Research Catalog

A dancer in the revolution : Stretch Johnson, Harlem communist at the Cotton Club

Title: A dancer in the revolution : Stretch Johnson, Harlem communist at the Cotton Club / Howard Eugene Johnson with Wendy Johnson.
Author: Johnson, Howard Eugene, 1915-2000
Publication: New York : Empire State Editions, 2014.

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Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request Scan Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Performing Arts Research Collections to submit a request in person.	Text	Use in library	JNE 14-92	Performing Arts Research Collections - Music
Request for On-site Use Request Scan Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schomburg Center to submit a request in person.	Text	Use in library	Sc E 15-557	Schomburg Center - Research & Reference

Details

Additional Authors

Johnson, Wendy

Description

xxiv, 191 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps; 24 cm

Summary

"The life of Howard Johnson, nicknamed "Stretch" because of his height (6'5"), epitomizes the cultural and political odyssey of a generation of African Americans who transformed the United States from a closed society to a multiracial democracy. Johnson's long-awaited memoir traces his path from firstborn of a multiclass/multiethnic" family in New Jersey to dancer in Harlem's Cotton Club to communist youth leader and, later, professor of Black studies. A Dancer in the Revolution is a powerful statement about Black resilience and triumph amid subtle and explicit racism in the United States. Johnson's engaging, beautifully written memoir provides a window into everyday life in Harlem--neighborhood life, arts and culture, and politics--from the 1930s to the 1970s, when the contemporary Black community was being formed. A Dancer in the Revolution explores Johnson's twenty-plus years in the Communist Party and illuminates in compelling detail how the Harlem branch functioned and flourished in the 1930s and '40s. Johnson thrived as a charismatic leader, using the connections he built up as an athlete and dancer to create alliances between communist organizations and a cross-section of the Black community. In his memoir, Johnson also exposes the homoerotic tourism that was a feature of Harlem's nightlife in the 1930s. Some of America's leading white literary, musical, and artistic figures were attracted to Harlem not only for the community's artistic creativity but to engage in illicit sex--gay and straight--with their Black counterparts. A Dancer in the Revolution is an invaluable contribution to the literature on Black political thought and pragmatism. It reveals the unique place that Black dancers and artists hold in civil rights pursuits and anti-racism campaigns in the United States and beyond. Moreover, the life of "Stretch" Johnson illustrates how political activism engenders not only social change but also personal fulfillment, a realization of dreams not deferred but rather pursued and achieved. Johnson's journey bears witness to critical periods and events that shaped the Black condition and American society in the process"--

Subject

Bibliography (note)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

Machine generated contents note: -- Introduction -- Mark D. Naison -- Acknowledgments -- Wendy Johnson -- PART ONE -- Ch 1 Early Days -- Ch 2 Harlem and the Cotton Club -- Ch 3 Moving Up -- Ch 4 Show Biz -- Ch 5 Joining the Party -- PART TWO -- Ch 6 The Young Communist League -- Ch 7 The War Years -- Ch 8 Back Home -- Ch 9 La Lucha Continua -- PART THREE -- Ch 10 Starting Over -- Ch 11 Malimwu -- Ch 12 The Cotton Club Revisited -- Ch 13 Hawaii's Martin Luther King Day -- Ch 14 Paris -- Texas and Home Again -- Time Line -- Howard E. Johnson's Curriculum Vitae -- Further reading -- Index.

Call Number

Sc E 15-557

ISBN

9780823256532 (hardback)
0823256537 (hardback)

LCCN

2013043884

OCLC

868224990

Author

Johnson, Howard Eugene, 1915-2000, author.

Title

A dancer in the revolution : Stretch Johnson, Harlem communist at the Cotton Club / Howard Eugene Johnson with Wendy Johnson.

Publisher

New York : Empire State Editions, 2014.

Edition

First edition.

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Local Note

Schomburg copy with dust jacket.

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Subject

Black author.

Added Author

Johnson, Wendy, author.

Research Call Number

Sc E 15-557

JNE 14-92

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