After Uncle Tom's Cabin: Black Voices for Justice
2021 Literature Discussion Series
First Wednesdays at 7pm
2021 Theme
When researching and writing Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe drew on a tradition of Black Americans telling their own stories and writing against slavery. After abolition, Black authors recognized that the fight for equality had only begun. They made their own contributions to the rich, diverse tradition of Black voices for justice that continues to our own day.
In 2021 the Harriet Beecher Stowe House’s monthly discussion series “After Uncle Tom’s Cabin: Black Voices for Justice,” will consider some of the important works by men and women in this tradition from the 19th century to our own time. After the Civil War, Harriet Beecher Stowe became increasingly concerned with women’s issues, and we’ll follow her example by examining questions of both racial and gender justice as well as intersections between the two.
Discussion Format
Discussions will again occur on the first Wednesday of each month, February through May and September through December, from 7:00 to 8:00 pm, with an extra 15 minutes for those who want to stick around. As long as the pandemic remains, we’ll stay on Zoom. Dr. John Getz, Professor Emeritus, Xavier University, will co-lead discussions with various co-leaders. Each discussion will be self-contained so participants can jump in at any point. Suggested readings are be posted, but we’ll always have handouts/slides for anyone who can’t read ahead.
Tickets & RSVP
RSVP for individual discussion sessions through the links below. A donation of $5.00 is suggested, or free for HBSH members. Not a member yet? Learn more here.
This series is sponsored by School Outfitters and Hindman.
When researching and writing Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe drew on a tradition of Black Americans telling their own stories and writing against slavery. After abolition, Black authors recognized that the fight for equality had only begun. They made their own contributions to the rich, diverse tradition of Black voices for justice that continues to our own day.
In 2021 the Harriet Beecher Stowe House’s monthly discussion series “After Uncle Tom’s Cabin: Black Voices for Justice,” will consider some of the important works by men and women in this tradition from the 19th century to our own time. After the Civil War, Harriet Beecher Stowe became increasingly concerned with women’s issues, and we’ll follow her example by examining questions of both racial and gender justice as well as intersections between the two.
Discussion Format
Discussions will again occur on the first Wednesday of each month, February through May and September through December, from 7:00 to 8:00 pm, with an extra 15 minutes for those who want to stick around. As long as the pandemic remains, we’ll stay on Zoom. Dr. John Getz, Professor Emeritus, Xavier University, will co-lead discussions with various co-leaders. Each discussion will be self-contained so participants can jump in at any point. Suggested readings are be posted, but we’ll always have handouts/slides for anyone who can’t read ahead.
Tickets & RSVP
RSVP for individual discussion sessions through the links below. A donation of $5.00 is suggested, or free for HBSH members. Not a member yet? Learn more here.
This series is sponsored by School Outfitters and Hindman.
Fall 2021
Wednesday, September 1, 2021: James Baldwin and "the Failure of the Protest Novel"
Co-Leader: Dr. Tyrone Williams, Professor of English, Xavier University
In 1949 25-year-old James Baldwin accused both Harriet Beecher Stowe and his own contemporary Richard Wright of debasing fiction by reducing it to propaganda. We'll evaluate Baldwin's complaint and examine an essay and a short story by him that show what he thought Black authors should do.
Suggested reading:
Co-Leader: Dr. Tyrone Williams, Professor of English, Xavier University
In 1949 25-year-old James Baldwin accused both Harriet Beecher Stowe and his own contemporary Richard Wright of debasing fiction by reducing it to propaganda. We'll evaluate Baldwin's complaint and examine an essay and a short story by him that show what he thought Black authors should do.
Suggested reading:
Wednesday, October 6, 2021: Alice Walker and the Search for Black Women's History
Co-Leader: Dr. ShaDawn Battle, Assistant Professor of Critical Ethnic and Black Studies, Department of Race, Intersectionality, Gender, and Sociology (RIGS), and Stained Glass Initiative Faculty in Residence, Xavier University
In the 1970s Alice Walker asked why more Black women weren’t included on lists of important artists and authors. Her answer: “We have constantly looked high, when we should have looked high—and low.” We’ll consider the relevance of her question and answer to her time and our own and discuss two short stories in which she tries to address the imbalance.
