I will give you a quick pop quiz. We will bee easy as done discussing it but we will be taking it. You will also have the pop quiz for tbone and weasel. Lets start with August Wilson. August wilson was born frederick april 27, 1945. His mothers name was daisy wilson. She was a cleaning lady. Fredericks name was august kittle. Race is always one of the things we are discussing as we look at these plays. His father, Frederick August baker, hes a german is white or european. His mother is a black woman named daisy. She is a cleaning lady. We are talking about a mixed relationship. His mixed identity is a part of what he is working on when he is writing. How he is negotiating africanamerican existence is a part of who and what he is as he is working. It is part of the mission he is undertaking. He is the fourth of the six children. District in the hill of pittsburgh, pennsylvania. Toot of what wilson is going talk about deals with the great migration. I mentioned that in this class before. The great migration is what happened after reconstruction in the south. The social status of black people moved from slavery to freed to the reconstruction era to sharecropping. I dont new name get is accurate for me to say slavery but that is essentially what it becomes. It is just a system where the black people used be the slaves on the plantation, they are in a position where they are renting what used to be the slave cabins. They are renting clothes. They are renting the tools to go work for the same forms on which they were enslaved. They are never able to actually pay for the rental fees for the things they are using. That is one of the motivating factors that caused a number of blacks to move northward at the turn of the century and pursue a better life in the north. I want you to think for a couple minutes about what that does or what that means for black families in the south. More often than not it was the north orould gor the eldest son. The purpose was to make money they could send home. That is always the goal. You will find a number of people in pittsburgh, new york, chicago who have come north looking to make a fortune so they can either make enough money so their family can come to the north or so they can send money home so their people could have a way of living. Understand that one of the things wilson is talking about, one of the things that informs it is the great migration. Pittsburgh, because these rural areas are now dealing with , thereux of black people that getl tensions built afterwards. Neighborhoodsite in which black presences hadnt been before. Port hadnt been a growing black populations that need things to live. Food, shelter. In south caret pittsburgh then it is in South Carolina or georgia. They are like how do we live . How do we feed ourselves . These become the primary concerns. Understand that all of those things are what are informing census when we finally get to it. At the age of 15 he dropped out of high school and joined the 2 four three years. I cant give you the real percentages, i would be making stuff up and lying to you. I believe there is a higher percentage of black people in our current military then other races. What are some of the motivating factors for joining the military . What does it give you . Dont a lot of Army Recruiters go to poor black neighborhoods to recruit and push the education opportunity and using that . They wouldnt do it with rich white kids. The point was she believes recruiting agencies go to poor black neighborhoods and recruit black people in greater numbers than they do in rich white neighborhoods. That is a fact of today. May have been a fact in the 1960s. It is a good job. It provides money. It provides income, steady income. Ou are risking your life that is part of this. Institutionshe that take black men away from their families. Outside of prison and what will become the insane incarceration rate based around things that happened in the 80s we have to look at the systems that moved black men away from their families. The Armed Services were one of them. It was not in a cruel way. They were offered this opportunity. They said here is an opportunity for you to get three meals a day, place to sleep, training, education. You can send a check home to your family. That is one of the opportunities for employment and advancement. Wilson would have been about 18 years old. Hes in the army for three years. After he leaves the army in the toe 1960s, he comes back the pittsburgh area and joins a group of artists who form the center avenue poets. The blackter cofound horizon theater. A black nationalist Theater Company in pittsburgh, pennsylvania. He stays in pittsburgh until 1974 or 1975. He moves westward. Spends a couple years in chicago. To minnesota. 