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Congress of Black Writers and Artists

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Aimé Césaire, Jacques Alexis and Richard Wright at La Sorbonne in September 1956.

The Congress of Black Writers and Artists (French: Congrès des écrivains et artistes noirs; originally called the Congress of Negro Writers and Artists) was a meeting of leading black intellectuals for the purpose of addressing the issues of colonialism, slavery, and Négritude. The First Congress of Black Writers and Artists was organized by the Pan-African quarterly cultural, political, and literary review Présence Africaine.[1] It was held in Paris, France, in September 1956.[2] Ahmed Sékou Touré spoke at the Second Congress of Black Writers and Artists, which was held in Rome, Italy, in 1959.[3] One of the most influential Congress was held in Montreal, Canada, at McGill University, October 11–14, 1968; it was organized primarily by the Caribbean Conference Committee[4] and was described as the "largest Black Power conference ever held outside the United States"[5]

"Princes and Powers" by James Baldwin

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The account of the 1956 congress in the essay "Princes and Powers", by African-American writer James Baldwin, has been credited with bringing the congress to the attention of the English-speaking world. Reports of the congress were published in many newspapers around Paris, giving the wider French audience an idea of the issues being discussed.[6] The essay was published in the literary journal Preuves, which – unknown to Baldwin – was a front for the CIA.[7] Regardless of the political ties, this essay spread the news of the Black Congress to English-speakers around the world.

Congress of Black Writers and Artists in Montreal

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In 1968, from October 11 to October 14, the Congress of Black Writers and Artists was held at McGill University in memory of figures such as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. [8] The congress was organized primarily by a young crowd consisting mostly of Caribbean and Black Canadian students while being sponsored by McGill's West Indian Student Association.[9] The congress brought together various significant Black intellectuals such as Michael X, Rocky Jones, C. L. R. James, Walter Rodney, James Forman and most notably, Stokely Carmichael.[10] The goal of this event was to discuss the attainment of Black independence through vocalizations opposing issues including Racism, Capitalism, Colonization, and the practice of discrimination.[11]

Ideas were presented at the conference in four separate sections: "The Origin and Consequences of the Black-White Confrontation," The Germs of the Modern Black Awareness", "The Re-Evaluation of the Past" and "Perspectives for the Future".[12] It was described by the McGill Daily as the "largest Black Power conference ever held outside the United States.[13] This event found itself to be a source of mass controversy as it allowed for the attendance of White individuals, but was immediately followed by an assembly exclusive to Black individuals.[14]

References

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  1. ^ Carole Boyce Davies (2008). Encyclopedia of the African Diaspora: Origins, Experiences, and Culture. Vol. 1. ABC-CLIO. p. 767. ISBN 978-1-85109-700-5.
  2. ^ Richard H. King (2004). Race, Culture, and the Intellectuals, 1940-1970. Woodrow Wilson Center Press. p. 201. ISBN 0-8018-8066-1.
  3. ^ Robert William July (1987). An African Voice: The Role of the Humanities in African Independence. Duke University Press. p. 24. ISBN 0-8223-0769-3.
  4. ^ Mills, Sean (1979). The Empire Within: Postcolonial Thought and Political Activism in Sixties Montreal. Quebec: McGill - Queen's University Press. p. 101. ISBN 978-0-7735-3695-1.
  5. ^ "Black Power is Coming". McGill Daily. 27 September 1968.
  6. ^ James Baldwin (1985). Princes and Powers. The Price of the Ticket. p. 41-63. ISBN 0-312-64306-3
  7. ^ Winks, Christopher (2013). "Into the Heart of the Great Wilderness: Understanding Baldwin's Quarrel with "Négritude"". African American Review. 46 (4): 605–614. doi:10.1353/afa.2013.0096. ISSN 1062-4783. JSTOR 24589857. S2CID 51749241.
  8. ^ Forsythe, Dennis (1971). Let the Niggers burn! The Sir George Williams University affair and its Caribbean aftermath. Montreal: Black Rose Books - Our Generation Press. p. 60.
  9. ^ Hudson, Peter James (November 1, 2020). "Montreal 1968 and the Last Colonial Generation". Small Axe: A Journal of Criticism. 24 (3): 195–205. doi:10.1215/07990537-8749878.
  10. ^ Mills, Sean (2022). Unsettling the Great White North. Toronto; Buffalo; London: University of Toronto Press. pp. 222–254. ISBN 9781487529192.
  11. ^ Forsythe, Dennis (1971). Let the Niggers burn! The Sir George Williams University affair and its Caribbean aftermath. Montreal: Black Rose Books - Our Generation Press. p. 61.
  12. ^ Forsythe, Dennis (1971). Let the Niggers burn! The Sir George Williams University affair and its Caribbean aftermath. Montreal: Black Rose Books - Our Generation Press. p. 60.
  13. ^ Aleong, Stanley (September 27, 1968). "Black Power is Coming". McGill Daily.
  14. ^ Chodos, Robert; Douglas, Rosie; Sherman, Rita (October 21, 1968). "No Time for Coalitions". McGill Daily.
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