12 Million Black Voices

Written by Richard Wright

Photography During the Great Depression

During 1933, Roosevelt’s New Deal in the North, under The Works Project Administration (WPA), black and white painters, actors and writers were hired to do “useless” artistic busy work. In the South, the Farm Security Administration (FSA) sent out these photographers, such as Dorthea Lange, Russell Lee, Marion Post and many others to document the lives that the FSA assisted. The photographers began in the South and made their way North following the channel of a river. By 1941, 65,000 photographs had been accumulated. The purpose was to give those lacking the time to keep written records and literacy a face and voice. The FSA made it their goal to make them be seen. The author of 12 Million Black Voices, Richard Wright, uses famous photographers’ work of black life across the United States while incorporating his own words about being a black person during this time of oppression.

The Man Who Voiced the Voiceless

Richard Wright has written Native Son, a book about “a young black migrant from the South who is immolated on a catherine wheel of violence after he accidentally kills the daughter of his white employer” (Bradley xv). It was Time’s 1940s most promising novel of the year, and sold over 200,000 copies in the first 3 weeks. Wright also wrote Uncle Tom’s Children- a collection of four novellas that gruesomely describe the struggle of Blacks in the rural South, which also includes a fluent explanation of the Great Migration. He received a $2,500 Guggenheim Fellowship award for Uncle Tom’s Children which supported Wright to finish Native Son. All three of his books eloquently tie together the stories of hardships black people faced during the early 1900s, and the societies they live(d) in that were deliberately created against them. Wright was able to use his words and personal experience to give insight into the life of black people and the disadvantages they faced every day of their lives, for generations.

The Photoessay 12 Million Black Voices and the author, Richard Wright

Continuing, Wright’s writing style changed comparative to his other books, “Here, for the first and perhaps only time in his career, he responded to images rather than words, to unconstructed ideas…12 Million Black Voices has a lyrical power, an impressionistic rather than logical structure, a power of a type different than that achieved in any of the work he was to publish in the forties…Richard Wright spoke in a voice of passion. In 12 Million Black Voices Richard Wright sang” (xviii-xix). In whole, Richard Wright turned sorrow and suffering into an eloquent, phenomenal piece of literature that gave hope for future black generations. Through the use of photographs, those who were privileged were able to have an insight into the hardships black people experienced in the early to mid 1900s in America.

In the Introduction, David Bradley discusses what 12 Million Black Voices is interpreted as: “the theme of generational tension, which in turn gave the rather simplistic Marxist analysis of society a psychological depth” (xviii). As stated above, the photoessay received recognition across America. Before writing this photoessay, Richard Wright was already a respected writer, and it is the power in this specific book that wraps the reader into the story of his people. The readers can read the fierceness behind his words, however, it is noted that many readers have noticed the severe lack of black women in the photos and writing. The experience black women endured during slavery is an important aspect of that time period and it should be highlighted when discussing the topic. There are many stereotypes and historical caricatures that stem from the black women experience and with the lack of reference in the book, current readers may not recognize the historical meaning of them.

It should be mention that in the Introduction, David Bradley describes the state Richard Wright was in after he was hired to photograph black people in the south and then during the Great Migration to the North. He says, “he came back very disturbed…the experiences of looking at the photographs themselves must have produced emotions so deep and complex that they can have no simple name…the faces in the photographs showed him clearly where and what he could have been. Each of the faces in the FSA photographs could easily had been his face, perhaps had been” (18). This excerpt conveys the emotional trauma Wright suffered from. The production of these photos and photoessay caused deep, emotional pain. Wright had sacrificed his well-being to give the faceless a voice and name.

Images Within Their Time

The photographs were all developed in black and white, using a manual film camera. The photos are slightly blurred, but given that they are almost 100 years old and the film most likely sat in it’s canister for quite a while before it was developed, it has wonderful quality. Each photograph is intimate and gives insight into the lives of black people and the contexts in which they lived in. If the photographs were not extreme close up portraits, they were depictions of everyday life in poverty, work life, home life, church life, and social life. They appeared in a spreadsheet style that had multiple large photos on each page at the end of a topic/section, or a photograph filled half a page that supported the idea of the text.

The History of The 12 Million Black Voices

This historical, 4-part photoessay highlights black people living in America during slavery and what life was like for future generations. The first section, “Our Strange Birth,” discusses how Africans were captured, sent to America and forced into slavery. It continues into the different kinds of slaves that lived on plantations: house vs. land worker.

The second section, “Inheritors of Slavery” is an introduction of life for black people after slavery was abolished, and the multitude of issues and racism they faced although being “free.” Although technically free, new black generations inherited the same problems their mothers and fathers faced as slaves such as becoming indebted to their bosses by the tactic of sharecropping.

This section also discusses the influence of the church and seen as a home and safe space for the black community. Black people were able to freely be themselves while they were attending church. Many of the beliefs within the community that are still present today were shaped during this time. Sunday’s gave the black community something to look forward to in their lives. More importantly, they presented themselves in the ways that they wanted to be seen, rather than people from the lowest societal class.

The third section, “Death on City Pavements,” is the history of the mass amounts of black people who migrated to Northern cities looking for better work and safer futures, also known as the Great Migration. However, they were met with dirty, dark shacks for houses, minimal paying/labor intensive jobs, and more discrimination. They also started falling into the beginnings of systematic racism. White property owners and bosses made it very difficult for black families to thrive or live reasonably in the cities.

