Public Participation Partners | The Power of Words: A Celebration of Black History Month
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The Power of Words: A Celebration of Black History Month

24 Feb The Power of Words: A Celebration of Black History Month

Posted at 15:13h in Influential People by
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We at Public Participation Partners believe that words matter. The words of the community members we speak with and those that fill out surveys have tremendous value; these words express opinions and perspectives that will be forever unknown if we don’t listen. Words are powerful, and our Black History Month feature figures know just how powerful they can be.

Journey from the past to the present to learn a little more about just a few of the African American and Black authors who have used their words to create movements and change.

W.E.B. DuBois

(1868 – 1963)

William Edward Burghardt (W.E.B.) Du Bois was born on February 23, 1868 in Massachusetts. Even though he grew up in a town with a White majority, Du Bois freely attended school and received support from teachers. It was not until he moved to Tennessee that he fully understood the impact of the Jim Crow laws and racism in America. Du Bois earned a bachelor’s degree from Fisk University and then attended Harvard University, first for a master’s and later, he became the first African American to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard.

From 1896-1897, DuBois taught at the University of Pennsylvania as an assistant professor in sociology. While in Pennsylvania, he completed work for his study published in 1899, The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study, which began his career in writing. In 1897, Du Bois started teaching at Atlanta University and began organizing a series of conferences called Atlanta University Studies of the Negro Problem. While teaching at Atlanta University, Du Bois also publicly criticized Booker T. Washington’s “Atlanta Compromise” speech, as it did not call for complete equality for African Americans as promised in the 14th amendment.

Over the course of his literary career, Du Bois wrote various novels, publications, and essay collections. Some of his most famous were “The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches” (1903), “Black Reconstruction in America, 1860-1880” (1935), “Black Folk, Then and Now” (1939), and Color and Democracy: Colonies and Peace (1945). His work largely focused on the role and struggles of African Americans within American society. It also focused on calling for equality and independence for African Americans.

In addition to his literary accomplishments, Du Bois was a prominent activist: he was a co-chairman on the Council on African Affairs, he attended peace congresses in New York, Paris, and Moscow, and he ran for the U.S. Senate in New York on the American Labor Party ticket. He was also a large advocate for Pan-Africanism and organized Pan-African congresses across the globe, working to free African colonies from European powers.

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Zora Neale Hurston

(1891 – 1960)

Zora Neale Hurston grew up as a rambunctious preacher’s daughter in Eatonville, Florida, a rural community that was the nation’s first incorporated Black township. After her mother’s death in her teenage years, Hurston joined a traveling troupe as a maid until she found her way to Baltimore. There, she lied about her age to finish high school and later went on to attend Howard University to earn her associate’s degree.

During her later time as a student at Barnard College, Hurston befriended other writers and joined the Black cultural movement happening in Harlem. She received a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology in 1927, a field which greatly influenced her writings. Hurston dedicated herself to studying Black culture and took trips to Haiti and Jamaica “to study the religions of the African diaspora.”*

Hurston’s studies and Southern roots informed her writing. Throughout her life, she published novels, folklore, essays, plays, and more, including her now famous novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. Her work was often criticized by other Black authors of the time, as she wrote in Southern Black dialect like she herself spoke, rather than in what was considered a more refined voice. However, Hurston’s writing ultimately paved the way for many Black Southern writers to share their voices.

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James Baldwin

(1924 – 1987)

James Baldwin grew up in Harlem in New York City as the eldest of nine children. His stepfather was a preacher, and despite a tumultuous relationship with him, Baldwin was a youth preacher at a local revivalist church from age 14 to 16. Later in life, Baldwin cited this youth preaching as what turned him into a writer.

At 18, Baldwin left Harlem to take a series of odd-end jobs, including working on the railroad in New Jersey and later freelance writing in Greenwich Village in NYC. In 1948, Baldwin traveled to Paris and later Switzerland to get distance from America to better write about his experiences. In Switzerland, Baldwin finished his first novel, Go Tell It On A Mountain, a semi-autobiographical account of growing up in Harlem as a Black man. This novel was one of the first to describe an in-depth account of the struggles of Black Americans.

Baldwin continued to travel from place to place as he wrote, but returned to the U.S. in the early 1960s, propelled by a responsibility to contribute to the Civil Rights Movement taking place. His writings, and as such, his voice, became one of the early and prominent voices of the Civil Rights Movement through his essays in Notes of a Native Son and Nobody Knows My Name, as well as his novel The Fire Next Time. His novel Another Country, published in 1962, was also renowned for its depiction of bisexual and interracial relationships, which were both taboo at the time. Baldwin’s writings are his legacy, pointing out racial struggles and calling for equality for all.

Sources:

  • PBS. (2006, November 29). James Baldwin Biography. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  • Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2020, November 27). James Baldwin. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved February 22, 2021.

Maya Angelou

(1928 – 2014)

Maya Angelou was born in 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. Her parents separated when she was young, and Angelou and her brother were sent to live with her grandmother in Arkansas. There, she experienced racism firsthand, and at the age of 7 she was raped by her mother’s boyfriend. Her uncles then killed the man after finding out what happened. The trauma of this experience caused Angelou to become a virtual mute, and she spent years without talking.

