The Negro in American Society; 2; Voiceless Rage, The: The Literature of Negro Americans: Bryant Rollins

Now I'd like to bring Brian Wallace back to the podium and I know most of you have questions and probably the first question that many of you have is who is Marcus Garvey and what what was he really talking about advocating. [inaudible] Raising. [inaudible] who was marcus garvey. [inaudible] Questions. Yes. [inaudible] Fanon, F-A-N-O-N. I'm sorry Richard. Yes it's called wretched of the earth. The question is What role did Langston Hughes play in the Negro Renaissance and what. second half of it? [inaudible]

Langston Hughes Well first langston hughes was a poet and essayist. He's the poet who is the essayist in this role who has created the role of jess b semple he evolves out of the Harlem Renaissance philosophy that. Negro writers should be writing about the folk. And so he created a character whose name is jess B semple J-e-s-s actually jess be semple J-e-s-S-B-S-E-M-P- L-E translatable to just just be simple. Just be what you are. I don't think that he has had a great influence on Negro writers and I'm not sure what the reasons are. I think that one reason that it is he is very much of an individualist this kind of writer he did

not really break new ground but was simply much better at doing what other writers were trying to do at the same time. I don't think that he created any new patterns really except that the ?inaudible?his...his talent permitted him to express things that others were trying to express in a much better way. It does appear however from some research that I've heard about when I haven't read that he did have a has had quite an influence on African writers. Langston is one of those--was a romantic. Essentially. And performed a very romantic, artistic,poetic act. And when he was, I think, 21 or 22 years old he had been writing for some time and had been to college and he had lots of things that he had written and he began to look at them and I guess became a little upset and disgusted with them

and decided he's going to go to Africa wash out his past you know the intellectual life and begin again. And so he got. a ticket on a tramp...tramp steamer and as the steamer pulled out of New York Harbor, he took all of this literature, everything that he had written, which apparently is quite a bit of stuff, and threw it overboard and said I'm going to begin again. And he went to Africa and began to write all over again. But while he was there, he did meet, and also while he was in Paris, he did meet African writers, upon whom he apparently had some effect. Uh, Africans, intellectual Africans, have many of the same hang-ups that Negroes have because they have been brought up under...under a colonial system, which is ah...tends to force Western values on them. And when Langston went there, he was at a point in his life, he was feeling very nationalistic and very, very great deal of racial pride and strong

connections with Africa and with his roots in the South. And when he went to Africa, he began to talk about this to Africans and he was able to, through this kind of direct communication, influence a couple of Africans at least. With this feeling of racial pride and black nationalism and black solidarity. Does that, does that answer you? [Moderator]: Any other questions? Yes. [Rollins]: I think that that's a very significant controversy, although the Globe and others attempt to demean it. The controversy is--the question is, would I comment on the Huckleberry Finn controversy, and that controversy is a group of students at University of Massachusetts, mostly negroes, have protested against

a class in literature--I think, isn't it?--in which they are asked to read Huckleberry Finn with Twain's characterizations of Negroes. The defense says something like "This is great literature. And Jim comes out in the end as a very strong, courageous, and humane person." And I think that the accusation is that whites are not ready to see the humaneness and the courage in Jim and what they see is a gross caricature who simply carries forward for them all of the stereotypes that that they have about Negroes. Well I agree. I agree with in a sense both points of view. I agree that Jim is a, is a, you know, a human person, if you have the ability to see the humanness in him. I also agree that most whites are not at this point ready to, ready to see that humaneness. But another point that was made by the students at UMass interests me more, and

relates directly to what we're talking about--more directly; the fact that very little real good negro literature is taught, is taught in schools, and students simply are not exposed to any of the things that we have--we have mentioned tonight. I think that that I would be less wary of students receiving Huckleberry Finn if I were sure that some of these things that they had talked about, that we have talked about, had gone, had gone into their educational experience prior to that time. And so I think that my opinion would be that, that they are right, and that they should not be forced to read Huckleberry Finn and that, as a matter of fact, education in America--all of it has to be revamped, and this is just one small part. And that kind of literature should not be given to students who are not prepared for it. Yes.

[Rollins]: As a writer, Sammy Davis Jr. is a good dancer. I do think however that his book, "Yes I Can", is interesting in the same way that Claude Brown's book, "Manchild in the Promised Land", is interesting and instructive and should be read. Because it does tell people about the problems that Negroes had during the war: the racial problems that the negroes had to face during the war. And it does--it is able despite the literary weaknesses, sort of, to get across the intenseness--the intense way in which Negroes feel about being colored, and the hour by hour and minute by minute pressure that is upon Negroes when

dealing in a white society to be on guard and aware and defensive in a sense. Yes. Yes. Do I have any opinions about--about William Kelley, who's a contemporary--he's my age, and he's written "A Different Drummer," two other novels, and a book of essays. William Kelley is his name. It's very hard to comment on a person who's contemporary with you because judgement is-- lacks perspective. But I would say that he has--is not a mature novelist yet. I think that he has really great ideas, he--for example, his book "A Different Drummer" has to do with

