thornhill

Thornhill is a Brooklyn-based poet, educator, and curator from Trinidad and Tobago who will visit Southwest Tennessee Community College on April 23 at 1 p.m. She will be presenting at the Union Avenue Campus, Parrish 101. 

Thornhill has been invited to share her versatile works in a variety of contexts across the U.S., Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean. After graduating with her MFA in poetry from the University of Virginia, Thornhill moved to New York City, where for the past decade she’s been teaching poetry to actors at The Juilliard School. She teaches creative workshops to the elderly, as well as urban and rural youth. Seventeen literary journals and anthologies have featured her poems, and in 2010, Scholastic Books published her ode to the folk legend Odetta in picture book form. She is currently producing and co-directing a documentary about the teenage daughters of incarcerated fathers, and is a content curator for Russell Simmons' YouTube channel, All Def Poetry.

Thornhill will also be conducting a poetry workshop earlier the same day, April 23, at 10:30 a.m. in the same venue, Parrish 101, on the Union Avenue Campus. The workshop is limited to six participants with preference given to Southwest students. If you would like to participate, please send a manuscript of no more than four poems to Jerome Wilson at wjwilson2@southwest.tn.edu no later than April 17.

The reading is free and open to the public.

NOTE: There will be a reception for Ms. Thornhill later that afternoon at the home of Jerome Wilson starting at 5:30PM. Address: 41 S. Rembert, 38104 (between Union and Madison)

The workshop and public reading is sponsored by Southwest’s Student Activities

http://www.samanthaspeaks.com/

Carter G. Woodson Celebration and African American Read-In

Born in New Canton, Virginia in 1875, Carter G. Woodson, the son of former slaves, would become one of the most important figures in African American history. An historian and journalist, Woodson received his Ph.D. in history from Harvard in 1912, making him the second African American to earn a doctorate after W.E.B. DuBois. 

Woodson eventually founded Negro History Week--which later evolved as African American History Month. He would also found The Journal of Negro History and the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. As a youngster, he came from a large, poor family who could not afford a formal education for their son. However, like many self-motivated and determined black leaders, Woodson became self-educated at a young age. By the time he reached his late teens, he had demonstrated his proficiency in elementary and secondary school subjects. Eager to learn more, he left for Fayette County to work and gradually earn his education. By the time he reached twenty, he had earned a high school diploma and then went on to teach and superintend Douglass High School in 1900 (1). 

In the early half of the twentieth century, African American educators, philosophers, sociologists and historians were examining the past with an eye to influencing the direction of the African American demographic and its future in the U.S. Nationalistic ideals and calls for solidarity influenced by Marcus Garvey, among others, promulgated an insistent look at the cultural background and ancestry of African descendants in the U.S., as well as a reclamation of communal experience. Woodson and others were faced with the the popular, pet theories and racist assumptions about blacks "having no history" shared by his white contemporaries. Hence, Woodson set out to immerse himself in research. His discoveries revealed that not only did African Americans have a history, it was one worthy of documenting--and celebrating. One source observes that Woodson remarked that historically, blacks "were overlooked, ignored, and even suppressed by the writers of history textbooks and the teachers who use[d] them" (2). He sought to underscore the fact of a white dominant society's control over the telling of history, "to the effect that the Negro has never contributed anything to the progress of mankind" (3).

This month, Dr. Malinda Wade has reassembled an annual celebration of Dr. Woodson and his career and contributions to a growing knowledge and understanding of African American cultural and historical production. This celebration is scheduled to take place here at Southwest Tennessee Community College  on February 10th in the Vertie Sails gymnasium at 10:45 a.m. Please come and show your support.

In addition, Dr. Wade has organized an "African American Read-In" to take place at Macon and Union campuses at noon on February 23rd (information on specific venue is forthcoming). I encourage my students to volunteer to read and become part of this very worthwhile event. 

Venture Smith: An Early Slave Narrativist

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Venture Smith

(1729?-1805)

"Compared to the internationally famous autobiography of Olaudah Equiano, A Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Venture, A Native of Africa drew little notice when it appeared in New London, Connecticut, in 1798. Equiano, whom his biographer Vincent Caretta called 'a master of self-promotion through the book trade' in Great Britain, was able to parlay his royalties from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (1789) into profits that made him probably the wealthiest man of African descent in England in the last decade of the eighteenth century. By contrast, Venture Smith seems to have realized little, if any, monetary gain from the publication of his narrative, which, unlike Equiano's, was never reprinted during Smith's lifetime. Surveying all his 'griefs,' 'pains,' and 'losses' at the hands of 'knaves,' 'false hearted friends,' and even 'my own countrymen whom I have assisted and redeemed from bondage,' Smith ends his story grimly echoing the preacher in Ecclesiastes: 'Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.' The upbeat tone and can-do quality of mind that helped Equiano's story of assimilation and success appeal so much to English and American readers differ markedly from Smith's matter-of-fact, at times embittered, recollection of a lifetime of struggle to ear a hard-won freedom from slavery and then to attain social respect and economic security" (Gates and Smith 94).

Historians have observed that Smith was born the 'son of a prince of of the tribe of Dukandarra" sometime around 1729. Originally called Broteer Furro, Smith's young life was plagued with trauma: his father was tortured to death, invading tribes brought about the separation from family when he was kidnapped before he reached the age of ten. He was then purchased by a man named Robinson Mumford and boarded the slave ship, Charming Susanna. Mumford re-christened the boy "Venture," as he deemed him a business venture. The boy was then put to work in Mumford's home in Fisher's Island, New York, as a house servant until he was burdened with more arduous tasks (1). 

By the age of 22, Venture married another slave named Meg, with whom he had a daughter, Hannah. Convinced by an Irish indentured servant, he attempted an escape, but was brought back to face the punishment of sale. According to our text, Smith was then sold to a man who offered him a chance to earn his freedom. This man never followed through on his promise, and Venture was later sold again. Smith's third owner hired him as a 'wood cutter, farmer, and fisherman so he could raise the money for his purchase price." By the time he reached the age of 36, Venture Smith purchased his own freedom. 

The editors of our text point out that Smith's Narrative differs greatly in tone, language, and emphasis from that of Olaudah Equiano's memoir. While Equiano's memoir emphasizes the subject's eventual freedom as cause for jubilation, Smith's narrative conveys little of the celebratory enthusiasm of his contemporary. What Smith does emphasize right away, however, is the fact of his humanity and the damnable sense of wasted human potential. "[H]ad he received only a common education," his amanuensis writes, "might have been a man of high respectability and usefulness; and had his education been suited to his genius, he might have been an ornament and an honor to human nature. It may perhaps, not be unpleasing to see the efforts of a great mind wholly uncultivated, enfeebled and depressed by slavery, and struggling under every disadvantage. The reader may here see a Franklin or a Washington, in a state of nature, or rather in a state of slavery. Destitute as he is of all education, and broken by hardships and infirmities of age, he still exhibits striking traces of native ingenuity and good sense" (Gates and Smith 95). 

Equiano's narrative does much to insist upon the humanity and civilization of its subject--as well as the advancement of his own African culture; however, Equiano's life proved self-actualized. Where Equiano later revels in the eventual fortune and freedom he achieved, Here, Smith laments what could have been.