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The Guardian
4 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
Poem of the week: Two sonnets by Claude McKay
America Although she feeds me bread of bitterness, And sinks into my throat her tiger's tooth, Stealing my breath of life, I will confess I love this cultured hell that tests my youth. Her vigor flows like tides into my blood, Giving me strength erect against her hate, Her bigness sweeps my being like a flood. Yet, as a rebel fronts a king in state, I stand within her walls with not a shred Of terror, malice, nor a word of jeer. Darkly I gaze into the days ahead, And see her might and granite wonders there, Beneath the touch of Time's unerring hand, Like priceless treasures sinking in the sand. America said … America said: Now, we've left Europe's soil With its deep national jealousies and hates, Its religious prejudices and turmoil. To build a better home within our gates. English and German, French, Italian, And Jew and Catholic and Protestant, Yes, every European, every man Is equal in this new abode, God grant. And Africans were here as chattel slaves, But never considered human flesh and blood, Until their presence stirred the whites in waves To sweep beyond them, onward like a flood, To seek a greater freedom for their kind, Leaving the blacks still half-slaves, dumb and blind. Written more than 20 years apart, these two sonnets by the Jamaica-born, Harlem Renaissance poet, novelist and political activist Claude McKay (1890-1948), take differently angled critical positions to their common subject, and emphasise a different poetics. In America (first published in the Liberator magazine in 1921) conflicted emotions take metaphorical shape: the sonnet has stylish literary manners. America said … (number 34 in a sequence, The Cycle, written around 1943 but only published posthumously) bears the strong trace of the poet's earlier political thinking, although written after his conversion to Catholicism and scathing rejection of Marxist ideology. The pared style is almost journalistic compared with America. The cruel betrayal of being fed the 'bread of bitterness' by a maternal, female America, and subjected to the throat-wound of her 'tiger's tooth' forms the faintly biblical-sounding starting point for the earlier poem. Its development expands the verbal complexity. Still early on, the speaker 'confesses' dramatically, 'I love this cultured hell that tests my youth'. The brilliant oxymoron 'cultured hell' inscribes the poet's love-hate for America, and may suggest a nation's 'cultivated' hatred for his people. But the young poet's invigoration becomes a moral testing that leads to calm self-possession 'as a rebel fronts a king in state': true civilisation is the ability to 'stand within her walls with not a shred / Of terror, malice, not a word of jeer'. This line suggests the power of passive resistance, or resistance channelled into the creative accommodation of opposition via language. McKay's smooth deployment of the Shakespearean sonnet form and metre also makes room for its Romantic ancestry. Shelley's sonnet Ozymandias seems to haunt the gratifying vision of the decay of 'bigness', the physical collapse of an emblem of tyranny into 'sand', as the speaker looks at the future fall of America's 'granite wonders'. 'Time's unerring hand' prevails, in this sonnet, over the communist vision of the revolutionary dismantling of capitalism. 'Nonviolent passive resistance is effective as long as your opposition adheres to the same rules as you do,' Nelson Mandela wrote. 'But if peaceful protest is met with violence, its efficacy is at an end. For me, nonviolence was not a moral principle but a strategy; there is no moral goodness in using an ineffective weapon.' America said … marks the despair of the weaponless, splicing octave from sestet, and separating theoretical New World idealism from brutal reality. The country, now, is ungendered, barely personified: although America 'speaks' it is with a voice whose time is past, whose prayed-for vision of equality stays unrealised. Europeans become one exploitative 'ruling class' in the sestet, inculpated by the shock of its opening line: 'And Africans were here as chattel slaves …' It's the Black presence that impels the 'flood' of white power-seekers forward. The 'greater freedom for their kind' is white freedom from the Black population, a freedom never to be shared.\\ Sign up to Bookmarks Discover new books and learn more about your favourite authors with our expert reviews, interviews and news stories. Literary delights delivered direct to you after newsletter promotion Although the metre is loose at times, a five-stress (pentameter) line is sustained by the sonnet's inherent vocalisation. For example, the third line, theoretically tricky to scan, is perfectly sayable with a rocking, oratorical movement around the five emphases. More variation is possible in scanning the last line. If 'half' is stressed ('leaving the blacks still half-slaves, dumb and blind') it's as though the devalued humanity of a 'slave' had been halved again. If slaves is also stressed, the line delivers a heavily drawn-out and almost weapon-raising conclusion. America said … gains from being read alongside its neighbours. The whole 54-poem sequence isn't readily accessible online; however, an 18-poem extract that includes the introductory 'proem' is illuminating. McKay insists boldly on his new genre: a sonnet-guided personal-political autobiography. Form heightens the political passion of The Cycle sonnets, but the feeling 'I' resonates above the literary voice and the meta-poetic, potentially revolutionary genre, the public speech, is ever-present. Rhetorical pacing and cadence inform America, too, despite the more literary lexicon. Alongside the deeply absorbed influences of Petrarch, Shakespeare and Shelley, great orators such as Marcus Garvey make echoes in the deceptively small-looking, but rich and expansive sound-chamber of the McKay sonnet.
