America, has a tradition of black writers whose autobiographies and
memoirs come to define their eras from the days of slavery until today. These
are autobiographies that are also pieces of literature. We will enjoy them
as literature and in the process come to understand the history and experience
of Americans who are black.
Week 1: Narrative of the Life of Frederick
Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself (1845), an
influential piece of literature and the epitome of the antebellum fugitive
slave narrative.
Week 2: Up
From Slavery (1900), by Booker T. Washington, offers
readers insight into his life as a slave
to his becoming president and founder of
Tuskegee Institute. The book was a best-seller when
published, and remained the most popular African American autobiography until
that of Malcolm X.
Week 3: The
Big Sea (1926) [Parts I and II and the Postscript] by Langston Hughes recounts memorable years in the two great
playgrounds of the decade--Harlem and Paris. In Paris he was a cook and waiter
in nightclubs in Harlem he was a rising young poet.
Week 4: Crusade for Justice (1972, posthumously)
by Ida B. Wells, the story of an
incredibly courageous and outspoken black woman in the face of innumerable
odds, a valuable contribution to the social history of the United States and to
the literature of the women's movement as well."
Week 5: Dust Tracks on a Road (1942) by Zora Neale Hurston [first half] Hurston describes her career as a writer
during the Harlem Renaissance and her work as a cultural anthropologist.
Week 6: Dust Tracks on a Road[second half]
Week 7: Autobiography
of Malcom X (1964) [first half]:
explores the tragedies X endured as a child to his transcendence from a
criminal to a world-renown religious leader and social activist.
Week 8: Autobiography of Malcom X[second half]
Week 9: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (1969) a coming-of-age story that shows how strength of character and a love of literature can overcome racism and trauma.
Week 10: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings [second half]
Week 11: Buck, a Memoir (2013) [first half] by
M.K. Asante is the story of a rebellious boy’s journey
through the wilds of urban America [Philadelphia] and the shrapnel of a
self-destructing family.
Week 142 : Buck, a Memoir [second half]
Week 13 : When They Call You a Terrorist (2020) [first half] by Patrisse Khan-Cullors is a powerful memoir of a Black woman raised in a poor area of Los Angeles who became a co-founder of Black Lives Matter movement.
Week 14: When They Call You a Terrorist [second half]