78 hes going to concentrate on playwriting in minnesota. He joins a theater and the artistic director is lou bellamy. It is a blackowned, black oriented, black centered Theater Company in minnesota. Town inhe name of the minnesota flying out of my head . Is trying to say fargo, minnesota. Minneapolis, that would be the name of the giant town that i cannot think of. The theater in minneapolis, minnesota. He is working with lou bellamy. August wilson gets to a point in his life where what he is writing about is the lives of black people. I want you guys to think for a couple of minutes about why that has happened. Why is it significant and in what way is it significant that he is writing about the lives of black people . We talked in this class about the shift between white artists writing black voices. What does it mean . What does their voice sound like . Is it authentic . What is the characters purpose . Black characters were appearing in white movies. I will jump just a bit to talk about the Popular Culture that is influencing the way August Wilson is thinking about plays and writing and the presentation of black people. I want to talk for a second thet Popular Culture of 1980s. In the 1980s, what are the things informing im talking about the 1980s because August Wilson will ultimately talk about we will talk about the census. Lets talk about the way he was looking at the world. Of 1986, whatng are the popular images influencing what he is seeing . E. T. , returnclude of the jedi, raiders of the lost ark, Beverly Hills cop, pretty in pink, some kind of wonderful. Most of these movies came out before you all were born. Are you at all familiar with these series of movies . Have you heard of them before . If you think about things like the breakfast club, pretty in pink, i think his name is john hughes. John hughes is making a whole genre. We talk about what ideology means. The unspoken and sometimes less clear structures that influence the way people think about america. The way women should behave, the way men should behave. What it means to be straight, gay, a whole lot of things. No one says it outright. It is unspoken underlying structures that inform the way we think about race and identity , class, and gender. Like prettymovies in pink and some kind of wonderful, there is the movie with john cusack holding up the boombox. I cant remember what it is. As thee all of these biggest movies coming out in the 80s. The primary concern is technically the beginnings of rom com. Women, white men falling in love, those are what a lot of those stories are about. Overcoming rejection, obstacles, most of our movies in the 80s are dealing with white folks falling in love. Think for a couple seconds about how we, people of color, appear in those films. We are more often than not marginal. We are someone else in that story. Finally make it to August Wilson, the things motivating August Wilson are his desire to move black people from the margins to the center. Us . What is true about what matters to us . What is happening in our lives . , whate are on the margins not part ofay is the main story. Whereomes this caricature we are saying the funny lines. Prior to this we have George Jefferson who began as a marginal character. Then we have good times. Black people showing up in comedy. Black peoples lives in Popular Culture for a long time was something you laughed at. Not left with, laughed at. We were the joke, we were the comedy. Think about eddie murphy. I dont know if any of you looked at or read his early comedy, think about think about what that is rooted on. It is a different experience than black people appearing in largely white structures. I want you guys to consider how that works. ,n television, you have roseann married with children, vcrs become a thing. Time, musicoint in Television Began with music. Ineo killed the radio star 1986. I was a high school student. Very first song that ever played on mtv was a video killed the radio star. I cant tell you who did that song but i know that was the song. Michael jacksons thriller. Think about Michael Jackson in the 1980s. This is how black people are represented in art. Peoplemes a thought that are doing on purpose. People are really considering lack artists, playwrights, im not saying they are embracing the black identity, they are becoming critical. They are analyzing it in a way that is a response to the films of the 1970s. Rightsonse to the Civil Movement of the 1960s. Athave to look at things each other. We again look at emmett tills mother who realize the value of performance by keeping his casket open. That was an act of performance. She was like this wont happen behind closed doors anymore. Think about private voice versus public voice. What does it mean when we are forced to keep something in private as opposed to when we make it public. Developments in technology between the 1950s and 1980s. The advancements we make in telephone, in recording technologies. They can about the advancements we have made in film and television itself. Sense,y that should make there are videos. If somebody needs you in the Grocery Store parking lot and they start acting funny, whats the first thing that happens . Is the first thing that happens if you are in a public space and you think things will go bad . That is not a rhetorical question. Somebody pulls out a phone and starts recording. We have all of these instances right now of things that used to happen without any evidence. Now there is evidence. Evidence not only from local street cameras but