Gobbets Sources 1900-1920s (Q2) Flashcards
Who was James Weldon Johnson?
He was an AA author, poet and social activist
What movement was James Weldon Johnson influential in?
The Harlem Renaissance
What was James Weldon Johnson known for?
His poems, novel, and anthologies collecting poems and spirituals of Black culture
When did James Weldon Johnson publish the Book of American Negro Spirituals ?
1925
Who referenced James Weldon Johnson in their 1938 work?
Benjamin Mays
What was James Weldon Johnson’s affiliation the NAACP?
He was the 1st AA to be chosen for the role of Executive Secretary
When did James Weldon Johnson serve as the NAACP’s Executive Secretary?
From 1920-30
What are some examples of James Weldon Johnson’s anti-lynching activism? (2)
He was involved in a campaign to pass the Federal Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill
He spoke at the 1919 Conference on Lynching
Where did James Weldon Johnson teach?
Fisk University
Why was Fisk University significant?
It was the first AA institution to gain accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in 1930
Where was James Weldon Johnson born?
Florida
Where was James Weldon Johnson’s mother from?
The Caribbean
When did James Weldon Johnson move to NYC?
During the Great Migration with his brother
What did James Weldon Johnson think about Church involvement in anti-lynching work?
It was imperative
When was the Power of the Negro Church published?
1917
Who wrote the Power of the Negro Church?
James Weldon Johnson
Why does James Weldon Johnson believe the Negro Church is powerful?
It is the only institution over which AAs exercised sole power
What is James Weldon Johnson calling for Black ministries to do?
To recognise the Power of the Black Church and use it accordingly
What does James Weldon Johnson believe the Black Church needs to begin doing and stop doing?
Actually engage in activism, and not just secure funding for aesthetics and beautifying Churches
What according to James Weldon Johnson does the Black Church have the power to do and should be doing?
Form the base of a movement to uplift the race and fight for black rights
Why does James Weldon Johnson say the Black church is relatively more powerful than the White Church?
Because through this one medium, the entire race was reached
What does the Power of the Negro Church being written just before the end of the war mean contextually?
This was a time when the council had to address its impact and many people’s dwindling faith as they felt abandoned by God
What does James Weldon Johnson’s The Power of the Negro Church suggest about the arguments of Savage (2008) and Dorrien (2015)?
That there was a desire in this period for linking the Church and activism but that this was not occurring on any widespread scale - thus proving both Dorrien and Savage are correct in a way
What is James Weldon Johnson’s Autobiography called?
Along This Way
When was James Weldon Johnson’s Along This Way published?
Shortly before his death
What does James Weldon Johnson’s autobiography widely discuss?
His youth, how segregation and JC came to pervade Southern states, descriptions of lynching, Johnson’s activism to bring an end to lynching, and how he was almost lynched
What sort of Bishop was Reverdy C Ransom?
A Methodist Bishop (from 1924)
What was Reverdy C Ransom’s political leaning?
He was a socialist
Which activist groups was Reverdy C Ransom involved in?
Afro-American Council and the Niagara Movement
Where did Reverdy C Ransom’s social activism create problems him?
In African methodist internal politics
Where did Reverdy C Ransom move to from Chicago?
Boston
Where did Reverdy C Ransom move to from Boston?
NYC
Why did Reverdy C Ransom move around so much?
Due to his outspoken views
What was Reverdy C Ransom’s affiliation the NAACP?
He was one of its founders
What did Goddard describe Boston as?
The centre of Northern Black radicalism
What publication was Reverdy C Ransom elected editor of?
AME Church Review
What sort of articles often appeared in AME Church Review?
Articles concerning AA rights
What did Reverdy C Ransom found?
The Institutional Church and Settlement Movement
Which University did Reverdy C Ransom attend?
Wilberforce University
Which church was Wilberforce affiliated with?
The AME Church
What did Reverdy C Ransom resent about Wilberforce?
Its authoritarian atmosphere and conservative ideology
Why did Reverdy C Ransom have to transfer back to Wilberforce from Oberlin College?
He lost his scholarship after challenging racial discrimination at the liberal white institution
Why did Reverdy C Ransom believe AAs experienced hardship?
Because God was strengthening them to be a better instrument to help bring the African race to its rightful position in American society
What did Reverdy C Ransom believe about world resource allocation?
That there was enough to care for all humanity but the distribution of them was wrongly handled
What did Reverdy C Ransom believed AAs and whites had to do?
Work together to build a democratic Christian society
What did Reverdy C Ransom think about back-to-Africa rhetoric?
He questioned it
What did Reverdy C Ransom argue AA Christianity was?
A social force
According to Dorrien, who is more responsible than anyone for bringing social gospel into the mainstream of the AME Church?
Reverdy C Ransom
What does Dorrien say Reverdy C Ransom prefigured?
