Category: Civil Rights Movement

A Raisin In The Sun-Lorraine Hansberry

On By Genyc79In Biographies, Civil Rights MovementLeave a comment

20181205_232138In March, 2014, I had the privilege of seeing Denzel Washington on Broadway when he starred in a new production of  Lorraine Hansberry’s ‘A Raisin In the Sun’.  Hansberry’s classic play has graced the Broadway stage repeatedly throughout the years and even caught the eye of Hollywood being adapted to movie and television formats.  When she wrote the play, I don’t know if she knew then that it would go on to become a classic, but I do believe that she was fully aware that her play would have an impact on American society and the never-ending issue with race.   The play is set in a time where segregation and racial discrimination were highly prevalent throughout the United States.  We are introduced to a small American family struggling to live the American dream.  Living in a small apartment as a typical nuclear family, Walter Lee, Ruth, Travis and Lena, represent the social status of millions of African-Americans at the time.  The death of Lena’s husband results in a life insurance payout and the family now is faced with the question of what to do with the settlement.  While Walter Lee has his own idea, Mama has her own plan, one that will test every member of the family.  Her vision to buy a house in predominantly white neighborhood is the crux of the play and the most intense.  The visit by Mr. Lindner on behalf of the resident’s association highlights the discrimination and fear that gripped suburban communities as minorities attempted to leave the turmoil of the inner city during the middle of the 20th century.

Although the issue of the house is critical to the development of the play, the characters we meet are equally just as important.  Through them we are able to re-evaluate our own thoughts on marriage, religion, parent-child relationships and the relationships we have with our friends.  Hansberry’s masterpiece continues to open eyes and hearts and is a crucial piece of literature that ranks high among the works of all celebrated authors.  The true tragedy is that she didn’t live to see the legacy her play developed following her death.   Had she lived, I think she would be amazed at how far America has come since the Youngers dared to challenge social norms and make a case for integration on their own. And she would never hesitate to remind that it’s okay to sit awhile and think.

ASIN: B005U3Z5MA

Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson George Jackson and Jean Genet

On By Genyc79In Civil Rights MovementLeave a comment

51lhm14ljrl-_sy344_bo1204203200_August 21, 1971 – George Jackson is shot and killed at San Quentin Prison. He was convicted in 1961 of stealing seventy dollars from a gas station and sentenced to one year to life.  At the time of his death he had been incarcerated for ten years. And as an outspoken member of the Black Panther Party and supporter of Marxist ideology, he became a embroiled in controversy.  To this day the circumstances surrounding his death remain shrouded in mystery.  It was alleged that Jackson had a firearm in his possession but how or when he obtained the gun has never been established.  While incarcerated,  he began to record his thoughts keeping a journal and writing letters to his family members.   ‘Soledad Brother’ is the collection of the surviving letters to his family, friends and acquaintances.  A foreword is provided by his nephew Jonathan Jackson, Jr. , whose father Jonathan met his own tragic fate when he was shot and killed on August 7, 1970 in a shootout with authorities during a foiled attempt to force the release of George and two co-defendants.  The group was known as the Soledad Brothers and had been charged with the murder of prison guard John Vincent Mills.  Also killed in foiled the attempt was Marin County Judge Harold Haley.   While it has never been proven that George was involved in the deaths of the guard or Judge Haley, his name is forever linked to their deaths.  And during the trial of Angela Davis several years later, their correspondence became the center of the case and helped Davis win her acquittal.

The beauty of the book is the mind of Jackson on full display for the reader.  While incarcerated his sharpened his mind and pen through deep analytical thought and extensive writing.  Had he not been in San Quentin, he very well could have walked alongside Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton.  The tragedy of George Jackson is the surreal jail sentence for such a petty crime and his untimely death that has never fully been explained.  The youths of today have no idea who Jackson is and most will never read this book.  Over time he has been forgotten by students of the civil rights movement and even those committed to prison reform.  His life and death are a textbook example of the systematic discrimination that has ended the lives of thousands of young African-American men.  There are hundreds of thousands of prisoners in prison today convicted on flimsy evidence and given overly harsh sentences in a criminal justice system that suffers from the bias of those tasked with upholding the blindness of justice.

