All language subtitles for Ralph.Ellison.An.American.Journey.2002.KNPY.WEB-DL.AAC.2.0.h264-aTroCiTy_Track03

[ JAZZ MUSIC ]

I AM AN INVISIBLE MAN.

Man: SEVERAL WRITERS IN OUR HISTORY.

HAVE COME CLOSE TO ACHIEVING

THAT SUPREME AMERICAN FICTION.

CERTAINLY MELVILLE IN "MOBY DICK,"

MARK TWAIN IN "THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN,"

I WOULD SAY FAULKNER IN "LIGHT IN AUGUST"

AND RALPH ELLISON IN "INVISIBLE MAN."

READ IT.

"TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN,

KEEP THIS NIGGER-BOY RUNNING."

Man: HE HAS A FUNDAMENTAL RESPECT.

FOR THE COMPLEX MINDS

OF EVERYDAY ORDINARY BLACK PEOPLE.

AND I LOVE THAT ABOUT ELLISON.

Man: I THINK "INVISIBLE MAN" IS ESSENTIALLY A JOURNEY STORY.

FROM INNOCENCE TO SELF-KNOWLEDGE

AND TRYING TO MUSTER,

TO FIND THE COURAGE IN ONESELF

TO MAKE MEANING AND LIVE IN SUCH A WORLD.

THIS TO ME IS THE HUMAN CHALLENGE WE ALL FACE.

YOU WEREN'T BEING SMART, WERE YOU, BOY?

NO, SIR.

Man: EVERYONE TRIED TO TELL INVISIBLE MAN WHO HE WAS.

OR WHAT HE SHOULD BE.

BUT WHAT IF I WISH TO EXPRESS AN IDEA?

WE FURNISH ALL IDEAS.

IDEAS ARE PART OF OUR APPARATUS.

ONLY THE CORRECT IDEAS FOR THE CORRECT OCCASION.

Man: NO ONE RECOGNIZED HIM FOR WHAT HE WAS.

TO USE THE TITLE OF THE BOOK, HE WAS "INVISIBLE."

Man: I HAD NOT BELIEVED THAT BLACK FICTION.

COULD BE SO WONDERFUL.

AND HE SHOWED US

THAT YOU COULD DO WITH BLACK LIFE

WHAT HOMER DID WITH GREEK LIFE, WHAT JOYCE DID WITH IRISH LIFE.

Man: ONE OF HIS FAVORITE WORDS WAS "COMPLEXITY,".

WHICH HE'D GIVE FOUR FULL SYLLABLES TO.

NOW, MEASURE 10 DROPS OF THIS DOPE.

INTO THE PAINT.

WHAT'S WRONG? DO YOU KNOW WHAT'S IN THIS?

YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT, I KNOW.

THAT'S IT.

THAT'S THE PUREST WHITE THAT CAN BE FOUND.

NOBODY MAKES A PAINT ANY WHITER.

Man: ELLISON LOOKED OUT AT THIS INTERRACIAL CROWD.

AND EYEBALL TO EYEBALL, HE SAID,

"ALL OF Y'ALL WHITE KIDS ARE PART COLORED

AND ALL OF YOU BLACK KIDS ARE PART WHITE."

Man: IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO BE A SERIOUS STUDENT.

OF AMERICAN CULTURE AND AFRO-AMERICAN CULTURE

WITHOUT WORKING THROUGH ELLISON.

HE'S A BROOK OF FIRE THROUGH WHICH ONE MUST PASS.

Woman: IF YOU READ RALPH ELLISON,

THERE ARE TWO THINGS YOU KNOW...

NUMBER ONE, HE LOVES BLACK PEOPLE.

NUMBER TWO, HE LOVES THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

AND THAT SEEMS LIKE A CONTRADICTION AT TIMES,

THAT BLACK PEOPLE ARE AMERICAN, THEY HAVE A NATIONAL IDENTITY.

BUT THEY HAVE AN IDENTITY WITH A NATION

THAT HAS ACTED DESPICABLY TOWARDS THEM,

AND THAT BECOMES VERY DIFFICULT TO RECONCILE.

Narrator: IN THE OPENING PAGES OF RALPH ELLISON'S NOVEL.

"INVISIBLE MAN,"

A DYING GRANDFATHER COUNSELS HIS GRANDSON

ON SURVIVAL IN THE DEEP SOUTH.

HE URGES HIM TO WEAR THE MASK,

TO APPEAR TO ACCEPT JIM CROW RESTRICTIONS

WHILE SECRETLY TRYING TO SUBVERT THEM.

I NEVER TOLD YOU,

BUT OUR LIFE... IS WAR.

I WANT YOU TO OVERCOME 'EM WITH YESSES.

UNDERMINE 'EM WITH GRINS.

AGREE 'EM TO DEATH AND DESTRUCTION.

LET 'EM SWALLOW YOU TILL THEY VOMIT.

LEARN IT TO THE YOUNG'UNS.

Narrator: UNLIKE THE FICTIONAL CHARACTER IN "INVISIBLE MAN,".

RALPH WALDO ELLISON WOULD BE SPARED

GROWING UP IN THE DEEP SOUTH

AND WOULD DOGGEDLY SEEK HIS OWN DESTINY.

HE WAS BORN IN OKLAHOMA CITY IN 1914.

HIS PARENTS WERE RESOLUTE PATHFINDERS

WHO QUIT THE DEEP SOUTH

TO PURSUE THE GREATER FREEDOM OF THE AMERICAN FRONTIER.

THEY SETTLED IN THE NEWLY RATIFIED STATE OF OKLAHOMA.

LOUIS ELLISON HAD LITTLE FORMAL EDUCATION,

BUT HE WAS INTELLIGENT, CURIOUS,

AND A VORACIOUS READER.

HE NAMED HIS FIRST SON AFTER A FAVORITE WRITER,

RALPH WALDO EMERSON,

SAYING, "I'M RAISING THIS BOY TO BE A POET."

IDA ELLISON WAS AN INDEPENDENT, STRONG-MINDED WOMAN

WHO ONCE SUPPORTED A SOCIALIST CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR

AND CAMPAIGNED TO KEEP OKLAHOMA FREE FROM SEGREGATION.

LOUIS ELLISON'S ICE AND COAL BUSINESS WAS THRIVING

WHEN THE ELLISONS MOVED INTO THEIR FIRST HOME,

COMPLETE WITH A BACKYARD.

THEIR SENSE OF OPPORTUNITY SEEMED CONFIRMED

UNTIL TRAGEDY STRUCK.

Man: ONE JUNE, WHEN LOUIS WAS DELIVERING ICE,

HE SLIPPED AND FELL,

CARRYING A HEAVY BLOCK OF ICE WHICH SLICED INTO HIS SIDE,

AND IN A MONTH HE WAS DEAD.

RALPH ELLISON WAS ONLY THREE.

Narrator: LOUIS ELLISON'S DEATH.

PLUNGED THE FAMILY INTO DIRE POVERTY.

IDA ELLISON WOULD WORK AS A DOMESTIC

FOR THE REST OF HER LIFE.

THE FAMILY BECAME NEAR-NOMADS,

MOVING 10 TIMES

FROM ONE ROOMING HOUSE TO ANOTHER

AND THREE TIMES AWAY FROM AND BACK TO OKLAHOMA CITY,

ALL BEFORE RALPH WAS A TEENAGER.

ELLISON DESCRIBED HIS CHILDHOOD AS DEEPLY PAINFUL.

HE BEGAN TO STAMMER,

A HABIT HE NEVER FULLY CONQUERED.

IDA ELLISON WAS DETERMINED THAT RALPH AND HIS BROTHER, HERBERT,

WOULD LIVE LIVES OF POSSIBILITY.

ON SUNDAYS,

SHE TOOK THE BOYS WALKING THROUGH WHITE NEIGHBORHOODS

TO GIVE THEM GLIMPSES OF A BETTER LIFE.

FROM THE HOUSES SHE CLEANED,

SHE BROUGHT HOME DISCARDED TOYS,

OPERA RECORDS, AND COPIES OF VANITY FAIR MAGAZINE,

WHICH ELLISON READ, STACKED NEATLY,

AND KEPT INTO ADULTHOOD.

AS A TEENAGER, ELLISON HAD AN EXTRAVAGANT AMBITION

TO BECOME WHAT HE CALLED A RENAISSANCE MAN,

MASTER OF A BROAD RANGE OF SKILLS

TO OVERCOME ANY ADVERSITY AND DRIVE HIS OWN FATE.

HE WORKED ODD JOBS

TO DRESS IN THE IVY LEAGUE STYLE HE SAW IN MAGAZINES.

HE PLAYED FOOTBALL AND HE READ A GREAT DEAL,

EVEN CULTURAL CRITICISM

LIKE "THE NEW NEGRO" BY THE PHILOSOPHER ALAIN LOCKE,

WHO ARGUED THE UNIVERSAL VALUE OF BLACK ART FORMS.

HE SAID AT ONE POINT,

"MY WRITING WAS A REFLECTION OF MY READING.

I READ FOR PLEASURE, COMPANIONSHIP."

SO BOOKS ARE REALLY HIS SOULMATES.

Narrator IF BOOKS WERE HIS SOULMATES,

MUSIC WAS HIS PASSION.

WHEN HE WAS EIGHT YEARS OLD,

A NEIGHBOR GAVE HIM A BATTERED OLD CORNET.

IMMERSED IN THE LUSH MUSICAL CULTURE OF OKLAHOMA CITY,

HE STROVE TO MAKE THE MOST OF IT.

Man: OKLAHOMA CITY HAD A SCHOOL MUSIC PROGRAM.

THAT WAS IMPLEMENTED BY A WOMAN NAMED ZELIA N. BREAUX.

BREAUX THOUGHT THAT BY LISTENING TO THE CLASSICS,

THESE YOUNG BLACK KIDS

WHO WERE COMING FROM IMPOVERISHED CIRCUMSTANCES

COULD CATEGORICALLY IMPROVE THEMSELVES,

AND THIS WAS GOING TO BE A WAY INTO THE AMERICAN MIDDLE CLASS

AND INTO REFINEMENT AND PROPRIETY.

BUT SHE ALSO OWNED THE ALDRIDGE THEATRE,

SO, ALTHOUGH DURING THE DAY,

SHE WOULD BE TALKING TO YOU ABOUT YOUR POSTURE,

THAT EVENING,

SHE WAS BRINGING ON BUBBER MILEY WITH ELLINGTON'S BAND,

TALKING WITH TOILET PLUNGERS

AND GIVING THESE HALF-NOTE SOUNDS

COMING STRAIGHT OUT OF BLACK DANCE HALL AND CHURCH

AND ROADSIDE EXPERIENCE.

Narrator: OKLAHOMA CITY HAD A VIBRANT JAZZ SCENE.

ELLISON HEARD DUKE ELLINGTON, COUNT BASIE,

AND OTHER JAZZ GREATS

PERFORM IN THE CLUBS ON 2nd STREET, OR "DEEP DEUCE,".

THE MAIN DRAG OF BLACK OKLAHOMA CITY.

HE GREW UP WITH CHARLIE CHRISTIAN,

THE JAZZ GUITAR INNOVATOR,

AND JIMMY RUSHING, THE BLUES SHOUTER.

BOTH GOT THEIR START IN DEEP DEUCE.

♪ GOING TO CHICAGO ♪

♪ SORRY THAT I CAN'T TAKE YOU ♪

WHEN HE CALLED HIMSELF A RENAISSANCE MAN,

WHAT HE HAD IN MIND WAS A JAZZ MUSICIAN.

THEY WERE COOL, CALM,

SOPHISTICATED, SUAVE.

THEY HAD TREMENDOUS TALENT, CREATIVITY, AND IMAGINATION.

THEY DIDN'T ALLOW THE WORLD'S COMPARTMENTALIZATION

TO SOMEHOW CONTAIN AND CIRCUMSCRIBE THEM.

THEY TRAVERSED WHATEVER DIVISIONS WERE THERE

TO PURSUE WHAT THEY WANT, AND RALPH WAS VERY MUCH...

