“To Be In A Rage, Almost All The Time”: Expressing Anger to Fight Racial Oppression

Abstract

This paper aims to analyse Nina Simone's "Mississippi Goddam" and James Baldwin's "Notes of a Native Son" in order to examine the ways in which anger is expressed through music and literature, respectively, during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. By examining Simone's and Baldwin's expressions of anger, I will try to explore its political and personal uses and to throw light upon the following questions: Is the expression of anger necessary and effective in the context of the Civil Rights Movement to fight racial oppression by changing or reforming the established socio-political system of the US? Is it possible to confront one's anger in a productive and effective way in this context? Is it necessary that the expression of anger takes the shape of violence for a political protest to be effective, or is it possible to achieve the same objective through nonviolent means?

Aquest treball pretén analitzar "Mississippi Goddam" de Nina Simone i "Notes of a Native Son" de James Baldwin per investigar com s’expressa la ira mitjançant la música i la literatura, respectivament, durant el moviment afroamericà pels drets civils als anys seixanta. Examinar com Simone i Baldwin expressen aquesta ira permetrà tractar-ne els usos polítics i personals, així com aprofundir en les següents qüestions: Expressar ira és, en el context del moviment afroamericà pels drets civils, necessari i efectiu per combatre l’opressió racial volent fer canvis o reformes en el sistema sociopolític establert dels EUA? És possible confrontar la ira d’un mateix de manera productiva i efectiva en aquest context? És necessari que la ira s’expressi en forma de violència perquè una protesta política sigui efectiva, o és possible assolir el mateix objectiu mitjançant la no-violència?