long divisions, which is about the growing recognition of black writers from james baldwin to, toni morrison to toni tanahashi coates painter mentions the 1988 new york times letter signed by 48 black writers demanding the recognition of morrison's work. and it struck me while reading this that perhaps this work might also argue for the recognition of painter as one of this nation's great seers. a person in possession of striking onto the country's and an implicit understanding of the mechanisms of racism classism and sexism and whose body of work forms an excellent basis to understand our country. so with that said, i'm going to i'm going to let you talk as much as possible. and i want to start the process of assembling this book as we started talking about backstage, because it's both an book and an essay collection. and i wondered how you arrived at this format and tell us a little bit about the process of putting it together. yeah. thank you so much. what a lovely introduction. i'm fortunate to have such thoughtful introduction and so complete. thank you. the process of a publication is

she was a book-of-the-month club writer and in many ways the toni morrison of her day. it wasn't until the 1940s and 50s that her literary reputation starts to really fall away on tell by the time of her death as professor patterson notes in 1960 she's hardly known. and she hadnnormous influence, and the book has annexed ordinary impact. it's one of the boldest books in american literature. it does things that nobody else had ever done. >> host: while, we talk about this book as a harlem renaissance book. it was written in 1937. so we went to harlem, and we visited its literary sites. >> here we are in harlem. art and culture, music, visual arts, literary art. the life and times of zora neale hurston. here we have the center for culture. imagine schaumburg 15-years-old wants to know what contribution have blacks made to public culture and civilization. he takes upon mself to collect [inaudible] he becomes the head of his own collection. imagine zora, imagine being colored. they fortified themselves before the harlem renaissance movement. i want you to imagine the time w

the book i think shaped america is beloved by toni morrison.plores race in america in cool and interesting ways. it is very atmospheric. thank you. >> my name is ryan donaldson and a man washington, d.c. and the book that shaped the country is [indiscernible] and it shapes the u.s. because [inaudible] it informs the viewer to get to the ballot box. >> blue highways shaped america. it showcases the part of america that is not often seen in most modern or major literary works and i think it is a very imrtant piece of americana and culture. peter: there is the website. books that shaped america at c-span.org. find all 10 books we will feature in the series anyou can find additional videos on each book, plus we have a podcast talking about the authors of each book. you can get the podcast wherever you get your podcasts. mark from bridgewater, massachusetts, please go ahead. >> good evening and distinguished guests. when i think about the contribution of the founding fathers on the work of a have done with the federalist papers, i am also thinking a

reevaluation that has considered a pave the way for younger black writers such as alice walker and toni morrisontwo things i want to ask about from 1937 another 30 plus years before it became impactful; is that a correct statement? >> guest: that is correct and the point is why did it take 30 years. and something in what you read is important. black people, especially bus drivers, those that are getting educations, wanting to break out of our jim crow system. let's not forget that these black towns emerged after the consolidation of american apartheid. american society had restricted black people from living close to whites. they lived in restricted areas in the big cities. they lived in restricted areas in rural areas. and so, this shaped american lture and american society as well. and so their eyes are watching god goes inside of one of the communities and what you see there is a wholesome community. you see black people and families, you see a novel about black love. a novel about striving for a better life, and ink the novel became, for me i know i can speak more directly about what is mean

and what tony morrison called self-regard, targeted at people's testimonies provide a counter-narrative to the stories we've been told about. reconsider actions. suppose that failure. speaking with one voice, they said white southerners were waging war on reconstruction by attacking the people who are making the most of freedom and naming their attackers, detailing their injuries, saying the names of their slain kin crying out for justice and doing what they could to keep the record of what happened to them alive. survivor said black people's lives, freedoms and futures mattered. reporting and testifying about the war on freedom or survivors. best defense against its erasure. these testimonies did help to drive the federal investigation that eventually drove the klan underground, but not before they seriously freedom and black people's participation in american democracy. after confederate overthrew reconstruction and boarded up the temple of liberty. they crafted what i call the big lie of the 19th century that experiment in american democracy had failed. they falsely claim that white

in this book, i think leaning on tony morrison and james baldwin, leaning on people who taught me to let characters live and take over a page and take as much space as their story needs to be told, that helped me feel free to tell the stories in this way. i hope to continue to grow in that path to do it, but i think the third book project -- >> got a scoop here. >> -- is going to be a little more reflective, especially given how many policies have changed in higher education. but it's going to give me a time to reflect on what i have been thinking about for a long time, what does it mean to be a forever first generation college student? i think it's interesting when people talk about first gen in the past tense. he was a first generation college student. i'm like, when did i stop? when i had to go on the job market, i had no idea. i had no idea. i didn't know academic regalia was that expensive? i didn't know that you don't -- you didn't get paid your first job you had to wait until the end of the month. i didn't know that you -- you never stop learning these new rules. when you star