RALPH ELLISON WAS VERY MUCH LIKE THAT.

Narrator: ELLISON WAS ALSO DEEPLY IMPRESSED.

WHEN HE READ ABOUT PIONEERING WORK

BY ARTISTS OF THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE.

FOR THE FIRST TIME,

ARTISTS LIKE THE POET LANGSTON HUGHES,

THE WRITER ZORA NEALE HURSTON,

AND THE PAINTERS JACOB LAWRENCE AND AARON DOUGLAS,

GAVE AMERICAN AUDIENCES SOPHISTICATED DEPICTIONS

OF BLACK LIFE AND CULTURE.

ELLISON GRADUATED FROM FREDERICK DOUGLASS HIGH SCHOOL

IN 1932.

FORTIFIED BY MULTIPLE TALENTS,

HE EAGERLY PLANNED TO GO TO COLLEGE,

BECOME A COMPOSER,

AND WRITE A SYMPHONY BASED ON THE BLUES.

BUT IN ELLISON'S YOUTH,

RACIAL SEGREGATION HAD SPREAD TO OKLAHOMA

FROM NEIGHBORING TEXAS AND ARKANSAS.

IN 1921, A WHITE MOB IN TULSA

INCITED A RACE RIOT AND TORCHED

MUCH OF THE NEGRO BUSINESS AND RESIDENTIAL DISTRICTS.

Man: GROWING UP IN OKLAHOMA AT THAT TIME,

THERE WAS A TENDENCY FOR SOME YOUNGSTERS

TO FEEL THAT THEIR HORIZONS WERE LIMITED

BY A SEGREGATED EXISTENCE.

RALPH SAID TO ME

THAT WE PRETENDED THAT SEGREGATION DID NOT EXIST

BECAUSE WE DID NOT WANT IT TO LIMIT OUR HORIZONS.

Narrator: LEGALIZED SEGREGATION THWARTED ELLISON'S PLAN.

TO ATTEND THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA.

HIS PARENTS' DREAM HAD BECOME A NIGHTMARE...

OKLAHOMA HAD BECOME THE DEEP SOUTH.

HOPING FOR ANY OPPORTUNITY, ELLISON WORKED FOR A YEAR,

BUILDING A WARDROBE AND BUYING A TRUMPET.

FINALLY, ZELIA BREAUX SECURED A MUSIC SCHOLARSHIP FOR ELLISON

TO TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE IN ALABAMA TO STUDY

UNDER ACCLAIMED COMPOSER WILLIAM DAWSON.

ELLISON HAD RECENTLY HEARD DAWSON ON THE RADIO,

CONDUCTING THE TUSKEGEE CHOIR AT THE GRAND OPENING

OF NEW YORK'S RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL.

ELLISON WAS ECSTATIC, BUT HE WAS ALSO BROKE,

AND HE HAD TO REPORT TO SCHOOL IN TWO WEEKS.

HAVING NO OTHER CHOICE, HE HOPPED A FREIGHT TRAIN,

A DANGEROUS MOVE FOR A BLACK MAN

TRAVELING TO THE DEEP SOUTH.

IN HIS POCKET,

HE CARRIED ONLY A FEW DOLLARS...

AND A SWITCHBLADE.

♪ WELL, YOU SEE ME RUNNIN' ♪

♪ NO, DON'T MAKE ME LATE ♪

ELLISON ARRIVED AT TUSKEGEE

WITH A SCAR AND A CUT ON HIS HEAD.

HE NEVER EXPLAINED WHAT HAPPENED EN ROUTE TO COLLEGE.

♪ 'CAUSE I'M COMIN' OUT THE WINDOW ♪

♪ AND MY LIFE IS AT STAKE ♪

Man: HE WAS THAT JOE COLLEGE.

AND HAD TWEED JACKETS, BOW TIES,

CONTRASTING SLACKS, AND TWO-TONE SHOES.

Narrator: ELEGANT AND INCREASINGLY SELF-CONFIDENT,

ELLISON EXCELLED

IN TUSKEGEE'S RIGOROUS MUSIC PROGRAM,

PERFORMING CORNET SOLOS AT CAMPUS EVENTS

AND CONDUCTING THE SCHOOL'S MARCHING BAND.

Man: HE WAS TAKING A COURSE IN A NOVEL.

FROM THAT TIME ON,

I ASSOCIATED ELLISON WITH LITERATURE

RATHER THAN MUSIC.

Narrator: EVER THE RENAISSANCE MAN,

HE ALSO ACTED IN SCHOOL PLAYS AND DABBLED IN SCULPTURE.

BUT IT WAS AN INTEREST IN POETRY

THAT WOULD PROVE FATEFUL TO ELLISON'S CAREER.

IN HIS SOPHOMORE YEAR,

HE READ T.S. ELIOT'S LONG, COMPLEX POEM, "THE WASTE LAND."

HE STUDIED THE HEAVILY FOOTNOTED POEM WITH A PASSION,

CHASING DOWN OBSCURE ALLUSIONS

TO EVERYTHING FROM CHAUCER TO HINDU MYTHOLOGY.

Interviewer: WHAT DID YOU FIND IN ELIOT?

WELL, I FOUND IMAGERY, FOR ONE THING,

AND ALSO A QUALITY

OF IMPROVISING, WHICH IS VERY CLOSE TO JAZZ.

JUST AS ARMSTRONG,

OR ANY OTHER GOOD JAZZ MUSICIAN OF THAT PERIOD,

WOULD TAKE A THEME AND START IMPROVISING,

THEN HE WOULD PAY HIS RESPECTS TO "AIDA,"

ANY NUMBER OF OPERAS,

OR TO LIGHT OPERA OR TO RELIGIOUS MUSIC.

Narrator: DELVING DEEPER INTO LITERATURE,

ELLISON PAID LESS ATTENTION TO HIS MUSIC COURSES,

JEOPARDIZING HIS SCHOLARSHIP.

AT THE END OF HIS JUNIOR YEAR, HE BOARDED A TRAIN TO NEW YORK,

HOPING TO FIND A SUMMER JOB

TO SAVE MONEY FOR HIS SENIOR YEAR.

HE WOULD NEVER RETURN TO TUSKEGEE AS A STUDENT.

Man: HE GOT UP TO NEW YORK,

AND SOMETHING VERY FORTUNATE HAPPENED TO HIM...

HE MET LANGSTON HUGHES.

HUGHES TOOK ELLISON UNDER HIS WING.

FOR ONE THING,

ELLISON IMPRESSED HIM ENOUGH THAT AFTERNOON

THAT HUGHES GAVE HIM A COPY

OF ANDRE MALRAUX'S BOOK "MAN'S FATE."

IT WAS A NEW AWAKENING FOR ELLISON.

ELLISON BEGAN TO SEE NOT ONLY AMERICAN AND ENGLISH LITERATURE,

BUT WORLD LITERATURE,

SPECIFICALLY, THE CONCERNS OF THE MOMENT,

WHICH WERE THE CONCERNS OF THE SOCIALIST.

Narrator: IN 1937,

HUGHES INTRODUCED ELLISON TO RICHARD WRIGHT,

WHO WAS ACTIVE IN THE COMMUNIST PARTY.

A YEAR LATER, WRIGHT PUBLISHED A BOOK OF SHORT STORIES,

TRANSFORMING THE BRUTAL EXPERIENCES

OF HIS CHILDHOOD IN THE SEGREGATED SOUTH

INTO POTENT FICTION.

O'Meally: I DON'T THINK IT CAN BE OVERESTIMATED.

HOW IMPORTANT IT WAS

THAT ELLISON BECAME A PROTEGE OF RICHARD WRIGHT.

RICHARD WRIGHT WAS TREMENDOUSLY AMBITIOUS

AND SAW HIMSELF AS A BIG-LEAGUE WRITER

WHO WAS IN TOUCH WITH GERTRUDE STEIN

AND WHO WAS WRITING HEMINGWAYESQUE PIECES,

WHO WAS HIMSELF A VORACIOUS READER.

HE WAS SELF-TAUGHT, RICHARD WRIGHT.

Ellison: WRIGHT WAS ALSO INVOLVED.

WITH THE NEGRO MAGAZINE.

HE ASKED ME TO DO A REVIEW.

AND I SAID, "OH, I CAN'T WRITE A REVIEW."

AND HE SAID, "OH, GO AHEAD."

THE WAY YOU DISCUSS AND ARGUE WITH ME, WHY NOT?"

SO I WROTE THE REVIEW, AND HE ACCEPTED IT.

AND THEN, BECAUSE HE DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH FICTION,

HE SAID, "WRITE ME A STORY."

AND I SAID, "HELL, I CAN'T WRITE A STORY."

HE SAID, "GO AHEAD," AND I WROTE THE STORY.

AND FORTUNATELY FOR ME,

WRIGHT AND THE OTHER EDITORS OF THE MAGAZINE

GOT INTO A QUARREL, SO IT CEASED PUBLICATION.

Narrator: ELLISON WAS DRAWN TO FICTION,

BUT STUCK MAINLY TO REVIEWS

AND ESSAYS FOR NEGRO MAGAZINES AND MARXIST PUBLICATIONS.

THE COMMUNISTS WERE THE ONLY PARTY

TO ADVOCATE FOR NEGRO SELF-DETERMINATION

AND EQUAL RIGHTS.

Wright: THE SOVIET UNION AND ITS LEADERS STAND TODAY.

AS LIVING TESTIMONY

TO THE PROFOUND HATRED OF WAR.

Narrator: FOR WRIGHT, ELLISON, AND OTHERS,

THE COMMUNIST PARTY WAS AN INCUBATOR

FOR BLACK ARTISTS AND INTELLECTUALS.

AROUND 1940, ELLISON BEGAN TO PRACTICE FICTION WRITING

AS HE PRACTICED MUSIC,

WRITING MORE STORIES THAN HE TRIED TO PUBLISH,

TREATING THEM AS "FIVE-FINGER EXERCISES."

O'Meally: HE COPIED HEMINGWAY'S STORIES BY LONGHAND,

AND, I THINK, LIKE A MUSICIAN,

HE DECIDED, OKAY, IF I'M GOING TO BE A WRITER,

I HAVE TO PRACTICE THE SCALES.

I'M GOING TO WRITE HEMINGWAY SENTENCES EVERY SINGLE DAY.

I'M GOING TO READ DOSTOEVSKY,

NOT JUST TO SEE WHAT THE MESSAGE IS

OR TO BE ENTERTAINED, BUT TO SEE HOW THOSE SENTENCES MOVE,

TO SEE HOW HE MAKES A CHARACTER.

Narrator: ELLISON WAS ALSO ENCOURAGED.

BY THE EXPLOSIVE SUCCESS

OF RICHARD WRIGHT'S POWERFUL FIRST NOVEL.

"NATIVE SON" WAS THE DEFINITIVE PROTEST NOVEL OF BLACK AMERICA

AND SHOCKED THE NATION INTO CONFRONTING

THE BRUTAL REALITIES OF BLACK LIFE.

HOWEVER, "NATIVE SON" ALSO TRIGGERED

A MAELSTROM OF CONTROVERSY.

IN THE BOOK, WRIGHT EXPLORES

THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC FORCES THAT DRIVE BIGGER THOMAS,

A BLACK MAN TRAPPED IN CHICAGO'S GHETTO,

TO VIOLENCE AND MURDER.

♪ COMIN' FOR TO CARRY ME HOME ♪

HEY, BIGGER, YOU KNOW THE WORDS TO THIS SONG.

SO HELP ME...

Narrator: AFTER CHAUFFEURING HIS DRUNKEN CHARGE HOME,

BIGGER TRIES TO AVOID

BEING DISCOVERED IN HER ROOM BY HER BLIND MOTHER.

TERRY.

ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?

Narrator: TRYING TO QUIET HER, BIGGER DOES THE UNTHINKABLE...

HE ACCIDENTALLY KILLS HER.

MANY BLACK COMMUNISTS WERE FURIOUS

THAT "NATIVE SON" DID NOT DEPICT EXEMPLARY BLACK CHARACTERS,

BUT PROMOTED A DEGRADING STEREOTYPE.

