AFAS 424 - African American Drama and Performance

This class examines a wide variety of performances and plays by self-identified African American dramatists and entertainers from the 1850s to today. The artworks themselves address the fundamental issues facing African Americans in US society, and they struggle with definitions of blackness itself. In many ways, these artists faced steep opposition from the racist images of African Americans that dominated the cultural landscape. This makes the works themselves a political act. The order of our readings is more or less chronological, as the newer works build upon and challenge those of their forbearers. In varying degrees, all are works of art, propaganda, and protest. All are works of sensitivity and sophistication, humor and rage. And all are trying to answer the same question, one that is ever constant and ever changing: What does it mean to be a black artist in America?