Forbes
24-05-2025
- General
- Forbes
5 Notable W.E.B. Du Bois Books And Literary Works
W.E.B. Du Bois poses for a portait on May 31, 1919. ( William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was a forward-thinking scholar whose intellect and writings bravely challenged America's racial hierarchy. As Harvard's first African American Ph.D. graduate in 1895, he established himself as an undeniable intellectual force during an era when segregation defined American society. Du Bois began publishing scholarly work in 1896 and soon became renowned for his distinct writing style, which spanned multiple genres, including scholarly monographs, essays, autobiography, fiction and poetry. On February 12, 1909, Du Bois helped establish the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and served as editor of its influential magazine, The Crisis, for over two decades, using this platform to publish important journalism, critique racial injustice and elevate Black literary talent during the Harlem Renaissance. Nearly a century later, Du Bois remains one of the most influential Black intellectuals in history. His scholarly precision and moral urgency continue to shape our understanding of race, power and identity in American society. During his lifetime, Du Bois published 21 books and several journals. His seminal work, The Souls of Black Folk (1903), introduced 'double consciousness,' an idea that articulated the "split" nature of Black American identity in a predominantly white and racially segregated America. This concept, along with his critique of Booker T. Washington's accommodationist approach, helped to establish him as a leading voice on race in America. Below are five of his must-reads, selected for their relevance and sociological impact. In the first chapter, 'Of Our Spiritual Strivings,' Du Bois introduces the idea of 'double consciousness,' which he describes as the 'sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity.' The concept goes beyond academic speculation to offer a credible explanation for how Black Americans reconcile the tension between their self-perception and the distorted images imposed by a white supremacist society. This explanation continues to carry a lot of weight in present-day discussions around how racial identity presents itself within American society. Arthur E. McFarlane II, the great-granson of the African-American hero—civil rights pioneer W.E.B. ... More DuBois reaches for "The Souls of Black Folk" one of the collection of DuBois books in his home. The Souls of Black Folk is generally considered one of the earliest works of sociology and uses both history and memoir to analyze and then expose the contradictions of post-Reconstruction America. The narrative structure of the book is sharpened with scholarly analysis and lyrical meditation, with each chapter containing paired epigraphs: one from canonical Western literature and the other a bar from Negro spirituals (which Du Bois called 'sorrow songs'). In the third chapter titled 'Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others,' the scholar presents a measured critique of Washington's accommodationist philosophy while also voicing his concerns about Washington's philosophy. Here, Du Bois firmly asserts that Washington's philosophy would do nothing more than harm Black people in the long run and keep them in a constant state of subservience and deference to white supremacy. Who should read this?: Anyone interested in Black American history, race relations and the convoluted nature of Black experiences and identities in America. Where to buy this book: Simon & Schuster W.E.B. Dubois, with Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune and Lincoln University President Dr. Horace Mann Bond, ... More after receiving the University's Alpha Medallion Awards. In Black Reconstruction in America, W.E.B. Du Bois delivers a magisterial reassessment of the post-Civil War era that essentially disassembles the racist historiography that dominated American academic discourse for generations. Published in 1935 and during the Jim Crow era and resurgent white nationalism, this 768-page opus represents both rigorous historical scholarship and an act of intellectual defiance. Du Bois begins by framing the Civil War as fundamentally about slavery rather than states' rights, a perspective that is now accepted but was initially controversial. Du Bois also discusses how four million freed people became active pioneers of democracy rather than passive recipients of Northern benevolence. His exceptional research here is both thought-provoking and important. Members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) at the ... More organization's 20th Annual Session in Cleveland, Ohio, June 26, 1929. Pictured sitting