During WWII, Angelou moved to San Francisco to study dance and acting at the California Labor School, and she also became the first Black cable car conductor. She began a singing and acting career, eventually starring in an off-Broadway production of Calypso Heat Wave and releasing her first album, Miss Calypso, in 1957. Angelou’s acting and singing career was successful; she was the first Black woman to have a screenplay produced, she was nominated for a Tony for her part in Look Away (1973), and she was nominated for an Emmy for her work in the TV series Roots (1977).

In the 1950s, Angelou also became a member of the Harlem Writers Guild and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). She was the SCLC’s northern coordinator, organizing and starring in an event for the latter organization called Cabaret for Freedom. This event helped raise money from the SCLC’s Civil Rights Campaign and was attended by many Black celebrities, including Sidney Poitier, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, and Lorraine Hansberry.

Angelou began writing as a freelance writer and was offered a deal with Random House to write an autobiography. At first, she refused, but changed her mind and wrote I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which was published in 1968. This was the first of six autobiographies Angelou wrote, the final one being A Song Flung up to Heaven in 2002.

Angelou was also a poet, writing about a variety of topics including Black beauty, social justice, opposing the Vietnam war, and the strength of women. Her collection of poems Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘fore I Diiie was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Angelou would perform poems in front of crowds and won multiple Grammy awards for her recitations. Angelou also published collections of essays, the last of which was titled Letter to my Daughter in 2008. In 2013, she was awarded the Literarian Award. Angelou passed away in 2014, but her contributions to writing and American culture live on.

Sources:

  • Biography.com Editors (February 3, 2021). “Maya Angelou.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television. Retrieved on February 22, 2021.
  • “Maya Angelou.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation. Retrieved on February 22, 2021.

Rita Dove

(1952 – present)

Rita Dove was born in Akron, Ohio in 1952. From a young age, she was encouraged to read, and she excelled in school. She was a Presidential Scholar and attended Miami University in Ohio as a National Merit Scholar. After Miami University, she attended Tübingen University in Germany through the Fulbright Program. Then, she went to Iowa University to study creative writing and published her first book of poetry, The Yellow House on the Corner, in 1980. From 1981 to 1989, Dove taught at Arizona State University, but left that position to teach at the University of Virginia.

Throughout her literary career, Dove has published poetry collections as well as collections of short stories. In her work, she focuses on familial relationships and struggles, especially regarding the African American experience. Her work Thomas and Beulah (1986) won a Pulitzer Prize. In 1993, Dove became poet laureate of the United States by the Library of Congress; she was the first African American to be appointed to this position, as well as the youngest person to be appointed.

Dove’s Collected Poems: 1974-2004 (2016) received the 2017 NAACP Image Award and the 2017 Library of Virginia Award. It was also nominated for the National Book Award. Dove has also received the Wallace Stevens Award from the Academy of American Poets, the Heinz Award in the Arts and Humanities, a Common Wealth Award, and a National Humanities Medal.

Throughout her life, Dove has been an advocate for literature and has worked to increase public interest in the literary arts. During her time as poet laureate, she travelled and conducted readings in a variety of places, including schools and hospitals, to encourage more people to be interested in literature. Now, Dove is a professor of English at the University of Virginia.

Sources:

  • “Rita Dove.” (n.d.). Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  • Tikkanen, Amy. (n.d.) “Rita Dove.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.. Retrieved on February 22, 2021.

Amanda Gorman

(1998 – present)

Raised in Los Angeles, California, Gorman spent her formative years finding her voice in more ways than one. Gorman was born with a speech impediment that she spent years overcoming. However, Gorman feels that her disability has been a catalyst for her poetry and performances, giving her a deeper understanding and appreciation for the sound of words.

In 2014, at the age of 16, Gorman became the Youth Poet Laureate of Los Angeles. In 2019, as a sophomore at Harvard University, Gorman became the first National Youth Poet Laureate. Her poetry focuses on social and economic inequalities and works to continue conversations on power and privilege. As quoted by The Harvard Crimson in 2017, Gorman said, “There’s a chant I say to myself whenever I am about to perform: ‘I’m the daughter of black writers, we are descended from freedom fighters, who broke chains and changed the world.’ It’s a reminder of the shoulders I stand on.”

At the age of 22, Gorman became the youngest poet to recite at a presidential inauguration. She found herself writing the poem in the isolation of COVID-19 and during the storming of the U.S. Capital in January 2021. “I wasn’t trying to write something in which those events were painted as an irregularity or different from an America that I know,” said Gorman, as quoted by the Los Angeles Times. “America is messy. It’s still in its early development of all that we can become. And I have to recognize that in the poem. I can’t ignore that or erase it. And so I crafted an inaugural poem that recognizes these scars and these wounds. Hopefully, it will move us toward healing them.”

Sources:

There was no possible way for us to honor all of the Black and African American figures who have made a long-lasting impact on our nation and who are currently working to enact positive change. Listed below are a couple additional sources to find more information about Black and African American leaders who have shaped American history and culture.

About the Authors:

Deirdre Scanlon is the Communications Engagement Manager for Public Participation Partners (P3). When not dreaming up new ways to equitably engage the public, you can find Deirdre tending to her houseplants or walking the trails of Raleigh, NC.

Katie Maynard started her journey with Public Participation Partners as a Community Engagement Assistant in January 2020. When not assisting with public involvement, Katie enjoys reading, traveling to the beach, and spending time with her pets.

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1Comment
  • johnetta perry
    Posted at 17:05h, 24 February

    Well done!