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165
into the center giving divine perfect
light
I am bad25
The speaker of the poem (assumed to be a black woman) is thus
situated within the African continent and is, in fact, pan-African as she
moves between the Congo (Central Africa) and the Fertile Crescent (North
East Africa/Egypt). Not only is this her home, she is responsible for the
most enduring legacies of the Egyptian culture: the Sphinx and the
pyramids. The speaker is immortal. Although the Egyptian culture that
produced these monuments hasn’t existed in thousands of years, she
claims that she was there and that she is responsible for bringing them
into being. In this way, Giovanni gives the black woman speaker (and all
black women) a history and heritage that stretches far beyond the history
of the Unites States, which is a history replete with slavery, racism and
subjugation. In addition, the imperialism of the U.S. and Europe are no
longer the dominant narratives of Africa, the Middle East or even Europe.
Instead, the speaker of the poem (clearly an African) predates European
and U.S. intervention and, in fact, is far more powerful than either.
Perhaps European and U.S. forces dominate Africa today but her
achievements are still visible thousands of years later. In later stanzas,
the very landscape is her creation. Given the backdrop of real-world
African independence movements, this poem may also signal a
Object Description
| Title | "As shelters against the cold": women writers of the Black Arts and Chicano movements, 1965-1978 |
| Author | Ryder, Ulli Kira |
| Author email | uryder@usc.edu; uryder@gmail.com |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | American Studies & Ethnicity |
| School | College of Letters, Arts and Sciences |
| Date defended/completed | 2008-08-27 |
| Date submitted | 2008 |
| Restricted until | Restricted until 27 October 2010. |
| Date published | 2010-10-27 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | McKenna, Teresa |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Sanchez, George J. Johnson, Dana |
| Abstract | This dissertation examines the work of women writers in the Black Arts and Chicano movements during the years 1965-1978. I argue that understanding the intersectional nature of the women's experiences is crucial for understanding their literary output. Further, I argue that Chicanas and African American women of this era challenged homogenous notions of community and racial identity and that we can trace the development of the Third World feminism and multiculturalism that came to the fore in the 1980s to this earlier period. Thus, this study also impacts the way we conceptualize identity formation and the creation of the literary canon. Investigating the ways in which these women integrated nationalist and feminist rhetoric and activism in their work is crucial for a full understanding of this critical period in U.S. history. At stake is an understanding of how Chicana and African American women in the United States have formed identities and communities; struggled for liberation and equality; and become part of the U.S. literary canon. |
| Keyword | Black Power; Black Arts movement; Chicano movement; civil rights; racial identity formation; womanism; borderlands theory; feminism; Third World feminism; nationalism; intersectionality |
| Geographic subject (country) | USA |
| Coverage date | 1965/1978 |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m1698 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Ryder, Ulli Kira |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-Ryder-2415 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume40/etd-Ryder-2415.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 170 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 165 into the center giving divine perfect light I am bad25 The speaker of the poem (assumed to be a black woman) is thus situated within the African continent and is, in fact, pan-African as she moves between the Congo (Central Africa) and the Fertile Crescent (North East Africa/Egypt). Not only is this her home, she is responsible for the most enduring legacies of the Egyptian culture: the Sphinx and the pyramids. The speaker is immortal. Although the Egyptian culture that produced these monuments hasn’t existed in thousands of years, she claims that she was there and that she is responsible for bringing them into being. In this way, Giovanni gives the black woman speaker (and all black women) a history and heritage that stretches far beyond the history of the Unites States, which is a history replete with slavery, racism and subjugation. In addition, the imperialism of the U.S. and Europe are no longer the dominant narratives of Africa, the Middle East or even Europe. Instead, the speaker of the poem (clearly an African) predates European and U.S. intervention and, in fact, is far more powerful than either. Perhaps European and U.S. forces dominate Africa today but her achievements are still visible thousands of years later. In later stanzas, the very landscape is her creation. Given the backdrop of real-world African independence movements, this poem may also signal a |
