Duke University Press Log

Robert A. Hill on the Centenary of Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association

Today we have a guest post by Robert A. Hill, editor-in-chief of The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers. Hill, Associate Professor of History at UCLA, has been working on the papers for over thirty years. The first ten volumes were published by the University of California Press, and Duke University Press has taken over publication with Volume XI. The latest volume, XII, "The Caribbean Diaspora, 1920–1921" comes out in October. 

As the world gets ready to mark the centennary of the start of World War One, there is another centennary that is worth remembering at this time. It is 100 years since the founding of Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA & ACL), the organization which gave birth to the modern black struggle for self-determination, with its cry of "Africa for the Africans" and its motto of "One God, One Aim, One Destiny." 

Marcus Garvey with Potentate Gabriel M. Johnson of Liberia, Supreme Deputy G.O. Marke of Sierra Leone, and other UNIA leaders review the parade opening the 1922 UNIA convention, New York City

Organized and launched on July 20^th, 1914—one week before Archduke Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated in Sarajevo and the countdown to World War One commenced—the UNIA & ACL held its first public meeting in Kingston, Jamaica, one of the many dusty margins of Britain’s colonial empire in the Caribbean. The two events would become inextricably intertwined.

World War One not only set the colonial empires of Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Russia, and Turkey on the path to war, but would also witness the end of empire as the world had known it. Dragged into the European maelstrom, with 16 million killed and 20 million wounded before the guns fell silent, the war would spawn the drive for nationhood on the part of millions of colonial and semi-colonial peoples. And when that moment came four years later with the peace that followed the war, Marcus Garvey and his UNIA & ACL were in the forefront of the struggle, calling for African freedom and black emancipation.

As the first internationally organized movement of black peoples to exist in the world, the UNIA & ACL orchestrated a form of popular black politics on an entirely unprecedented scale. With an extensive network of travelling speakers, it recruited thousands of members through orators addressing public meetings. It published and distributed its own influential Negro World newspaper with an international readership that caused it to be banned or suppressed in several African, Caribbean, and Central American countries. Through petition drives as well as the promotion of its own commercial enterprises, most notably the Black Start Line, the "Garvey movement," as it came to be known, with its flamboyant display of popular support was able to mobilize an international movement, the likes of which had never been seen before.

Although the movement’s commercial enterprises would all fail, and Garvey himself was jailed for fraud, the movement helped to raise racial consciousness to an unprecedented level. After one hundred years, its legacy is still being felt in the arts, in the politics of Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism, and in the religion of black redemption, particularly in the phenomenon of Rastafari religion.

The Cultural Impact of the Olympics

Over the years, several Duke University Press journal articles have addressed the cultural impact of the Olympics. Take a break from watching the 2014 Winter Games to sample these articles.

Erica Rand, "Court and Sparkle: Kye Allums, Johnny Weir, and Raced Problems in Gender Authenticity," in "The Athletic Issue," a special issue of GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies, volume 19 and issue 4, 2013.

Read an excerpt from the article:

At a press conference he initiated to address the gender-test incident, Weir called the terms masculine and feminine "very old fashioned," adding, "There's a whole generation of people that aren't defined by their sex or their race or by who they like to sleep with." My own paradise would not involve throwing out masculinity and femininity or sex and race all together. They can serve as sources of pleasure, strength, community, and solidarity, inside and outside the sport, in ways that do not require policing them. If people of all genders could express, present, or perform in sport in whatever gendered ways they wanted to--which might or might not match up with the way they present themselves in other contexts--that would make for a more joyous sport. But Weir's distaste for having people define others by those terms gestures to effects of gender policing beyond fitting people into categories. As he states in Welcome to My World, being called "flamboyant" instead of "athlete" is another.

To read more from "Court and Sparkle," click here. 

 

Sally Anne Duncan, "Souls Grown Deep and the Cultural Politics of the Atlanta Olympics" in "Performance, Politics, and History," a special issue of Radical History Review, number 98, Spring 2007.