Everything that came to be called liberation theology
When was the Race Problem in a Christian State given? (Ransom)
1906
What was Ransom’s the Race Problem in a Christian State originally?
An address to a white congregation at Park Street Church in Boston as part of Race Relations Sunday
Why did Ransom leave his previous congregation in Chicago?
Because of his outspoken support and involvement in activist groups
What does Reverdy C Ransom address in the Race Problem in a Christian State?
Continued social equality in America
Why according to Reverdy C Ransom should there be no race problem in a Christian state?
Because it goes against the foundings of Christianity and the spirit of Jesus
What Biblical scripture support’s Reverdy C Ransom’s claims that racism goes against the foundings of Christianity?
Galatians 3:28 - there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave or free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus
What does Reverdy C Ransom encourage between men in The Race Problem in a Christian State?
A brotherhood between men that transcends race and economic disparity
What does Reverdy C Ransom say is the fundamental purpose of a Christian state in Race Problem?
To emulate the teachings and character of Christ
According to Reverdy C Ransom, is America living up to the purpose of a Christian state?
No it is failing to do this
What does Reverdy C Ransom needs to be done alongside legislation in a Christian state to address the race problem?
Everyone needs to work to uplift and educate each other
When does Ransom give A plea for the Civil and Political Rights of the Negro?
1911
What is A Plea for the Civil and Political Rights of the Negro?
A speech
What was Ransom selected to give a speech about in A Plea?
Charles Summer
Where is Ransom’s speech in A Plea given?
Park Street Church in Boston
Who sponsored A Plea for the Civil Rights speech?
various committees
What does Reverdy C Ransom say about Charles Summer in A Plea?
That his work on behalf of AAs must be continued until full democracy is achieved
Why does Reverdy C Ransom say that the 15th Amendment is fundamental?
Because Summer foresaw battles needed to be waged in order to continue moving towards AA progress
According to Reverdy C Ransom in A Plea, what have AAs been in historical turning points in America?
Present participants
What does Reverdy C Ransom say AAs need to in A Plea?
Stand firm and not let their present participation in historical turning points be taking from them - voting rights
What does Reverdy C Ransom stress about the right to vote and the ballot in A Plea?
Its importance
According to Reverdy C Ransom, AAs are not the only victims of JC: what else does he say is (6)?
Christianity, human equality, liberty, life, pursuit of happiness and the constitution - unintentionally struck by JC
What according to Reverdy C Ransom in A Plea does the denial of rights, the American Race Problem, do? (6)
Denial of rights warps courts decisions, nullifies constitution, makes Christianity a sham, logic a lie, prevents development and civilisation of South which increases friction bw races
Why is Reverdy C Ransom not asking for immediate equality for AAs in a Plea?
He does not believe they have been free for long enough
What does Reverdy C Ransom ask for instead of immediate equality in A Plea?
Freedom of opportunity to rise to the highest level when the time comes
What does Reverdy C Ransom suggest is a solution to the race question in A Plea?
Separate but equal
Who is Reverdy C Ransom implicitly critical of in A Plea?
Booker T Washington
What/where was Alexander Walters born?
Into slavery in Kentucky
Who was Alexander Walters licensed to preach by?
The AMEZ Church
When was Alexander Walters elected a Bishop in the AMEZ Church?
1892
What did Alexander Walters participate in public debate and action over?
Issues related to Reconstruction and the general welfare of AAs
What Civil Rights organisations was Alexander Walters involved in? (3)
National Afro-American Council
Niagara Movement
National Colored Democratic League
What did Alexander Walters work to improve and secure?
The condition of AAs and full participation in the life of the nation
How was Alexander Walters very prominent in 1916?
He Met President Woodrow Wilson at the White House to discuss how best to obtain the confirmation of AAs nominated for federal office by Wilson
What did Alexander Walters give a paper entitle at the Pan-African Conference in 1900?
The trials and tribulations of the coloured race in America
What did Alexander Walters become President of?
The Pan-African Association
What did Alexander Walters decline the offer of from Wilson?
To become the US minister to Liberia
What offer did Alexander Walters refuse from Du Bois?
To merge the Afro-American Council with the Niagara Movement, the Afro-American Negro Academy and the National Negro American Political League
When did Alexander Walters refuse Du Bois offer?
1908
What was the AA Negro Academy and who was it headed by?
It was the first organisation in the US to support AA academic scholarship and it was headed by Alexander Crummell
Why did Alexander Walters anger many Black followers?
By endorsing Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan in 1908
When Alexander Walters sought a new power base after the Council dissolved, what did he become President of?
The new National Independent Political League
What other organisations was Alexander Walters a member of?
The NAACP and the National Urban League
When was the Chicago Endeavour Convention? (source date)
1915
What is The Chicago Endeavour Convention source concerned with?