are NAACP staff including W.E.B. DuBois, James Weldon Johnson, Walter White, William Pickens, Arthur Spingarn, Daisy Lampkin, and Robert Bagnall. He also discusses the idea of the 'general strike,' which is a reinterpretation of the mass enslaved people's flight to Union lines as a deliberate political action that sabotaged the Confederacy's war effort. One of the most radical concepts in this book is Du Bois's rendering of the postwar period. Where the then-dominant Dunning School historians saw tragic chaos and Negro incapacity, Du Bois demonstrates that this was an exceptional democratic experiment. Thanks to his archival-style research, Du Bois shows readers how Black legislators established the South's first public education systems, expanded voting rights and modernized state constitutions. These achievements, Du Bois demonstrates, were systematically erased from historical memory through what he terms 'propaganda posing as history.' Who should read this?: Historians, scholars and serious readers who are interested in historical revisionism. Where to buy this book: Labyrinth Books The Philadelphia Negro is credited with being the first sociological case study of a Black American community. In this University of Pennsylvania-commissioned study, Du Bois combines rigorous empirical research with compassionate observation to study the lives, struggles and social structures of Philadelphia's Black community, all while establishing urban ethnography as a legitimate academic field. Du Bois conducted this research while teaching at the University of Pennsylvania, where he interviewed thousands of Black Philadelphians in the Seventh Ward. The resulting work provides unprecedented demographic data alongside nuanced analysis of the community's social stratification, economic conditions and the systemic barriers that discrimination creates. His methodology was pioneering as he used door-to-door surveys, statistical analysis and participant observation decades before these research practices became standard. The book denies popular ideas that Black poverty is a consequence of moral failure or inferiority; instead, it outlines the impact of structural racism, limited opportunities and systemic roadblocks that the average Black person experiences as a cause. Who should read this?: Sociologists, urban historians and students of research methodology. Where to buy this book: University of Pennsylvania Press This future-facing collection uses autobiographical essays, poems, short stories and sociological analyses to create a vignette of Black life during World War I and its aftermath. It is one of the most revealing pieces of evidence regarding Du Bois's evolving radicalism and global perspective. Du Bois wrote the book during the violent 'Red Summer' of 1919, and it has since come to represent his most experimental and politically radical body of work. He also wrote a powerful essay called 'Returning Soldiers' in May of that year. A major theme of this work is the emphasis and study of labor, and he examines this by looking at the connections between racism, capitalism and imperialism while expanding his analysis to include gender through essays like 'The Damnation of Women.' In that essay, he validates the roles of women in society, inside the home, at work and in the Black church in a way that reads as feminist for its era. Du Bois acknowledges the double burden faced by Black women who have to endure both racial and gender oppression by arguing that 'the uplift of women is, next to the problem of the color line and the peace movement, our greatest modern cause.' Dr. W.E.B. DuBois speaking at the World Peace Conference. He basically critiques how white supremacy and patriarchy have denied Black women economic independence, educational opportunities and political voice while celebrating their grit and central role in community preservation. Another aspect of this book that was ahead of its time is Du Bois's insistence that sexual autonomy for women is important for their freedom. By asserting this, he challenged Victorian ideas of propriety that constrained discourse around gender. This proto-intersectional analysis anticipated feminist theoretical frameworks by decades while also proving yet again that Du Bois had never-before-seen intellectual foresight for his time and understood social justice through the lens of several overlapping systems of oppression. Who should read this?: Readers interested in Black radicalism, intersectionality and literary innovation. Where to buy this book: Verso Books In this innovative 'autobiography of a concept,' Du Bois uses his personal journey to explain how race operates as a social construct. The book is a combination of memoir, social theory and historical analysis, complete with Du