Go There To Know There

thefederalistpapers.org According to our text, the early twentieth century saw a momentary enthusiasm for remembering Douglass as one of the most memorable and formidable anti-slavery speakers, lecturers, and intellects. However, it was not until the 1960s, in which the nation saw a cry for Black Studies programs in colleges and universities, that the life and work of Frederick Douglass was reconsidered. In a rare instance, the African American publication, Ebony magazine published an article on Douglass. The post-modern era of Civil Rights Activism caused black intellectuals to cast a backward glance at the endeavors of their forebears. The article began: "Born a slave, he escaped to freedom while still young and devoted a long and fruitful life to the winning of freedom for all Negroes. A fervent integrationist, he was the first of the 'freedom riders' and 'sit iners.' He felt that true freedom could not com for him until all Negroes were free and equal...

Readings Covered: “Still I Rise,” (2156); and “My Arkansas” (2157); Morrison’s “Rootedness: The Ancestor as Foundation,” 2286-2290; Walker’s “In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens,” 2430-2437) The women pictured above should need no lengthy introduction; in fact, each should be readily recognizable: Moving clockwise, they are Alice Walker, Maya Angelou, and Toni Morrison. Each of these women contributed largely, in their unique ways, to creating a growing canon of African American women writers, who looked back to ancestors for strength, guidance, nurturing, and inspiration. Alice Walker once described her experience in writing her acclaimed novel, The Color Purple , as performing the task of mediumship: that is, she imagined herself as an interlocutor between her spiritual mentor, and the character of Celie. Walker, who is a well-respected essayist and novelist attributes much of her inspiration to Zora Neale Hurston, whom she rediscovered in 1970. Angelou, whose best-selling and...