The nature of racial prejudice and the steps necessary to end it
What does Alexander Walters say in The Chicago Endeavour Convention is the solution to the race problem and why?
Christianity as when practiced it promotes a sense of the unity of the human race
Why does Alexander Walters say that the Christianity is the world’s hope for harmony and health? (CEC)
Because all forms of redemption come through Christ
Why does Alexander Walters say that there is no biological difference between races warranting poor treatment of some?
Because those of European descent are only superior because of their historical environment, not divine dictate or biological formation, and because irrespective of this it could never justify discrimination or prejudice
What does Alexander Walters say the superiority of people of European descent is? (CEC)
Real but not permanent
What does Alexander Walters say those of European descent are being called by God to do? (CEC)
Play a major role in the ending of oppression and race prejudice
Who is Alexander Walters speaking to/concerned about in Chicago Endeavour Convention and why?
White America and their role in salvation because of their temporary position of superiority
Who’s is Alexander Walters’ argument in CEC similar to?
Henry M Turner
How does Alexander Walters and Henry M Turner’s arguments differ?
Turner saw AAs playing this redeemer role
For Walters, what is the role of AAs in salvation? (CEC)
Africans play teacher by challenging and pushing whites to a greater good
For Walters, what is the role of whites in salvation? (CEC)
The greater good they are pushed to by Africans must entail helping them and other “backward race”s develop and advance
According to Alexander Walters, what happens through whites development of backwards races?
Through their development, they promote equality and removes the temporary superiority white Americans have had
What is Alexander Walters autobiography called and when was it published?
My Life and Work in 1917
What does the extract from Alexander Walters my life and work discuss?
The formation of the National Afro-American Council
What does Alexander Walters say of the formation of the National Afro-American Council?
“It was apparent to all that something must be done by way of organisation if the race was to be saved”
When was a letter of appeal circulated according to Alexander Walters and why?
In the weeks following the murder of an AA postmaster, Frazier B Baker, in South Caroline by an armed mob of whites because it became clear that AAs needed to organise to protect “ourselves”
Who did Walters approach to reinvigorate the earlier League?
Fortune
How many signatures did Walters gather supporting the idea of organising for self-protection?
150
What does Walters say Fortune didn’t believe?
That the masses were “any more ready and willing to organise local and state leagues … than they were in 1890 and 1892”
What was the National Afro-American league designed to do?
Protect AAs vs lynching and racial discrimination
For how long did the National Afro-American League last?
It met in 1890 but had gone defunct by 1893
What did the National Afro-American Council aim to do?
Amelioration of the coloured race
What did the Afro-American Council believe/aim to do about lynching?
It believed it was the worst things AAs were subjected to, and the they Council must be empowered to continue fighting against Lynch law
What did the Afro-American Council think about the convict lease system?
It was slavery to the state, but horrors increased 100 fold
What did the Afro-American Council think about the separate car law?
They were against it
How did the Afro-American Council deal with labour?
Set up a Labour Commission
What does Walters say the schoolhouse was?
The most important agency of progress
What does Walter say the Afro-American Council believed they needed the federal government’s help with?
Schooling as the South was too poor and selfish to teach AA Children
What did Walters say about industry?
It was important
What does Walters say character is?
Crucial
What does Walters say about AAs character in its current form?
He discusses how despite the denigrating effect of slavery whites expected Blacks to be perfect, but this was unachievable in such a short time since emancipation
What did Walters say “character when combined with intelligence” was?
” omnipotent and has slain more giants of prejudice than any other agency under heaven”
According to Walters, who were the poor elements within the race who needed to be banished and how?
By refusing to support immoral ministers, teachers, politicians etc
What did Walters note differences between?
The North and the South
What does Walters encourage?
Business enterprise
What was Afro-National American Council one of the first national organisations to do?
Welcome women members and treat them equally with men
What did Ida B Wells serve as in the Afro-American Negro Council?
First Secretary and National organiser and she also charged the anti-lynching bureau at a point
What did MCT serve as in the Afro-American Council?
VP and chaired anti-lynching bureau at a point
Who was Lacey Kirk Williams?
An AA progressive pastor
Where was Lacey Kirk Williams pastor of?
Mount Olivet Baptist Church in Chicago
What did Mount Olivet Baptist Church in Chicago become under Kirk Williams’ leadership?
One of the largest Baptist churches in America
What did Lacey Kirk Williams oversee?
The move of Olivet into the old First Baptist Church building - white church
When was Lacey Kirk Williams NBC President?
1922 until his death 1940
What did Lacey Kirk Williams have a power struggle with Nannie Helen Boroughs over?
Control of WC and NTSG?
Where did Lacey Kirk Williams publish the Effects of Urbanisation on Religious Life?