Jackson: AT THE OUTSET OF WORLD WAR II,

THE 27-YEAR-OLD RALPH ELLISON WAS DEEPLY INVESTED

IN THE RADICAL TRANSFORMATION OF AMERICAN SOCIETY.

HE WANTED TO CHANGE THE RACIAL BIAS

AND HE WANTED TO CHANGE THE CLASS FOUNDATION OF AMERICA,

EVEN IF IT TOOK AN ARMY OF BIGGER THOMASES TO DO IT.

Narrator: ELLISON WENT FROM MEETING TO MEETING,

VIGOROUSLY DEFENDING THE NOVEL,

ENDORSING BIGGER THOMAS AS REVOLUTIONARY.

BUT EVEN AS HE DEFENDED "NATIVE SON,"

HE HAD BEGUN TO QUESTION WHETHER PROTEST LITERATURE

COULD REVEAL THE COMPLEXITY AND RICHNESS

OF EVERYDAY NEGRO LIFE AS HE EXPERIENCED IT.

BIGGER, KILL IT!

KILL HIM!

Narrator: AS ONE CRITIC NOTED, BIGGER THOMAS.

WAS A STEREOTYPE OF BLACK PROTEST LITERATURE,

"A SEMI-HUMAN, IGNORANT VICTIM OF SOCIAL FORCES

THAT HE CAN NEITHER CONTROL, UNDERSTAND, NOR COPE WITH."

Jackson: AT THE SAME TIME THAT ELLISON PRAISED.

WRIGHT'S CREATION OF BIGGER THOMAS,

HE WAS ALSO DEVELOPING AN INDEPENDENT LITERARY VISION

AND PHILOSOPHICAL VISION.

HE COULD SEE SOMETHING BEYOND BIGGER THOMAS.

HE WASN'T SURE YET, BUT HE KNEW THAT THERE WAS SOMETHING ELSE.

Narrator: IN HIS SHORT STORY "KING OF THE BINGO GAME,".

ELLISON REJECTED THE SIMPLE

CAUSE-AND-EFFECT STYLE OF PROTEST REALISM AND CREATED

A THOUGHTFUL CHARACTER TRYING TO CHANGE HIS FATE.

THE STORY TELLS OF A POOR MIGRANT SOUTHERNER

LIVING IN NEW YORK WHO PLAYS BINGO,

TRYING TO EARN ENOUGH MONEY FOR HIS SICK WIFE'S HOSPITAL BILLS.

Man: ELLISON WAS NOT YET.

THE CONSUMMATE BLUES WRITER THAT HE BECAME IN "INVISIBLE MAN."

YET WE CAN SEE THAT THIS IDEA

OF THE ABSURD SQUEEZE OF CONTINGENCIES ON A CHARACTER

TO THE POINT WHERE,

JUST AS WE REACH TRAGEDY, WE ALSO REACH A KIND OF COMEDY

IN WHICH THERE IS A RELEASE, EVEN A KIND OF TRANSCENDENCE.

BINGO!

IT LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE A BINGO, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.

Winner: BINGO!

BINGO, BINGO!

COME ON DOWN TO THE STAGE, YOUNG MAN.

Man: GET TO THE STAGE, MAN.

GO ON, MAN, GO ON.

MY, MY, LOOK AT HIM RUN.

HE'S A REGULAR JESSE OWENS, HE IS.

[ BAND PLAYING ]

Man: THESE ARE CHARACTERS.

THAT WE'VE NEVER REALLY SEEN BEFORE

IN BLACK AMERICAN WRITING.

THEY'RE CHARACTERS WHO ARE SELF-EXAMINING,

WHO ARE CONSTANTLY THINKING, WHO ARE REFLECTING

NOT JUST ABOUT THE JUSTICE OR INJUSTICE OF THEIR SITUATION,

BUT ABOUT THEIR ACTUAL CIRCUMSTANCES.

Thinking: THIS IS YOUR WHOLE LIFE RIGHT HERE.

THIS WHEEL,

THIS BUTTON.

Man: THE HERO GIVES HIS LIFE OVER.

TO A GAME OF CHANCE, TO A SPINNING OF A WHEEL,

AND IN A SENSE SAYS,

"WELL, AT LEAST THE GAME OF CHANCE IS COLOR BLIND."

THIS IS MY JACKPOT.

AS LONG AS I'M PRESSING THE BUTTON,

NOT EVEN THAT MAN WITH THE MICROPHONE.

COULD DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT NOW.

Steele: AND JUST AS HIS NUMBER COMES UP,

HE ALSO RECEIVES A BLOW ON HIS HEAD THAT KNOCKS HIM OUT.

YOU SEE...

Steele: SO WHAT HE DID NOT FORESEE.

WAS THE CONTINGENCY OF RACISM

THAT WAS EVEN BIGGER THAN CHANCE.

O'Meally: FINALLY, IT WASN'T.

A RICHARD WRIGHT STORY BY RALPH ELLISON,

IT WASN'T A HEMINGWAY STORY BY RALPH ELLISON.

HE DID WHAT HE KNEW YOU HAD TO DO

IF YOU WERE GOING TO BE A JAZZ MUSICIAN...

HE'D FOUND HIS OWN VOICE.

Narrator: ELLISON'S GROWING LITERARY MATURITY.

WAS CONFIRMED IN 1947

WITH THE PUBLICATION OF A STORY ENTITLED

"INVISIBLE MAN."

WHEN ELLISON SUBMITTED THE STORY

TO THE PRESTIGIOUS HORIZON MAGAZINE,

THE EDITOR DISCARDED OTHERS TO MAKE ROOM FOR IT.

ELLISON'S STORY WOULD LATER BE CALLED "THE BATTLE ROYAL,"

THE FIRST CHAPTER OF HIS NOVEL NOW IN PROGRESS.

IN THE STORY,

THE HERO FOLLOWS HIS GRANDFATHER'S DEATHBED ADVICE

AND WRITES A VALEDICTORY SPEECH PREACHING HUMILITY.

HE IS REWARDED WITH AN INVITATION

TO REPEAT THE SPEECH

TO THE LEADING WHITE CITIZENS OF THE TOWN.

Invisible Man: IT WAS IN THE MAIN BALLROOM.

OF THE LEADING HOTEL,

AND I WAS TOLD THAT SINCE I WAS TO BE THERE ANYWAY,

I MIGHT AS WELL TAKE PART IN THE BATTLE ROYAL.

TO BE FOUGHT BY SOME OF MY CLASSMATES.

AS A PART OF THE ENTERTAINMENT.

THE BATTLE ROYAL CAME FIRST.

I HAD SOME MISGIVINGS OVER THE BATTLE ROYAL, BY THE WAY.

I SUSPECTED THAT FIGHTING THE BATTLE ROYAL.

MIGHT DETRACT FROM THE DIGNITY OF MY SPEECH.

IN THOSE PRE-INVISIBLE DAYS,

I VISUALIZED MYSELF.

AS A POTENTIAL BOOKER T. WASHINGTON.

THEY WERE ALL THERE...

BANKERS, LAWYERS, JUDGES,

DOCTORS, FIRE CHIEFS,

TEACHERS, MERCHANTS,

EVEN ONE OF THE MORE FASHIONABLE PASTORS.

BRING UP THE SHINES, GENTLEMEN!

BRING UP THE LITTLE SHINES!

WHAT YOU WAITIN' ON, BOY?

[ MEN SHOUTING ]

Griffin: THE BATTLE ROYAL SCENE.

IS A RITUAL

THAT SERVES AS AN INITIATION FOR THESE YOUNG BLACK MEN

FOR WHAT AWAITS THEM AS BLACK PEOPLE

IN THE SOUTH.

THEIR ASPIRATIONS, THEIR OPPORTUNITIES

ARE BOTH DEFINED BY AND LIMITED BY

POWERFUL WHITES AROUND THEM.

SOMEONE RING THAT BELL BEFORE JACKSON KILLS HIM AGAIN!

[ BELL RINGS ]

Spectator: GET UP! YOU FIGHT LIKE A GIRL, MAN!

GET HIM! GET HIM! GET HIM! GET HIM!

LOOK AT THAT, MAN!

NO, YOU DON'T, YOU BLACK BASTARD!

YOU LEAVE THAT ALONE!

LEAVE IT ALONE!

Invisible Man: THE BOYD ARRANGED IT AMONG THEMSELVES.

IT WAS THE CUSTOM FOR THE TWO BOYS LEFT IN THE RING.

TO SLUG IT OUT WITH EACH OTHER FOR THE WINNER'S PRIZE.

I DISCOVERED THIS TOO LATE.

[ SPECTATORS SHOUTING ]

COME ON!

Man: AND AFTER ALL OF THAT BATTERING,

HE GIVES HIS SPEECH, AS ELLISON SAYS,

"WITH HIS MOUTH DRIPPING WITH BLOOD."

AND THIS IS THE PRICE YOU HAVE TO PAY

TO GIVE YOUR SPEECH, TO SAY WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY.

Invisible Man: I SPOKE AUTOMATICALLY.

AND WITH SUCH FERVOR THAT I DID NOT REALIZE THAT THE MEN.

WERE STILL TALKING AND LAUGHING.

WHENEVER I UTTERED A WORD OF THREE OR MORE SYLLABLES,

A GROUP OF VOICES WOULD YELL FOR ME TO REPEAT IT.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY...

WHAT'S THAT WORD YOU SAY, BOY?

SOCIAL...

LOUDER! SOCIAL...

RESPONSIBILITY.

REPEAT!

RESPONS...

MORE! SIBILITY.

SAY THAT ONE MORE TIME.

[ Echoing ] SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY,

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY...

ONE MORE TIME!

SOCIAL... WHAT?

EQUALITY!

Invisible Man: NO DOUBT DISTRACTED.

BY MY HAVING TO GULP DOWN BLOOD,

I MADE A MISTAKE.

AND YELLED A WORD.

I'D OFTEN SEEN DENOUNCED IN NEWSPAPER EDITORIALS,

HEARD DEBATED IN PRIVATE.

YOU SAY THAT SLOWLY, SON.

WHAT, SIR?

WHAT YOU JUST SAID.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, SIR.

YOU SURE THAT.

"EQUALITY" WAS A MISTAKE?

OH, YES, SIR.

I WAS SWALLOWING BLOOD.

ALL RIGHT.

NOW...

GO ON WITH YOUR SPEECH.

Invisible Man, WHEN I FINISHED,

THERE WAS THUNDERING APPLAUSE.

THAT'S RIGHT, BOY.

NOW, BOY,

YOU TAKE THIS PRIZE AND YOU TAKE IT WELL.

AND IF YOU KEEP DEVELOPIN' THE WAY THAT YOU HAVE,

THEN ONE DAY, IT'S GONNA BE FILLED.

WITH IMPORTANT PAPERS.

THAT WILL SHAPE THE DESTINY OF YOUR PEOPLE.

GO AHEAD. OPEN IT UP.

Invisible Man: IT WAS A SCHOLARSHIP.

TO THE STATE COLLEGE FOR NEGROES.

[ APPLAUSE ]

THAT NIGHT I DREAMED.

I WAS WITH MY GRANDFATHER AT THE CIRCUS.

AND THAT HE REFUSED TO LAUGH AT THE CLOWNS.

NO MATTER WHAT THEY DID.

THEN, LATER, HE TOLD ME TO OPEN THE BRIEFCASE.

OPEN IT.

SORRY, THEM'S YEARS.

NOW OPEN THAT ONE.

READ IT.

OUT LOUD.

"TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN,

KEEP THIS NIGGER-BOY RUNNING."

[ LAUGHING ]

Narrator: "THE BATTLE ROYAL".

ALERTED AN ENTHUSIASTIC LITERARY WORLD

THAT SOMETHING SPECIAL MIGHT BE COMING.

BUT ELLISON PROCEEDED PAINSTAKINGLY.

BY THIS TIME, ELLISON HAD MET FANNY McCONNELL.

THEY SHARED A LOVE OF LITERATURE AND WERE MARRIED IN 1946.