every individual. Everybody in this room has their own own. A way of documenting their existence and that these crazy things happen to us. That is what africanamerican existence becomes for a while. We say to the public, you are treating us in this way. Often times we will go it cannot be that bad. You are exaggerating. Now we get to the point where our phone comes out and we are not exaggerating, this is what is happening. What happens subsequently is this weird justification. I have to understand the context. That was taken out of context. Maybe it wasnt. When we get back to August Wilson in the 1980s, the things informing his artistic vision and his life as a writer include all of those popculture references. He is seeing a large what is informing his television and movies, that is a white peoples world. Who is writing about us . When they write about us, what are they saying . That is what is driving him as a playwright. Briefly, a lotly of this is stuff that i was alive for. There is a different relationship to this. As i was putting it up here, you guys will look at a lot of the stuff im about to say as stuff that existed only in a history book. Here in high school from on. Everything i am talking about are things i have a memory of having happen. Mount saint helens explodes, i cannot begin to tell you what the images of the ash pouring all over those people look like. It was on my television for days. Images of people covered in ash. It is what informed us. 10, president jimmy carter signed legislation establishing the boston africanamerican National Historic site. It is the Oldest Black Church in america. That was on the news. January 20, 1981, the inauguration of ronald reagan. This matters. Profet an economics ssor. Reaganomics is something you can look up and see how it affected the world. Well talk about this later, it talks about the tax cut. Thatnt from a 70 tax rate get dropped to 37 or 35 . Over the course of five years, 750ose as a country, billion dollars. On this bill that was signed by ronald reagan. 1981, someone tried to kill ronald reagan. Everybody knew about it. It showed up on the news for days. The first launch from the Space Shuttle in cape canaveral. Cutsry 29, reagans tax cost america 750 billion over the next five years. 1981, Sandra Day Oconnor becomes the first female justice of the supreme court. These are big stories we couldnt not see. Or wereories impacted in the awareness of August Wilson. These are the things he is thinking about. Are thinking about what the themes are in fences, and as we move from the deeply personal to the public, i want you to think about the way the public is becoming aware. S growingc awareness of the world, nation, national identity. 19 82, the senate businga bill eliminating. Busing stops in 1982. Was racism fixed in 1982 . No, i dont think it was. Was initially built as a blacks andgrate whites. It had to do with equality. What do you know of that from history . We talked about this a couple classes ago. Young woman who had to go to school in mississippi and the 5000 National Guard people who went to mississippi so she could go to school. 1954, 1955. All of these things are related to each other. To gopeople being allowed to largely white institutions. We in this room have to think specifically about what this means for us. Looking at the racial demographics of tulane, we have to consider what that means to us. We are a part of this history. September 20, 1984, the cosby show premieres. The first times we have the representation of a married to actor black female lawyer. They have five kids who are all successful and professional. Way are living life in a that is not abject p overty, not a joke, not constant pain. The things that concern the cosby family, we have to consider their primary concerns. Vanessa is looking for a boyfriend. T became layered what black people are was something new because of the cosby show. Raised 70geller Million Dollars for relief in ethiopia. Does this with a giant televised concert. 1986, for the first time martin s holiday is recognized for the first time. 1986, the challenger Space Shuttle explodes killing seven astronauts. It is one of those things i am 50 years all now. I can remember where i was when this happened. I was in high school. This was my senior year of high school. How old were you guys . Whatave a memory of happened to the world on september 11, 2001 . Do you guys are member that . You have images of the towers falling . Things thatveral have happened in our country and in the world that we as people have images fed to us on television. One of those for me was the explosion of the challenger Space Shuttle. Momentsed it launch and later, we watched it explode. We watched seven astronauts disintegrate. We watched it as a nation. 