The Chicago Sunday Tribune a white newspaper
What did Lacey Kirk Williams urge Black Churches to do?
Better meet the needs of constituents
What did Kirk Williams say increasing urbanisation led to?
The suffering of AA constituents which contributed to growing secularism among many AAs which resulted in defecting from he Church
What did Kirk Williams think Black churches need to be more aggressive in doing?
Meeting social needs
What did Kirk Williams made a direct connection between?
Urbanisation, the Great Migration, modernity and religious change
What did Kirk Williams acknowledge the Great Migration did?
Extended the sphere of influence to what was seemingly immutable in Black life - AA religion
What did the white press view the Great Migration as?
Potentially dangerous and a threat to the status quo
What did the Black press herald the Great Migration as?
A mass protest movement
What is Williams indicating in Urbanisation?
Clearly from the perspective of an AA minister that movement was also having a profound effect on Church
Who was RR Wright Jr?
An African American, socialist, social worker
What University was Wright Jr President of?
Wilberforce University
What church was Wright Jr ordained a minister and later a Bishop of?
AME Church
What periodical was RR Wright Jr editor of from 1909?
The Christian Recorder, Philadelphia
What was The Christian Recorder?
A periodical focused on social welfare, the primary literary voice for the AME Church, the oldest periodical published by AAs
What movement was RR Wright Jr associated with?
Black Social Gospel Movement - he was a new abolitionist
What did Dorrien say Wright’s commitment to the Black Social Gospel movement stemmed from?
A “charge that the Church did not care about society’s poorest and most vulnerable people”
Why was Wright often told he wasn’t a good preacher? (Dorrien)?
Because he didn’t engage with the theatrics of preaching and gave earnest sermons that fostered spiritual contemplation
What happened during Wright’s time studying Berlin?
He was influenced by a new way of Christian thinking that suggested scripture lay a framework and it was up to people to interpret it, leading God’s word to develop with each generation
What did RR Wright advocate for? (Economics)
Self-owned banks to encourage self-reliance and independence from whites
For how long did Wright hold the same general opinion on the Church?
20 years
Where was the essay Social Work and Influence published?
Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences
Who was the intended audience of the essay Social Work and Influence?
Bishops
What does Social Work and Influence highlight?
The progress of the Negro Church so far and where it should aim to go in the future
In Social Work and Influence, Wright says the Negro Church goes from a dominant “other-worldly slave religion” to what?
A politically and racially conscious “this-worldly” alternative
What does Social Work and Influence emphasise the educational and influence of the Church on the AA community in contrast with?
Its lack of political machinery
What does Social Work and Influence use as an indicator of the Church’s influence
Membership
What does Social Work and Influence say about the Church’s influence in education?
That is a pioneering force often doing the work of the state
Why is Social Work and Influence explicitly critical of the lack of political machinery in the Church?
Because Bishops have influence in society and thus wield enormous political influence
Where does Social Work and Influence say there is a lack of influence and why?
The rural church - the ignorance of the people
Why does Social Work and Influence say the church has no monopoly in the city?
It depends on the pastor - magnetic personalities
What does Social Work and Influence say the vast work Church’s do at the moment is for?
Mostly to secure money to pay off debts and not for social uplift
What does Social Work and Influence say about the need for social uplift?
It has already been established - social danger/moral ruin
What does Social Work and Influence say Church’s need to address?
Congregations
What does Germany already being urbanised at the point of Social Work and Influence meant contextually?
American urbanisation is fast and vast thus importation of their outlook applicable
In which publication is RR Wright Scores Mencken’s Attacks published?
The Pittsburgh Courier, a popular AA magazine Mencken subscribed to (secular)
What was RR Wright Scores Mencken’s Attacks a response to?
Mencken’s attack on the AA Church as a money-grabbing institution which failed to sufficiently educate AAs
In RR Wright Scores Mencken’s Attacks where does he situate the Church?
At the centre of racial uplift
What does RR Wright Scores Mencken’s Attacks say the Church inspired?
Economic independence and morality among AAs - same opinion as Social Work 20 years prior
Why does Wright say Church is subject to faults in RR Wright Scores Mencken’s Attacks?
Because it carried the weight of serving the entire race
Who was George E Haynes?
An AA Civil sERVANT
What did George E Haynes co-found?
The National Urban League
Where did George E Haynes study?
Yale
What was George E Haynes a professor of?
Economics and Sociology
What did George E Haynes establish indicating his belief in the importance of education?
the Association of Negro Colleges and Secondary Schools
Where is the Church and the Negro Spirit published?
Survey Graphic, a white magazine focused on sociological and political research, and analysis of national and into issues
Who guest edited the issue of Survey Graphic the Church and the Negro Spirit featured in?
Alain Locke as it was an issue entirely devoted to the Harlem Renaissance
What does the Church and the Negro Spirit discuss the practicalities of?