Negroes just leaving the South and leaving all the whites flat. And that's a really nice idea you know nice kind of anti-social approach to a novel. But I don't think that, uh, as a novelist he's mature. --Yes. --Any other questions? I have no idea. I think, though, that-- I know--in Negro colleges, it's very widespread. And in this regard, Negro colleges provide a better--in terms of Negro history and Negro literature, this kind of thing, Negro colleges tend to provide a better education than white colleges. But even in white colleges where it is taught, I'm concerned about who the--which authors are selected as

examples of Negro literature and for what reasons. So I--to answer your question, I don't know what kind of courses are available in colleges. I know that I went through Northeastern University. I got, I got a really lousy education without ever having read a Negro writer or a European writer. Now that may have been a hangover from from World War 2 that we--none of us are, you know--German novels were simply not being read after World War 2. But I did not, I did not read a novel by a Negro in my educa--my formal education. Yes. No. --On a very superficial level--I do some work at a place called Educational Services Incorporated and we're working on some curriculum in Negro history

which is being tested in a couple of Roxbury schools, and we hope eventually to be able to get it into those and into more schools in Roxbury. But no, there is no intensive program to getting good literature of this kind into the schools in Roxbury or into the public schools in Boston. Yes. The question is what is my opinion about integrated primers for young children. I think that Mike. I mean I'm in favor of integrated primers with one bit of reservation. I'm interested in getting some realism into schools so I'm not interested in getting primers into the schools which show middle class Negroes living in Wellesley for example which seems to be the tendency. Most of the integrated primers simply take Dick and Jane and paint them brown. I don't think that that's a fair representation of our culture. So what I think I

have seen a couple of problems however that do give a fair representation of of our culture. And those, I'd, you know, I'd say yes get them into the schools but the other things you might as well just leave them white. My wife would know the names, she's an educator... Well the one from the one from San Francisco one in the bank street one the Chandler series. Yeah. [Audience]: [UNCLEAR] to deal with real problems that inner city kids have, due to living in a city, and there's one story called A Place Of My Own, A Room Of My Own, and it is [UNCLEAR] [UNCLEAR] but most primers are [UNCLEAR] [Rollins]: That's the Skyline series. Who put, Judy, who,

who who who publishes that you know. Yeah. McGraw-Hill. Yes. Oh. I believe in free access. I believe--in this society we ought to be working towards free access so that a person can go wherever he wants. Without harassment and without fear. From my kind of observation and from the only good piece of research that I'm aware of, Negroes are-- for--most Negroes are not interested in assimilating or moving to the suburbs. Tufts University did a survey from 1960 to 1965

and they interviewed 150 families who earn something like 5000 to 20000 dollars a year, people who would be able to move into the suburbs if they wanted to. They interviewed them in 1960 and they said "are you going to move to the suburbs?" They interviewed them in 1965 and, and said "why haven't you moved?" or "why have you moved?" if they had moved. And they found out that something like 72 percent initially said they didn't want to move. And in fact didn't and and maybe 15 percent said they did want to move and in fact did and the rest said I don't know. And and those also stayed in the ghetto. So. I'm interested in providing free access for people who want to move out. But it seems to me that most Negroes are uninterested in that. But I. So what are we going to do about conditions in Roxbury where most Negroes want to live. Seems to me we have to provide some alternatives now I'm all for busing programs so that people who want to get their kids into integrated situations but want to live in Roxbury

can do that. More importantly however since most Negroes apparently do want to live among their own. More importantly we have to begin to meet the needs of of the ghetto. And then in order to do that we have to as I say we I mean the country and particularly the government which has all the money begin to recognize grassroots movements in ghettos. And to fund those programs that people in the grassroots feel are of priority to them. Does that answer your -- --Yes. There are several bibliographies that are available now and I guess the one that I would suggest is Elizabeth Miller's book called I think "The Negro in America" or "Negro Writers and Negro in American History." I guess that's what it's called.

And it's it's just published by Harvard University Press. And it has a section on fiction and it includes all of the people that I mentioned I believe. Yes. Right. I think it's a problem--a question of semantics. I think I speak two languages and

it's like, it's if, as if I were a Frenchman and I came here and had an accent and sometimes use the wrong word and sometimes said knew what I meant something I don't speak French when I meant something that was not quite that. I do in fact speak two languages. Most Negroes do in fact speak two languages and sometimes we get our languages mixed up. And I to so I say I think it's a problem of semantics. I don't when I say we I don't always mean the country as a whole. Sometimes I do and that's why sometimes I have to stop and explain that in this particular reference my. My word refers to whatever it is. But I, that doesn't sadden me a bit, to tell you the truth. I mean it seems to me that if I were--came here and I spoke French and English, that--that wouldn't considered a detriment to be bilingual. You know you'd say that it's a great thing to have. And the more languages you can speak the more educated you are considered. And I consider myself more educated because I speak two languages.