and so i took kind of inspiration from reading novels by authors like toni morrison and, alice walker, to say that, well, part of what it means to come after the antebellum period is to fill in the world that even john jacobs in australia was not really supposed to be describing in his autobiography. jacobs, for all that, is uncanny, general, about his narrative, the conventional part of his narrative is it begins with the phrase i was born and continue, continue is until his escape effectively. and it only narrates that period of his life. it does not narrate much about his family, about his friends, about the intimacies of private life. it mostly presents the kind of the facts as they would stand up in a courtroom. things that happen in public that can be corroborated by witnesses, of course, with jacobs as frederick douglass, there's a lot more and it's coming through in the rhetoric and the style and the way everything is written and delivered. but that's kind of where i settled on what a biography should do. it should not speak for john jacobs. it should allow us to see how john

and so i took kind of inspiration from reading novels by authors like toni morrison and, alice walker, to say that, well, part of what it means to come after the antebellum period is to fill in the world that even john jacobs in australia was not really supposed to be describing in his autobiography. jacobs, for all that, is uncanny, general, about his narrative, the conventional part of his narrative is it begins with the phrase i was born and continue, continue is until his escape effectively. and it only narrates that period of his life. it does not narrate much about his family, about his friends, about the intimacies of private life. it mostly presents the kind of the facts as they would stand up in a courtroom. things that happen in public that can be corroborated by witnesses, of course, with jacobs as frederick douglass, there's a lot more and it's coming through in the rhetoric and the style and the way everything is written and delivered. but that's kind of where i settled on what a biography should do. it should not speak for john jacobs. it should allow us to see how john

and so in this book, i think leaning on in kay jemison and leaning on toni morrison and james baldwin, leaning on people who taught to let characters live and take over a page and take much space as their story needs to be told. that helped me. feel free to tell the in this way. and i hope to continue to grow that path to to do it. but i think that third book project project is got a scope to be a little bit more reflective especially how so many things so many policies to change in higher education. but it's going to give me time to reflect on what i have been about for a long time. is was it mean to be a forever first generation college student? because i think it's always interesting when. people talk about first year in the past tense, like, oh, he was first generation college student. i'm like, well, when did i stop? because when i had to go on a job market, i had no idea. i had no idea. i didn't know that academic regalia was this expensive. i didn't that you don't you didn't get paid when you know your first job. you had to wait till the end of the month. i didn't know that you

the works of toni morrison, for example. there are just some works that you cannot bring all of that emotion and those actual words. here we are, talking about taking the word -- out of huck finn. and that has been done. but the idea is that it is supposed to hurt. that is the whole intent. it's not supposed to be a happy word. not supposed to be a cool word. just taking it out and saying we will just put black there. that's just not the same impact or import. it takes all the staying away. it takes all of this. at one point in the last third of the novel when he finally understands that he has absolutely, positively heard jim, and jim calls him trash. and from that point on, huck never uses the word -- again until he is pretending to be tom sawyer, and trying to help jim get out of slavery. and that's important because that means there is a change with him. so i've had students say okay, does this mean that he is not racist anymore? that doesn't mean that he's not racist anymore. we have not established that he is racist. h

i would likee your thoughts on some comments that toni morrison makes in her documentary gaing fredericglass and his autobiography. he speaks he indicates arod the issue of enslaved black women during slavery as an acceptable practice and he says something like she refers to what he says in the autobiography and i may not have all the words exactly but is something like such things not to mention that seem to in previous language in the book indicate that there is some sort of strong shame about what occurred to black women and slavery and she even equates it someone -- somewhat with richa write's reg to statements in the book said where he sees things through quote unquote the weight gain placing upon ourselves the feeling of shame that we have had ingrained in us during this time. i would like your thoughts on that. >> thank you show it thank you show it for calling it. medford. >> i didn't get the sense that douglass was talking about shame as much is he talking about how common it is and how accepted it is by people outside of the african-american community. i reread the book and i'

i would like your thoughts on from comments toni morrison makes in her documentary regain frederick douglass autobiography. as he speaks, she indicates around the issue of rape of black women during slavery is an acceptable practice, she says -- he refers to what he says in the autobiography -- she refers to what he says in the autobiography. i may not have all the words but it is something like such terrible things not to mention that seem to in previous language in the book indicates that there is some sort of strong change about what occurred to black women. she equates it somewhat with richard wright's feeling of sh expressed in native s referring to statements in the book where he sees things through quote unquote the white gaze. somewhat placing upon ourselves a feeling of shame that we have had ingrained in us during this time. i would like your thoughts on that. >> thank you for calling in. prof. medford: i did not get the sense douglass is talking about shame as much as he is talking about how common it is. and how accepted it is by people outside of the african-american community.

