created and how black self-love, black empower-
ment can triumph” (Haizlip, 14).
Bibliography
Haizlip, Shirley Taylor. Introduction. The Blacker The
Berry.1929; reprint, New York: Simon and Schus-
ter, 1996.
Singh, Amritjit. The Novels of the Harlem Renaissance:
Twelve Black Writers, 1923–1933.University Park:
Pennsylvania State University Press, 1976.
Wright, Shirley Haynes. A Study of the Fiction of Wallace
Thurman.Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microfilms
International, 1983.
“Black Fronts” Marita Bonner(1938)
A set of three fictional vignettes by MARITABON-
NERthat appeared in the July 1938 issue of OPPOR-
TUNITY. The chaotic narratives focus on the
domestic distress brought on by extravagant
lifestyles, the economic upheaval of the Great De-
pression, and all-around family stress. The first, enti-
tled “Front A,” relates the tragic story of Big
Brother, a man whose family has sacrificed greatly so
that he could become a lawyer. “He was a lawyer,”
asserts the narrator in the opening lines of the story
before making the grim observation that “[h]e had
not had a case since 1932. This was 1935.” The
story follows Big Brother’s increasingly desperate de-
cline, dependence on his family, and inability to pre-
vent his wife Rinky Dew from spending beyond
their means. The vignette ends, however, with a
more sympathetic account of the couple’s indepen-
dent stress and an indication that they are com-
pletely distracted by their inability to overcome the
pressures of the life in which they find themselves.
“Front B” and “Front C,” the second and third
installments in “Black Fronts,” are made up of
vivid dialogues between unidentified speakers. The
conversations in “Front B” are between a domestic
worker and her employer, and they veer wildly
around issues of employment, social status, and
ethnic stereotypes. The first involves the two
women, both of whom are African American. The
domestic worker is frustrated by the fact that her
employer does not leave her to complete her tasks.
She also is annoyed that she is being watched so
carefully and unable to filch a few items for her
own family. “Front C” is a series of pained observa-
tions that the employer makes about the demands
of motherhood and her need to prevent theft in
her own home.
The stories reflect Bonner’s ongoing interest
in domestic upheaval and the negotiations that
many women are forced to make in order to main-
tain an air of normalcy in the face of overwhelming
demands or social realities.Black Horseman, TheWillis Richardson
(1929)
A play about intrigue, deception, and military
might that dramatist WILLISRICHARDSONadapted
for high school students. The play was selected for
inclusion in PLAYS ANDPAGEANTS FROM THELIFE
OF THENEGRO,an anthology that Richardson had
edited.
The play, set in the African region of Nu-
midia, opens as King Massinissa of East Numidia is
trying to uncover the real reason why Syphax, a
prince of West Numidia, has come to the court.
The conversation between the guards Claudius
and Eubonius establishes the intrigue and what
will become a growing suspicion that the African
empire is threatened with invasion or co-optation.
The king’s three daughters have taken matters into
their own hands and have determined, through
stealth and eavesdropping, that Syphax has come
with plans to wed their father to a white
Carthaginian princess and to initiate major
changes in the governance of the state. It is the
princesses who lodge a successful appeal to the
king that prevents him from accepting a suspicious
demotion to the rank of prince and the loss of his
territory. “Think a moment, Sire,” says the princess
Casintha, “Of how your people love you, think of
how / Your soldiers fought to give you power here /
In Africa, the nation’s treasure house.” Her sister
Rosioba lodges a forceful plea for racial solidarity
and raises the specter of unappealing racial differ-
ences. “Think of the strangers you would tarry
with,” she declares, “then think of us, your own
dark women who / Love you as they love life; but
most of all / Think of a pale, cold bride whose
kisses are / But shadows of a kiss, whose love
would be / An empty dream of love, and give him
‘no’ / For an answer.” The princesses successfully
persuade the king to abandon his plans to marryBlack Horseman, The 41