Talks by Women Writers

(These three talks were hosted by Vertigo Books, located at 1337 Connecticut Ave. NW)

Angela Davis spoke on March 20th about her new book, Blues Legacies and Black Feminism, in which she analyzes the work of the women Blues singers Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday. One of her primary goals in writing this text was her desire to uncover hidden histories, that is, to reveal knowledge which has been denied to us. She explained that Blues was the first musical form of freedom for black people, as it emerged right after the end of slavery. It expressed the frustration, anger, and sadness that black people felt as a result of their lack of freedom and continued oppression after slavery had "officially" ended. It was the music of the working class-it served as a "class marker" to distinguish working class and poor blacks from those in the middle and upper classes. Furthermore, black intellectuals did not consider Blues a legitimate aesthetic during the Harlem Renaissance.

In addition to the expression of working class black history in Blues music, there are the themes of travel and sexuality. After the abolition of slavery, economic and political freedoms for black people did not exist. However, black people could finally travel, and they had an intense desire to travel after having been confined under slavery for hundreds of years. Davis explained that at this time, large numbers of black men began to travel, carrying with them a guitar or banjo, and that this was the beginning of the Blues tradition. These men started singing for the first time about individual emotions, as opposed to the music of slavery, which had as its theme collective freedom; they began to explore their interior lives-their wants, needs, desires, emotions. However, while black men began to travel extensively, black women were largely unable to as they still had responsibility for children. "Ma" Rainey and other Blues women were an exception to this rule, as they traveled extensively during their careers. For example, many of "Ma" Rainey's songs have a strong theme of travel, like "Traveling Blues" and "Walking Blues". Blues women were envied by other women for their ability to travel, and the women in their audiences were able to live vicariously through their songs of travel.

The other major theme in Blues music was that of sexuality, which was also a new freedom for black people after slavery. Black people were finally free to make choices about their lives, as their masters were no longer dictating to them who their sexual partners would be. Blues was an outlet for the expression of

sexuality, and sexuality was a way of feeling free. Not only did Blues women sing about sexuality, but they also sang about violence against women, both of which were considered taboo subjects. They would sing about domestic violence in a way that challenged women in their audiences to stand up to men and to think about their own strength and autonomy. In addition to singing about their sexuality in relation to men, these Blues women also sang openly about sexual relationships with women.

It was significant that Blues women sang about topics such as domestic violence, Davis explained, as most Blues singers were stereotyped as being people who could not get out of their oppressed situation. Davis reinterprets these songs, stating that singing about oppression does not mean that one is complicit in one's oppression-rather, it a means of resistance. It was in this way that the Blues performances of the 1920s were consciousness-raising events as well as entertainment. Blues music also reflected the discourse about gender that was occurring in black working class and poor communities of the time. These Blues women, according to Davis, were expressing a "proto-feminist consciousness".

Lastly, Davis discussed the work of the most popularly known Blues woman, Billie Holiday. Rather than over-emphasizing the tragedies of Holiday's personal life, which is how Holiday is popularly represented, Angela Davis focused on her talents as a brilliant Blues artist. She especially examines Holiday's song "Strange Fruit", which is a metaphor for the bodies of black people hanging from trees in the South. This was Holiday's personal protest again lynching and against racism in general. At the end of her performances, after singing entertaining love songs, Holiday would sing "Strange Fruit", which took her audience by surprise. Davis explained that Holiday was "consciously trying to trouble people" by making "Strange Fruit" the centerpiece of her performance. Blues was not just a form of entertainment, it was a way of "confronting reality through music", in this case, the harsh reality of black people's oppression.

I have not yet had the opportunity to read Davis' book, but I now have a (signed!) copy of it and I look forward to reading it this summer. In the book are some incredible black and white photographs of Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday, in addition to the transcriptions of the lyrics of all the extant songs by "Ma" Rainey and Bessie Smith, published for the first time.

Toni Morrison read from her new novel, Paradise, in Washington, DC, on January 29th. Reflecting Morrison’s popularity and widespread appeal, the size of the audience which attended the reading was immense; it completely filled the large church in which the reading took place. Morrison read eloquently from the first chapter of her book and briefly answered several questions afterwards. She explained that Paradise is the last book of a trilogy, of which the first two are Jazz and Beloved. Each book has as its theme three different

types of love: erotic love (Jazz), the love between a parent and child (Beloved), and lastly, the love of God (Paradise). Additionally, the focus of the book is on women’s lives, making it what Carolyn Denard calls, "Morrison’s most feminist novel" (Ms., March/April 1998). In her book review, Denard further explains that Morrison "explores the physical and psychological effects on women of neglect, abuse, and unwanted pregnancies, shows the horrific potential of men to scapegoat and slaughter women…and tells the story in chapters named for the women around whose lives the novel pivots."

I also attended a book reading and talk by Fauziya Kassindja and Layli Miller Bashir, on their new book, Do They Hear You When You Cry? Fauziya Kassindja is the young woman who, at the age of 17, fled Togo several years ago in order to escape genital mutilation. She sought asylum in the United States, only to be jailed for sixteen months for not having a "legitimate" reason for political asylum. Layli Miller Bashir is the lawyer who helped Kassindja gain her freedom from prison in 1996. In a landmark court decision, Kassindja was granted political asylum for the reason that she was fleeing persecution in the form of female genital mutilation.

As she seemed nervous and shy and worried that the audience would not understand her accent, Kassindja read only briefly from her book. Her book is an account of the struggles, persecution, and oppression that she faced from the time before she left Togo to the time after she was released from prison. The passage she read was an account of the inhumane treatment she received while being held in jail, along with many other foreigners who were attempting to seek asylum in the United States. For example, while she was in prison, she was suffering from a severe stomach ulcer which

developed as a result of the stress of her situation. The prison officials refused to believe that she was ill and refused to treat her. When Kassindja was finally released, her doctor discovered that the ulcer was so severe that she could have died had she been left in prison any longer. This is only one of the many inhumanities that Kassindja faced while being held in a U.S. prison. After several minutes of reading from her book, Kassindja described in more detail her story, and then answered questions from the audience.

Her lawyer and friend, Layli Miller Bashir then spoke, addressing the legal issues and the court’s decision on Kassindja’s case. She emphasized the importance not only of recognizing female genital mutilation as a form of oppression, but also of being aware of the severe mistreatment of foreigners seeking asylum in U.S. prisons. Overall, it was a moving experience to see and hear Fauziya Kassindja narrate the story of her struggle and triumph in her own words. It is because of her that the issue of female genital mutilation was brought to national attention and that women facing genital mutilation are now able to seek political asylum in the United States.