home

= Finding a Voice Through the Use of the Arts:  =

**Why the need for "African American Literature"....**
Throughout history, the voices of African Americans have consistently been silenced. This silence has been gained forcibly through all means of control; political, physical, emotional, and economic.

During the 20th and 21st century, African American artists and authors have finally begun to use the voice that has been absent, marginalized, or downright overlooked throughout the recording of American history. This is an examination of how two specific African American authors have used literature to re-examine and re-imagine the past.

Caryl Phillips' novel //Dancing in the Dark// is an intimate look at the life and career of Bert Williams, one of the most notable blackface performers of all time. Williams was a talented African American performer who, by all accounts, sacrificed his life and his self-respect to the white man's concept of what it meant to be "black". While Williams is the focus of the novel, a striking portrait is drawn of the minstrelsy and of the racist attitudes and oppression directed toward African Americans that still prevailed long after their "freedom" had been granted.

Pearl Cleage's collection of plays, //Flyin' West and Other Plays,// is a riveting examination of several aspects of African American life, including the cultural role that African Americans have played throughout history. In addition, Cleage does a tremendous job of examining the experiences and relationships of women.