Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2020, English

In the introduction of this project, my primary goal is to clarify how this work configures the Black Power Era. In the first chapter, I read events from Malcolm X's childhood as expressed in The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965) as metaphor used to reconstruct an environment in which Black death and anti-Black surveillance practices permeates the lives of Black Americans. In this chapter I contrast the rhetorical gestures X uses to those James Baldwin employs in The Fire Next Time in which he writes to his young nephew and recalls a visit with the Elijah Muhammad. Contrasting the two titles, I suggest that the rhetorical gestures of Malcolm X — centering Blackness and decentering whiteness in the interest of self-declaration constitute the prevailing rhetorical gestures of the Black Power Era while those rhetorical gestures used by Baldwin — centering whiteness and upholding rhetorics of colorblindness — constitute prevailing rhetorical gestures of the Civil Rights Movement. Overall, this chapter illustrates how the rhetorical gestures of Malcolm X capitalizes on the specters of Black death and anti-Black surveillance practices which become central themes in the Black Power Era. In the second chapter of this project I focus on Amiri Baraka's Dutchman (1964) to explain how Black death and anti-Black surveillance practices structure the play. In respect to the overarching claim of my project I use close reading to frame Baraka's essay “The Revolutionary Theatre” as a response to the forces of Black death and anti-Black surveillance practices and a guide for reading through the rhetorical gestures found in Dutchman. In the third chapter of this project I analyze one of Gil Scott-Heron's best known songs, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.” The analysis situates “Revolution” within the genus of Black Arts Movement works which employ Black nationalist rhetoric to protest the specters of Black death and anti-Black surveillance practices. Finally, in the conclusion of (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Adélékè Adéẹkọ́, (Advisor); Judson Jeffries (Committee Member); Pranav Jani (Committee Chair) Subjects: African American Studies; African Americans; Black Studies; Literature; Music; Philosophy; Theater