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My analysis highlights how each one offers a vision of collective Black resistance, and explicit support of violence as justified response to violent white oppression, foreshadowing the revolutionary temperament that became more prominent in the 1960s. 3/

These plays are not widely recognized as "revolutionary" or as connected to the Black Arts movement's radicalism. As products of the Black Popular Front (the cultural wing of the Communist Left), their historical legacy is complicated. 2/

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Pictured: Robinson testifying before Congress in 1949 (while playing for the Dodgers). Supposedly, he was there to refute controversial statements by Paul Robeson. He did that, in part, but also found subtle ways to level his own critiques against historic racial injustices in the U.S. 4/

The historical record shows that--on and off the field--Jackie Robinson experimented with subtle modes of resistance against white racism that set the stage for more overt radicalism that emerged in later decades. 3/

After retiring, Robinson faced criticism for his disagreements with radical Black leaders and his seemingly moderate political leanings. My reading of Robinson as both a player and a public figure looks to expand upon both of these common assumptions. 2/

My argument: seeds of the Black Arts revolution were planted in post-war years and nurtured by same artists dismissed as moderate and cautious. Their plays and performances are ripe for reconsideration in that new light.
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...whom they found passive and too accommodating of mainstream white liberal sensibilities. Ex: Critic Harold Cruse dismissed A Raisin in the Sun (1959) as a "glorified soap opera" written only to be "acceptable to whites of the middle class." (2/3)

These Black cultural leaders all perform, in their chosen medium, a radical resistance against white supremacy on the national stage.
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I link the theater history research to a broader look at what I call "African American performance culture" of the post-war years. There's some discussion of how the work of musicians, political leaders, and professional athletes links with the work of theater artists in this era. (2/3)