Richard Wright Symposium (Self Indulgence Alert x2)

I am currently in Dallas where this weekend I am participating in the Dallas African American Museum's wonderful Centennial Celebration of Richard Wright as an invited participant in tomorrow's symposium. My talk is titled "Richard Wright and Black Resistance to White Supremacy: From Bigger Thomas to Henry Thomas," which is drawn (and expanded upon) from Freedom's Main Line. (And yes, such self-serving, self indulgence will become standard in the weeks and months to come.) If you are anywhere near Dallas, please do come by. It should be a wonderful symposium.

Richard Wright: Self Indulgence Edition

The African American Museum in Dallas will be hosting a symposium and celebration of the life and work of Richard Wright on November 7 & 8. There will be two panels at the museum on November 8 and I will be one of the guest speakers. I am not a Wright scholar, but the preface to Freedom's Main Line uses Wright's Native Son as a springboard to discuss the Civil Rights Movement. I expanded that work for my presentation in order to reflect upon Wright's relationship with civil rights more generally.

If you live in or will be anywhere near Dallas on November 8, I hope you will consider attending. The other speakers, in any case, will be legitimate Richard Wright experts.

Richard Wright

At the Times Literary Supplement James Campbell has a fantastic review essay on Richard Wright. Wright's Native Son and one of his essays plays a vital role in the opening pages of Freedom's Main Line.