Ca**andra Hayes - African American Lit Timeline 1940-1980 lyrics

Throughout history, from Coleridge's "water water everywhere" to Justin Timberlake singing "cry me a river," writers and artists have been fascinated by water and bodies of water. Water is a common, yet necessary part of life. Therefore, water imagery conjured by writers and artists is easily shared and understood by an audience. Water also has symbolic connotations, such as the sea standing for the soul or subconscious and rivers representing the past or even life itself. Water also involves religious symbolism, representing purity and salvation, as in John 4 of the Bible. In African American literature and history from 1940-1980, the water motif plays an important role in African Americans' search for freedom and equality. 1941: US enters WW2 following the attack on Pearl Harbor Even if we were willing to let it [a dream] in, Had time to warm it, keep it very clean, Anticipate a message, let it begin? We wonder. But not well! not for a minute! Since Number Five is out of the bathroom now, We think of lukewarm water, hope to get in it. --"kitchenette building" by Gwendolyn Brooks, 1945 1950: Gwendolyn Brooks wins Pulitzer Prize for poetry Life for my child is simple, and is good. He knows his wish. Yes, but that is not all. Because I know mine too. And we both want joy of undeep and unabiding things, Like kicking over a chair or throwing blocks out of a window Or tipping over an icebox pan Or snatching down curtains or fingering an electric outlet Or a journey or a friend or an illegal kiss. No. There is more to it than that. It is that he has never been afraid. Rather, he reaches out and to the chair falls with a beautiful crash, And the water comes slooshing sloppily out across the floor. And so forth. Not that success, for him, is sure, infallible. But never has he been afraid to reach. -- "The Children of the Poor" by Gwendolyn Brooks, 1949 1955: Rosa Parks initiates the Montgomery Bus Boycott From the ship lost at sea for many days suddenly sighted a friendly vessel. From the mast of the unfortunate vessel was seen a signal: 'Water, water; we die of thirst!' The answer from the friendly vessel came back: 'Cast down your bucket where you are.' The captain of the distressed vessel, at last heeding the injunction, cast down his bucket, and it came up full of fresh sparkling water from the mouth of the Amazon River. And like him I say, and in his words, 'To those of my race who depend upon bettering their condition in a foreign land, or who underestimate the importance of cultivating friendly relations with the Southern white man, who is his next-door neighbor, I would say 'Cast down your bucket where you are...' --"Battle Royal" from The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, 1952 1961: First freedom ride When the world is tossing me, Like a ship out on the sea: Thou who knowest all about it Stand by your child, stand by me... When my life becomes a burden, And I'm nearing chilly Jordan O thou Lily of the Valley, Stand by me, stand by me. --"Stand By Me," written by Ben E. King, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, 1961 1965: Malcolm X a**a**inated Oh it doesn't matter what you wear, just as long as you are there So come on Every guy, grab a girl, everwhere around the world They'll be dancin', they're dancin' in the street Way down in LA, every day They're dancin' in the street (dancin' in the street) Let's form a big strong line Get in time We're dancin' in the street Across the ocean blue Me and you We're dancin' in the street, yeah --"Dancing in the Street," written by Marvin Gaye, Ivy J. Hunter, Mickey (William) Stevenson, 1964 1968: Martin Luther King Jr. a**a**inated This yr there is a gray stone wall damming my stream, and when the falling leaves stir my genes, I pace my cell or flop on my bunk and stare at 47 black faces across the space. I am all of them, they are all of me, I am me, they are thee, and I have no sons to float in the space between. --"The Idea of Ancestry" by Etheridge Knight, 1968 1975: John Hope Franklin becomes first African American president of the Organization of American Historians I sat on the throne drinking nectar with allah I got hot and sent an ice age to europe to cool my thirst My oldest daughter is nefertiti the tears from my birth pains created the nile I am a beautiful woman --"Ego Tripping (there may be a reason why)" by Nikki Giovanni, 1970 1980: Riots erupt in Liberty City, Florida following an instance of police brutality sometimes the feeling like amaze me baby comes back to my mouth and I am quiet like Olympian pools from the running the mountainous snows under the sun sometimes thinking about the 12th House of the Cosmos or the way your ear ensnares the tip of my tongue or signs that I have never seen like DANGER WOMEN WORKING --"Poem about Police Violence" by June Jordan, 1978