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African American Literature Anthology: Slavery, Liberation, & Resistance
includes texts from various rhetoricians who worked as abolitionists, speakers, writers, activists, and/or publishers of dissident literature. They all employ their rhetorical influence to argue against the second-class citizenship status experienced by African Americans in the United States. By engaging in dissident discourse, they cause Americans of all walks of life to interrogate the promises owed by the language of the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, and America’s institutions. Central to the issues presented in this African American literature anthology are themes of resistance to slavery, lynching, and state violence. Therefore, the authors in this text are antithetical to notions of white superiority and black inferiority. Instead, they argue for racial equality. And an equal opportunity for African Americans to pursue the American Dream of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Resistance both verbal and nonverbal is an essential response to social injustices experienced by marginalized peoples. Therefore, African American writers approach rhetorical expression with a measure of courage that dismisses controversy to advance progress. Instead, they express themselves at risk to their health, safety, and well-being to advance the cause of equality and fairness for all Americans. Various genres of literature are depicted in this anthology such as excerpts of poetry, speeches, non-fiction, fiction, and folklore. Many of the writers included in this anthology are well-versed in a multitude of genres of literary expression. Therefore, this anthology will compel many readers to seek out other works by the following authors included herein. These include Phillis Wheatley, Maria W. Stewart, Henry Highland Garnet, Frederick Douglass, T. Thomas Fortune, Ida B. Wells, Charles W. Chesnutt, W. E. B. Du Bois, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Claude McKay, and James Weldon Johnson.