2001, we watched airplanes hit the twin towers in new york. We watched in real time the towers fall on fire. We watched it happen. I find it interesting that you guys were too young to have a memory of where you were. May 25, 19 86, i included this one, hands across america. Referencehould have a as of last week. What is your reference for hands across america . Peeles us. Things that have global impact, that is one of them. This is the world that is in forming August Wilson as he is writing the play fences. One more thing to talk about then we will discuss fences. The pittsburgh cycle is a series of 10 plays that August Wilson undertook to move black identity, concerns, lives, from the margins to the center. He did it on purpose. His goal, it wasnt that he was he may or may not have held animosity for White America. White people are not the central concern of his plays. Identity,s, black black existence. Ofgets moved to the center his plays and playwriting. The pittsburgh cycle begins in it is different. Jitney. Ered with the first play he wrote was called jitney. Second plate he wrote was it was set in 1927 but premiered in 1984. It is an amazing play. It deals with five black and one black female singer. Do you guys know who big mama thorton is . You should look up big mama thorton. If you are hanging out listening, you might want to listen to big mama thorton. And go go back ofrainey is a different type singer. Nina simone is crossing over into mainstream. Rainey, we have a contemporary reference as well. Have you ever seen miss doreen play in the quarter . You need to go at some point in time and listen to miss doreen. She plays clarinet. You will begin to have an understanding of who ma rainey was. She is amazing. We have joe turners come and gone. This premiered in 1984 and was set in 1911. 1957t the census set in but premiered in 1987. Inwill talk about fences, just a second. He also wrote several other plays. Park. Clybourne lets talk about fences. August wilson is influenced ending conversation with more artists than just playwrights. All of these things inform him. He stops concerning himself with white representation. He specifically begins to seek out black representation. One of the artists that he specifically looks to let me show you. I am proudeak it and of that. [laughter] question, does it have to deal with sexuality . Prof. Proctor yes, it does have to deal with sexuality. For a while, one of the other characters in the play is an opportunist. A young woman who is an opportunist. Who has built a relationship with ma. The play intimates that it is of a sexual nature. Yes, dealing with that is part of it. Clip] when i first began to do , i had no idea i would develop such simple processes with my work. These are natural things that i saw. [indiscernible] these are the elements. Prof. Proctor bring the africanamerican experience or bring the universal to the africanamerican experience. Abouts significant bringing the universal to the africanamerican experience . What is significant to you about an attempt to bring the universal to the africanamerican experience . Makes it something everyone can understand. Makes it easy for you to relate to it. Does not matter if you are black, white, whatever. Prof. Proctor the idea of empathy, how does it impact what you are saying . Empathy, feel more they will help out with more of the issues going on in the community. Making the black experience understandable. We all have children. I think about trayvon martin. Purposeilsons artistic i find myself thinking about trayvon martin. Why theo know newspaper, the media depicted him as such a monster deserving of such treatment. All i saw was a 17yearold boy who had been followed home. Empathy, that is what ideology has to do with. If we can construct the black experience as something that is hostile, aggressive, something the treatmentt, of black people becomes justified by our criminal justice systems. We can perform the narratives in such a way that it becomes universal, maybe there can be empathy. The restn we can get of america to go this demonizing happening,s that is lets step away from that. That is a mother and a son. Troy inlook at rose and fences. We are hearing the story of a man and woman. They dont really concern themselves with the white world around them. They are concerned with their lives. Exposing or of bywing the deeply personal showing the specific and personal. It is an attempt to make that story universal. Husband and wife. It is not about this black husband. That is my question for you guys. Is the story specifically about this black man and black woman . Or, is it about men and women . Question . Erstand my [indiscernible] there are symbols of africanamerican men and women. It probably showed more of a proper life. How africanamerican husband and wife interact with each other. Prof. Proctor would you say fences humanizes the black experience . In a direct way i say it do. Of the mainlogue character, his dialogue towards his children and wife. Prof. Proctor let me ask you guys this, yes maam . Think it is about a shared experience of oppression. Something black men and women both go through as well as what is intertwined with the relationship between black men and women inside the home. The way they have their own forms of depression. Some of the things she was going through with her husband. The way he was treating her. It was very misogynistic. Go get this for me, woman. There was a lot of that. Prof. Proctor i am not contesting