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"Visions Again Came To Me of My African Ancestors Bound and Dragged onto Slave Ships": From Political Autobiography to Burton's Post-Black Power Neo-Abolitionist Memoir.

Authors :
Alexander, Patrick Elliot
Source :
College Literature. Spring2024, Vol. 51 Issue 2, p139-172. 34p.
Publication Year :
2024

Abstract

This article builds upon African American literary theorist Margo Perkins's conception of political autobiography from her award-winning book Autobiography as Activism: Three Black Women of the Sixties , and the work of critical prison studies scholars Angela Y. Davis and Dylan Rodríguez. It reads Susan Burton's 2017 narrative, Becoming Ms. Burton: From Prison to Recovery to Leading the Fight for Incarcerated Women , as reflecting an untheorized subgenre of African American confinement literature: the post-Black Power neo-abolitionist memoir. In the memoir, Burton alludes to slavery and anti-slavery activism to contextualize historically the post-Black Power-era prison-industrial complex and galvanize opposition to it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
00933139
Volume :
51
Issue :
2
Database :
Academic Search Index
Journal :
College Literature
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
176509991
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1353/lit.2024.a924341