Suggested reading:
Co-Leader: Dr. ShaDawn Battle, Assistant Professor of Critical Ethnic and Black Studies, Department of Race, Intersectionality, Gender, and Sociology (RIGS), and Stained Glass Initiative Faculty in Residence, Xavier University
In the 1970s Alice Walker asked why more Black women weren’t included on lists of important artists and authors. Her answer: “We have constantly looked high, when we should have looked high—and low.” We’ll consider the relevance of her question and answer to her time and our own and discuss two short stories in which she tries to address the imbalance.
Suggested reading:
Wednesday, November 3, 2021: Two Caribbean American Voices
Co-Leader: Dr. Mich Nyawalo, Associate Professor of Critical Ethnic and Black/Race Studies, Xavier University
RSVP HERE
Black American authors with roots in the Caribbean have made important contributions to American literature and the struggle for justice. Paule Marshall's work connects her family's history in Barbados with her own experience growing up in the U.S. while Edwidge Danticat's fiction draws on her own childhood in Haiti and family heritage there.
Suggested reading:
Co-Leader: Dr. Mich Nyawalo, Associate Professor of Critical Ethnic and Black/Race Studies, Xavier University
RSVP HERE
Black American authors with roots in the Caribbean have made important contributions to American literature and the struggle for justice. Paule Marshall's work connects her family's history in Barbados with her own experience growing up in the U.S. while Edwidge Danticat's fiction draws on her own childhood in Haiti and family heritage there.
Suggested reading:
Wednesday, December 1, 2021: Lessons from Three 20th-Century Black Authors
Co-Leader: Dr. Janice Walker, most recently Vice-President for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion, former Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Xavier University
RSVP HERE
Although only the first of these three stories is set at Christmas time, together the stories offer important lesson on commercialism, racism, and intersectionality for us to ponder during the holidays.
Suggested reading:
Co-Leader: Dr. Janice Walker, most recently Vice-President for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion, former Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Xavier University
RSVP HERE
Although only the first of these three stories is set at Christmas time, together the stories offer important lesson on commercialism, racism, and intersectionality for us to ponder during the holidays.
Suggested reading:
Spring 2021
Wednesday, February 3, 2021: The Horrors of Slavery, Told by the Formerly Enslaved
Co-Leader: Dr. Jerry Cline-Bailey, Associate Professor of English, Xavier University
Suggested reading:
Wednesday, March 3, 2021: After Abolition--Looking Back and Looking Forward
Co-Leader: Dr. Jerry Cline-Bailey, Associate Professor of English, Xavier University
Suggested reading:
Wednesday, April 7, 2021: Uncle Tom is Dead!
Co-Leader: Dr. Tyrone Williams, Professor of English, Xavier University
Suggested reading:
Richard Wright, from his collection Uncle Tom's Children (1940):
Wednesday, May 5, 2021: The Harlem Renaissance and Beyond
Co-Leader: Dr. Tyrone Williams, Professor of English, Xavier University
Suggested reading:
Langston Hughes, from The Best of Simple (1961):
Co-Leader: Dr. Jerry Cline-Bailey, Associate Professor of English, Xavier University
Suggested reading:
- Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave (1845), Chapters I and IV
- The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now a Resident of Canada, As Narrated by Himself (1849), p. 15-18, 27-28, 32-43
- Solomon Northup, Twelve Years a Slave (1853), Chapters X, XVI, and XVIII .
Wednesday, March 3, 2021: After Abolition--Looking Back and Looking Forward
Co-Leader: Dr. Jerry Cline-Bailey, Associate Professor of English, Xavier University
Suggested reading:
- Charles W. Chesnutt, “The Goophered Grapevine” (1887) and “Po’ Sandy” (1888)
- Alice Dunbar Nelson, "The Stones of the Village" and “Sister Josepha”
Wednesday, April 7, 2021: Uncle Tom is Dead!
Co-Leader: Dr. Tyrone Williams, Professor of English, Xavier University
Suggested reading:
Richard Wright, from his collection Uncle Tom's Children (1940):
- "The Ethics of Living Jim Crow"
- "Big Boy Leaves Home"
- "Almos' a Man" (1940) aka "The Man who Was Almost a Man" (1961)
Wednesday, May 5, 2021: The Harlem Renaissance and Beyond
Co-Leader: Dr. Tyrone Williams, Professor of English, Xavier University
Suggested reading:
Langston Hughes, from The Best of Simple (1961):
Past Sessions
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