He leaves to check on a friend his life has been threatened, and while hes away, the mob drags that friend passed the house. Liza heres the victim called out to his mother. Shocked and distraught, liza goes into labor before john returns. So having killed one man and restraint another, the mob takes me leaders from both families. At liza soon confirms that racial violence jeopardizes future generations. When her child is born a boy she strangles him to death. At the end of the blood she is in the days and she insist her baby is safe and safe from the lynching. Safe. Lizas disturbing declaration illustrates the most important distinction between degeneration and the generation. While the latter in the kate that pathology within the black family degeneration and lynching, points to the degeneracy of the mob. Blacks had already proven their ability to build successful homes, so if africanamericans characters do not reproduce, or if they resist by terminating young lives, its not because they dont value family. They simply give voice to the despair if africanamericans must have felt as they lived in a nation that left white barbarism unchecked. As depressing as it is, it is a literary trend that i believe reinforces blacks commitment to fighting for the rights to full citizenship. For in giving voice to this measure, the place of from that the despondency is valid because the situation is so utterly undeserved. If there is any question anyones mind that the lynching might have been wanted, then one cannot give a voice to this level of despair. Ask him about the character in the play and the playwrights demonstrate absolute certainty about the injustice. If my reasoning seems counterintuitive perhaps ida b. Wells, speaking as someone living in the midst of mob violence and its photographic representation, can help. Now known as the foremost antilynching crusader in American History wells admitted in 1892 diary entry that until her Close Friends were killed, she felt lynching might be justified. She confessed, and i quote at length like many another person who had read of lynching in the south, i had accepted the idea meant to be conveyed, that although lynching was irregular and contrary to law and order unreasoning anger over the terrible crime of rape led to the lynching. That perhaps they deserve to die anyhow and the mob was justified in taking his life. But my friends have been lynched with just as much brutality as of the victims of the mob, and they had committed no crime against white women. This is what opened my eyes to what lynching really was. An excuse to get rid of negroes who were acquiring wealth and property, and thus keep the race terrorized. Without question, if a black successes the portrayals offered by mainstream discourse and by those Theatrical Productions called lynchings, there would be no room for racial pride. If africanamericans believed that mobs were responding to rate, it would not demand antilynching legislation. These contests refused to be shamed into tolerating and they target a black audience is them to do the same. Because virtually all Public Discourse cast a black man as brutes, creating a different portrait required intimate knowledge in intimate settings. Its not surprising then that plaque womens lynching plays read like domestic plays. They foreground them as much as they oppose lynching. More precisely, when they depicted by homes as they knew them to be, they inherently contradicted excuses for lynching, excuses that were invented to destroy those homes. Still, as ida b. Wells confession to assist, blacks need to share with each other their intimate knowledge, only this chincoteague black committees from accepting the idea meant to be conveyed. And if they could not reject that idea privately they could not have agitated for the right to full citizenship publicly. Thank you. [applause] so im happy to take questions i am remembering your kids. I will get that up with questions. And i also was a am very aware that other groups are called by lynching. Spent dr. Mitchell, we thank you for being our [applause] and we are very much aware of the time and so she will entertain perhaps to questions, after which we will have a book signing from one until 1 30 p. M. And we can continue the discussion there. We also ask you to please take a copy of the reading list that we have prepared, and you will see how dr. Mitchell has influenced the image that we use on the cover of the widow and her family with walter white following the lynching of her husband. Okay, so we are late. Any questions . Yes. You noted that there were never any federal antilynching laws. What was the reason, what did they present as a reason for not doing that . So the question, if you didnt hear it was basically since there was no so the question was since there was never federal antilynching legislation passed, what were some of the reasons that were given for not doing so. And, of course, thereve been entire books written on this. Very often it was things like filibusters from southern senators and so on, those kinds of things are basically, you know, the structural ways that does happen. But, you know, in terms of justification, i think at the end of the day people who believed that lynching really was about black men raping white women, or people who were simply invested insisting in that what it was about, kind of one of the day in that way. But structural it have to do with filibusters and those kinds of things. I wont go into the woman who i will go into all that but there were plenty of people who just literally didnt believe that it should not happen. I saw another hand. Yes. Dr. Mitchell, how many black men were lynched during a pentagon . Shes asking about exact numbers, specialist of black women who were lynched and black men were alleged. I have to admit that exact numbers, thats not something i focus on, mainly because im interested in the Cultural Impact of these images, for example. But the playwrights who write about this, the women i study in living with lynching were very someone with the fact that women got lynched. And so there was this ad that they did what it basically said Something Like 23 when were lynched this year and how