When Ivanka Trump quotes Toni Morrison’s “Beloved” in her recent book, she does everything I tell my students not to: she reduces the work to herself.
Tag Archives: slavery
Ivanka Doesn’t Understand “Beloved”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Beloved, Ivanka Trump, Toni Morrison, Women Who Work, working women Comments closed
Must I Dwell in Slavery’s Night?
In anticipation of Passover, I share a poem composed by the African American slave George Moses Horton.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Passover", "Slave's Complaint", Exodus, George Moses Horton Comments closed
Lift Every Voice and Sing
Both Martin Luther King and James Weldon Johnson, in “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” drew strength and courage from the Book of Exodus.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Civil Rights Movement, Exodus, James Weldon Johnson, Lift Every Voice and Sing, Martin Luther King Comments closed
Light a Land Whose Children Shall Be Free
Phoebe Cary’s 1849 poem about a bountiful harvest turns sour as she considers slaves who are not harvesting a bounty for themselves. Her Christian imagery anticipates the way Christian beliefs would bolster those fighting against slavery twelve years later.
Butler & Grappling with White Privilege
The figure of the white husband in Octavia Butler’s “Kindred” captures many of the blind spots of white privilege. Examining him led me to examine how I myself have benefitted from America’s slave past.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Kindred, Octavia Butler, race relations, reparations, white privilege Comments closed
We Must Revisit Slavery To Find Healing
After attending some remarkable reconciliation events dealing with America’s history of slavery, I now have a better understanding of Octavia Butler’s time travel novel about slavery–and about why the protagonist doesn’t escape back to the present unharmed.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Kindred, Octavia Butler, racial reconciliation, racism Comments closed
Whitman, Melville & Abolitionism
Walt Whitman and Herman Melville’s revolutionary visions of egalitarian societies shaped how Abolitionists thought about America’s potential.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Abolition Movement, Civil War, Herman Melville, Leaves of Grass, Moby Dick, Walt Whitman Comments closed
Clifton Brings Black History Alive
Lucille Clifton insists on the telling the historical truth, even if it makes whites uncomfortable.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "at the cemetery", "i am accused of tending to the past", "lucifer speaks in his own voice", African American history, Black History Month, Lucille Clifton Comments closed
The Jordan River Continues to Inspire
The River Jordan, an inspiring image for American slaves, has worked it was into contemporary African American poems, including those of Lucille Clifton.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "blessing the boats", "poem in praise of menstruation", Freedom, Lucille Clifton Comments closed