In the final section, “Men in the Making,” talks about the next generation of black children going to the streets and losing their sense of black culture and roots, however, creating the beginnings of change for black people.

Wright concludes his photoessay with the story of black people joining forces with poor white people for better working rights, and with that began a new generation of black people who started slowly trusting white people (the lower working class, NOT Lords of the Land or Bosses of Buildings). Continuing, black people started becoming doctors, businessmen, etc. while living in white suburbs. Wright includes the details of what black people have endured for the past 300+ years and how America relies on them to function. Wright’s final words is cautiously hopeful for the next generations of black people to come.

The Power of Community

Richard Wright uses the word “we,” “Lords of the Land,” and “Bosses of the Buildings,” within his writing to create emphasis and unity. “We” is to create distance between himself and the reader because the reader most likely did not experience life during the early 1900s as a black person in the ways he and his fellow black community did. It creates a sense of story that cannot be specifically experienced again given the time period and the massive transition that was occurring in black people’s life. The photo tactics the photographers uses complements Wright’s writing. This was a strong theme in his book: although black people were severely oppressed, they were oppressed collectively which created an intense sense of unity and community. They had to rely on one another to live, figuratively and literally. Most of the photos involved multiple black people in the image, whether it was in a home, on the streets, at church, dancing at a swing party, or contrasting, life on the farms and plantations.

The photos tied together a collective struggle all black people faced during this time period. It enforced that they struggled, prayed, danced, celebrated, lived and suffered together. “Lords of the Land” and “Bosses of the Buildings” is to title all upper class white men and to dismiss and paint them as the same. It psychologically separates white men from a legitimate human name which pin points what Richard Wright was attempting to achieve. He wanted his audience to see these horrendous people as something other than human, so he titled them all the same in mockery and defiance.

The Value of Historical Photographs for the Black Community

The most noticeable photograph in this photoessay was towards the end of section one. The photograph was an uncensored lynched, black man being held up by a group of white men. The white men had faces of contempt and satisfaction. This image is haunting and gut wrenching, but it is important that it was documented. It gives the reader direct insight into the terror black people faced in the early to mid 1900s when lynching was not punishable by law. It leaves the reader shocked. It is one thing to describe lynching, but to then visually show the violence the mobs were legally capable of is something entirely different. Throughout the photoessay, the typical photos shown were of black people living/working on plantations, family life in the gingerbread houses, and then photographs of what life was like in the city for black people: black children running in the streets, families living in dirty shacks, crowded living facilities, and black men socializing.From the reader’s perspective, they are subjected to understanding what life was like for black people. Each photograph is powerful and emotional even if it is a mere glimpse into what they endured for hundreds of years. It makes the reader question who those people are, what they endured, what happened to them afterwards. The faces of those documented black people stick into the memory of the reader. Even more so, these images were obtained from a multitude of black photographers that were hired by the FSA. In other words, this represents that millions of black people across the country were all experience the same pain and oppression.

The power of photographs give a deeper context far beyond what text can achieve. What the audience feels in a photograph could never be translated through text. The emotions and reactions to images are significantly stronger than solely text. Wright’s use of every photograph has a specific purpose for his audience. He is able to dive into the emotion of not only the subjects, but the audience because he supports the photographs with context and story.

Wright’s Inspiration for Future Generations

Possible ideas for writers inspired from this book could be researching and exploring a cultural/racial/economical group during a specific time period. This photoessay can also inspire photographers to document with integrity. The photos found in 12 Million Black Voices were captured with intention. The journalists allowed the photographs to speak for themselves and maintained raw images as final pieces. Although Wright was not directly associated with the Transatlantic Slave Trade era, he beautifully captured the essence of black generations directly after. Wright is also an inspiration by providing a voice to those who were silenced and ignored for years. Often times slavery is told through a white person’s lens, therefore insight on this subject from a person of color is important to acknowledge and understand.

Photographs Works Cited

In order of appearance beginning under “The History of the 12 Million Black Voices”

1. Jack Delano: Maid, Washington, D.C. FSA
2. Dorthea Lange: A thirteen-year-old sharecropper, Georgia. FSA
3. Marion Post: Cotton buyer and Negro farmer discussing price, Mississippi. FSA
4. Russell Lee: Tenants’ children reading, Oklahoma. FSA
5. Jack Delano: Rural Negro family on their porch, South Carolina. FSA
6. Marion Post: Agricultural laborers watching their house burn down, Florida. FSA
7. Russell Lee: Church service, Illinois. FSA
8. Jack Delano: Church service, Georgia. FSA
9. Jack Delano: Rural Negros dressed to go to church, Georgia. FSA
10. Edwin Rosskam: Alley dwelling, Washington D.C. FSA
11. Russell Lee: Bedroom, Chicago, Ill. FSA
12. John Vachon: Negro foundry workers, Maryland. FSA
13. AP/Wide World Photos: Race riots, Detroit, Mich.
14. Edwin Rosskam: Boy in front of apartment house, Chicago, Ill. FSA
15. Russell Lee: Negro children playing in an empty lot, Chicago, Ill. FSA
16. Russell Lee: Empty lot and houses, Chicago, Ill. FSA
17. AP/Wide World Photos: Demonstration, Washington, D.C. FSA
18. Carl Mydans: Back yard of alley dwelling, Washington, D.C. FSA
19. Russell Lee: Roller-skating rink, Chicago, Ill. FSA
20. Jack Delano: Sharecroppers, Georgia. FSA
21. AP/Wide World Photos: Lynching, Georgia.