you. Thank you for a great comment. This is my question. We can describe the relationship between troy and rose as oppressive, right . Ascan describe it misogynistic. Take a couple seconds and give me an example from the play of what you think or what you would describe as oppressive or misogynistic. Im asking everybody to support that position. What were some specific examples from the play that you might describe as misogynistic or abusive . He just expected rose to wait on him and get him whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. As sheroctor rose doing was told, yes. Absolutely. You are 100 correct. I think that is a reflection of the state of women in the domestic sphere. This play wasnt set in 1957. We have to think about things like i love lucy, leave it to beaver, good times, and the idea of the american dream. What was a womans role in a household in 1957 . What was a womans role even me saying that isnt necessarily true. When i say there were broader things, when a huge number of men left the country to go fight in world war ii and came back, women went and worked. When all the men left the country to fight in the war, women went to work. This image that we have of the white woman with the rag on her symbol. At was a women went to factories and then they came home. What being female meant and the domestic sphere went is being question. Women had a different lived experience because of world war ii. Is other thing that happened the mccarthy era when you could be in trouble for being called a communist was the worst thing ever. Thing. S a that was a boogie man used to scare a lot of americans into proper behavior. Place. Ad their there was an idea in American Culture that women had their place. There are things that we would look at and call utterly crazy. Magazines specifically for white women. About having your mans drink ready when he came home from work. And having a full face of makeup on. These things were in magazines. I have seen them. Primarily this was a rhetoric being taught to white women. Were trying to figure out how we fit into the american society. Black womens hair is a part of that story. Black womens jobs are a part of that story. Caring for white peoples kids. How black american identity fits into the fabric of american society. It is all a part of the story. In my grandmother and the way , she putes herself rollers in her hair every night. I have never seen her miss a night. I bet that is so uncomfortable. Also, we cannot have guests if the house is messy. You have to uphold this image that you are well kept. Prof. Proctor it is the public versus private. I dont remember my grandmother going to bed without rollers in her hair, i used to think how do you sleep on that . It is not comfortable at all. The idea of presentation what would you say ruths primary concern is in the play . Anybody i have not heard from. Maintaining the family. The most important thing to ruth in this play is maintaining the family. I think also maintaining the image that they are a happy family, kind of. Prof. Proctor are they a happy family . I would say it got to the point where they are. About, sheby came still tried to have the family presence. Wouldnt say that is a complete family. Prof. Proctor you said neglected her duties as a wife. What duties . I guess being there for her husband in whatever capacity she was before. Doing things that she would normally do. Youre not on your own but it is not the same. Prof. Proctor im not sleeping with you anymore. She still would be a mother to the child and care for the children. They still maintain the family. Did she respond . Did she say you have shown me such disrespect that i will no longer share my body with you . That is the only thing i have. Could she have left him . Really . Im just curious. Where would she go . I dont think she had that much money. That is ator reality. I dont know if she thought of it as being stuck. That day people didnt really get divorced. Prof. Proctor maybe that wasnt an option. Part in maintaining this perfect family image. Prof. Proctor identity. My identity, the thing that tells me who i am is your wife. It is the mother. Troys second relationship from which he has kids. Number two. Dy wife what were her options . What were her options as a black woman in the 57 . 1957. She had few, if any. Prof. Proctor i dont want to say it was making the most of a bad situation. I think it is family. Financial situations, like you said she really didnt have much money. Someone that is more financially stable then you will be on your own. I feel like that factors in as well. Prof. Proctor what does family mean . Think about your own families. Do you have cousins, sisters, brothers . Many family members have maybe crossed the line . I have them. [laughter] [laughter] nobody in your family has pushed the boundaries of what family means . Nobody. Prof. Proctor i believe you. Relatives who are in jail. Quick show of hands, how many of you know a man or woman in your family who has cheated . Does cheating mean the relationship is over . [laughter] you figure out how to get to what happens next when you are there. Rose