Book contents
- African American Literature in Transition, 1960–1970
- African American Literature In Transition
- African American Literature in Transition, 1960–1970
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Chronology
- Introduction
- I Poetry and Music
- Chapter 1 The Society of Umbra and the Coming of the Black Aesthetic
- Chapter 2 Robert Hayden, the Black Arts Movement, and the Politics of Aesthetic Distance
- Chapter 3 Breathing
- Chapter 4 Reconsidering “the Revolution in Music”
- II Culture and Politics
- III Beyond the Canon
- Index
- References
Chapter 3 - Breathing
Sonia Sanchez’s Call to Coalition Building
from I - Poetry and Music
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 November 2022
- African American Literature in Transition, 1960–1970
- African American Literature In Transition
- African American Literature in Transition, 1960–1970
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Chronology
- Introduction
- I Poetry and Music
- Chapter 1 The Society of Umbra and the Coming of the Black Aesthetic
- Chapter 2 Robert Hayden, the Black Arts Movement, and the Politics of Aesthetic Distance
- Chapter 3 Breathing
- Chapter 4 Reconsidering “the Revolution in Music”
- II Culture and Politics
- III Beyond the Canon
- Index
- References
Summary
Against the backdrop of 2020’s global pandemic, we witnessed the brutal murder of George Floyd. His words “I can’t breathe” hang heavy in the air, haunting our contemporary moment, as the white police officer squeezes his breath out of him. It is with this urgency in mind that this chapter turns to Sonia Sanchez’s methodology of breath and breathing. The breath and breathing practice, as Sanchez explains, helps us to “be much more healthy and ... maintain this climate the way it needs to be maintained.” This essay aims to not only garner a greater understanding of the resonances among people of color across time and space but also moves toward coalition-building as a methodology for today’s time of crisis.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- African American Literature in Transition, 1960–1970Black Art, Politics, and Aesthetics, pp. 74 - 89Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022