Possessions of Manhood: Themes of Identity From Equiano to Johnson

One ever feels his twoness - an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.
The history of the American negro is the history of this strife,- this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self.(DuBois 215)

There are many characteristics and experiences that define the man. Times have changed throughout the years, as have the laws and the privileges which people have come to abide. However, a central theme is found in a diverse array of African-American literature; this being the black man's personal struggles to attain and define his freedom, his manhood, and his identity. The works of Olaudah Equiano, Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. DuBois, and James Weldon Johnson all examine the issues that impact them during their journey of self discovery.

Olaudah Equiano was an African slave born in 1745. He was taken from his home at the age of eleven and forced into slavery. In 1766, he bought his freedom and lived until 1797, where he died in London. Frederick Douglass was born into slavery around 1818, about 73 years after Equiano. He escaped to the North for his freedom in 1838. W.E.B. DuBois was born a free man in 1868 and dies in 1963, one day before the March on Washington. James Weldon Johnson was born three years after DuBois in 1871 and died in 1938 in a car accident.

As we study The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African; Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass; The Souls of Black Folk; and The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, we learn that each author was born into a different time period of dissimilar societies. Despite their differences, they share the struggle of being fulfilled as an American and yet have the right to exercise their African heritage through theirown definitions of manhood.

It was in 1758 when Olaudah Equiano was kidnapped from his home in Southeastern Nigeria and sold into slavery. Equiano was just eleven years old at the time and was forced to leave his Ibo religion, his family, and all else familiar. His account of being introduced to the Europeans which forced him into slavery is especially powerful, for Equiano had never laid sight on a white man before.

...I was carried on board. I was immediately handled and tossed up to see if I was sound, by some of the crew; and I was now persuaded that I had got into a world of bad spirits, and that they were going to kill me. Their complexions too, differing so much from ours, their long hair, and the language they spoke, which was very different from any I had ever heard, united me to confirm in this belief.*(33)

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African is Equiano's autobiography in which he reflects upon his life as one of "few events...which have not happened to many. It is true the incidents are numerous; and did I consider myself a European, I might say my sufferings were great but when I compare my lot with that of most of my countrymen, I regard myself as a particular favourite of Heaven, and acknowledge the mercies of Providence in every occurence of my life."*(12) However, Equiano's life is one which stands out in comparison to others, for the majority of his enslavement was while he was at sea. Few other slave narratives offer a similar account of slavery.

Equiano merged into manhood gradually, yet there are certainly experiences which aided him along. His narrative revolves around his youthful self journeying through foreign lands and over strange waters. His story is unique, for although he suffered from the oppression of slavery, he traveled all over the world, thereby gaining knowledge and education. Due to the fact that he was thrust into an entirely new environment at such a young age, his juvenile ignorance and naivety is extremely apparent, yet it is these learning experiences that caused him to mature faster than he would have otherwise.

Certain events are elaborated upon which further developed Equiano's character. Among them are the encounters that the author had aboard Captain Pascal's ship. As mentioned before, Equiano's life differed greatly from the typical slaves. Due to the fact that he spent most of his time traveling across the Atlantic, he and every other man, regardless of race, was under direct and clear orders. All had a function to fulfill aboard ship, and if a free man or a slave failed in his assigned task, they would be penalized. Furthermore, due to the fact that ships usually consisted of all-male groups, the sailors all shared the rough life of having to prove their masculinity and deal with everyday competition of strength and courage. Equiano was quick to learn this and before long he was called upon deck and paired with another sailor.

...the gentleman gave the combatants from five to nine shillings each. This was the first time I ever fought with a white boy; and I never knew what it was to have a bloody nose before. This made me fight desperately...I had a great deal of this sport afterwards, in which the captain and the ship's company used very much to encourage me.*(45)

Another turning point in the life of Olaudah Equiano was his discovery of Christianity. He had long been aware of the similarities between his Ibo religion of Africa and that of Judaism and Jesuit faith, for his society in Africa "practised circumcision like the Jews, and made offerings and feasts [on that occasion] in the same manner as they did."*(20) But a certain trip to England brought the religion into a new light for him and he began to feel as though his African religion was inferior to Christianity.