was figuring that out. Fences, lets talk about fences. Fence . Actly is a this is not trying to trick you. It is something that keeps the someone in or out. It is a barrier or boundary. Troys activity . What is it that troy is trying to do this whole play . Build or finish a fence. Good. At the beginning of the play there is a baseball bat leaning against a tree trunk. Has an image in his head of what he was supposed to be. He says i was born at the wrong time. What does that mean . Saying basically black people werent allowed to play baseball professionally and stuff like that. He grew up in an era where he had to forget sports, let me go work to take care of my family. Whatof it has to do with he perceives as a mans responsibility. Of herroctor i care line exactly, his dream as i couldve been a great baseball player if i didnt have to do this. That theis perception fortunes of a black man have shifted from when he was younger to where he is now. The set is described as a dilapidated front porch. Back porch, im sorry. Why . Why do you think most of this play takes place on the porch . Usually wear a lot of black people grow up. Prof. Proctor yes, thats not me being funny, i get it. It has to do with community. I didnt realize porch sitting was an actual thing. It is an actual thing. You sit on the porch and say hey to all your neighbors walking by. If you dont say hey, you uppity. You must be from up north. [laughter] people sit outside, there is a sense of community. The porch is unfinished. Troy has a way of not following through. Finishing way of not what he started. Troy has a way of not completing the relationship he invested in. He goes off and finds another woman and has another baby. Not being way of present in his own life. Do you guys have a response to that . When you think of the idea of masculinity, what do you think it represented in the character of troy or his eldest son in the play . Troy and this family afford this house . He had a job. But. Proctor he has a job, his brother gets a disability check. He always has a shame. The onlyshamed that way he can get this house is because of his brothers disability check. Investment in his brother not moving out. There is an investment in his brother still being there and being disabled. That has to be his reality. He loses his house if his brother moves out or if his brother dies. There is that dependency on that. This play say about troy . What does it say about troys version of masculinity . Is a towards his son, his youngest son. He wants to play sports. Detroit wont let his younger son play sports troy wont let his younger son play sports. Understand the relationship. He knows it is a different time. He still wont let him play sports. Prof. Proctor why do you guys think troy wont let cory play sports . So he wont be disappointed. Wasntinks the reason he able to play sports is because he is black. Really it is because he got old. He doesnt want his son to face the same racism he thought he experienced. He is keeping him from opportunity. Not even allowing him to have the opportunity to be scouted. Your hand was up . Jealousy . E i thought it was. I was thinking that, too. The void that is being filled through the lack of discretion in what he is failing to do is beyond him. He cant find a way to come to terms with himself. At thes him strikes and mentions theson only way you are able to have this house because of your brother he gets angry and they start fighting. Feel. A resentment i he takes it out on others. They are able to do what he wished he could have done. Ands like he is aware conscience but he is taking it. Ut i feel like he was trying to protect him because he didnt want him to fall in the same footsteps as him and get to that point in his life to have to struggle like that. In your opinion troy is protecting him . From what . Troy is protecting cory from what . Failure, i guess. Prof. Proctor absolutely possible. Like a father, you have to love your children. Troy coming up had to get a job and struggled. You saidctor something really interesting. Im not saying either of you are wrong, thank you for adding that. When i said what is troy protecting cory from, you said america. Prof. Proctor the realities of what it means to be black and male in america. That is also a possibility. What they were saying about i think black men use what they go through as an excuse for how they act inside the home. Prof. Proctor ok. Write are going to thesis statement for this class, you might, that is a good place to start. That is what i mean about the complexity of character. The nature of who and what troy is his wildly complex. Everything you have just said fuels what makes up that character. By having a i mean layered character. A character with depth. A character who is a fully rounded person. Do you see how that might be different than the comedic character that showed up in the jeffersons . That is what August Wilson is doing. He is actually allowing black existence to be a complex thing. Doing an artistic rendering of black existence complex, layered, not simple or easy. How do you think White America took the play . It was nominated