Read an excerpt from the article at the African American performance group Souls Grown Deep:

Unprecedented as it was, Souls Grown Deep was forced to the periphery of the Olympic stage. A vital opportunity was missed to give international visibility to the South’s unique community of African American self-taught artists. This essay examines the social and cultural processes that exalted a banal global art show while suppressing a landmark African American visual performance. This is a case study of the cultural politics of Atlanta, the vested interests of the fine art and folk art worlds, and, most of all, of the performative power of art exhibitions themselves. In Atlanta, the experiential knowledge embedded in the African American artists’ modes of creation and communication in Souls Grown Deep provided a potent social counterpoint to a falsely transcendent Olympic vision embodied in Rings.

To read more from "Souls Grown Deep," click here.

Amy Bass, "Objectivity Be Damned, or Why I Go to the Olympic Games: A Hands-On Lesson in Performative Nationalism," in "The Pleasure Principle: Sport for the Sake of Pleasure," a special issue of SAQ: South Atlantic Quarterly, volume 105 and issue 2, 2006.

Read an excerpt from the article:

My relationship with the Olympics continued after my dissertation was complete and I began my life as a professor at Plattsburgh State University. Within months of arriving in Plattsburgh, I audaciously asked if I could leave the following fall semester to go with NBC in a supervisor role to the Sydney Games. I was indoctrinated: I was part of a small group of highly specialized people who drop everything for several weeks during an Olympic year and gather together, working for whatever network is broadcasting the Games. It is a unique group, knowledgeable in multiple languages, geography, world politics, and specific random sports (from gymnastics to curling to judo, in which it is legal, by the way, to break your opponent's arm as a means to win). Plattsburgh graciously worked out a way for me to go, which included teaching an honors seminar--The Black Athlete--online from Sydney. I returned with more life-altering experiences: watching Marion Jones run, sitting in the bleachers as the United States beat Cuba for the baseball gold medal and listening to rumors that Castro was in the house, and again witnessing a spectacular Closing Ceremony. I reworked the dissertation after returning from Sydney, and by the time Salt Lake City rolled around I was in the final editing phases of my book, Not the Triumph but the Struggle: The 1968 Olympic Games and the Making of the Black Athlete, more confident than ever of the viability of sports, especially the Olympics, as a fruitful site to examine how the world works, whether in terms of my own focus on exploring how ideas of race and nation are culturally manufactured, or the broader goals of determining where in the world politics exists.

To read more from "Objectivity Be Damned," click here.

Remembering Martin Bernal

We were sad to learn of the death of scholar Martin Bernal this weekend. We were proud to publish Black Athena Writes Back in 2001. Bernal's  three-volume Black Athena trilogy produced such debate and rancor that Bernal felt the need to write another book responding to his critics. The book provides additional documentation to back up Bernal's thesis, as well as offering persuasive explanations of why traditional scholarship on the subject remains inaccurate and why specific arguments lobbed against his theories are themselves faulty.

Bernal's editor at Duke University Press was J. Reynolds Smith, who offers these comments about the book : "Although Black Athena rankled more than a few conservative scholars, at it roots it was for me simply a fuller reading of history that ultimately reflected plain common sense. It also challenged many of the same demons exposed by postcolonial scholarship on other areas of the world and in other disciplines. Martin's views on the colonization of academic thought by western biases had many champions, not the least of whom were a whole new generation of Latin Americanists. Black Athena Writes Back was his patient response to many of the slings and arrows that threatened to distract us from the fundamental justice in his positions."

On Bernal himself, Smith says, "For someone who so inflamed his critics, as a person Martin was always the epitome of the gentleman. Sometimes laconic but never spiteful, and always extremely amusing, he was a completely delightful, wonderful human being." 

GERARD H. GASKIN’S AFRICAN AMERICAN AND LATINO HOUSE AND BALLROOM SERIES WINS FIRST BOOK PRIZE IN PHOTOGRAPHY

The winner of the 2012 Center for Documentary Studies/Honickman First Book Prize in Photography is Gerard H. Gaskin for his black-and-white and color photographs that document, as Gaskin writes,

“the performative and aesthetic history of the African American and Latino house and ballroom community.