Church property in Manhattan/Harlem
What does the Church and the Negro Spirit say Churches have done property wise?
Taking over property was a frequent occurrence but there had also been success creating new structures (typical of other cities too)
What does the Church and the Negro Spirit say some churches made commendable efforts to do?
Meet the growing demands of people
What does Haynes in the Church and the Negro Spirit say the Church is in the life of Negroes during GM?
The most resourceful and most characteristic organised force in the life of the negroes of the Northern cities as it was in the Southern communities from which they come
What does the Church and the Negro Spirit say the problems of the Church are (3)?
Providing adequate buildings, fellowship to newcomers, and adequate personnel and organisations for social service
Why does George Haynes argue is the reason for the Church’s having these problems?
Partly because only recently have many come to cities so churches typically still have the organisation and equipment of a small church
What does the Church and the Negro Spirit note the discrepancies between like Social Work and Influence does?
The discrepancies between rural church and southern town/small city
What does Haynes say the Church is still key to?
AA life
Why does the Church and the Negro Spirit believe storefront churches splits/schisms arise?
When an individual who feels called to ministry gathers a little flock, or when enough people join together and ask a minister to lead them
Why does Haynes not believe denominational difference are an issue in the Church and the Negro Spirit in splits/schisms?
Because there were frequent visits of delegations from one congregation to another and frequent ministerial fellowship and exchange of pulpits
What does the Haynes say of ministry?
That it is improving but facilities for training are not equal to provision for training in other lines of work
What does Haynes say about social work plans and programmes in churches?
They have not fully engaged churches yet
What does the Haynes say the Church is the most effective agency for? (3)
Emotional, intellectual, and other group expression
Why does Haynes say the present generation is no longer satisfied with older types of Church service?
They are better educated and now have a viewpoint based on modern language
How does Haynes say services need to be addressed to the dissatisfaction of the present generation?
Intelligence with an emotional appeal - c-ref Myral discusses how the youth are dissatisfied with emotionalism and puritanism
Which of Haynes publications came first the Church and the Negro Spirit or the Church and Negro Progress?
The Church and Negro Spirt in 1927 one year before the latter
Where was the Church and Negro Progress published?
In Annals of American of Political and Social Science
What are the 3 ways the Church has aided progress according to the Church and Negro Progress? (Haynes)
Intra-group advancement (education and wealth), inter-group adjustments (bw AA pop and white pop), emotional attitudes of the people (moral customs, growing group solidarity)
According to the Church and Negro Progress (Haynes) what has the Church provided?
Financial support and administrative development
According to the Church and Negro Progress (Haynes) what is the Church an organised channel for?
Distribution to the rank and file
What according to the Church and Negro Progress is the largest denomination?
The Baptist Church, then Methodist
What does the Church and Negro Progress say the total enrolment of negroes in church membership is larger than?
Their membership in any other org
Who does the Church and Negro Progress say the Church needs to become conscious of?
Their working class characters
What does the Church and Negro Progress say spirituals are born out of?
A yearning for self-expression
Overall how has the Churched influenced Negro Progress according to the Church and Negro Progress?
Positively
What do you need to reference for the Mapp and Fisher Gobbet?
Best and/or Dorrien
What was Georgia Douglas Johnson?
One of the earliest female AA playwrights and a famous poet
Why does Gloria Hull argue Johnson’s work should be placed in an exceedingly distinguished place within the Harlem Renaissance?
Due to her role in creating a place for AA artists to nurture their creativity and making the HR movement a national one
How did Johnson’s DC location make HR a national movement?
She worked outside of Harlem and therefore made a trust for intercity connections - halfway house
What is the significance of none of Johnson’s 6 known anti-lynching plays being published until after her death?
It means they did not have any actual contemporary impact
Why was it not until the death of GDJ’s husband that she could properly pursue her literary pursuits?
He didn’t support them
What Anti-Lynching campaigns was GDJ involved in?
- NAACP’s 1936 and 1938 campaigns
- Writers League Against Lynching - included Countée Cullen, James Weldon Johnson and Alain Locke
Why did the NAACP refuse to publish many of GDJ’s plays?
Because she refused to give her plays a happy ending because she wanted them to be realistic
What is the historical significance the NAACP refusing to publish GDJ’s plays because of the subject matter?
Double standards/disparity in acceptable topics for women?
Was GDJ a famous playwright?
She was more famous for her poetry
Why is it strange that GDJ has been excluded from being thought of as one of the key figures of the HR?
Because to contemporaries she was hugely powerful
What is the historical context of GDJ’s A Sunday Morning in the South being written in 1925?
KKK membership peaked in 1925 - lynching big issue
What does GDJ’s A Sunday morning explore?
brutality of lynching and wealth of different responses to it and arbitrary mobs
What does A Sunday Morning in the South being only 1 act long do?
Emphasise the brevity and shockingness of decisions to lynch AA men
What is GDJ’s A Sunday Morning in the South provoked by?
Inconcistencies of American life
What are some important themes touched on in GDJ’s A Sunday Morning?
- Black Peril Myth
- Miscegenation
- White female complicity
- Lynching to stop AA success
- Religion in the rural south
Who was William Pickens?
An AA orator, educator and journalist
How did Pickens begin making a name for himself as a writer from 1904?
Through increasingly blunt and controversial articles in The Voice of the Negro
What explains Pickens emphasis on the importance of education?
He studied at Yale and was highly educated
What was Pickens affiliation to NAACP
Member of NAACP from its inception
Why did Pickens reject Garvey’s invitation to receive a UNIA award in 1922?
Accused him of conceding to KKK’s aim to crush and repress AAs w Back-to-Africa initative
What did Pickens join in 1923 condemning Garvey?
Garvey Must Go campaign but also called for his release in 1927
Where was Pickens Things Nobody Believes published and what is the historical significance?
Published in The Messnger - AA political and literary mag that grew out of HR
By 1920 Messenger identified as ‘a journal of scientific radicalism’ providing a platform for race leaders to develop and critique each other’s positions on how to improve conditions of AAs
What was Pickens Things Nobody Believes a response to?
Uproar vs Rev Dr Percy Stickney Grant who according to Pickens
rather than preaching within the set boundaries socially acceptable for the day expounded what he really believed
What does Pickens say Church orthodoxy is doing in Things Nobody Believes?
Alienating intelligent minds with fantastical biblical dogma - outdated
What does Pickens call for a reassessment of in Things Nobody Believes?
What Christians actually believed in contemporary context of rising intellectualism and challenges that increased understandings of geography, history, and science posed
What is Pickens advocating instead of atheism in Things Nobody Believes and why?
Advocating a rethinking of orthodox belief
Necessary to bring people closer to God
God not on side of the ignorant
Why does Pickens argue people are more able to express doubts that they have had for a while in Things Nobody Believes?
due to growth of AA press
What does Savage say about the growth of the AA press?
Centrality of print media - allowed debates to move dramatically into Black Public culture
Black press new form for considering issue of Black church’s political responsibility
Who responds to Pickens article Things Nobody Believes in the next issue of the Messenger?
Reverend Joseph Caroll with Things Everybody Believes
What does Reverend Joseph Caroll say the Bible is not supposed to be taken at?
Face value
Non-propositional exegesis of Jonah and the Whale
What does Carroll admit in Things Everybody Believes?
No intelligent person should accept every one of church’s dogmas in its imaginative and dramatic form
How does Carroll show deference for Pickens in Things Everybody Believes?
Calls him “one of our best informed men”
Why does Reverend Joseph Carroll suggest Pickens understanding is limited?
says he is out of his field and thus ignorant of progressive religious thinking
What does Rev Joseph Caroll say in Things Everybody Believes about heaven and hell in response to Pickens comments about it?
Says belief in physical resurrection now history and nobody believes in a material hell anymore
What is Rev Joseph Caroll actually critical of Pickens for in Things Everybody Believes?
Not taking a positive approach and encouraging faith by emphasising what was believed
Not in opposition to what Pickens saying but how he says it
Who is Pickens addressing in his rebuttal in the April issue of the Messenger - Intelligent Christianity?
Addressing his critics of Things Nobody Believes sp. Carroll but also many others
What are Pickens critics mainly critical of?
his discussions of material heaven/hell
What does Pickens encourage the reader to do in Intelligent Christianity?
Critically engage with their religion
Where does Pickens emphasise damage to faith could only come from in Intelligent Christianity?
not encouraging critical thinking among the young
Why does Pickens believe not encouraging critical thinking among the young would damage the faith in Intelligent Christianity?
Encouraging reason teaches children self-respect
Critical approach strengthens faith as “God can stand His ground in science”
Need to show Science and religion not incompatible
What does Pickens stress the importance of in Intelligent Christianity?
Education and Religious Free Thought
The New Negro
Rejection of Fundamentalism
What does Pickens say about his discussion of material heaven/hell in Intelligent Christianity?
- Says his critics arguments suggested he had originally argued against their existence
- Clarifies this - says he was arguing against the MATERIAL existence
Significant context about Clarence Darrow’s parents?
Father an abolitionist and a freethinker
Mother early supporter of female suffrage and a women’s rights advocate
What did the Loeb and Leopold Trial do for white lawyer Darrow’s oeuvre?
Raised his contention emotion necessary for people’s decisions
What did the Scopes ‘Monkey’ Trial do (Darrow defendant’s lawyer)?
Led to change in public sentiment and increased discourse on creationism vs evolutionism
What was the Ossain Sweet Trial?