...I went to church; and having never been at such a place before, I was again amazed at seeing and hearing the service...from what I could understand...of this God, and in seeing that these white people did not sell one another as we did, I was much pleased: and in this I thought they were much happier than we Africans. I was astonished at the wisdom of the white people in all things which I beheld; but I was greatly amazed at their not sacrificing, nor making any offerings, and at their eating with unwashen hands, and touching the dead.*(43)

It was not until 1766, when Equiano bought his freedom, that he could come to fully establish his identity. His journeys, whether they be of the physical or intellectual sort, all contributed to Equiano's growth as a man, but it wasn't until he was declared a free man that his spiritual being was free as well. Freedom indefinitely casted his state of mind, for he was now entitled to go where he pleased and indulge in Christianity as he wished. His religious development, salvation, and sense of identity are important themes of his narrative, as is his emergence out of slavery and into a world where he was able to follow God's teachings and educate others about the inhumanity of slavery.
How does one determine Equiano's identity? For pictures and commentary go to Portrayals of Equiano

Olaudah Equiano, "The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African," in The Classic Slave Narratives, ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (New York: Penguin Books, 1987)

**Angelo Costanzo, Surprizing Narrative: Olaudah Equiano and the Beginnings of Black Autobiography. (New York: Greenwood Press,1987.)

Frederick Douglass defined his manhood through his education and his freedom. As a slave he realized "the white man's power to enslave the black man".*(Narrative 273) That power was through mental and physical enslavement. Douglass knew that becoming literate would be "the pathway from slavery to freedom".*(275) His education would give him the mental freedom to then gain physical freedom. He became literate by bribing and befriending the neighborhood boys that lived around him. Every chance Douglass had, he would find another way to gain more knowledge to learn to read.

As a result of his persistence and eagerness, Douglass achieved mental emancipation. He was no longer an ignorant nigger that was supposed to obey his master.*(274) He was halfway to getting true freedom. It was now up to him to use his newly gained knowledge to gain physical emancipation.

Gaining mental emancipation also made him a man. He had the power of knowledge and yet he didn't know the impact of being literate. He wasn't ready to have his world open right in front of him. Being able to read opened Douglass' eyes to what slavery really was. "He got the bold denunciation of slavery, and a powerful vindication of human rights."*(278) He saw things that he would have never seen if he had remained ignorant. He saw all the horrors and sadness of his life as a slave. He wasn't quite ready for the harsh realities that he was then exposed to. He felt that his master, Master Hugh, was right. Douglass learning to read brought him the discontentment, torment and anguish that Master Hugh said would follow if a slave learned how to read.* (279) The visions that Douglass saw was really affecting him. He saw things he never saw before. Douglass himself said,

I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing. It had given me a view of my wretched condition, without a remedy. It opened eyes to the horrible pit, but to no ladder upon which to get out. In my moments of agony, I envied my fellow slaves for their stupidity. I often wished myself a beast. I preferred the condition of the meanest reptile to my own. Anything, no matter what, to get rid of thinking! It was this everlasting thinking of my condition that tormented me.* (279)

Everything that Douglass saw, gave him more strength to fight as a man to gain his freedom. He realized that he no longer could be a slave because he saw how wrong slavery was. He continued to grow agitated and unmanageable to the point where he had to be taken to a man named Covey, a renowned "nigger breaker". Here Douglass had his manhood tested. His manhood that was established as a result of becoming literate was being taken away from him by the "bitterest dregs of slavery"*(293). The dehumanizing and demasculinizing effects of slavery was decreasing Douglass' eagerness for freedom. His spirit and boldness was taken from him.

