Living Our Stories, Telling Our Truths Autobiography and the Making of the African-American Intellectual Tradition

by Franklin, V. P.

• ISBN13: 9780195103731
• ISBN10: 0195103734
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1996-08-08
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

From the publication of the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass in 1845 to Brent Staples' Parallel Time in the 1990s, the autobiography has been the most important literary genre in the African-American intellectual tradition. This book provides a comprehensive examination of African-American intellectual history, presenting original interpretations of the lives and thought of 12 major black American writers and political leaders who have played a central role in this powerful literary genre.

Author Biography

V.P. Franklin is Professor of History at Drexel University in Philadelphia. He co-editor of New Perspectives on Black Educational History and author of The Education of Black Philadelphia and Black Self-Determination.

Table of Contents

Preface	9	(2)
Introduction	11	(10)
1. Alexander Crummell: Defining Matters of Principle	21	(38)
2. Ida Wells-Barnett: To Tell the Truth Freely	59	(36)
3. James Weldon Johnson: The Creative Genius of the Negro	95	(44)
4. Harry Haywood: In Defense of the Black Working Class	139	(46)
5. Richard Wright and Zora Neale Hurston: Conflicting Blueprints for Black Writing	185	(38)
6. The Autobiographical Legacy of W.E.B. Du Bois	223	(52)
7. The Confessions of James Baldwin	275	(44)
8. Malcolm X and the Resurrection of the Dead	319	(28)
9. Gwendolyn Brooks and Amiri Baraka: The Creation of a Black Literary Aesthetic	347	(44)
10. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.: The Need for Independent Black Leadership	391	(27)
Notes	418	(37)
Index	455