Bois's signature intellectual dexterity. Unlike conventional autobiography, Dusk of Dawn uses Du Bois's life experiences primarily as windows into broader social transformations while following his intellectual journey from Harvard through his NAACP years and growing disillusionment with American liberalism. Du Bois was 72 when he wrote this book, which is one of his most important works due to its reflective, scholarly wisdom. It sees Du Bois speak from the perspective of someone who experienced significant shifts ranging from Reconstruction through the Great Depression. He also critically reassesses his earlier positions, including his conception of the 'Talented Tenth,' while developing more economically radical approaches to racial justice. His chapter 'The Concept of Race' also challenges and deconstructs biological notions of race, while anticipating later theoretical developments by decades. Who should read this: Anyone interested in intellectual history, racial theory and political autobiography. Where to buy this book: Oxford University Press Bottom Line W.E.B. Du Bois was a preeminent Black intellectual and a revolutionary thinker whose work, especially his written works, permanently altered our national zeitgeist. Thanks to his sociological innovation, historical revision and intellect, his 21 books challenged white supremacy while offering a reliable blueprint for understanding race that remains startlingly relevant a century later.
TimesLIVE
17-05-2025
- General
- TimesLIVE
Diplomacy is key to success in Trump talks
In his celebrated poem penned in 1936, the Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes writes: 'Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed. Let it be that great strong land of love. Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme. That any man can be crushed by one above (It was never America to me). O, let my land be a land where Liberty is crowned with no false patriotic wreath. But opportunity is real, and life is free. Equality is in the air we breathe.'..
The Sun
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Dandy statement
ON May 5, the finest of the entertainment industry rocked up in their dandiest fits to wow the blue carpet at the Met (Metropolitan Museum of Art) Gala on Fifth Avenue, New York City. Often ridiculed for its superficiality, the charity event is not short of criticism and scrutiny, as last year's gala received backlash for being tone-deaf to the political climate at the time (the Gaza genocide). This year, the winds have shifted. While past galas often drew criticism, the 2025 event was met with praise. Some may see this as an effort by industry leaders to reshape the image of Hollywood and the elite, especially as public awareness of social disparities grows. That said, the 2025 Met was applauded for inclusivity and artistic ambition – and dare we say, this year's gala sits at the same table as the 2018 Met, which was considered among the best. This year's theme may have been rooted in performative activism, but its intention makes a poignant political statement as it gives a hypothetical seat at the very table where this community was once (read: still are) oppressed. Themed Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, the Met took direct inspiration from Monica L. Miller's 2009 book Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity and here is why it is a big deal. Dandyism With roots in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the term 'dandyism' began in the 18th century when Black servants in England were forced to wear gold, brass or silver collars with padlocks and fine livery, which reflected their 'owners' wealth. However, much like any other fashion trend, the term was recontextualised – having a rebirth, ironically, in the land of freedom, the United States of America. Today, 'dandyism' connotes individuality and defiance, all thanks to a rebellious political movement in the 1920s to 1930s during the Harlem Renaissance – when Black people migrated to Harlem in New York City seeking better economic opportunities while fleeing racial violence. Dubbed the Black cultural mecca, it became nesting ground for African-American culture. And where Black people were oppressed to silence, there they thrived in bold art, music, literature and fashion, reshaping the very fabric of American culture while challenging prejudiced beliefs. Bright colours, zoot suits, florals and stripes – think fitted but with soul. Dandyism saw a departure from its European 'gentleman' tux origins as it took notes from traditional African motifs and prints. From artistes such as Louis Armstrong to human rights activist Malcolm X, appearing dandy in a tailored suit was a weighty statement of identity and defiance against repression. 