THE STORY: The place is Chicago's south side and the time the 1950s, just before the civil rights movement began to burgeon. Alberta, unmarried and in her thirties, shares an apartment with her mother, Weedy, an old-fashioned black woman who finds

This book traces the history of African American theatre from its beginnings to the present.

Dixon's translation of Fabre's Le Theatre Noir Aux Etats-Unis assesses contemporary black theatre since 1945. Placing it in historical and cultural context as a platform for political statement, Fabre isolates two emerging strains: the militant theater of protest and the ethnic theater of black experience. She provides examples and analyzes obscure as well as well-known plays by militant writers such as Amiri Baraka, Douglas Turner Ward, Ted Shine, Ben Caldwell and Sonia Sanchez, who examine relations between blacks and whites and tell stories of victims, rebels and traitors and of rituals of vengeance. She also examines the theater of black experience embracing the rituals of daily life, the liturgy of the black church, traditional music and folklore, and the works of James Baldwin, Melvin Van Peeples, Ed Bullins and Edgar White, and predicts the future of black theater in the United States. ISBN 0-674-21678-4 : $20.00.

African American Theater is a vibrant and unique entity enriched by ancient Egyptian rituals, West African folklore, and European theatrical practices. A continuum of African folk traditions, it combines storytelling, mythology, rituals, music, song, and dance with ancestor worship from ancient times to the present. It afforded black artists a cultural gold mine to celebrate what it was like to be an African American in The New World. The A to Z of African American Theater celebrates nearly 200 years of black theater in the United States, identifying representative African American theater-producing organizations and chronicling their contributions to the field from its birth in 1816 to the present. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and over 500 cross-referenced dictionary entries on actors, directors, playwrights, plays, theater producing organizations, themes, locations, and theater movements and awards.

This second edition of Historical Dictionary of African American Theater reflects the rich history and representation of the black aesthetic and the significance of African American theater’s history, fleeting present, and promise to the future. It celebrates nearly 200 years of black theater in the United States and the thousands of black theater artists across the country—identifying representative black theaters, playwrights, plays, actors, directors, and designers and chronicling their contributions to the field from the birth of black theater in 1816 to the present. This second edition of Historical Dictionary of African American Theater, Second Edition contains a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 700 cross-referenced entries on actors, playwrights, plays, musicals, theatres, -directors, and designers. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know and more about African American Theater.

From Amos 'n' Andy to The Jeffersons to Family Matters to Chappelle's Show, this volume covers it all with entries on all different genres_animation, documentaries, sitcoms, sports, talk shows, and variety shows_and performers such as Muhammad Ali, Louis Armstrong, Bill Cosby, and Oprah Winfrey. Additionally, information can be found on general issues, ranging from African American audiences and stereotypes through the related networks and organizations. This book has hundreds of cross-referenced entries, from A to Z, in the dictionary and a list of acronyms with their corresponding definitions. The extensive chronology shows who did what and when and the introduction traces the often difficult circumstances African American performers faced compared to the more satisfactory present situation. Finally, the bibliography is useful to those readers who want to know more about specific topics or persons.

From Amos 'n' Andy to The Jeffersons to Family Matters to Chappelle's Show, this volume has all different genres—animation, documentaries, sitcoms, sports, talk shows, and variety shows—and performers such as Muhammad Ali, Louis Armstrong, Bill Cosby, and Oprah Winfrey. Additionally, information can be found on general issues ranging from African American audiences and stereotypes through the related networks and organizations. This second edition covers the history of African Americans on television from the beginning of national television through the present day including: chronology introductory essay appendixes bibliography over 1000 cross-referenced entries on actors, performers, producers, directors, news and sports journalists entries on series, specials and movies relevant to African American themes and African American casts This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the history of African-Americans and their impact on television.

Founded in 1943, Negro Digest (later “Black World”) was the publication that launched Johnson Publishing. During the most turbulent years of the civil rights movement, Negro Digest/Black World served as a critical vehicle for political thought for supporters of the movement.

The book demonstrates the experiences of Alice Childress, Lorraine Hansberry, and Suzan-Lori Parks in comparison with the dramas of each other and those of other African American women. These women playwrights created a militant theatre and a theatre of experience that applied to both the African American community in general and African and African American women in particular. They have been encompassed within African American woman’s aesthetics that shares the militancy and experiencecharacterized by a triple factor: race, gender, and class.