Black America and the overthrow of the European colonial order
Black America and the overthrow of the European colonial order
The tragic voice of Richard Wright
The chapter explores how Richard Wright, the great American author and black radical, in his concern with the dynamics of European decolonisation, envisaged the effects of the end of British rule overseas. This brings to light some of the connections between British decolonisation and US Civil Rights. In order to do this I explain the centrality of black Paris to the making of Wright, and the influence of a generation of Caribbean intellectuals on his life, literature and politics. The chapter closes with a discussion of Wright’s reading of Nkrumah’s Gold Coast Revolution. This story highlights the transnational nature of decolonisation, as well as its intersections with Cold War politics.
Keywords: Cold War, Decolonisation, Richard Wright, Caribbean intellectuals, Paris, Civil Rights, Transnationalism, Literature
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