FANNY REMAINED RALPH'S PARTNER FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE,

AND HER MORAL AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT

ALLOWED HIM TO DEVOTE THE NEXT FIVE YEARS

TO COMPLETING HIS NOVEL.

O'Meally: ELLISON DIDN'T WANT TO RELEASE IT.

UNTIL IT WAS UP TO STANDARD.

WHY WASN'T HE PUBLISHING MORE OF IT?

HE WANTED TO BE THE JACK JOHNSON OF LITERATURE,

TO BE THE FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN TO WRITE A WORLD-CLASS NOVEL.

Man: ELLISON IS A SYMBOL.

OF A PERIOD IN WHICH BLACK AMERICANS

WERE TAKING ON EVERYTHING.

WHO YOUR PARENTS MIGHT HAPPEN TO BE

AND WHAT YOUR CLASS MIGHT HAPPEN TO BE

AND WHAT YOUR COLOR MIGHT HAPPEN TO BE

AND WHAT YOUR SEX MIGHT HAPPEN TO BE

SHOULD HAVE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH WHAT YOU BECOME.

IF YOU GOT THE GRITS, SERVE 'EM.

[ JAZZ MUSIC ]

Narrator: "FROM THE MOMENT OF ITS UNEXPECTED INCEPTION,".

ELLISON WROTE,

"THIS HAS BEEN A MOST SELF-WILLED

AND SELF-GENERATED PIECE OF FICTION."

"IT ANNOUNCED ITSELF IN WHAT WAS TO BECOME

"THE OPENING WORDS OF ITS PROLOGUE...

I AM AN INVISIBLE MAN."

"THE THEME OF A YOUNG NEGRO'S QUEST FOR IDENTITY

WAS ASSERTING ITSELF IN A MOST BEWILDERING FORM."

Invisible Man: I AM INVISIBLE, UNDERSTAND,

SIMPLY BECAUSE PEOPLE REFUSE TO SEE ME.

WHEN THEY APPROACH ME,

THEY SEE ONLY MY SURROUNDINGS, THEMSELVES,

OR A FIGMENT OF THEIR IMAGINATION.

INDEED, EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING.

BUT ME.

Louis Armstrong: ♪ WHAT DID I DO ♪

♪ TO BE SO BLACK ♪

♪ AND BLUE? ♪♪

Narrator: FINALLY, IN 1952, "INVISIBLE MAN" WAS PUBLISHED.

IN THE PROLOGUE, THE NAMELESS HERO FINDS REFUGE,

AFTER A SERIES OF MISADVENTURES,

IN AN ABANDONED CELLAR IN 1930s NEW YORK.

IN AN ATTEMPT

TO UNDERSTAND HIS EXPERIENCE AND DISCOVER HIS IDENTITY,

HE COMMITS TO PAPER

THE STORY OF HIS JOURNEY,

THE SERIES OF EPISODES

THAT LED HIM TO BECOME A BASEMENT RECLUSE.

HE RECOUNTS HOW, AFTER WINNING HIS SCHOLARSHIP

TO THE STATE NEGRO COLLEGE,

HE EXCELS INTO HIS JUNIOR YEAR.

BUT WHILE DRIVING A VISITING PHILANTHROPIST,

HE UNINTENTIONALLY STOPS AT THE CABIN OF JIM TRUEBLOOD,

WHO IMPREGNATED BOTH HIS DAUGHTER

AND HIS WIFE.

TO DR. BLEDSOE,

THE BOOKER T. WASHINGTON-LIKE HEAD OF THE COLLEGE,

THIS IS AN UNPARDONABLE BLUNDER.

DID YOU REALLY THINK THAT WHITE MAN.

HAD TO DRIVE 1,000 MILES,

ALL THE WAY FROM NEW YORK, BOSTON, AND PHILADELPHIA,

JUST SO YOU COULD SHOW HIM A SLUM?

HUH?

WELL, DON'T JUST STAND THERE, BOY, SAY SOMETHIN'!

BUT I WAS ONLY DRIVING HIM, SIR.

I ONLY STOPPED THERE AFTER HE ORDERED ME TO.

HE ORDERED YOU.

[ LAUGHING ]

WHITE FOLKS ALWAYS GIVIN' ORDERS.

IT'S A HABIT WITH THEM.

COULDN'T YOU HAVE MADE UP SOME KIND OF EXCUSE,

TOLD HIM, UH, THAT THEY HAD SICKNESS...

SMALLPOX...

SHOWED HIM ANOTHER CABIN?

YOU'RE BLACK. YOU LIVE IN THE SOUTH.

DID YOU FORGET HOW TO LIE?

BUT I WAS JUST TRYIN' TO PLEASE HIM.

PLEASE HIM.

BOY, THE DUMBEST BLACK BASTARD IN THE COTTON PATCH.

KNOWS THAT THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN PLEASE A WHITE MAN.

IS TO TELL HIM A LIE.

WHO TOLD YOU TO TAKE HIM OUT THERE?

HE DID, SIR. NO ONE ELSE.

NIGGA, DAMN IT, THIS IS NO TIME TO TELL ME A LIE.

I AIN'T NO WHITE MAN.

TELL ME THE TRUTH. SPEAK UP, BOY!

Man: THIS IS ONE OF THE MANY MOMENTS OF DISILLUSIONMENT.

WHERE THE SCALE FALLS FROM HIS EYES

AND HE REALIZES

THAT PEOPLE HAVE PLANS FOR HIM

THAT INVOLVE HIM RUNNING ON A TREADMILL

AND NEVER GETTING ANYWHERE.

AND SO, "KEEP THIS NIGGER-BOY RUNNING"

IS REALLY THE MOTIF OF ALMOST THE ENTIRE BOOK.

IT'S HE WHO HAS TO LEARN TO GET OFF THAT TREADMILL,

AND THE SHAPE OF THE BOOK IS HIS LEARNING HOW TO DO THAT.

Narrator: AFTER THE HERO IS EXPELLED FROM COLLEGE,

HE TRAVELS TO NEW YORK AND JOINS THE BROTHERHOOD,

A MARXIST-TYPE ORGANIZATION.

NO LONGER... WE WILL COME UP TOGETHER,

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, TOGETHER!

Narrator: IN HARLEM, HE BECOMES.

A POPULAR AND POWERFUL SPOKESMAN FOR BLACK CIVIL RIGHTS.

THIS IS A CALL TO ACTION!

[ MEN WHISPERING ]

Narrator: ULTIMATELY, THE BROTHERHOOD.

REJECTS HIS CRUSADE FOR NEGRO EQUALITY

AND ABANDONS THEIR HARLEM OFFICE.

THE BROTHERHOOD ISN'T THE NEGRO PEOPLE,

NO ORGANIZATION IS.

NOW HE'S LECTURING US.

ABOUT THE CONDITIONED REFLEXES OF THE NEGRO PEOPLE?

WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF YOUR PROFOUND KNOWLEDGE OF NEGROES?

ARE YOU FROM AN OLD PLANTATION-OWNING FAMILY?

DOES YOUR BLACK MAMMY SHUFFLE NIGHTLY THROUGH YOUR DREAMS?

I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT I AM MARRIED.

TO A NICE, INTELLIGENT NEGRO WOMAN!

BROTHER, I APOLOGIZE.

IN FACT, YOU MUST PRACTICALLY BE A NEGRO YOURSELF.

WAS IT BY IMMERSION OR INJECTION?

NOW SEE HERE!

Griffin: HE IS NOT ONLY ARTICULATE, EDUCATED, COMPLEX,

HE HAS A KIND OF PSYCHOLOGICAL INTERIORITY,

A PHILOSOPHICAL CONTEMPLATION.

HE'S A PERSON IN PROGRESS,

AND WE ARE ABLE TO WITNESS HIM IN PROGRESS.

AND FOR THE MOST PART, WE HAVEN'T SEEN

AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN CHARACTER LIKE THAT IN THE LITERATURE

BEFORE ELLISON CREATES HIM.

Narrator: SPURNED BY WHITE RADICALS,

BETRAYED BY BLACK LEADERS,

AND HUMILIATED BY WHITE RACISTS,

INVISIBLE MAN FINDS HIMSELF IN THE ABSURD POSITION

OF BEING CHASED BY BOTH WHITE POLICE

AND A VIOLENT BLACK NATIONALIST.

HE REMAINS IN THE CELLAR FOR SEVERAL YEARS

UNTIL HE CAN DISCOVER WHO HE IS

WITHOUT THE INSISTENT DEFINITION OF OTHERS.

ONLY THEN CAN HE REENTER THE CHAOTIC WORLD

AND THE UNCERTAIN FUTURE ABOVE GROUND.

Invisible Man: I'M SHAKING OFF THE OLD SKIN,

AND I'LL LEAVE IT HERE IN THE HOLE.

AND I SUPPOSE IT IS DAMN WELL TIME,

SINCE THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT EVEN AN INVISIBLE MAN.

HAS A SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE ROLE TO PLAY.

Narrator: FINALLY, THE HERO FINISHES HIS STORY.

THE NOVEL'S LAST WORDS SUGGEST

THAT HIS INVISIBILITY AS A NEGRO

IS A METAPHOR FOR ANYONE WHO SITS AT THE MARGINS OF SOCIETY,

ANYONE WHOSE HUMANITY IS NOT ACKNOWLEDGED.

AND IT IS THIS WHICH FRIGHTENS ME...

WHO KNOWS BUT THAT, ON THE LOWER FREQUENCIES,

I SPEAK FOR YOU?

Man: I HAD NOT BELIEVED.

THAT BLACK FICTION COULD BE SO WONDERFUL.

I WAS A VICTIM OF A KIND OF INFERIORIZATION

THAT I HAD NOT THOUGHT

THAT THE RAW MATERIALS EXISTED IN BLACK LIFE

THAT COULD MAKE LITERATURE THIS GREAT,

THAT COULD PROVIDE FOR LITERATURE TO REACH THAT HEIGHT.

AND HE SHOWED US.

HE SHOWED US THAT YOU COULD DO WITH BLACK LIFE

WHAT HOMER DID WITH GREEK LIFE, WHAT JOYCE DID WITH IRISH LIFE.

AND, OF COURSE, WE UNDERSTOOD LATER,

YES, ANY LIFE CAN BE GIVEN

THE MOST INTENSE, PROFOUND EXAMINATION.

Man: IN A SENSE,

"INVISIBLE MAN" SEEMED TO COME OUT OF NOWHERE.

IF YOU LOOK AT THE SHORT STORIES

THAT ELLISON PUBLISHED BEFORE THAT,

IT'S ALMOST AS IF HE HAD TAKEN THE MOUND

FOR THE SEVENTH GAME OF THE WORLD SERIES,

THROWN TWO OR THREE HALF-SPEED WARM-UP PITCHES,

AND THEN GONE OUT AND PITCHED A PERFECT GAME.

Narrator: "INVISIBLE MAN" BECAME A BEST-SELLER.

AND ENJOYED GREAT CRITICAL SUCCESS.

R.W.B. LEWIS WROTE...

"IF THERE IS AN AMERICAN FICTION,

IT IS THIS."

Man: THIS IS A STORY ABOUT IDENTITY,

AND THROUGH THE MARVELOUS SUCCESSION OF EXPLOSIVE,

MADCAP SOMETIMES, INCIDENTS,

IS THIS STEADY PROBLEM OF HOW DOES AN INVISIBLE MAN

BECOME A VISIBLE HUMAN INDIVIDUAL?

Narrator: BUT NOT ALL CRITICS EMBRACED.

"INVISIBLE MAN" OR ELLISON.

HIS FORMER COLLEAGUES IN THE COMMUNIST PARTY

ACCUSED HIM OF SELLING OUT TO A DECAYING BOURGEOISIE.

IT WOULD BE THE FIRST, BUT NOT THE LAST, CRITICISM

LEVELED AGAINST ELLISON.

Announcer: IN THE WORLD OF LITERATURE,

THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION.

WENT TO RALPH ELLISON FOR HIS NOVEL, "THE INVISIBLE MAN."

