In reading about the experiences of black people in the age of submission there two distinct topics that I thought of. One was the use of music, poetry and other forms of art which gave a political message and the second one was the usage of churches within the black community. Zinn showed many poems from authors such as Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, and Paul Lawrence Dunbar. These Harlem Renaissance arts used their art to express political messages about the discrimination within the Jim Crow system. By writing from personal narratives as well as those which they knew were pervasive in the community, they were able to accurately convey the blatant racism and ostracization that took over their daily lives. This is especially powerful in Cullen’s incident poem as it shows that one racist experience can have a lot of power on a person’s life. By showing that his entire summer all he remembers was a racial slur that he was called, we are able to understand the message Cullen wanted to send to both the black and white audiences who read his work.
Another powerful aspect of these first-hand stories was the usage of the church, particularly Baptist churches, as a source of power, strength but also functionally as a place to meet where many marches and organized dissent started. When Zinn writes about Montgomery this is especially evident. By meeting at the church, it was symbolic of black unity but by also noting that the followers were instructed to “walk with God” demonstrates the power and significance that church and God had in these stories. The church, according to Zinn, was central to Martin Luther King’s movement but generally had a large presence in other movements as well.
I agree the use of personal stories was very impactful in these readings. It shows blatant racism many people try and ignore.
I did not know how prevalent the use of churches for power was for the slaves at the time. I was surprised yet happy to hear that the people found happiness and joy from meeting with their churches, and were able to then organize together to stand up. One of the biggest things that I took away from the first article was the fact that even though the lives of the slaves were awful they were still able to find a way to laugh and be a makeshift family at night.
I also think the prevalence of written works like poems, music, etc. was a powerful aspect in slavery and promoting political agendas. The impact they had on portraying the struggles was to their benefit and gave them agency in times where they were completely stripped of any theoretical or intellectual basis.
Before this reading I never really knew how significant the church was during the Jim Crow Era. In high school we would mainly learn about the poetry, music, and works of art that were made during that time. I think that using the arts is a great way for those to express the way the feel while also being able to promote a political agenda. The church was also another influential way to provide a community and happiness during that era.
The church definitely played a large roll in everything. Coming from a Baptist family from Georgia, I can attest that we still sing slave rituals on a regular basis. They are just called hymns now and that ties directly back to slavery which shows how long certain effects can last.