for oscars and davis won. Viola prof. Proctor i dont know how white people read this play, because i am not. Is it for them . Prof. Proctor one of the realities of theater we have to deal with is this. We look at the economic reality of blackandwhite urban areas, even here in new orleans, more than 50 of the population is africanamerican, but 85 or higher of the wealth is owned by the white community. That is a reality. I have a Theater Company and i want my Theater Company to be financially successful. That means i am going to charge i will be conservative. Lets say i have to charge 30 for a ticket. The largest portion of the population cant afford that. This weekend, i saw grayson in the sun. It was 25 to get in and see it. There are groups of black people in new orleans that were like, if we are going to support lack theater, we are going to pick this one. Ice all that and there was a black audience, but one of the realities is, if i have 250 seats in my audience, i have got to market that to the people who have money. This play, in fact all of August Wilsons plays, are aware of the realities of that. Black lives and black existence on screen. Can you give me an example that is happening right now of a black artist who is centering lack identity and black lived experience . There was an artist who got killed over the weekend named nipsey hussle. Off. Proctor i was thinking a movie maker. Jordan peele said something this week, because if you Say Something on twitter they are mad about it. Prof. Proctor oh yeah. [laughter] i am going to paraphrase what he said. He essentially said i am not interested in casting white guys in my movie, because i have seen that movie already. Experience,e black centering africanamerican identity, is a part of this project. Long in america, artistic representation, blackness has been marginal or tangential. Happens,e going, what and i dont even know if there is necessarily animosity toward the white world. Animosity toward the dominant culture is not necessarily part of this play. It is there. It is the reality. But the playwright is saying, you dont concern me. I spent 24 hours a day seven days a week thinking about being in white culture. This play is about black people being around lack people. Cool. Talk to me about bono. His best friend. How does that relationship work . Let me back up. Troy has several relationships in this play. He has a relationship with ruth, with cory, and you can use the play to talk about or defined those relationships. What is the nature of his relationship with his son . Is he jealous . Maybe. Is he protecting him . Maybe. At some point, he says, i dont have to like you. Liking you its not one of the jobs i signed up for. It is the job of a father to raise his son. To raise his son so he can go into a world that is perhaps hostile and is going to try to kill him. Im going to give you the skills you need to be strong, to survive. That is his role. As a father. But liking him or even loving him, is that the job of the father . In a country in which so many black men had to leave their families, maybe they were leaving we have talked about in this room. About the separation of black men from families. We have talked about what that has to do with the history of slavery, in the context of the great gratian. This play is also dealing with that. Troy is considered a good guy because he stated, kind of. But he didnt, right . Because he is going to sleep with this other woman. Does fatherhood, what does masculinity all of leos people who have to write thesis statements for your final papers should be thinking about these kind of things. What does fatherhood mean . What does manhood mean . [inaudible] bono and troy . Resentment,t but he sees in troy what his father was to him. I guess they have that were telling they each other about their bonosnces and in experience, he was going from woman to woman, he couldnt stay put. I think that is what he sees in troy. He has some concern. Prof. Proctor tell me about bonos relationship with his wife. He is super devoted to his wife. Prof. Proctor the playwright gives us a representation of a man who is devoted to his woman. Bono is a foil, opposite. Playxistence in this actually shows us more of the tarnish on troy. I dont think the movie really implies it, but i think 10 kind of puts himself i think bono kind of puts himself in troys shoes. I am just trying to make connections. I think he kind of sees how troy is how he was with his father and his son, he doesnt want he doesnt have resentment that he vocalizes, but they were just in conversation. He was sharing his experience, so i guess he sees that between troy and his son and how troy and rose are to each other. Bono is ator corrective. Remember his friend who would keep calling him up, going what are you doing . We should leave. That is bono. He is literally that friend calling you up going, you are about to mess up. You done messed up. That moment of somebody, the interjection, or the interlocutory think is the big college word for it. I think the representation of what a man is supposed to be changes with whatever he is directed to. Bono, heionship