Prison Power

How Prison Influenced the Movement for Black Liberation

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Crimes & Criminals, Penology, Political Science, Politics, Civil Rights, Cultural Studies, African-American Studies
Cover of the book Prison Power by Lisa M. Corrigan, University Press of Mississippi
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Lisa M. Corrigan ISBN: 9781496809087
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi Publication: November 4, 2016
Imprint: University Press of Mississippi Language: English
Author: Lisa M. Corrigan
ISBN: 9781496809087
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
Publication: November 4, 2016
Imprint: University Press of Mississippi
Language: English

Winner of the 2017 Diamond Anniversary Book Award and the African American Communication and Culture Division's 2017 Outstanding Book Award, both from the National Communication Association

In the black liberation movement, imprisonment emerged as a key rhetorical, theoretical, and media resource. Imprisoned activists developed tactics and ideology to counter white supremacy. Lisa M. Corrigan underscores how imprisonment--a site for both political and personal transformation--shaped movement leaders by influencing their political analysis and organizational strategies. Prison became the critical space for the transformation from civil rights to Black Power, especially as southern civil rights activists faced setbacks.

Black Power activists produced autobiographical writings, essays, and letters about and from prison beginning with the early sit-in movement. Examining the iconic prison autobiographies of H. Rap Brown, Mumia Abu-Jamal, and Assata Shakur, Corrigan conducts rhetorical analyses of these extremely popular though understudied accounts of the Black Power movement. She introduces the notion of the "Black Power vernacular" as a term for the prison memoirists' rhetorical innovations, to explain how the movement adapted to an increasingly hostile environment in both the Johnson and Nixon administrations.

Through prison writings, these activists deployed narrative features supporting certain tenets of Black Power, pride in blackness, disavowal of nonviolence, identification with the Third World, and identity strategies focused on black masculinity. Corrigan fills gaps between Black Power historiography and prison studies by scrutinizing the rhetorical forms and strategies of the Black Power ideology that arose from prison politics. These discourses demonstrate how Black Power activism shifted its tactics to regenerate, even after the FBI sought to disrupt, discredit, and destroy the movement.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Winner of the 2017 Diamond Anniversary Book Award and the African American Communication and Culture Division's 2017 Outstanding Book Award, both from the National Communication Association

In the black liberation movement, imprisonment emerged as a key rhetorical, theoretical, and media resource. Imprisoned activists developed tactics and ideology to counter white supremacy. Lisa M. Corrigan underscores how imprisonment--a site for both political and personal transformation--shaped movement leaders by influencing their political analysis and organizational strategies. Prison became the critical space for the transformation from civil rights to Black Power, especially as southern civil rights activists faced setbacks.

Black Power activists produced autobiographical writings, essays, and letters about and from prison beginning with the early sit-in movement. Examining the iconic prison autobiographies of H. Rap Brown, Mumia Abu-Jamal, and Assata Shakur, Corrigan conducts rhetorical analyses of these extremely popular though understudied accounts of the Black Power movement. She introduces the notion of the "Black Power vernacular" as a term for the prison memoirists' rhetorical innovations, to explain how the movement adapted to an increasingly hostile environment in both the Johnson and Nixon administrations.

Through prison writings, these activists deployed narrative features supporting certain tenets of Black Power, pride in blackness, disavowal of nonviolence, identification with the Third World, and identity strategies focused on black masculinity. Corrigan fills gaps between Black Power historiography and prison studies by scrutinizing the rhetorical forms and strategies of the Black Power ideology that arose from prison politics. These discourses demonstrate how Black Power activism shifted its tactics to regenerate, even after the FBI sought to disrupt, discredit, and destroy the movement.

More books from University Press of Mississippi

Cover of the book Creating Jazz Counterpoint by Lisa M. Corrigan
Cover of the book Charles Burnett by Lisa M. Corrigan
Cover of the book Film and Comic Books by Lisa M. Corrigan
Cover of the book Choctaw Tales by Lisa M. Corrigan
Cover of the book Hoo-Doo Cowboys and Bronze Buckaroos by Lisa M. Corrigan
Cover of the book The Possible South by Lisa M. Corrigan
Cover of the book America's Great Storm by Lisa M. Corrigan
Cover of the book Things like the Truth by Lisa M. Corrigan
Cover of the book Krzysztof Kieslowski by Lisa M. Corrigan
Cover of the book Paul Verhoeven by Lisa M. Corrigan
Cover of the book Quentin Tarantino by Lisa M. Corrigan
Cover of the book Coming to Colorado by Lisa M. Corrigan
Cover of the book Livestock Brands and Marks by Lisa M. Corrigan
Cover of the book The Berimbau by Lisa M. Corrigan
Cover of the book Treasured Past, Golden Future by Lisa M. Corrigan
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy