Narratives of Black Resistance

Instructor
Cannon, Sarita Nyasha
Category
History
Narratives of Black Resistance and Resilience: The worldwide protests against police brutality and institutionalized racism following the killing of George Floyd in police custody on May 25th, 2020 have inspired many people from all backgrounds to learn more about Black history, culture, and literature. As an educator, I believe that reading, discussion, and self‐reflection are essential to individual transformation and collective revolution. In that spirit, this course traces narratives of Black resistance and resilience in the United States over the past two centuries. We will read essays, novels, plays, short stories, and autobiographies written by African Americans from the mid‐19th century to the present, paying attention to the rhetorical strategies employed by these writers as well as focusing on how they reflect the particular historical moments in which they lived. Potential authors include: Harriet Jacobs, James Weldon Johnson, Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Lorraine Hansberry, Audre Lorde, and Janet Mock. I look forward to lively conversations about these amazing pieces of literature, conversations that allow us to reflect on the different ways that people of African descent in the United States have resisted white supremacy and created resilient communities.
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