Despite all of the abuse that Douglass went through, especially at this time, one thing that couldn't be taken was Douglass' mental freedom. Douglass' manhood was being tested. What wasn't realized was the fact that Douglass was still a man because he'd gained his manhood from his intelligence. No one could steal that from him. It was up to Douglass to know that within himself. Douglass came to a self- realization when he found that he could stand up to Covey and prove to him that he would no longer deal with his master's abuse:

I felt as I never felt before. It was a glorious resurrection from the tomb of slavery, to the heaven of freedom. My long-crushed spirit rose, cowardice departed, bold defiance took place; and I now resolved that, however long I might remain a slave in form, the day had passed forever when I could be a slave in fact. I did not hesitate to let it be known of me, that the white man who expected to succeed in whipping, must also succeed in killing me.* (299)

Douglass saw how slavery had the ability to rob the very essence of a man by putting the mind and the body into a mental and physical enslavement:

I found that, to make a contented slave it is necessary to make a thoughtless one. It is necessary to darken his moral and mental vision,and, as far as possible, to annihilate the power of reason. He must be able to detect no inconsistencies in slavery; he must be made to feel that slavery is right, and he can be brought to that only when he ceases to be a man.* (315)

*Frederick Douglass, "Narrative of the Life Of Frederick Douglass," in The Classic Slave Narratives, ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (New York: Penguin Books, 1987)

William Edward Burghardt DuBois was born in 1868, two years after slavery was abolished, in Great Barrington, MA. Born a free man in the North, during the dawn of the twentieth century, W.E.B. DuBois was able to receive an extensive education. Throughout his life he grew more and more cognizant of the politics, education, religion, and economics that shaped the American system and separated the peoples that lived there. Although he was granted the fortune of education and freedom, he was forever torn between his dark coloring which distinguished him from others. Furthermore, he was disillusioned by his unfulfillment of American ideals.

Establishing an identity for DuBois was extremely complex, and in his classic piece,The Souls of Black Folk, published in 1903, he developed the idea of double consciousness, a concept which has haunted the African American since the sixteenth century.

...the Negro is a sort of seventh son, born with a veil, and gifted with a second-sight in this American world,- a world which yields him no true self consciousness, but only lets him see himself through the revelation of the other world. It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this 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.*(215)

DuBois had to draw a line betweeen how others perceived him and his own self perception. He also had to experience and grow inside and outside of the veil, the racialized boundary created by the dominant culture of the Europeans. Yet there were times when he managed to amuse himself within the veil and make the most of the life he was born into.

Then it dawned on me with a certain suddeness that I was different from others; or like, mayhap, in heart and life and longing, but shut out from their world by a vast veil. I had thereafter no desire to tear down that veil, to creep through; I held all beyond it in common contempt, and lived above it in a region of blue sky and great wandering shadows. That sky was bluest when I could beat my mates at examination-time, or beat them at a foot-race, or even beat their stringy heads.*214

Education further defined DuBois. In his essay "The Freedom to Learn", he emphasized the importance of knowledge and asserted that "of all the civil rights for which the world has struggled...the right to learn is undoubtedly the most fundamental." He attended Fisk University, with the help of fellow church members, and then went on to Harvard and became the universities first black recipient of a Ph.D. Previously he had studied at the University of Berlin for two years and focused on economics, history, and political science. Education was what created DuBois, a man of great consciousness and hope for the achievement of the African American. Over the span of his lifetime, he worked devotedly in the effort to advance his fellow man. However, this was difficult due to the politics found in Western society and DuBois felt as though "...the larger problem of Negro education sprang up the more practical question of work, the inevitable economic quandary that faces a people in the transition from slavery to freedom, and especially those who make that change amid hate and prejudice, lawlessness, and ruthless competition."*(274)

The "sudden conversion from the slavery ideal"** caused whites of the South to become even more prejudice. Emerging into the intellectual world was not an easy task for the freed slave. DuBois took it upon himself to work in Atlanta as a schoolteacher for a time. To him, education was the greatest gift that had been bestowed upon him, and he desparately wanted to share the blessing with others who were ever deserving. Much of his growth took place within the classroom and he asserted that "the function of the university is not simply to teach bread-winning, or to furnish teachers for the public schools or to be a centre of polite society; it is, above all, to the organ of that fine adjustment between real life and the growing knowledge of life, an adjustment which forms the secret of civilization."*(268)

Christianity was yet another great stuggle in the life of DuBois. It was the religion of the white folk and when interpreted by the black man, DuBois felt as though the religion was either accepted passively and blindly due to the European's superiorit y or turned into a militant and nihilistic activism. He felt as though few could come to a rational compromise. Furthermore, how could the black man put trust into the religion of the oppressor? DuBois often times could not understand the black man's ready acceptance of the religion for, to think rationally about it would lead one to ask, "Why did God make me an outcast and a stranger in mine own house?"*(214) Although he was not absolutely confident in Christianity, he was by no means atheistic; possibly in the latter part of his life he could have been considered agnostic. Fundamentally, he agreed with common principles of the Bible, such as his abstinence from hard liquor, his faith in self-actualization, his love for children, and his respect for honesty, courtesy, and ambition. He simply did not agree with denominational Christianity and felt as though the church concealed the charismatic qualities of Jesus.

A passage from The Souls of Black Folk addresses religion and in his final paragraph his acceptance, however tentative, towards Christianity is revealed: "...still broods silently the deep religious feeling of the real Negro heart, the stirring, unguided might of powerful human souls who have lost the guiding star of the past and seek in the great night a new religious ideal. Some day the Awakening will come, when the pent-up vigor of ten million souls shall sweep irresistably toward the Goal, out of the Valley of the Shadow of Death, where all that makes life worth living--Liberty, Justice, and Right--is marked 'For White People Only'"*(349)

Eventually DuBois moved to Ghana and left America behind him. He'd become a bit exasperated with his race and as he grew older, his ideas were considered more and more radical. His feelings of alienation were inevitable, for a great number of people were reluctant to accept Pan-Africanism and the Communist-inspired socialism that he had begun to advocate.
For further information of W.E.B. DuBois go to W.E.B. DuBois.
http://www.unix.oit.umass.edu/~cscpo/db.html
http://www.msu.edu/course/mc/112/1920s/Garvey-Dubois/
http://www2.lucidcafe.com/lucidcafe/library/96feb/dubois.html

*DuBois, William E.B. Three Negro Classics: The Souls of Black Folk. New York: Avon Books,1965.

**Franklin, Robert Michael. Liberating Visions: Human Fulfillment and Social Justice in African-American Thought. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1990.

James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938), was a highly talented and celebrated African American writer. He was a poet, songwriter, novelist, literary critic, and essayist. Along with his wide-ranging literary accomplishments, Johnson also served as a school principal, professor of literature at Fisk University, attorney, a diplomatic consul for the United States in Venezuelaand Nicaragua, and secretary for the NAACP from 1920-1930. He is considered one of the founders of the Harlem Renaissance and the first "modern" African American.

Johnson's primary concerns were with the black writer. This included what the black author needs to know and what he must do in order to produce quality work. Johnson's ideas on blackness and the black author can be summarized in four statements: (1) black people have made significant contributions to American culture (2) black writers, to achieve thier best results, should treat black materials in their works (3) black people possess a unique racial spirit which can best be represented in literature by black writers, and (4) black writers must develop new literary forms to express adequately this u nique racial spirit.* Throughout his life, Johnson expressed the view that blacks have made significant contributions to literature. Along with this viewpoint, he stessed black distinctiveness within notions of spirituality and creativity. In much of his works, this idea of black distinctiveness was paralled with the legitimacy of black literary independence, another concept of which he was a proponent.