At first Jackson might come off as angry or even charged. But is necessary to remember the social and political climate in which he lived and died.  His letters are filled with his thoughts on the prison system, the civil rights movement and the relationships with his family members in particular his father.  In his letter Jackson admits to his faults and its evidently clear that in his life he has acted on some occasions with blatant disregard for himself and others and without a clear mind.   He was no angel but far from the demon that he was once portrayed to be.  As he found his voice, he became an outlet for the rising anger and frustration of Black Americans and in his writings, he accurately relays the mindset that many of his peers began to develop.  And if he had lived, I believe that he would have written books and given speeches about the reality of prison and the movement for civil rights.

This book is a forgotten gem that should be added to the library of the many books of the struggle for civil rights in America.  Jackson is either loved or hated but his words are accurate and necessary in the process of reformation to correct the horrors of discrimination.   For those who want to know more about this controversial and enlightening figure, this is the place to start.

ISBN-10: 1556522304
ISBN-13: 978-1556522307

Huey: Spirit of the Panther- David Hilliard with Kent and Keith Zimmerman

On By Genyc79In Civil Rights Movement1 Comment

indexOn August 22, 1989, Huey P. Newton was shot killed on a street corner in Oakland, California.  He was 47 years old.  The charismatic Newton was the co-founder of the Black Panther Party with Bobby-Seale and became an icon for revolution.  The image of the Newton sitting with a rifle in one hand and a spear in other while wearing the Panthers’ trademark leather jacket is one of the most recognized of the era. It is the cover of this book but only tells part of the story of the late icon’s life. David Hilliard served as chief of staff for the party and became well acquainted with Newton.  This is a collection of his memories from his time with Huey, the Panthers and the movement watched by entire world.  Newton himself wrote several book, as the best-selling Revolutionary Suicide, could be considered a semi-autobiography.  However its main strength is also its main weakness for that Newton is the only one telling the story.  Hilliard’s account proves itself valuable as another look at Newton and his significance to the party and the movement.

Complex is an adjective often used to describe some of history’s greatest figures.  For Newton, this adjective is highly accurate.   Here we are presented with the good, the bad and at times, the ugly.  His studies of Marx, Engels, Mao and Fanon served as the basis for his belief for armed struggle and the willingness to use violence whenever necessary.  For most of his life, he was a functional illiterate as he pointed out himself on multiple occasions.  Fighting resulted in expulsion from several schools in the Oakland area. And as an adult, he went on trial several times for the charge of murder only to be acquitted in the end.  His extreme rhetoric and descent into drug use cast him down a hill from which he never recovered.  However, as Hilliard shows us, there was a good side to Newton and his commitment to the cause sprang from emotion and strong convictions.   Newton himself once said that the first thing a revolutionary must understand is that he is doomed from the start. It is a tragic fate that those committed to social upheaval must be willing to accept as they put their lives on the line in the service to humanity.

The book features two guest writers, Gwen Fontaine and Fredrika Newton. Fontaine was Newton’s first wife and was married to him from 1974-1983.   As a mother of two children, she invites Newton into her life and the lives of her children.   Her memories of life with Newton highlight his erratic behavior at the time and the demons he began to face as his drug use escalated.  And as he continued to spiral downward, a strain was placed upon the relationship fracturing it past the point of no return.  In 1984, Newton married his second wife Fredrika who remained with him up until the time of his death.  Her words serve as the last testament to Huey’s life and legacy.

Hilliard is currently a visiting professor for the University of New Mexico where he teaches courses on the history of the Black Panther Party.   He and Fredrika founded the Huey P. Newton Foundation in 1993 with its base of operations in Vallejo, California.  The Panthers are a shadow of what they once were during the turbulent 1960s.  The United States has made much social progress over the past 50 years but the stains from the policies of Jim Crow and legally sanctioned segregation and discrimination haunt the nation as it confronts its past.   But if we are to understand our past and how we can shape our future, we will do a service to ourselves to look to books such as this for a look into a time in American history where the nation almost became completely unhinged as a new brand of revolutionaries made their voices heard.

ISBN-10: 1560258977
ISBN-13: 978-1560258971