with is going to boast about women or andthese women that he had, like they are drinking all the time. That is his idea of being a man when he is with bono. Prof. Proctor or freedom. That . T do you mean by prof. Proctor does he get to be free with bono . He gets to tell his story. He actually gets to be kind of a star. He gets to be entertaining and fun. Is carefree,onship kind of. It is a double whammy. Why . He can in a sense be carefree, but not too carefree, because bono is not passing judgment on him and he is not going to let him slip. Prof. Proctor bono is totally passing judgment. Of hisis, but in context head. He is conscious of it. Of the man at the end day. He is going to let a man be a man, but he is very conscious of it. I could tell by that conversation they had. But bono moves away from him at the end of the play. Thats what im saying. It is the double whammy. He removes himself. He would just rather not engage. Prof. Proctor im going to let you sync on this ship all on your own. Got it. I saw a hand back there. We have got about four minutes left. I just want to close this discussion and i want you to think about things. Studyingplace we are from Langston Hughes to pearl clean, all of these plays are in conversation with each other. About for to think colored girls who have committed suicide when the rainbow is enough in relation to this play. Girls, she is voicing and taking the place or allowing a black womans voice to be heard. These are the private thoughts of a black woman. This is the private world we have always been told not to show to the public. Way, August Wilson is, with plays like fences and the entire pittsburgh cycle, moving the private lives of black identity into the center of the artistic mission. I want you to think about what that means in terms of, in context with each other. Those two, as well as passover, which we watched in class. In what way is the film of the plate passover also still in conversation with this play . Passover, they cant get off that corner. They are stuck. They cant go anywhere. Much like troy, who is stuck and cant go anywhere. Women in for colored girls are stuck and cant go anywhere. What does that say about black existence . Artists saying about the nature of black existence . That is why want to leave with you. Please, you will get a pop quiz andhis play and on tbone weasel on thursday. We will talk about tbone and weasel thursday. Thank you. Have a great day. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2019] announcer 1 you can watch lectures in history every weekend on American History tv. We take you inside College Classrooms to learn about topics ranging from the American Revolution to 9 11. Ont is saturday at 8 00 p. M. Cspan3. Announcer 2 this weekend, on the presidency, herbert hoovers biographer recalls his world war i really for, which saved the lives of millions caught up in war and its aftermath. Here is a preview. Between 1914 and 1923, hoover facilitated, financed and assisted a multitude of International Humanitarian relief efforts without parallel in history. Time, this nearly 10 year the crv, the u. S. Food administration, the ara, and various other governments and private organizations delivered 34 Million Metric Tons of food to the lands and people imperiled by world war i and its aftermath. In todays currency, the value of this aid exceeded 60 billion. For most of this incredible undertaking, the man with supreme responsibility was hoover. Tens of millions of people owed their lives to his exertions. It was later set of him that he was responsible for saving more lives than any other person in history. Thus did this son of an iowa blacksmith defeat what he later called the greatest famine of all time. Thus did he earn his epithets, the great humanitarian and master of emergencies. Announcer 2 learn more about herbert hoovers world war i relief work, sunday at 8 00 p. M. And midnight eastern, on the presidency. You are watching American History tv on cspan3. Monday on the communicators, one of the nations top Telecom Market analysts on the future of television, video, media and internet industries. You will see the live tv model only survive for sports and news and almost Everything Else will move toward ondemand models. The purveyors of Live Entertainment or streamed realtime entertainment is to young people an oxymoron to begin with. The idea that there is a time of day for a particular show. It is an odd concept for anything other than a sporting event. Announcer 2 monday night at 8 00 p. M. On cspan two. Margaret crayton talks about her book, the electrifying fall of rainbow city. Spectacle and assassination at the 1901 worlds fair, in which she recounts the assassination of president William Mckinley at the 1901 worlds fair in buffalo. This was recorded in buffalo, new york in 2016. Leslie hi. Welcome to buffalo, new york for our regular book event. My name is leslie zemsky, and it is my pleasure to welcome our special guest, margaret creighton, who has written a wonderful new book, and mark sommer, writer for the buffalo news. Mark will have a conversation with margaret, then we will open it up