IT WAS THE FIRST NOVEL BY THE YOUNG AUTHOR,

AN AUSPICIOUS START.

Narrator: IN HIS ACCEPTANCE SPEECH,

ELLISON EXPRESSED HIS PASSIONATE BELIEF

IN THE POWER OF THE NOVEL,

THE IDEA THAT NOVELS COULD EDUCATE

AND HELP REFORM SOCIETY.

IT WOULD BE 30 YEARS BEFORE ANOTHER BLACK WRITER,

ALICE WALKER, WAS SO HONORED.

O'Meally: AND THOSE WHO WOULD ASSUME.

THAT IF YOU'RE A BLACK WRITER,

THEN YOU COME STRAIGHT OUT OF WRIGHT

AND WRIGHT COMES OUT OF THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE

AND THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE

OUT OF THE SLAVE NARRATIVE, IN THAT STRAIGHT LINE,

AND ELLISON SAYS,

NEVER MIND ALL THAT, GRANTED THAT,

THAT'S THE FAMILY LINE, WE KNOW THAT.

WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER PEOPLE THAT YOU REACH

OVER BEYOND THE FAMILY AND CHOOSE...

AND BRING INTO YOUR OWN ARTISTIC CAMP?

Narrator: WHILE ELLISON CALLED RICHARD WRIGHT.

AND LANGSTON HUGHES HIS LITERARY RELATIVES,

HE REFERRED TO CERTAIN WHITE AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN WRITERS

AS HIS ANCESTORS.

BY ALIGNING HIMSELF

WITH A EUROCENTRIC LITERARY MAINSTREAM,

ELLISON WOULD PROVOKE PASSIONATE CRITICISM

FROM PROGRESSIVE INTELLECTUALS,

CRITICISM THAT CONTINUES TO THIS DAY.

IN AN ESSAY IN THE LITERARY JOURNAL "DISSENT"

CALLED "BLACK BOYS AND NATIVE SONS,"

THE PROGRESSIVE CRITIC IRVING HOWE

ARGUED THAT ELLISON HAD FAILED TO REALIZE

THE ONLY TRUE ROLE FOR THE BLACK WRITER...

TO CREATE PROTEST LITERATURE.

HOWE CELEBRATED RICHARD WRIGHT'S RACIAL AUTHENTICITY

AND REPRIMANDED ELLISON

FOR FAILING TO EXPRESS A SIMILAR SENSE OF RAGE.

West: WHO IS HE TO DEFINE WHO IS AUTHENTIC?

CAN YOU IMAGINE A BLACK CRITIC SAYING PHILIP ROTH IS

A MORE AUTHENTIC JEWISH WRITER THAN NORMAN MAILER?

OH, MY GOD, THEY'D RUN HIM OR HER OUT OF NEW YORK.

WHY?

BECAUSE WHO AUTHORIZES THEM TO SAY THAT?

NOW, IRVING HOWE, WHO IS A GOOD FRIEND OF MINE...

ACTUALLY, I RESPECT HIM DEEPLY...

HE HAS THE RIGHT TO PUT FORTH HIS OWN INTERPRETATION,

BUT WHEN HE GETS ARROGANT, HAUGHTY...

AND RALPH HIT HIM.

IT WAS TOUGH, YOU SHOULD SEE THE ESSAY.

OOH, HE HIT IRVING HARD.

Narrator: ELLISON REPLIED TO HOWE.

IN AN ESSAY TITLED "THE WORLD IN A JUG," SAYING,

"ONE WOULD GET THE IMPRESSION THAT

"WHEN HOWE LOOKS AT THE NEGRO, HE SEES NOT A HUMAN BEING,

"BUT AN ABSTRACT EMBODIMENT OF LIVING HELL.

"HE SEEMS NEVER TO HAVE CONSIDERED

"THAT AMERICAN NEGRO LIFE IS, FOR THE NEGRO WHO MUST LIVE IT,

"NOT ONLY A BURDEN, AND NOT ALWAYS THAT,

BUT ALSO A DISCIPLINE."

West: IRVING HOWE ARGUES THAT AUTHENTIC BLACK WRITING.

IS AN EXPRESSION OF BLACK RAGE,

AND THAT, BY THE TIME YOU GET TO RALPH ELLISON,

THE RAGE IS SO CONCEALED, THAT SOMEHOW,

HE DOESN'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT THE DAMAGE DONE TO BLACK PEOPLE,

HE WANTS TO TALK ABOUT

THE CREATIVITY BLACK PEOPLE HAVE.

AND THAT'S A VERY IMPORTANT DISTINCTION,

THE DAMAGE DONE ON THE ONE HAND AND THE CREATIVITY ON THE OTHER,

BECAUSE BLACK FOLK HAVE BOTH.

ANYBODY WHO DOESN'T TALK ABOUT THE DAMAGE DONE TO BLACK FOLK

HAS NO SENSE OF REALITY.

WE'RE A WOUNDED PEOPLE.

ON THE OTHER HAND, YOU THINK IF WE'RE ONLY A WOUNDED PEOPLE,

WE HAVE NO CREATIVITY,

THEY HAVE NO SENSE OF REALITY EITHER.

AND IRVING HOWE SAW RICHARD WRIGHT

AS TALKING MUCH MORE ABOUT THE DAMAGE

AND MUCH MORE ABOUT THE RAGE.

AND HE COULD NOT CONCEIVE OF BLACK PEOPLE,

NOT JUST DAMAGED AND WOUNDED,

BUT ALSO NOT PREOCCUPIED WITH THE WOUND AND THE DAMAGE.

WHAT RALPH ELLISON SAID IS NO,

THE JAZZ MUSICIAN IS NOT PREOCCUPIED WITH IT.

THEY JUST TAKE IT AS A GIVEN AND GO ON AND DO THEIR THING.

AND I'M SITTING IN THE BARBERSHOP,

THEY'RE NOT THINKING ABOUT WHITE SUPREMACY,

THEY'RE THINKING ABOUT THE JOKES THAT JONESY JUST TOLD.

THERE'S A SPACE THAT BLACK PEOPLE CREATE

THAT HOLD AT BAY THE UGLINESS OF WHITE SUPREMACIST DAMAGE.

♪ DEEP RHYTHM CAPTIVATES ME... ♪

Man: ELLISON FELT THAT.

WITH ALL THE CONSTRAINTS ON BLACK LIFE,

WITH ALL THE REALITIES OF AMERICAN RACISM,

BLACKS HAD NEVERTHELESS

ADAPTED TO THIS IN INGENIOUS WAYS

AND CREATED A CULTURE

THAT NOT ONLY HAD BEEN A CULTURE FOR THEMSELVES,

BUT HAD BECOME AN ESSENTIAL PART OF AMERICAN IDENTITY.

♪ AND THIS FOOLISH PATTER ♪

♪ COME ON, KILL ME, JOY ♪

♪ SWING IT, BROTHER, SWING ♪♪

Man: THE CONTROVERSY WITH HOWE.

LED ELLISON TO WRITE HIS SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT ESSAY,

HIS MOST IMPORTANT STATEMENT OF HIS OWN AESTHETIC,

AND THAT WAS THE IDEA THAT RICHARD WRIGHT

HAD CREATED A CHARACTER IN "NATIVE SON"

THAT HAD A MUCH MORE LIMITED CONSCIOUSNESS

THAN RICHARD WRIGHT HIMSELF.

AND WHAT ELLISON TRIED TO DO IN "INVISIBLE MAN"

WAS TO TURN BIGGER THOMAS

INTO SOMETHING MUCH MORE LIKE RICHARD WRIGHT,

TO SOMEONE WHO HAD THE QUALITIES OF THE ARTIST IN HIM,

TO SOMEONE WHO COULD IMPROVISE AND CREATE HIS OWN IDENTITY

AND THEREFORE COULD ACHIEVE THE KIND OF FREEDOM

THAT HE SAW RICHARD WRIGHT HIMSELF HAVING ACHIEVED,

BUT THAT RICHARD WRIGHT DID NOT ALLOW

ANY OF HIS CHARACTERS TO ACHIEVE.

Narrator: "SHADOW & ACT,".

ELLISON'S FIRST BOOK OF ESSAYS,

WAS PUBLISHED IN 1964.

IT INCLUDES THE FULL REPLY TO IRVING HOWE

AND ELLISON'S REFLECTIONS

ON AMERICAN AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN IDENTITY.

O'Meally: ELLISON GIVES YOU METAPHORS.

FOR WHAT IT MEANS TO LIVE IN A COMPLICATED,

VARIEGATED, HETEROGENEOUS SOCIETY.

AND THE METAPHOR THAT HE USES AGAIN AND AGAIN

IS THE JAZZ GROUP,

WHERE, IF YOU'RE TO BE A MEMBER,

YOU HAVE TO ACHIEVE YOUR OWN VOICE.

Griffin: FOR ELLISON, JAZZ PERFORMANCE.

IS A QUINTESSENTIAL METAPHOR FOR AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

IN WHICH THE INDIVIDUAL GETS TO ASSERT HIS OWN VOICE,

TELL HIS OWN STORY,

OVER AGAINST... BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY WITH...

A COLLABORATIVE PROJECT OF OTHER PERFORMERS.

Lewis: "SHADOW & ACT".

MIGHT ALMOST BE CALLED

RALPH ELLISON'S REAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY.

AS AGAINST THE FICTIONALIZED NARRATIVE OF "INVISIBLE MAN."

THE MOST DELIGHTFUL ESSAY IN THERE,

CALLED "HIDDEN NAME AND COMPLEX FATE"...

"HIDDEN NAME," OF COURSE, IS ABOUT QUESTIONS OF IDENTITY,

AND NO THEME IS MORE PERPETUAL

THAN THE THEME OF PERSONAL INDIVIDUAL IDENTITY.

Dickstein: THE SECOND HALF OF THE TITLE, "COMPLEX FATE,".

IS A REFERENCE TO THE WONDERFUL PHRASE OF HENRY JAMES,

"THE COMPLEX FATE OF BEING AN AMERICAN."

FOR ELLISON, THAT COMPLEX FATE

WAS NOT ONLY BEING INFLUENCED BY HENRY JAMES AND EMERSON

AS WELL AS BLACK FOLKLORE AND MUSIC,

BUT ALSO IT REPRESENTED THE BRAIDED STRANDS

THAT MAKE THE PLURALIST AMERICAN IDENTITY

THAT HE SO MUCH BELIEVED IN.

ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR.

ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, TESTING.

"AND THEY SCATTERED THEIR ASHES.

"AH, EYELESS, TONGUELESS, DRUMLESS, DANCELESS ASHES.

AND A WORSE DEVASTATION WAS YET TO COME."

O'Meally: EVEN BEFORE "INVISIBLE MAN" WAS PUBLISHED,

ELLISON HAD BEGUN JOTTING DOWN

NOTES FOR THE NEW NOVEL,

HE SAID, SO HE WOULD BE TOO BUSY TO WORRY

IF THE FIRST ONE FAILED.

IN 1952, HE ANNOUNCED PRIVATELY

THAT HE HAD A NEW NOVEL ON THE BENCH.

Ellison: "THEY CUT OUT OUR TONGUES,

"THEY LEFT US SPEECHLESS.

"THEY CUT OUT OUR TONGUES, LAWD, THEY LEFT US WITHOUT WORDS.

"AMEN!

"THEY SCATTERED OUR TONGUES IN THIS LAND LIKE SEED

"AND THEY LEFT US WITHOUT LANGUAGE.

"THEY TOOK AWAY OUR TALKING DRUMS.

"DRUMS THAT TALK, DADDY HICKMAN?

"TELL US ABOUT THOSE TALKING DRUMS!

"DRUMS THAT TALK LIKE A TELEGRAPH.

"DRUMS THAT COULD REACH ACROSS A COUNTRY

"LIKE A CHURCH BELL SOUND.

"DRUMS THAT TOLD THE NEWS ALMOST BEFORE IT HAPPENED,

REV'REND BLISS."

O'Meally: THE NEW BOOK'S FORM, ELLISON EXPLAINED,

IS A REALISM BEYOND REALISM.