Here. Yes. Dr. Johnson. [Audience]: I gather from your title, [UNCLEAR], and from your indication that there is a [UNCLEAR] of Negro literature that is not being read, [UNCLEAR] indicates that there is a volume of opinion, that there is a certain reference group among Negroes, there is literature or at least [UNCLEAR] which probably is a better expression of the masses of Negro people in this country examples than the few examples that perhaps you talked about. And since, I gather that your opinions of that, that in reading those, [even more mumbling]

in the mainstream. Um, I wonder if you [UNCLEAR], because if you do, it seems that you then [How are you doing today?] I see throughout Africa, African literature, that I think very often comes up [UNCLEAR] of, uh, [Tried cooking any new recipes?] [I recommend trying Southern pan-fried chicken.] [Really neat way to get fried chicken at home.] [UNCLEAR], yet

[If you're doing buttermilk though, season the buttermilk, not the chicken.] [That way it gets evenly distributed.] [Also remember to clean your oil between batches!] voiceless. And, um, whether you feel that [UNCLEAR], evidently [UNCLEAR], at one point he said that our problems, meaning the problems of black people, hear our [Speaking of which, trying putting some corn starch in there.] [Makes the crust crunchy.] [On the baking end, I really like cheesecake.] [It's pretty easy to make too.] [There's a great video by Anna Olson that shows you how to bake it.] [I'd also recommend checking out Chef John's raspberry sauce.]

[Goes great with the cheesecake.] in this voiceless literature of Negroes, what is there in the program, in the movement, [Really great dessert. My favorite, actually.] [I do recommend some sort of electric mixer though.] America ever learning about reading this literature? [Rollins]: Good. First, I'd like to say first that, the more--I submitted to Hubie the title "The Voiceless Rage". perhaps a month ago, so for posters and publicity reasons. The more I thought about it the more I realized that it was not an appropriate title. Because the rage is not voiceless. The rage is unheard. And so I'd like to make that amendment to start with. I think that the rage is expressed... probably more eloquently--our rage, the rage of our people, more eloquently than the rage of any

group or of the country as a whole against the kinds of things that, the kinds of tendencies the pressures to conform and so forth. But it is not considered a legitimate rage or the means of expression are not considered legitimate. And it is not therefore heeded or heard or understood. I think that we as a group do provide some answers to some of the problems which are certainly human problems that we do have answers to some of those problems. And they relate to our style of life. They relate to our slave history and they relate to our African past. I think that Western society, which has certainly moved with enormous technological rapidity towards something, has made some sacrifices in order to move with that

rapidity. In order to build its big buildings, in order to have progress at that rate. And I think that, and I'm trying to answer this first in general terms and then I'll get down to specifics, I think that since Negroes in this country did not participate in this technology but it's a matter of fact we're usually the the most suffering victims of the technology that Negroes were not able to participate in that-- those steps of progress. Specifically... There are some people who are getting together now trying to set up an independent private experimental school in Roxbury. Education is a very crucial issue in this country and in any country the education of that country's children. Children in this

country educated along certain lines that lead to things like competition, duty, promptness, conformity. And maybe there's a list of words that will reach to three or four times as long. But that's the tendency. I would--my feeling is that the school that we set up in Roxbury and I'm trying to to show by example ways in which I think we can bring different approaches to these problems. The school that we set up in Roxbury will be something like this. There will be no bells to designate class times. I don't know, maybe somebody's doing this already so maybe I'm not that guy. There will be no bells. Children will learn to count. Seems to me that there are other better ways to learn to count than by rote. And that's been proven by ESI. But children will learn to count Negroes. By learning to dance or by using the dance. The dance is a very significant

element in the young life of ghetto children. It seems to me that what a school should do is draw upon these elements of a lifestyle to educate. So, a child will learn to count in order to learn steps to a dance--in order to to analyze advance one must count. And I think it's a very simple thing for an educator to devise a curriculum which would use a dance for mathematics. For physics. What is a body but a better machine? For chemistry, I think it would be a very simple thing. I also think that that music could be used for some of those same things; learning rhythms learning to count by analyzing rhythms and things like that. So I'm what I saying is that by using the example of the school we do have a kind of lackadaisical thing about time. Some people say that it goes back to Africa where they have the same kind of time. This is always been considered a

detriment and the proper Negroes always said "Well, they're lazy, and they're shiftless, and they're always late, and they don't care, and they're irresponsible." Seems to me that's a very nice kind of, you know, way to live! To be irresponsible-- that's what probably most white Americans would love to do. To be irresponsible to not have to be in X place at 9:00 in the morning in another place at 10:00 to have a much more relaxed lackadaisical sense about time and promise and duty and responsibility and conformity to be more individualistic. I think that what--for example Ralph Ellison tells people is that racism in this country has tried to destroy him and his individuality in the same way--and this is where Ral--where Ellison becomes universal--in the same way that the society and the machines and the technology have tended to

destroy the individuality of everybody. And I think we have these things to offer to the society and I'm not concerned with provincialism as long as we can universalize it. As long as we can make it applicable to wider human goals. Now I have not thought this out a great deal. I have only begun to think it out probably because I'm still young but I'm sure that as I grow and grow and mature and as I learn and see things around me more and more evidences. This is not a very scientific approach. More and more evidences of this potential will reveal themselves. [applause] of.