Excerpt from In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Truman Capote claimed to have invented a genre, the first "nonfiction novel," with the 1965 publication of In Cold Blood. In it, he told with meticulous journalistic factual detail the true story of the murder of a family of four in rural Kansas, yet he also used writing techniques of fiction, producing on readers a significant emotional impact. The final pages of the book, which describe precisely and carefully death row inmates and execution by hanging, have fueled many debates on the meaning and effectiveness of capital punishment.
Black Power, chapter 2, Stokely Carmichael and Charles Hamilton
Although Stokely Carmichael was not the originator of the term “black power,” in this text he provides a detailed explanation of the concept. The chapter provides profound insight into the problems that remained in the wake of the civil rights movement and why the path of civil nonviolent resistance was seen as so disenchanting to many urban African Americans. Carmichael and Hamilton challenge Americans by asserting that equality and justice are achievable only through certain means. Their ideas scared many, but also inspired young African Americans to participate in the struggle for liberation.
Democratic National Convention, keynote address, Mario Cuomo
Mario Cuomo, then governor of New York, delivered his most memorable speech on July 16, 1984, at the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco, California. In this portion of that keynote address, Cuomo contrasts then- President Ronald Reagan’s image of the United States as a “shining city on a hill” with another America experienced by many of her citizens. He suggests that the real story was “a tale of two cities,” and stressed the gap between the haves and have-nots in 1980s America.
Photographs of Alabama sharecroppers, Walker Evans
In 1936, Fortune magazine commissioned photographer Walker Evans and writer James Agee to do a story on Alabama sharecroppers particularly hard-hit by the Depression, a project supported by the Farm Security Administration. What was supposed to become an essay grew into a book, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, with over 50 photographic images. Evans’s work is characterized by a remarkable documentary style. His naked realism presents tenant families living in complete and abject poverty, yet his images also reveal people who possess dignity, strength, and respectability. His photographs forced more-comfortable Americans to confront the condition of poverty and to question easy assumptions about whether the poor in this land of abundance deserve to be so.
“Banks of Marble,” written by Les Rice; sung by the Weavers
The Weavers, Pete Seeger, Fred Hellerman, Ronnie Gilbert, and Lee Hays sang folk, topical, and political songs from their formation in 1947 until they were blacklisted during the McCarthy era. This song was recorded by the Weavers in 1949 and contrasts the struggles of the working class to eke out a living with the prosperity in the professional classes.
“This Land Is Your Land,” written by Woody Guthrie; sung by Odetta and
Arlo Guthrie; narrated by Will Geer
Woody Guthrie wrote hundreds of songs, but the one known to most Americans is “This Land Is Your Land.” Written in 1940 as a response to Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America,” this song was seen by some as subversive and anti-American, while others considered it one of the great American patriotic songs. The version here was recorded by folksingers Odetta and Arlo Guthrie. The narration of words written by Guthrie is done by Will Geer.