HE SAID IT WAS A CRAZY BOOK

THAT HE WOULDN'T PRETEND TO TRY TO UNDERSTAND.

Narrator: IN 1960,

ELLISON PUBLISHED "AND HICKMAN ARRIVES,"

THE FIRST OF EIGHT EXCERPTS

INTENDED FOR HIS NEW NOVEL NOW UNDERWAY.

SET IN THE SOUTH AND IN WASHINGTON, D.C.,

THE NOVEL FOLLOWS

A.Z. HICKMAN, A JAZZ MUSICIAN,

AND HIS ADOPTED SON.

IN A KEY SCENE,

HICKMAN MIDWIFES THE BABY BOY OF A WHITE WOMAN,

WHO QUICKLY ABANDONS HIM.

ALTHOUGH THE BABY'S RACE IS UNKNOWN,

HICKMAN KEEPS HIM AND NAMES HIM BLISS.

HICKMAN BECOMES A TRAVELING PREACHER.

AT THE CLIMAX OF HIS SHOW, HE HAULS OUT A SMALL COFFIN

AND PRETENDS TO BRING THE BOY BLISS BACK FROM THE DEAD.

Rafferty: IN THIS PASSAGE, YOU CAN SEE HOW BOLD.

ELLISON'S MYTHIC OUTLINE MIGHT HAVE BEEN.

HICKMAN REALLY SEES IN BLISS

THE POSSIBILITY OF A RECONCILER, A REDEEMER,

REALLY A TRANSRACIAL MESSIAH FOR AMERICAN SOCIETY,

AND I CAN'T THINK OF A LARGER THEME

AND A LARGER MOTIF FOR A NOVEL THAN THAT.

Narrator: WHEN BLISS COMES OF AGE,

HE TURNS HIS BACK ON THE BLACK COMMUNITY.

FLEEING HOME AS A TEENAGER,

HE HEADS NORTH AND PASSES FOR WHITE.

ULTIMATELY, HE REEMERGES AS A VITRIOLIC RACIST

ELECTED TO THE U.S. SENATE.

DURING ONE OF HIS TRADEMARK ADDRESSES,

A BLACK MAN SHOOTS HIM FROM THE VISITORS GALLERY.

[ TWO GUNSHOTS ]

THE STORY IS REVEALED

AS BLISS AND HICKMAN REUNITE IN BLISS' HOSPITAL ROOM.

Interviewer: HOW NEAR TO COMPLETION.

IS YOUR WORK IN PROGRESS?

WELL, IF I KNEW EXACTLY,

I THINK I'D REST A LITTLE FREER IN MY OWN MIND.

HOWEVER, I CAN TELL YOU THIS...

THAT THE FIRST BOOK OF THE NOVEL

IS NOW BEING TYPED,

BUT, UH, THAT'S ABOUT AS MUCH AS I CAN SAY ABOUT IT.

I WANT TO PUBLISH THE BOOK IN THE COMING YEAR,

SO THE PRESSURE IS ON.

Man: RALPH WAS OBSESSED.

I REMEMBER FANNY TELLING ME

THAT WHEN THEY WERE LIVING OVER IN PLAINFIELD,

SHE COULD HEAR RALPH UP

AT 5:00 OR 6:00 IN THE MORNING,

IN THE NEXT ROOM,

TALKING TO HIS CHARACTERS.

Ellison on tape: AMEN, REV'REND BLISS, YOU LEAD THEM.

WE WERE EYELESS, TONGUELESS, DRUMLESS, DANCELESS,

HORNLESS, PHONELESS.

ALL TRUE, REV'REND BLISS, NO EYES TO SEE!

Narrator: AS ELLISON STITCHED TOGETHER THIS NOVEL,

WHICH AIMED AT THE HEART

OF AMERICAN IDENTITY THROUGH THE LENS OF RACE,

AMERICAN RACE RELATIONS RADICALLY CHANGED.

Officer: MOVE THE OTHER WAY, MOVE THE OTHER WAY!

Man: COME OUT, NIGGAS, NIGGAS, NIGGAS, NIGGAS, COME OUT!

HELP US STOP THE DEVIL!

HELP US BUILD A NEW WORLD, NIGGAS, COME OUT, BROTHAS!

OR WE WITH YOU, AND YOUR SONS, YOUR DAUGHTERS ARE OURS!

AND WE ARE THE SAME, ALL THE BLACKNESS

FROM ONE BLACK ALLAH!

WHEN THE WORLD IS CLEAR, YOU'LL BE WITH US!

COME OUT, NIGGAS! COME OUT! COME OUT, NIGGAS! COME OUT!

IT'S NATION TIME!

Narrator: INSPIRED BY AFRICAN INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENTS,

ANGERED BY VIOLENCE AGAINST CIVIL RIGHTS ADVOCATES,

AND FRUSTRATED BY THE SLOW PACE

OF CHANGE IN THE SOUTH,

BLACK NATIONALISM

AND THE BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT EMERGED.

THEY PROMOTED A SENSE OF COMMUNITY BUILDING,

SELF-RESPECT,

AND POLITICAL, CULTURAL, AND ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT.

Man: WE CALL IT NATIONALISM,

BUT MOST OF US ARE NOT TRYING TO GET A SEPARATE NATION.

BLACK NATIONALISM SEEMS TO ME, AND BLACK NATIONALIST MOVEMENTS

SEEM TO ME TO BE

A NECESSARY, UNFORTUNATE CONSEQUENCE

OF BEING BLACK IN AMERICA.

I REALLY RESENT THE FACT THAT IN ORDER TO FIGURE OUT

WHERE I AM AS A BLACK PERSON IN AMERICA,

I HAVE TO RESORT TO

A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF BLACK NATIONALISM MYSELF.

Narrator: THE BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT.

CREATED ARTISTIC WORKS

PROMOTING BLACK NATIONALISM AND PRIDE.

Woman: THERE WERE PLAYS TAKING PLACE AT BLACK THEATERS,

THERE WAS THIS TREMENDOUS OUTGROWTH OF ART ALL OF A SUDDEN

AND THIS NOTION THAT THERE WAS A POET HIDDEN IN ALL OF US.

AND THE...

JUST THE OPENNESS OF IT

AND ALSO THE TREMENDOUS ENERGY OF IT, I THINK, WAS CAPTIVATING.

Man: ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS.

THAT CAME OUT OF THE BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT

WAS THAT WE DEVELOPED

A COLLECTIVE SENSE THAT THERE WAS NO LONGER

ANY NEED TO APOLOGIZE

FOR BEING BLACK,

FOR BEING LINKED TO AFRICA.

THERE WAS NO LONGER ANY NEED TO EXPLAIN WHY

OR TO PROVE THAT BLACK CREATIVE ARTIFACTS

WERE AS COMPLEX AS ANY ARTIFACTS OF OTHER PEOPLES IN THE WORLD.

Narrator: THE BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT.

REJECTED WHAT IT SAW

AS THE EUROCENTRIC AESTHETIC OF THE PAST,

A LINEAGE ADMIRED BY WRITERS LIKE ELLISON.

CALLING ALL BLACK PEOPLE! CALLING ALL BLACK PEOPLE!

MAN, WOMAN, AND CHILD!

Man: WHAT WE WERE SAYING WAS THREE THINGS BASICALLY...

ONE, THAT WE WANTED TO CREATE ART THAT WAS

CLEARLY, IDENTIFIABLY AFRO-AMERICAN, BLACK.

SECOND, WE WANTED AN ART

THAT WOULD COME OUT OF THOSE LITTLE CLASSROOMS.

AND THE THIRD THING, WE WANTED OUR ART TO BE REVOLUTIONARY.

WE WANTED IT TO BE MALCOLM X ART, YOU KNOW,

BLACK PANTHER ART...

YOU KNOW, NKRUME ART...

MARTIN LUTHER KING ART, AT LEAST.

WE WANTED IT TO HELP IN THE STRUGGLE,

AND THAT IS OUR TRADITION.

Narrator: POET, PLAYWRIGHT, AND ESSAYIST AMIRI BARAKA...

FORMERLY NAMED LeROI JONES...

WON WIDE CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR HIS PLAY

"DUTCHMAN," IN WHICH A BLACK INTELLECTUAL

REVEALS HIS SUPPRESSED ANGER AT THE DOMINANT WHITE CULTURE.

IF BESSIE SMITH HAD KILLED HER SOME WHITE PEOPLE,

SHE WOULDN'T HAVE NEEDED ALL THAT MUSIC.

SHE COULD HAVE TALKED VERY STRAIGHT AND PLAIN.

ABOUT THE WORLD.

NO GRUNTS, NO METAPHORS,

NO WIGGLES IN THE DARK OF HER SOUL,

JUST STRAIGHT TWO AND TWO ARE FOUR.

MONEY! POWER! LUXURY! LIKE THAT! S...!

CRAZY NIGGERS, TURNIN' THEIR BACKS ON SANITY,

WHEN ALL IT TAKES IS THAT SIMPLE ACT, MURDER!

JUST MURDER WOULD MAKE US ALL SANE!

YEAH.

Narrator: BARAKA WAS AN OUTSPOKEN ADVOCATE.

OF BLACK NATIONALISM AND THE BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT.

HE WAS ALSO A HARSH CRITIC OF RALPH ELLISON.

ELLISON WAS A VERY SKILLFUL CRAFTSMAN.

DON'T LET ANYBODY TELL YOU I THOUGHT HE WAS

A SLOPPY WRITER OR HE WAS LIKE, UNSKILLED.

BUT THE MOST DANGEROUS THING IN THE WORLD

IS A VERY SKILLED ARTIST WITH VERY BACKWARD IDEAS.

Narrator: ELLISON STRONGLY REJECTED BLACK NATIONALISM.

AS WRONG-HEADED AND INEFFECTIVE,

AND THE BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT, WHICH HE FELT

PLACED POLITICS BEFORE CREATIVE EXCELLENCE.

WHEN BARAKA PUBLISHED HIS BOOK, "BLUES PEOPLE,"

ELLISON WROTE A SCATHING CRITIQUE,

ACCUSING BARAKA OF BEING OVERLY CONCERNED WITH SOCIOLOGY

RATHER THAN THE ARTISTRY OF THE MUSIC.

♪ WELL, NOW, MEET ME IN THE BOTTOM, BABE ♪

♪ BRING ME MY RUNNING SHOES... ♪

Narrator: ELLISON ADMIRED THE BLUES.

FOR ITS POETRY AND HEROIC SPIRIT.

♪ WELL, NOW, MEET ME IN THE BOTTOM ♪

♪ BRING ME MY RUNNING SHOES... ♪

Narrator: "THE BLUES IS AN IMPULSE.

"TO KEEP THE PAINFUL DETAILS AND EPISODES ALIVE

IN ONE'S ACHING CONSCIOUSNESS," ELLISON WROTE,

"TO FINGER ITS JAGGED EDGES AND TRANSCEND IT

THROUGH A SHEER TOUGHNESS OF SPIRIT."

♪ WELL, I'D COME OUT THE WINDOW ♪

♪ I WON'T HAVE NO TIME TO LOSE ♪♪

Watts: SO ELLISON OBTAINS FROM THE BLUES.

A PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE THAT ALLOWS HIM

NOT TO BE DETERMINED BY THE WAY WHITE FOLKS

SUPPOSEDLY TREATED YOU.

HE WAS NOT GOING TO SUCCUMB TO RACISM.

HE, AS AN INDIVIDUAL, WAS GOING TO TRANSCEND

HIS AMERICAN CONFINES.

BUT, IN THE PROCESS, HE ENDS UP DIVORCING HIMSELF, IN MANY WAYS,

FROM THE COLLECTIVE STRUGGLES OF BLACK FOLKS.

Narrator: ELLISON FOUND HIMSELF AT ODDS.

WITH THE EMERGING BLACK VANGUARD.

RESPONDING TO THE BRAND OF ACTIVISM

FAVORED BY BLACK NATIONALISTS,

ELLISON SAID, IN EFFECT, THAT IT WAS HARD TO HOLD A PEN

WITH A CLENCHED FIST.

