Thompson, longtime foreign correspondent and editor of Ebony; Jackie Ormes, the first African American woman cartoonist; and Pauli Murray, poet and groundbreaking civil and women’s rights activist. Male writers get their due, too. One chapter discusses Third Ward Newark, a 1946 novel by Curtis Lucas about the tragic consequences for two young black girls abducted by white men with intentions to rape. One girl is beaten to death; the other escapes, but never fully recovers from the ordeal. Violence—particularly sexual violence— is a common theme in many of the works. “The sexual violence targeting black women has not been documented to the same extent as the lynching of black men, but mid-20th century black writing exposes the threat of sexual violence, which differentiates the oppressive experiences of black men and black women,” Hardison says. “The literature of this period highlights white men’s sexual assault of black women, which did not warrant legal restitution, such as in Third Ward Newark, as well as black men’s complicity in patriarchy and black
women’s sexual and economic exploitation, as in Ann Petry’s novel The Street.” Hardison plans to do further work on Ormes and Thompson, both of whom are understudied, she says. “Despite their obvious cultural influence in their historical moments, and the importance of their legacies, I knew very little—if anything—about these extraordinary women before my research for the book,” she notes. Hardison acknowledges that discussion of race and gender can be difficult, but she says that makes it even more important to talk about them. “We encounter racial and gendered representations in our lives daily—on television, in magazines, in films, on the news, and on the billboards we encounter while driving,” she says. “Race and gender shape the cultural media we consume as well as how we interact socially and politically in the world. Confronting these topics lessens our discomfort and increases our skill in discursively managing such subject matter. This is how we continue to learn and develop intellectually.” n
“Black writers that complicate our understanding of mid-20th century African American literature, due to their aesthetic conventions, gender subject matter, or lukewarm critical reception, need to be recovered. They offer a unique perspective and make a valuable contribution to black cultural production.” AYESHA HARDISON
PHOTO: BEN SIEGEL
.13