“The balls are a celebration of black and Latino urban gay life and were born in Harlem out of a need for black and Latino gays to have a safe space to express themselves. Balls are constructed like beauty and talent pageants. The participants work to redefine and critique gender and sexual identity through an extravagant fashion masquerade. Women and men become fluid, interchangeable points of departure and reference, disrupting the notion of a fixed and rigid gender and sexual make-up. All of this happens at night in small halls in cities all over the country. These photographs, taken in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., show us different views of these spaces as they are reflected in the eyes of house and ball members who perform what they wish these cities could be. Balls have come a long way since their beginnings in Harlem; they have influenced popular culture through dance forms such as vogue and gained attention through documentary films like Paris Is Burning. My images try to show a personal and intimate beauty, pride, dignity, courage, and grace that have been painfully challenged by mainstream society.”

Renowned curator, historian, and photographer Deborah Willis judged the competition and chose Gaskin to win the prize. She says that she found Gaskin’s photographs “innovative and spirited,” the images filled with both hope and struggle as “they explore ideas of longing, beauty, and desire.

“Gaskin’s work looks at the notion of transformation as he turns his lens on what it means to be ‘desired,’ and at the same time, what it feels like to be alienated. His photographs are as exciting to look at as they are a means for imagining the lived experiences of the communities he has documented. Gaskin’s role is not one of spectator but of interpreter as he enters this safe space of self-creation. In search for beauty, Gaskin’s photographs open our eyes to an extraordinary community of artists who are performing beauty.”

Duke University Press will publish the prizewinning book in November 2013. See a slideshow of Gaskin's images and visit the CDS/Honickman First Book Prize in Photography website to find out more about the prize: firstbookprizephoto.com.

Duke Authors at the 2013 MLA

We enjoyed attending the 2013 Modern Language Association (MLA) conference last week in Boston. It was especially gratifying to celebrate two big awards. Congratulations to Stephanie Leigh Batiste, author of Darkening Mirrors, who won the William Sanders Scarborough Prize for an outstanding scholarly study of black American literature or culture. We also congratulate Lauren Berlant, author of Cruel Optimism, and Chandan Reddy, author of Freedom with Violence, who are co-winners of the MLA's GLQ Caucus's Alan Bray Memorial Book Prize.

Check out some of our other authors with their books!

 

Elizabeth Freeman, author of Time Binds.

 

Andrew Parker, author of The Theorist's Mother and co-editor (with Janet Halley) of After Sex?

 

 

 

Paul Youngquist and Grégory Pierrot, co-editors of An Historical Account of the Black Empire of Hayti by Marcus Rainsford.

 

Bruce Robbins, author of Perpetual War.

 

 

Christina Sharpe, author of Monstrous Intimacies.

 

 

Salamisha Tillet, author of Sites of Slavery.

 

You can still order these books and any others with the conference discount by visiting our website and using the offer code DEXH131B when you place your order. Thanks to Emily Lawrence and Kevin Woodcock for taking the photos. We're already looking forward to next year!

Natalie Hopkinson Events this Fall in DC, MA, and MD

This fall if you’re in Washington D.C., Massachusetts, or Maryland, catch Natalie Hopkinson talking about her new book Go-Go Live: The Musical Life and Death of a Chocolate City. She’ll be reading from and signing copies of her insider’s view of the social history of black Washington through its go-go music and culture. As

David Simon, creator of the television series The Wire and Treme, has said, "Natalie Hopkinson's Go- Go Live: The Musical Life and Death of a Chocolate City demonstrates the essential connections between culture and community in an American city. For generations now, go-go music in Washington D.C. has not only given the authentic, nonfederal parts of that city its musical milestones, but it has—in the voice of so many great lead talkers—marked the civic and political time. From Chuck Brown forward, go-go has proven resilient and real. They say you can't understand this music unless you are there in the club, in the moment, but this book comes close."