can you say its about rape . Or even the playwrights are where the women are being lynched as well, but their place dont focus on that for grace reasons. I think the main reason is because they want to go to that hardest sell but if youre going to insist its about rape, then lets actually present what really happened it was because he was successful and you wanted to take his land because because he was successful at protecting his wife from being sexually assaulted by a white man who felt that all black women are available and so he lynched him for that. Said their they were interested in going for the hardest sale. I will say that the book is out for the best book on this topic. She looks at womens roles in lynching, both white women and black women. So black women who were lynched, white women who were lynched and then also black women who are antilynching crusader as well as white ones. Sessions with the best source on that. But when it comes to numbers theres always disagreement. Partly because naturally this is worth going into. Part of the reason why theres always disagreement about just exactly how many people were lynched is because throughout the years there were definite reasons for changing the definition of what a lynching was. So you might have a parameter put in place to say, its got to be at least three people, and its summer justice this, that, or the other. These often were antilynching crusaders were coming up with the definition. So they want to be able to show that they were making progress and reducing the number of lynched. So thats one of the dynamics i would bring up to you as the reason why the numbers for me thats not, we will never have those numbers and be confident that they are exactly right. I think they are always underestimated. So thats why for me whats important is what is the cultural legacy in the moment and later of having these photographs circulate . You didnt have to be there for the impact to get to you because it was in the newspaper. It was in a postcard. But thank you for that. Yes, sir. Im curious, where geographically these took place performing in the country . And also were they more other rural or urban performance . What sort of crowds were coming . Was a more of an educational thing where we are spreading the message, like he was coming to the place be . Great. Is question is about who is actually the audience to show two performances of these kinds of texts. So with rage we know it was in washington, d. C. And there were enough whites in the audience for them to say that they had achieved their goal of reaching an integrated audience. Not nearly as many as grimske wouldvewouldve liked to god that im whether shifting away from drawing a traditional audience picks i believe that whats going on is these are in crisis. Youre in the barbershop crisis magazine shows up but all of a sudden is reading it out loud. So part of what im interested in when talking about performance in this book, this is what i call it embodied practices of belonging because that gives us a more capacious what you think about theatricality. So if im in the barbershop or beauty salon and some start reading this lynching script, we dont get far before a debate breaks out. And we dont get far before someone starts sharing the sort of a lynching that happen in their town. So that is what unpredicatable to talk about theatricality competitive action this really broad category of all those embodied practices. So i cant actually prove to you that these were staged in these places it in very few instances can it do that. In most instances i cant prove that to you. But heres whats funny about and this is what it such a crucial question. So, w. E. B. Dubois publishes in crisis magazine, just that little block of text that he calls paying for plays and this is what he says this crisis has been publishing is one act plays that are meant for amateur performance. We are going to continue to publish those, but do you know what weve noticed . People are not sending us our royalty check. So im like oh yeah . So you know i had a jewish state in our guys win what did i find . I find a letter from Willis Richardson riding to w. E. B. Dubois saying i love what you had to say because i noticed that in your group that youre a part of stage my play and didnt send me a royalty check. Now, i am more than happy to send you the check for the play that we put on here in d. C. Let me know how you what we did for the w. E. B. Dubois writes back and says oh no need. Because, this is where it gets tricky, so lets say that theres a playwriting contest. Youyou in first place but i win second place and you have there. So first and second get published in crisis but then third, well have a notice and they will say you can get the script from us by writing to us. You also get money as they price but it wont be published. So dubois said, there is no royalty needed. And so clearly he thinks the only of the magazine is going going to get a capture the playwrights get a cat. So what i want is just from the is to say that, one or the rain of amateur performers is going on the dubois is missing is money, but two, theres more than one reason why these plays would be below the radar. So its not simply that its dangerous, literally dangerous, but its also that these are amateur performances that you dont necessarily want on other peoples radars even either fix it seems to me those are some of the reasons one we are not going to have the kind of documents that we want to have any theater history. Box Office Receipts and all that fun stuff. I cant give you that but thats what you mean olivers and all those other things are so important. Thank you. Dr. Mitchell, i want to take you so much for this amazing talk for your book. Big fan of your work. I want to ask you what we know about translation. Were any of these plays ever translated . Into a language might it be translated . When it into the black people in france about how to compare race, they will tell me black people got lynched in the u. S. So im just about the sources and which might know what you came across in your archives . Certainly i havent come across the plays themselves been translated but there were