While Johnson was a highly celebrated and versatile literary figure, his most well known work is The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man . Even though this title suggests that this work was his own story, it was actually a novel, the first African-American one to mask itself as an autobiography. In this novel, the illegitimate son of a southern white man and his mulatto mistress struggles to find his identity and place in the world. Being light-skinned, he does not discover his black blood until he is segregated from the white students in his school. As he ages, he leaves the south to discover his identity. His travels lead him to New York City as well as Europe. The narrator, who is never named, struggles with his mixed heritage and concludes that he must decide whether to embrace his African-American self and or pass for white and devote his life to accumulating wealth. His first attempt is to be a proud black man and adopt the struggle for racial justice. After witnessing a devastating lynching, however, he reverses his original course and focuses on passing for white. In doing so, he travels and becomes a wealthy man, yet he still struggles with this decision. When reflecting on his life in the closing chapter, the narrator admits that his life decision was cowardly and he calls himself a "deserter" and a sell-out to his African-American heritage.

Unlike Equiano, Douglass, or DuBois, Johnson's piece is not a factual text. Being a fictional piece, The Autobiography does not display Johnson's own feelings on black identity and distinctiveness. Johnson uses his narrator to convey his argument to African-Americans. One should not be corrupted by white materialism like the narrator, who passes for white to achieve wealth and high standings in society. As Johnson has argued throughout his life, a positive black identity is critical for all those with African-American blood. He uses his narrator as an example of what not to do, unlike the other authors who use their own stories to convey the idea of black identity. Published in 1912, this piece was the first to deal with the concept of a black "passing" oneself off as white. It was not recognized as a great piece of literature until 1927, when the Harlem Renaissance was at its height, and this issue became more of a problem for blacks.
For more information on James Weldon Johnson go to:http:// www.poets.org/poets/lit/POET/jwjohnso.htm
http://mh.osd.wednet.edu/chs/GenWhy/HarlemRen/Default. htm

*Richard A. Carroll, "Black Racial Spirit: An Analysis of James Weldon Johnson's Critical Perspective," in Critical Essays on James Weldon Johnson, ed. Kenneth M. Price and Lawrence J. Oliver (New York: G.K. Hall & Co., 1997) p. 140.

Johnson and Dubois

Many parallels can be drawn between the works of W.E.B. DuBois and those of James Weldon Johnson. Johnson was greatly influenced by many concepts created by DuBois, especially those presented in DuBois's classic work The Souls of Black Folk. Johnson was so impressed with DuBois and his ideas that he sought him out in 1904 at Atlanta University. The two men developed a strong friendship and later worked for years together in the NAACP, Johnson's diplomatic temperment often balancing DuBois's more volitile one.*

As Johnson developed his ideas about literature, he adopted the use of "double consciousness" the theme presented by DuBois in Souls of Black Folk. This theme was used significantly in Johnson's Autobiography. Along with this theme he came to embrace the idea of "racial distinctiveness" theorized by DuBois. DuBois argues in his book that spiritual contributions are what African-Americans bring to white American culture. Johnson's ideas about black distinctiveness within the frame of spirituality and creativity was strongly expressed in his poem "O Black and Unknown Bards." This poems plays on the themes of protest with a celebration of black distinctiveness and creativity in regards to slave spirituals. Johnson argues in the poem that the slave spirituals provide proof of the legitimacy of black literary independence, another theme Johnson adopted from DuBois.

Another poem by Johnson which reflects ideas from DuBois is "The White Witch" In this poem, Johnson warns of the seductive charms of "the white witch" and is a militant call for African- Americans to preserve their heritage and distinctiveness. The images of white society brought forth by Johnson was very similar to those presented in DuBois's Souls, where he also calls out to African-Americans not to be tempted and corrupted by white materialism.

*Kenneth M. Price and Lawrence J. Oliver, "Introduction," in Critical Essay on James Weldon Johnson, ed. Kenneth M. Price and Lawrence J. Oliver (New York: G.K. Hall & Co, 1997) p. 6.

Despite the time periods that Equiano, Douglass, DuBois, and Johnson lived through, they brought out themes of manhood and identity. Through their lives and their works, they teach us that "manhood" comes in different forms. Even though each author discovered their manhood differently, they showed how their identity and their heritage made them men.
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