Great African-American Literature
Submitted by JohnnyW on Thu, 03/08/2001 - 02:50
Tags:
- Frederick Douglas/Narrative on the Life
- Sojourner Truth/Narrative of Sojourner Truth
- Booker T. Washington/Up from Slavery
- W.E.B. Du Bois/The Souls of Black Folk
- W.E.B. Du Bois/The Autobiography
- James Weldon Johnson/Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man
- Jean Toomer/Cane
- Langston Hughes/The Ways of White Folk
- George Schuyler/Black No More
- Richard Wright/Black Boy
- Ralph Ellison/Invisible Man
- Malcolm X/Autobiography
- Eldridge Cleaver/Soul on Ice
Author Comments:
Roughly in chronological order. A lot of omissions because there's a lot I haven't read.
Nice list, Johnny. There are quite a few you've listed that I haven't read.
Some possible additions:
"Their Eyes Were Watching God," by Zora Neale Hurston. It's an great novel and an indispensible addition to black women's writing-- and the African American canon in general.
Also, check out the poetry of Countee Cullen, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Gwendolyn Brooks and Rita Dove ...
And the essays of James Baldwin ("The Fire Next Time," etc.)
Sounds great mustang...I've wanted to read Hurston for awhile and just haven't gotten around to it; we'll see what this summer brings. The others you've listed I haven't quite made it to either. I'd especially like to try Baldwin and Cullen (I've read a couple of poems and enjoyed them). Thanks for the comments and, when, oh when, will we have the pleasure of one of your lists? My students tell me Montana is sooo boring that you must not have anything else to do;)
Johnny Waco