2025 Met For a fashion trend that became an expression of freedom and individuality, its flowers are long overdue. The line-up of mostly Black co-chairs, comprising Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton, rapper A$ap Rocky, actor Colman Domingo and artiste Pharrell Williams, for the first time ever is exactly why this year's Met was a big deal. For decades, the entertainment and art industries have benefitted from Black culture but have refused to give them their credit. Being typecasted as loud and boorish for simply expressing themselves, the Met's decision to celebrate their individualism and the community's culture is a step in the right direction. The 2025 Superfine: Tailoring Black Style Met Gala was not just a celebration of black tailoring excellence but also the very community that shaped culture, arts, music and most importantly, individualism. Be it superficial or performative, one thing for sure is this will go down in history as a political statement that was made with much finesse and style.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
How Madonna's Haider Ackermann for Tom Ford Met Gala Look Came Together in Just 3 Weeks
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways On Monday, Madonna made her return to the Met Gala after a seven-year hiatus. For this year's theme of 'tailored for you,' Madonna wore a Tom Ford by Haider Ackermann: a cream double-breasted tuxedo in peached silk, complete with a crisp white piqué plastron shirt paired with a white piqué bow tie. The look was finished off with jewels by Diamonds Direct. It almost wasn't even a reality, says Madonna's stylist Rita Melssen. More from WWD 'She actually wasn't going to go, it wasn't even really on her radar. And then someone brought it up to her, and of course she was like, 'this is an incredible theme and I want to support and I want to show up,' Melssen says. 'We did some really deep, deep dives, deep research, got really into Black dandy over the decades. What did that look like from the 1800s into the 2000s and all the different iterations and versions of it. Her and I really just sat down. We shared feedback, we shared images. It was a really collaborative process between the both of us.' Melssen felt there were any number of directions they could go in when it came to a designer to work with, until someone sent her an image of Madonna's iconic 1995 VMA look wearing a Tom Ford for Gucci blue silk button-down shirt. 'I was like, 'wait, Haider just had this incredible, incredible season and the first collection [at Tom Ford], and I had actually met him when he came to her tour in Paris.' Madonna She gave him a call and the response was an immediate 'yes.' 'He has such a deep reverence for M and everything she stood for. Haider also is adopted, and she has four adopted children. And so there was a really deep connection there. Haider also grew up in Africa, and M obviously does so much work in Africa and Malawi and with her charities, so there was already sort of this overlap and connection there,' Melssen says. 'When I called him he was like, 'I want to make her just so powerful and elegant and show just the essence of who she is.'' The whole look came together in just about three weeks. The look drew inspiration from Gladys Bentley, a Black lesbian blues singer in New York City in the 1920s. 'Gladys Bentley was one of the original Black female dandies. She was a performer in Harlem around the Harlem Renaissance, and she used to wear these incredible white suits, like a white tail coat, white shirt, white hat, white pants,' Melssen says. 'And she was a Black lesbian during that time, which was unheard of. And so she really pushed a lot of boundaries and she made people see gender and identity in a very different way and was really a trailblazer in that way.' Haider Ackermann and Madonna Madonna was immediately interested in Bentley as a reference when Melssen suggested the idea. 'Of course it's very different, don't get me wrong. But there's just so many ways in which when M was coming up, she also challenged gender identity and what a woman can and can't do, also in reverence to all the women that came before her,' Melssen says. 'In her own way, M is a dandy, to have this audacity to push boundaries and to push people to think of her and women in general in a very different way.' The first time Madonna tried the look on for Melssen and Ackermann and the Tom Ford team, the whole room knew it was the one. 'Haider was standing next to me and the literal hairs on his arms raised and he had goosebumps,' Melssen says. 'So we all slept well that night.' View Gallery Launch Gallery: Met Gala 2025 Red Carpet Arrivals Photos, Live Updates Best of WWD Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