it was raw, engaging and inspiring >> the book that shaped american is "beloved" by toni morrison. a classic that all high schoolers way, a great discussion about the history of race and slavery in america. >> i am from mansfield, massachusetts and the book that shaped american is "shattered sword. what a retelling of the battle of midway, we can question our history and analyze and learn more about overtime. >> tony from san diego, "the jungle." a combination of a great summation of the immigrant story in america, and the beginning of the labor rights movement which is really important. it was pivotal in american history. a great book overall. >> send us your idea of a book that shaped america, go to our website, your input is at the top. bob, lookout mountain, tennessee, thank you for holding . we are talking about huckleberry finn . >> hi. i have read the book as an eighth grader because i was required to. retired, spent time on rivers, i live in chattanooga. down the ohio, up in the mississippi, to the iowa line, i came down, we have dams now, it was a wild river. there was a c

and the -- the works of toni morrison, for example.here are some works that you can't bring all of that emotion and those actual words, i mean, here we are. we are talking about taking out the word nigger out of huck finn, that's been done, but the idea is, it's supposed to hurt. that's the whole intent. it's not supposed to be a happy word. it's not supposed to be a cool word. and just taking ited on and saying we're just going to put black there, it's not the same impact or import. it takes all the sting away. it takes all of huck's -- at one point in the last thirder of the novel when huck finally understands he has absolutely, positively hurt jim, and jim called him trash, and huck from that point on, huck never uses the word nigger again until he's pretending to be tom czar and trying to help jim get out of slavery. and that's important. because that means there's a change with him. and i've had students who say ok, does this mean that huck isn't racist anymore? that doesn't mean he isn't racist anymore. we haven't actually establ

and there is especially in western societies, you know, maya angelou was talked and toni morrison has supremacist culture is need to feel superior and they need to feel that they're saving us in order for us to feel any benefit. so i think that trap always exists. but at the same time, i see a lot of south diasporic people, people who are immigrants or people who have been raised here trying to imagine judging what their culture is. a western consumption or western. so we see a lot of information. -- dockery. is and i agree it's about yoga about defending culture, defending hinduism in terms that it has nothing to do with caste or trying to negate and ideas just to in order to instill a sense of pride in the culture. one goes so far that you become fastest. and this is something that we are seeing more and more whether it is with holistic spirituality, whether is with you know a lot of people have now and fairly so we see a lot of white women posing as yogis so why shouldn't you know indian do that and i think that's fair and that is a valid argument and critique. there but i think wh

there is especially western societies, my angela talked about it, toni morrison has talked about it,st cultures need to feel superior to me and they need to feel that they are saving us come in honor for us to any benefit. i think that trap always exists , but at the same time, i see a lot of south asian diaspora people, people who are immigrants, people that have been raised here, trying to imagine what their culture is for a western consumption, a western audience, so we see a lot reels about defending their culture, depending hinduism, in terms of that it has nothing to do with caste, or trying to negate anti-caste ideas, just to, in order to instill a sense of pride into the culture. one goes so far that you become castist. this is something we are seeing more and more. we see a lot of white women posing as yogis, a lot of indian girls do that. that is fair, a valid and argumentative critique. i think there is such a blind spot that exist around caste, it can very easily go into a territory of denying caste altogether. so, the way that i avoid that trap is to just have an authent

lung divisions, which is about the growing recognition of black writers from jades baldwin to toni morrison, she mentioned the 19 88 letter signed by 40 black writers demanding the gn recognition of morrison's work. it struck me while reading this book that perhaps this work might also argue for the recognition of painter is one of the nation's great sears, a person in possession of stricken clarity onto the country's history and an implicit understanding of the mechanism of racism, classism, and sexism. and his body of work forms an excellent basis to understand our country. so, with that said, i'm going to let you talk as much as possible. and, i want to start with the process of assembling this book. as we started talking about backstage. because, it's both an art book and an essay collection. i wondered how you arrived at this format, tell us about the process of putting it together. >> thank you so much. what a lovely introduction. i am fortunate, i like, to haves such a thoughtful introduction and so complete. thank you. the process of publication is something i could talk about forev

along divisions, which is about the growing recognition of black writers from james baldwin to toni morrison to ta-nehisi coates , it struck me during reading that perhaps this work might also argue for the recognition of painter as one of this nation's great seers, a person in position of striking clarity onto the country's history and an implicit understanding of the mechanisms of racism, classism, and sexism, and whose body of work forms an excellent asis to understand our country. e started talking about backstage, because it's both an book and an essay collection. and i wondered i want to start with the process of assembling this book. we started talking about that backstage. it is an art book and an essay collection. and i wondered how you arrived at this format. thank you. the process of a publication is something i could talk about forever. i've been very interested in the history of the book, which the process of publication, is something i can talk about forever. i have been very interested in the history of the book which is material history. the history of the book is a field tha