White mob in Detroit attempt to drive Black family from their home
White man killed - 11 Black men arrested and charged w murder
What was significant about the Ossain Sweet trial in relation to Darrow?
Defence lawyer
Closing statement lasted 7 hours - thought of as a landmark in CRM
‘I believe in the Law of Love’
Right to defend ones home - prejudice
What was Darrow originally?
One of country’s leading labour attorneys
When was Darrow dropped from list of preferred attorneys by labour unions?
after he faced bribery charges
What is the significance of Darrow being dropped from the preferred attorneys list by labour unions?
Switched to criminal in the aftermath
Why did Darrow devote himself to opposition of death penalty in the aftermath?
felt it was at conflict with humanitarian progress
What was Darrow’s view on agnosticism?
Agnostic
Discussed this widely and openly
Scepticism leads to study and investigation
Investigation = beginning of wisdom
What was Darrow’s affiliation to the Anti-Imperialist League?
Member of the Anti-Imperialist League from 1898 in opposition to US annexation of the Phillipines
When was Darrow’s NAACP Speech at Conference on Southern Race Conditions?
1910
What was the NAACP conference on that Darrow said he hadn’t realised?
suffrage
What was the NAACP conference on that Darrow said he hadn’t realised?
Hadn’t realised conference would be mainly about suffrage
Darrow says in NAACP speech he was addressing a more important and broader issue than suffrage: why?
Because he argued it was impossible for AAs to vote themselves into liberty
What does Darrow argue is at the bottom of the race question in NAACP speech?
Believes at bottom of race question is simply a labour one
Why does Darrow believe at bottom of race question is simply a labour one in NAACP speech?
A man who works must not associate with a man who doesn’t
What does Darrow saw the South/Black churches need to do in NAACP speech?
The South/Black Churches need to focus on economic achievement
Why does Darrow call out Southern hypocrisy in NAACP speech?
Says they don’t want blacks but would stop them if planned mass exodus - want to keep them in their place as a servant
Who does Darrow say needs to be allied with in NAACP speech?
Need to ally with poor people
“Your friends are the working people”
1906-1908 miners - radical labour union
What does Darrow acknowledge about the race question in US in NAACP speech?
The one-drop rule
In NAACP Speech Darrow is critical of the lack of progress since Emancipation in the lat 50 years, what does he say is the cause of this? (5)
- Noone cares about liberty of Blacks and their struggles
- North once again been overtaken by South
- New generation lacking leaders - no one of the calibre of Frederick Douglass et al condemning lynching and continuing their fight
- AA Churches preventing people from engaging
- People using their intellect and voices to protect corporations acting unlawfully
What does Darrow note that there has still been some AA progress since Emancipation despite?
Despite deprivation of rights, influence and being killed had progressed fast in 50 years
Who was the audience at the NAACP 1910 Darrow Speech?
NAACP Conference - mix of AAs and whites committed to race relations
What is the significant of Darrow’s Speech Divides Harlem being in 1925?
1925 KKK membership peaked - 1920s referred to as historians as the KKK’s “second wave” as Klan members also served at all levels in American govt
What is the historical significance of Darrow’s Speech Divides Harlem being published in the Baltimore Afro-American?
Secular AA paper which rose in national prominence in the 1920s and served not just Baltimore but also regional destinations - AA audience
Where was Darrow’s speech which divided Harlem?
Spoke in Salem ME Church (large and fashionable in NY) for 6 hours in front of thousands
What was the contents of Darrow’s Speech which the Baltimore Afro-American described as dividing Harlem into “two camps”?
AAs were too pious - need to stop relying on Church
If God was going to help AAs would have done it already and not let them suffer
Refutes Bible - if God could save Daniel from Lion’s den he could save men, women, and children from being lynched in the South
Why did a minister who listened to Darrow’s speech call it the greatest set back to Christianity in the last 10 years?
Had much support after Sweet case - people saw him as a “hero” - many AAs willing to believe him
Why were some ministers annoyed and condemning Darrow’s Harlem speech?
Ministers condemned as an anti-religious infidel and annoyed at location of speech - large and fashionable NY church
Where does “Garvey Tells His Own Story” come from?
Published in his book Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey (1923)
What is the provenance of Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey (1923)?
Compiled and released by his wife Amy Jacques-Garvey
Wanted to give people opportunity to form own opinions of him not from misleading articles
Attempt to salvage his reputation in face of media smear campaign and maintain enthusiasm for UNIA
Whilst he was awaiting trial
Who is Garvey explaining himself to in Garvey Tells His Own Story?
Explaining himself to white America
What does Garvey detail in Garvey Tells His own Story?
Development of his ideology throughout his life
What are the key points made by Garvey in Tells His Own Story?