ALTHOUGH HE FAVORED INTEGRATION, HE NEVER MARCHED,

SAYING THAT ANYONE WHO HAD READ HIS WORK

KNEW HE WAS ENLISTED IN THE FREEDOM MOVEMENT.

DURING AFRICA'S STRUGGLE FOR LIBERATION,

ELLISON SAID THAT HE HAD

NO SPECIAL EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT TO THE PLACE.

HE FURTHER OFFENDED BY FAILING TO CRITICIZE

LBJ's WAR IN VIETNAM.

WHEN BLACKS ATTACKED

WILLIAM STYRON'S BOOK "THE CONFESSIONS OF NAT TURNER"

FOR LINKING THE FAMOUS SLAVE REVOLT

TO TURNER'S ALLEGED DESIRE FOR A WHITE WOMAN,

ELLISON REFUSED TO JOIN THE ATTACK ON A FELLOW WRITER.

WHILE OTHERS PROUDLY CALLED THEMSELVES

BLACK OR AFRO-AMERICAN,

ELLISON INSISTED ON REFERRING TO HIMSELF AS A NEGRO.

Baraka: WELL, I DON'T WANT TO MAKE IT SEEM LIKE.

HE WAS A CONSCIOUS AGENT

OF ANTI-BLACK FORCES, BUT OBJECTIVELY,

THAT POLITICAL LINE SERVES THE PEOPLE WHO OPPRESS US.

Narrator: WHILE BARAKA WAS A HERO AMONG THE COUNTERCULTURE,

ELLISON WAS DOGGED BY CHARGES OF ELITISM THROUGHOUT THE '60s.

West: I THINK RALPH ELLISON.

HAD A LEVEL OF RAGE THAT WAS VERY INTENSE,

BUT HE'D COME UP WITH WAYS OF MEDIATING IT

IN SUCH A WAY THAT THE RAGE WAS CONCEALED.

AND HE ALWAYS STRUCK ME

AS SO MANY OLDER BROTHERS THAT I'VE SEEN

WHO'S ALWAYS SO COOL AND SUAVE,

BUT IF SOMEHOW THEY COULD GET SOME THUNDERBIRD IN THEM

AND ALL THAT RAGE WOULD COME OUT,

THEY WOULD BE UNCONTROLLABLE.

SO YOU UNDERSTAND WHY HE HAD TO CONTAIN IT.

Narrator: ELLISON'S BUTTONED-DOWN,

ALOOF PUBLIC PERSONA, WITH HIS SILK TIES

AND TAILORED SUITS

AND MEMBERSHIPS IN EXCLUSIVE ORGANIZATIONS

LIKE NEW YORK'S CENTURY CLUB

AND THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS AND LETTERS,

ALL PLACED HIM FIRMLY IN THE CAMP OF THE ESTABLISHMENT.

Baraka: RALPH WAS A SNOB... YOU KNOW, HE WAS AN ELITIST.

I WAS ON A PANEL WITH HIM

AND HE GRUNTED IN MY DIRECTION A COUPLE OF TIMES.

I WENT OVER TO SEE HIM ONE NIGHT,

HE WOULDN'T LET ME IN, HE PUT A DOG TO THE DOOR.

BUT I GUESS I SHOULD HAVE CALLED OR DONE...

UH, I DID CALL, THAT'S RIGHT.

Murray: BUT I THINK HIS ATTITUDE WAS.

THAT HE WAS TALKING TO PEOPLE

WHO REALLY DIDN'T KNOW WHAT HE WAS TRYING TO DO.

HE DID NOT REGARD THEM AS HAVING THE INTELLECTUAL SERIOUSNESS

OR MATURITY

OR SOPHISTICATION THAT HE WAS STRIVING FOR.

Steele: ELLISON WAS A BIT INVISIBLE FOR ME IN THE '60s.

HE WAS A COMPLICATED, DEEP WRITER,

AND I HAD TRIED ON VARIOUS OCCASIONS

TO DIVE INTO "INVISIBLE MAN" AND I WOULD FADE AWAY.

I WOULD DRIFT BACK TO PEOPLE LIKE JAMES BALDWIN,

WHO WAS CLEARLY THE SORT OF

PREEMINENT BLACK WRITER OF THE '60s,

IDENTIFIED WITH THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT.

AND THEN THERE WERE OTHERS LIKE IMAMU BARAKA

AND LORRAINE HANSBERRY.

THEY WERE PROTEST WRITERS,

AND THEY WERE THRILLING AND EXCITING TO GET INTO,

WHEREAS ELLISON WAS THIS SORT OF DIFFICULT,

DEEP, REMOTE KIND OF FIGURE.

Narrator: EARLY IN THE SUMMER OF 1967,

THE ELLISONS LEFT NEW YORK

FOR THEIR FARMHOUSE IN PLAINFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS,

TO CONCENTRATE ON THE NEW NOVEL

WITHOUT DISTRACTION.

SOMETIMES HE'D READ PASSAGES OVER THE PHONE,

AND UP THERE,

HE READ PASSAGES THAT SUMMER

THAT WE WENT UP TO VISIT HIM.

I THINK WE WENT UP THERE AT LEAST TWICE THAT SUMMER.

IT WAS A NICE PLACE UP THERE.

IT WAS IN THE RE-WRITE STAGE,

AND, YOU KNOW, RUNNING A TUNE THROUGH SEVERAL TIMES

AND YOU GET YOUR CHANGE IN THE ORCHESTRATION.

IT WAS SO FRUITFUL THAT HE EXTENDED THE STAY.

Narrator: ELLISON FELT HIMSELF CLEARLY ON A ROLL,

BUT THE NIGHT BEFORE THEY WERE TO RETURN TO NEW YORK,

RALPH AND FANNY ARRIVED HOME

TO FIND THEIR FARMHOUSE ENGULFED IN FLAMES.

THE ENTIRE HOUSE WAS CONSUMED

AND ELLISON LOST OVER 350 PAGES OF THE NOVEL.

O'Meally: ELLISON, BECAUSE HE HAD WRITTEN.

IN SLIVERS AND SHARDS, AND BECAUSE HE WAS

A KIND OF A JAZZ MUSICIAN AT THE TYPEWRITER,

COULD NOT RECAPTURE THAT MOMENT OF INSPIRATION

QUITE SO EASILY.

AND SO HE WAS SET BACK

TO CONFRONT AGAIN THE PAGE THAT HE HAD WORKED OVER

SO MUCH THROUGH THE YEAR.

I SAW AN INTERVIEW, AND ELLISON BEGINS TO STUTTER.

HE HAD A SLIGHT SPEECH HESITATION.

YOU CAN FEEL HIM YANKING THE WORDS OUT

AND SAYING, "I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT

THAT WAS A MOST DEVASTATING MOMENT."

Narrator: ELLISON'S FRUSTRATIONS HAD ALREADY BEEN BUILDING.

A MONTH BEFORE THE FIRE, HE, MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.,

AND THE WRITER WILLIE MORRIS WERE AMONG THOSE INVITED

TO GRINNELL COLLEGE IN IOWA TO RECEIVE HONORARY DEGREES.

Man: ON THE LAST NIGHT THAT THEY WERE AT GRINNELL,

THERE WAS A BLOWOUT PARTY.

MY FATHER WAS THERE WITH RALPH ELLISON

AND IT WAS SORT OF AN ECLECTIC BLEND

OF STUDENTS AND INTELLECTUALS.

IT WAS VERY MUCH A '60s PARTY...

THERE WERE CANDLES, INCENSE,

PEOPLE WERE PLAYING MUSIC, SITTING ON THE FLOOR...

WHEN THERE WAS A LOUD ROAR OF A MOTORCYCLE

OUTSIDE THE HOUSE.

AND A MOMENT LATER,

A YOUNG MAN BURST THROUGH THE DOOR.

WE WERE BACK IN THE KITCHEN...

WILLIE MORRIS AND RALPH ELLISON

AND I.

THE MAN WHO CAME IN

TOLD ELLISON THAT HE HAD READ HIS BOOK "INVISIBLE MAN,"

THAT HE DIDN'T LIKE THE BOOK,

DIDN'T PARTICULARLY LIKE ANYTHING ABOUT IT,

BUT ESPECIALLY HE DISLIKED THE WAY THE BOOK ENDED.

NOW, THE BOOK ENDS WITH THE PROTAGONIST

GOING TO HIS CELLAR

AND THEN CUTTING ON ALL THESE LIGHTS

TO RE-AFFIRM THAT HE EXISTS.

David Morris: THEY INTERPRETED THAT TO BE.

THAT HE WAS NO LONGER FIGHTING THE OPPRESSION OF THE BOOK.

ELLISON, OF COURSE, CALMLY DEFENDED HIS ENDING.

Wingate: AND HE SAID THAT RALPH ELLISON.

SHOULD HAVE WRITTEN A BOOK

THAT HAD A MORE REVOLUTIONARY FLAVOR,

WITH THE PROTAGONIST THEN GOING OUT

TO CONFRONT HIS OPPRESSORS.

HE THEN POINTED HIS FINGER AT ELLISON AND SAID,

"YOU ARE NOTHING BUT AN UNCLE TOM,

A TOOL OF THE OPPRESSOR."

ELLISON PAUSED, STARED AT HIM,

AND, SHOCKINGLY AT THAT POINT,

HE BECAME EMOTIONALLY UNGLUED.

HE STARTED CRYING.

HE THEN LEANED HIS HEAD OVER TO ME,

SINCE HE WAS STANDING CLOSEST TO ME,

AND PUT HIS HEAD RIGHT ON MY SHOULDER

AND JUST CRIED.

AND HE KEPT SAYING,

"I'M NOT AN UNCLE TOM. I'M NOT AN UNCLE TOM.

WINGATE, YOU TELL HIM, I'M NOT AN UNCLE TOM."

Griffin: HE MUST HAVE FELT UNAPPRECIATED AND MISUNDERSTOOD,

GIVEN THAT HE HAD DEVOTED SO MUCH

TO A BODY OF WORK THAT SHOWED HIS VALUE FOR BLACK PEOPLE

IN ALL THEIR COMPLEXITY,

ALL THEIR ART FORMS,

AND THEIR PHILOSOPHICAL OUTLOOK ON THE WORLD.

Narrator: AFTER THE FIRE.

AND AMID THE CONTINUING CONFLICTS

WITH BLACK NATIONALISTS AND STUDENTS,

ELLISON FOUND SOLACE IN ACADEMIA.

IN 1969, HE ACCEPTED A PRESTIGIOUS TEACHING POSITION

AT NEW YORK UNIVERSITY,

IN A POLL OF 200 OF AMERICA'S LEADING AUTHORS AND CRITICS,

"INVISIBLE MAN" WAS SELECTED

AS THE MOST DISTINGUISHED NOVEL SINCE WORLD WAR II.

ELLISON'S COMPETITION

INCLUDED SAUL BELLOW,

VLADIMIR NABOKOV,

AND ERNEST HEMINGWAY.

IN 1973, HARVARD UNIVERSITY INVITED HIM TO SPEAK

AFTER AWARDING HIM AN HONORARY DOCTORATE.

O'Meally: AT THE END OF HIS TALK,

SOMEONE FROM THE AUDIENCE SAID,

"WHY CAN'T WE AS A PEOPLE

"RECOGNIZE THAT WE ARE AN AFRICAN PEOPLE

AND THAT WE WILL WIN?"

SCATTERED APPLAUSE,

AND ELLISON SAT BACK ON THE PANEL,

PUFFING ON HIS CIGAR AND LOOKING AT THE OTHER PANELISTS,

AND THEN SAID, "OH, IS THAT A QUESTION FOR ME?"

ELLISON LOOKED OUT AT THIS INTERRACIAL CROWD,

AND EYEBALL TO EYEBALL, HE SAID,

"ALL OF Y'ALL WHITE KIDS ARE PART COLORED

"AND ALL YOU BLACK KIDS ARE PART WHITE.

"UNTIL WE CAN CONFRONT THAT KIND OF COMPLEX VISION,

"THEN WE WILL BE LOST

IN DIVISION AND MEANINGLESS SQUABBLES."