Monday, September 17, 2012

6:30 p.m. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library 901 G St. N.W., Washington, DC

Friday, September 21, 2012

4:30 p.m. Panel Discussion: The Power of Music from a Historical, Cultural & Spiritual Perspective with Natalie Hopkinson, Ledisi, MC Lyte, and Dr. Obery Hendricks, moderated by Brother Ah. Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Author Pavilion, Walter E. Washington Convention Center Exhibit Hall E, Booth 521 801 Mt Vernon Pl NW, Washington, DC

Friday, September 28, 2012

3:00 p.m. Harvard Book Store 1256 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA

Saturday, October 13, 2012

2 p.m. Prince George's Memorial Library System, Spauldings Branch 5811 Old Silver Hill Rd., District Heights, MD

Save the date- On Saturday, January 26, 2013 DC's Anacostia Community Museum will host Natalie Hopkinson for an author event.

A listing of all DUP author events is also available on our Google calendar.

Natalie Hopkinson Events in New Orleans and DC

This summer if you’re in New Orleans or Washington D.C. catch Natalie Hopkinson talking about her new book Go-Go Live: The Musical Life and Death of a Chocolate City. She’ll be reading from and signing copies of her insider’s view of the social history of black Washington through its go-go music and culture.

As George Pelecanos has said, "Natalie Hopkinson knows the music, the heartbeat, and the people of Washington well, but Go-Go Live: The Musical Life and Death of a Chocolate City is much more than a book about D.C.'s indigenous sound. It is a vital, lively, and ultimately inspiring look at the evolution of an American city.”
 

New Orleans, LA

Tuesday, June 19, 2012
6:30 p.m.
Maple Street Books, Healing Center Location, 2372 St. Claude Avenue, New Orleans

Friday, June 22
6-9 p.m.
Cafe Istanbul, 2372 St. Claude Ave, New Orleans

Washington, DC
Monday, July 16th, 2012
6:30 p.m.
Busboys and Poets, 14th & V, 2021 14th St, NW, Washington, D.C.

Monday, July 30, 2012
7:00 pm
Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, D.C.

Check back this fall for additional Go-Go Live events including Cambridge, Massachusetts and more in Washington D.C. A listing of all DUP author events is also available on our Google calendar.

 

Chuck Brown, "Godfather of Go-Go," Dies

Washington, D.C. is mourning the death of Chuck Brown. The legendary guitarist and singer has come to stand for the city's homegrown musical genre go-go, a funky, percussive music characterized by call-and-response and known for its exciting live shows. In her new book Go-Go Live: The Musical Life and Death of a Chocolate City (out next month), Natalie Hopkinson uses the story of go-go music to tell the story of black D.C. from the charred ruins of the 1968 race riots to the gentrification of the 1990s and 2000s. Hopkinson shared an appreciation of Brown's legacy on The Root, writing, "Together with his D.C. fans, Chuck Brown lit the creative spark for the go-go industry -- what remains to this day a multimillion-dollar, almost entirely black-owned business, filled with musicians, promoters, graphic designers, security, bands, managers, recording studios, bootleggers, Web developers, fashion designers and radio personalities." She's also featured in this NPR remembrance. "He was royalty in this city," she says. "It's kind of inconceivable that he's gone because he was such an embodiment of the music that just went and went and went."

Tiya Miles Wins MacArthur Award

We offer a huge congratulations to University of Michigan history professor Tiya Miles, who has won a prestigious MacArthur Foundation "genius grant." Miles is a public historian whose research is on the relationships between African Americans and Cherokee peoples in colonial America. Miles is co-editor, with Sharon Holland, of our book Crossing Waters, Crossing Worlds: The African Diaspora in Indian Country. She also contributed a chapter to Haunted by Empire: Geographies of Intimacy in North American History, edited by Ann Laura Stoler. The MacArthur Fellows Program awards $500,000 to individuals of exceptional creativity and accomplishment. Congratulations again to Miles!

Remembering Stetson Kennedy

We are sad to learn of the death of author and folklorist Stetson Kennedy. He was best known for exposing and ridiculing the secrets of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1940s and 1950s.  Stetson was a contributor to White Men Challenging Racism: 35 Personal Stories. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.

 

 

 

        

(AP Photo/St. Augustine Record, Daron Dean)