- His ideology = a peaceful attempt to accommodate for differences bw Black and white races
- Need to maintain racial purity of both Blacks and Whites
- Back-to-Africa: AAs seeking their own country to overcome their economic and political struggle for survival without encroaching upon white resources
What is the historical significance of the demise of Garveyism coinciding with the failure of established AA denominations to reach out to urban masses?
Left a religious vacuum filled by numerous cults and sects
What was Garveyism a significant influence for?
Significant influence for NOI and Rastifarianism in Jamaica
Historical context of contemporary criticism of Garvey for trying create a Black KKK?
Worked alongside KKK to advance shared interest in racial separatism
Led to launch of “Garvey Must Go” campaign by Pickens and co
What did Du Bois think of Garvey?
- Acknowledged his popularity but also thought he was “most dangerous enemy of negro race in America and the world”
- Viewed Garveyism’s seapartism as a capitulation to white supremacists that AAs would never be equal to whites
Why was Garvey passionate about the idea of racial price and idea of a racial consciousness?
Thought that Blacks were different but not inferior to whites - inspired by Hubert Harrison
Why was Garvey against miscegenation?
Believed mixed people would ally with the more powerful race - making them race traitors
What was Garvey?
Journalist
Orator
Context surrounding the Black Star Line and Marcus Garvey?
- President of shipping and passenger line
- Goal to make triangular voyages bw NYC, WI and Africa
- Went bankrupt - G imprisoned concerning mail fraud
- Arrested 1923, convicted 1925, deported to Jamaica 1927
Why did Garvey believe the Black political elite had plotted his downfall?
his success too much for them to handle
Significance of Garvey and the Back-to-Africa movement?
- Considered a prophet of African redemption
- Movement attracted 100s of 1000s in post-WWi Urban Black America
How was Garvey involved in community organising?
1st President of UNIA (1914)
1st President of African Communities League
Why was Garvey a Black capitalist?
Believed AAs interests served by collective decision-making and profit sharing
Saw communism as a white man’s creation
What was Garveyism?
- A religious culture
- Characterised by Black Nationalism, Charismatic Messianism, and an emotional commitment to returning to Africa
- A distinctly Black theology
What does Ewing say about Garvey?
Garvey’s invocation of 19th century Ethiopianism embraced Biblical prophecy in present tense and cast himself as divine vessel of its realisation
What does Ewing note as the context for rise of Garveyism?
the Long Red Summer - when WWI Black vets returned home to violence and lynching on streets
What does Ewing say Garveyites did?
Garveyites conflated rise of UNIA with the rejuvenation of the Negro race, partly explains galvanising effects of the bans on ‘negro world’ across the british West Indies
Despite being Jamaican, how was Garvey well-travelled?
Lived in Jamaica, Costa Rica, Panama and England
Moved to US 1916 aged 29
Who was Countee Cullen?
An AA poet, novelist, and key Harlem Renaissance figure influenced by the Negritude movement
What is the significance of Christ Recrucified being published in 1922?
Cullen was only 19 when he wrote it, this was before he became an established HR and gained focus
Why has Cullen been criticised?
By 1930 his work was largely free of any racial subject matter and he claimed he didn’t want to be known as a Black author or poet
Why did Cullen focus on the romantic tradition?
Cullen was educated and very well trained and so didn’t stray from these white conventions which also meant others criticised him
What was Christ Recrucified likely responding to?
Race Riots of 1919
What is the significance of the form of Christ Recrucified?
Poem
Sonnet form
Iambic pentameter
What is the iambic pentameter in Christ Recrucified used for?
Used at parts to mock uniform respectability of spectators
What is the significance of Cullen’s use of traditional poetic form and how did it differ to Langston Hughes?
Hughes was one of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry - lots of HR poets trying to break free from the white mould but Cullen isn’t - perhaps made his work popular and more accessible to white audiences?
What does Christ Recrucified use crucifixion as a metaphor for?
Crucifixion = a routine repetition of ordinary law for South
Connects AA suffering to Christ’s suffering
How does Christ Recrucified links lynching with crucifixion?
- Parallels bw Roman persecution of jesus and hypocrisy of white Christianity’s claims to be loving
- Parallels between crucifixion and lynching as ordinary forms of law
What does Christ Recrucified preempt?
Preempts more complicated The Black Christ (1929)
What does Evans say Christ Recrucified does?
Poem uses “apparent scepticism as a way of challenging the racism of Christian whites”
What is the historical significance of the proliferation of literary protest in the Harlem Renaissance?
Only way could get through to whites - cultural endeavours
What does Christ Recrucified have similar parallels to?
Similar parallels to Hughes Christ in Alabama (1932) but no redemption and explicitly critical
What is likely the reason for the difference between Hughes Christ in Alabama and Cullen’s Christ Recrucified?
Likely due to the Supreme Court striking down censorship laws