AT THAT POINT, THERE WAS A PAUSE,

AND THEN THERE WAS APPLAUSE.

AND ALSO, I THINK, FOR HIM AND FOR THE AUDIENCE,

A KIND OF SIGH OF RELIEF

THAT WE'D WORKED OUR WAY THROUGH THE '60s.

AND THAT WE WERE ON TO A MORE GENEROUS

AND ENCOMPASSING VIEW OF WHAT WAS POSSIBLE.

HE SUFFERED, OF COURSE, FROM NOT BEING ABLE

TO PUBLISH THAT BOOK AND GET IT OUT OF THE WAY.

WHENEVER HIS FRIEND SAUL BELLOW PUBLISHED A NEW NOVEL,

IT BOTH DELIGHTED RALPH AND TROUBLED HIM.

Lewis: IN THE '80s, HE WAS WRITING EVERY DAY HE COULD.

WHEN YOU VISITED HIS APARTMENT, YOU'D JUST SEE

PILES OF MANUSCRIPT PAPER ALL OVER THE PLACE.

Narrator: ELLISON WROTE, AND WROTE, AND WROTE,

STRUGGLING TO GIVE COHERENT FORM TO HIS VAST, AMBITIOUS PROJECT.

THERE CAME A TIME, AFTER WE HAD HAD

A GREAT DEAL OF WARM FRIENDSHIP

AND GOOD FUN TOGETHER,

WHEN RALPH AND FANNY WITHDREW FROM US

AND FROM MANY OF THEIR OTHER FRIENDS.

Murray: IT FINALLY GOT TO THE POINT.

THAT YOU COULDN'T ASK HIM HOW IT WAS GOING.

OTHER PEOPLE COULDN'T DO IT,

AND I WAS CLOSER THAN ANYBODY,

AND I COULDN'T DO IT.

Narrator: ELLISON KEPT A LOW PUBLIC PROFILE,

EXCEPT FOR SPECIAL APPEARANCES, SUCH AS RECEIVING

THE NATIONAL MEDAL OF THE ARTS IN THE 1980s.

Anderson: SELDOM HAS A WRITER'S REPUTATION.

DEVELOPED SO IMPRESSIVELY ON THE BASIS OF ONE NOVEL.

IT MIGHT EVEN BE SAID OF ELLISON,

AS IT WAS SAID OF E.M. FORESTER

AFTER HE WROTE

"A PASSAGE TO INDIA,"

THAT HIS REPUTATION SEEMED TO GROW

WITH EVERY NOVEL HE DIDN'T WRITE.

Narrator: WHEN THE 30th ANNIVERSARY.

OF "INVISIBLE MAN" ARRIVED

WITH STILL NO SECOND NOVEL IN SIGHT,

IT PROVED TO BE A CELEBRATION OF MIXED BLESSINGS.

YOU PUBLISHED "INVISIBLE MAN" IN '52,

YOU HAD A BOOK OF ESSAYS IN '64, WHY NO SECOND NOVEL?

WELL, UH, A NUMBER OF REASONS.

I TAUGHT AT N.Y.U. FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS.

I GOT STARTED ON A NOVEL,

AND I LOST MY SUMMERHOUSE AND ALL OF ITS CONTENTS.

SHALL WE SAY THAT WAS A SHOCK?

SO THERE IS NO WRITER'S BLOCK?

NO WRITER'S BLOCK AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED.

IT'S STILL IN PRODUCTION?

Narrator: IN APRIL 1994, AT THE AGE OF 80,

RALPH ELLISON DIED OF PANCREATIC CANCER.

AFTER HIS DEATH,

A VOLUME OF ELLISON'S COLLECTED ESSAYS WAS PUBLISHED,

IN ADDITION TO A COLLECTION

OF HIS EARLY, LARGELY UNPUBLISHED STORIES.

BUT THE QUESTION OF THE SECOND NOVEL REMAINED.

Man: AFTER RALPH PASSED AWAY,

MRS. ELLISON ASKED ME IF I WOULD HELP HER DECIDE

WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE WORK THAT HE'D LEFT BEHIND.

WE ALL KNEW THERE WAS A NOVEL

TO BE CONTENDED WITH AND CONFRONTED.

THERE WAS AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF MATERIAL,

SEVERAL, COUPLE OF THOUSAND,

MORE THAN A COUPLE OF THOUSAND PAGES,

IF YOU INCLUDED ALL THE DIFFERENT VERSIONS

OF EVERY SINGLE EPISODE.

Narrator: JOHN CALLAHAN FOUND AN ARRAY OF FOLDERS,

NOTEBOOKS, AND COMPUTER DISKS

THAT REVEALED WHAT ELLISON HAD NOT...

THAT HIS ATTEMPT TO GET HIS MIND AROUND AMERICAN IDENTITY

THROUGH THE LENS OF RACE IN A SINGLE NOVEL

WAS UNSUCCESSFUL.

I THOUGHT, ALL RIGHT,

I'M GOING TO...

I WANT TO LAY IT OUT

AND ORGANIZE IT AS HE WROTE IT.

AND IT BECAME VERY CLEAR THAT

YOU DIDN'T HAVE A FINISHED SAGA.

BUT IN BETWEEN HE HAD

WHAT IS "JUNETEENTH,"

THE STORY OF HICKMAN AND BLISS.

YOU HAVE AN ALL-BUT-COMPLETE

NOVEL WITHIN THE SAGA.

Rafferty: IT'S CLEAR FROM "JUNETEENTH,".

AS WE HAVE IT, EVEN IN ITS FRAGMENTARY FORM,

THAT THE NOVEL WAS TO BE A MONUMENTAL ACT

OF ARTISTIC DARING.

I MEAN, A GENUINE PURSUIT

OF THAT GREAT WHITE WHALE OF THE GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL.

IT'S A MASSIVE UNDERTAKING THAT ONLY A FOOL WOULD ATTEMPT,

BUT AMERICA FORTUNATELY

HAS ALWAYS BEEN RICH IN THAT SORT OF FOOL.

O'Meally: TONI MORRISON SPOKE AT BARNES & NOBLE.

AT THE TIME OF "JUNETEENTH" PUBLICATION,

READ PART OF THAT NOVEL.

Morrison: "WELL, SIR, BLISS," HICKMAN SAID,

"HERE COMES THIS WHITE WOMAN.

"PUSHIN' OVER EVERYBODY.

"AND LOPIN' UP TO THE BOX,

"AND IT'S LIKE HELL HAD ERUPTED IN THE SIDESHOW.

"NEXT THING I KNOW, SHE'S GOT YOU BY THE HEAD,

"AND SISTER SUSIE TRUMBULL'S GOT ONE LEG.

"AND ANOTHER SISTER'S GOT THE OTHER,

"AND OTHERS ARE SNATCHIN' YOU BY THE ARMS.

"TALKIN' 'BOUT KING SOLOMON,

"HE DIDN'T HAVE BUT TWO WOMEN TO DEAL WITH.

I HAD SEVEN."

O'Meally: SHE READ A PASSAGE.

ABOUT BLACK WOMEN WHO WORK WITH WHITE CHILDREN

AND WHO EVENTUALLY

ARE TURNED AWAY FROM BY THESE WHITE CHILDREN.

"Morrison: " I GUESS MOST OF THESE DEACONESSES.

"HAD BEEN NURSIN' WHITE FOLKS' CHILDREN.

"FROM THE TIME THEY COULD FIRST TAKE A JOB.

"AND EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM.

"HAD HELPED RAISE SOMEBODY'S BABY AND LOVED IT.

"YES, AND HAD FOUGHT BATTLES WITH THE WHITE WOMEN.

"EVERY STEP OF THE WAY.

"THEY'VE GOT TO BE WEANED, OUR WOMEN,

"I MEAN THE NURSEMAIDS.

"AND YET IT JUST SEEMS TO MAKE THEIR LOVE.

ALL THE DEEPER AND THE TENDERER."

AND SHE MADE IT WHAT ELLISON HAD MADE IT,

THIS COSMIC TURNING AWAY FROM YOUR OWN MATERNAL EXAMPLE,

YOUR OWN BETRAYAL OF A PEOPLE.

"THEN BEGINS THE SEASON.

"OF HATE AND SHAME-FACEDNESS.

"THEY PUT ON A MASK, BOY,

"AND LIFE'S TURNED PLUMB UPSIDE DOWN.

"CUZ WHAT CAN BE RIGHT IF THE FIRST,

"THE BABY LOVE, WAS WRONG, BLISS?

"SPEAK TO ME, BLISS!

"YOU TOOK THEIR WAY, SO SPEAK TO ME,

AND LET ME SEE BY THE LIGHT OF THEIR TRUTH!"

O'Meally: AND THAT LIFTING.

OF AN INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCE TO THIS COSMIC BETRAYAL,

WITH ECHOES OF THE BIBLE, ECHOES OF SHAKESPEARE

SOUNDING THROUGH WHAT WAS THIS BEAUTIFUL WOMAN'S VOICE,

I THINK MADE, FOR THAT DAY,

THAT NOVEL THE GREATEST THING THAT HAD EVER BEEN WRITTEN.

"Morrison: " OH, SURE, BLISS, YOU CAN CUT THAT CORD.

"AND ZOOM OFF LIKE A BALLOON AND RISE HIGH,

"BUT THE CORD DON'T SHRIVEL AND DIE.

"LIKE A NAVEL CORD BENEATH THE FIRST PARTY DRESS.

"OR THE FIRST LONG SUIT OF CLOTHES.

"IT SNAPS, WITH THE HEART'S DENIAL,

"BACK INTO THE SKULL.

"AND KILLS AND KILLS AGAIN, UNKILLABLE CONTINUITY.

"OH, BLISS, BLISS!

"BOY, I GET CARRIED AWAY WITH WORDS, FORGIVE ME.

"MAYBE A BLACK MAN, EVEN ONE AS OLD AS ME,".

"JUST CAN'T UNDERSTAND THE MYSTERY."

"OF A WHITE MAN'S PAIN."

BUT ONE THING I DO KNOW...

"GOD, BLISS BOY, IS LOVE."

THANK YOU.

[ APPLAUSE ]

Rafferty: "JUNETEENTH" MAY NOT BE.

THE GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL,

BUT IT IS PROOF THAT ELLISON HAD LOOKED HARD AT AMERICA,

THAT HE'D TRIED TO SEE IT WHOLE,

AND THAT HE'D RECOGNIZED IT

FOR WHAT IT IS AND WHAT IT ALWAYS HAS BEEN.

LIKE "JUNETEENTH," IT'S A WORK FOREVER IN PROGRESS.

Ellison: I COULD NOT SEE THE FUTURE,

AND THEN IT DID NOT MATTER.

I WAS IN THE CAVE, LIVING IN NOW,

SO THAT I COULD LIVE LATER IN TO COME.

I WATCHED THE FIRE BURN ON,

AND I KNEW ONE THING FOR CERTAIN...

THAT I WAS THERE AND I HAD BEEN DEDICATED.

I'D SEEN THE EAGLE.

AND THOUGH I COULD NOT LOOK BACK FOR WISDOM,

THERE WAS NO TURNING AWAY FROM MY CHOSEN ROAD.

[ Recording ] I COULD NOT SEE THE FUTURE,

AND THEN IT DID NOT MATTER.

I WAS IN THE CAVE, LIVING IN NOW,

SO THAT I COULD LIVE LATER IN TO COME.

I WATCHED THE FIRE BURN ON.

AND I KNEW ONE THING FOR CERTAIN...

THAT I WAS THERE AND I HAD BEEN DEDICATED.

I'D SEEN THE EAGLE.

AND THOUGH I COULD NOT LOOK BACK FOR WISDOM,

THERE WAS NO TURNING AWAY FROM MY CHOSEN ROAD.

♪ HOW WOULD IT END? ♪

♪ AIN'T GOT A FRIEND ♪

♪ MY ONLY SIN ♪

♪ IS IN MY SKIN ♪

♪ WHAT DID I DO ♪

♪ TO BE SO BLACK AND BLUE? ♪♪