certainly plenty of exchange of support and exchange of stories, but yeah, thats a great question that i will have to think about more. Im not aware of any these plays being translated and sent over in different periodicals but it makes sense they would be because there are these other articles they couldnt could reproduce it in. So thank you for that. One last question. Are there temporary efforts to restage these plays . Yes. Stuff why are you trying to give me a heart attack . Wow, that hurt. Samore recent staging. Actually in 2010 the International Festival in your mexican woman was able to get her proposal accepted, and so she ran what she called by hands unknown come which ended up to i went to newark to see it of course, which ended up being seven of these one ask connected by dramatic readings of poetry and music and it was beautifully done. I was shocked. At first i was really excited like my goodness i can actually see the state state and in the closer the day came for me to continue to see, the more word i got. What if this doesnt translate for an audience today and that kind of thing . So wrong. It definitely, definitely works. Part of what they did that with powerful is that the end it with screening the moment when the legislation was passing to give this formal apology. They used that towards the end which i thought was really striking. So ive written about that production on my blog and also which of the address for. So theres an entry on the about watching that staging i also did a review of that for theater journal. As much as i can capture the moment when thats happening i do. Then, of course, there are contemporary place about lynching. The gospel of james or the gospel according to james, so glad i got that right the gospel according to james by charles this is a wonderful more recent play. I went to see that in indiana. They commissioned him to write it because James Cameron was in indiana. Could answer that the contemporary lynching play. And also the strange has an index that includes all of the lynching place that they know of that have been published. So through the 90s youre going to see that in the back of that. That question made me think of Something Else though and im blanking. Sometimes when people invite me to give a lecture, they will do a dramatic reading. That happened when i was at texas tech a couple weeks ago. So thats another way that is being staged again. And i guess the main thing to say about that is that its shocking how well the tests work. I think thats partly because this turnofthecentury turning out to look a lot like the last turn of the century. Am i lying in . Voter suppression we are not somehow divorced from these issues but i think thats probably the reason it still resonates so well. [applause] booktv is on facebook. Like us to interact with booktvs guests and viewers to watch videos and get uptodate information on events. Facebook. Com booktv. Marie breaux talk about the history of authors rights and argues that copyright law will likely need to be revisited in the future. This isnt was part of the Tennessee Williams new orleans Literary Festival held annually in the city. Its about an hour and 20 minutes. Well, good morning, everyone. I have some powerpoint slides so hopefully we will have an exciting, you have something visually to look at. I find that when we talk about law, we dont give people some sort of reprieve, the audience starts hurting themselves. I am a practitioner so im not a scholar. Im not a law professor, and i think that makes a good candidate for holding something called a workshop. Because i do things come just like anybody come you know, the person who tinkers in a workshop to build things. We have to draw on the knowledge of structural engineers. You have to draw on the knowledge of architects. But when it comes time to put something together to build a the building, to build the whatever it is you have to call on the people who actually do something. So thats me, a practitioner. And if i had one message, its about as a practitioner i view the copyright act as something of a steam punk law something filled with Rube Goldberg type contractions come you know, and it turns out that Rube Goldberg was a cartoonist a sculptor, an inventor, an author, an engineer. So it might be fitting to call on his work. There was an article in sundays New York Times about in the travel section about cruises to they mentioned a steam trunk. I think it is falling into common parlance but it is a genre of Science Fiction or speculative fiction that involves anachronistic combinations but when i went looking for images just to get us all on the same page about what is steam punk, what images is in my mind when i say that it turns out that a couple of years ago this funny 40 fellows also dressed it up in steam punk style. Thats been standing in front of a streetcar. And it dates back to really the turn of the 19th and to the 20th century that sort of style which is illustrated on your left. The whole movie, the voyage to the moon was made famous in the scorsese film hugo. So i think its a lovely aesthetic, and that the copyright practitioner i often think about that because theres a contradiction. You have Old Technology doing modern things like taking a bullet ship to the moon, using steam to get into outer space. It is an obsession with technology, and thats a big part of copyright law. It is also in visions an alternate universe. Works like the wild, wild west or the work of contemporary directors. So it just seems to fit with me about, that is the state of our copyright law. It is an alternate and a lot of universe in this very Digital World that we live in. The next thing i would like to do is just as all on the same page about what is intellectual property. And the definition im going to use is by the world intellectual property organization, a treaty organization, the United States is a member, and intellectual property means creations of the mind inventions, literary works, Motion Pictures, as well as through the kind of properties that we use to identify products. So it falls into essentially two categories industrial property, and that would be patents, trademarks, and daschle design thin