Introduction
This essay examines the art created by Black artists in the American South, focusing on themes of family history, intergenerational trauma, and the complex decision to remain in a region marked by historical oppression. While the narrative of Black America often centres on the Great Migration—where six million African Americans fled the Jim Crow South for the North between 1916 and 1970—this essay shifts attention to those who stayed or returned, exploring how their art reflects a reclamation of space and identity. Works such as Oscar Micheaux’s silent film *Within Our Gates* (1920), RaMell Ross’s documentary *Hale County This Morning, This Evening* (2018), and Charles Burnett’s *To Sleep with Anger* (1990) reveal the tensions between North and South, alongside the enduring cultural contributions of Southern Black communities. By addressing questions of why people stayed and how trauma transcends generations, this essay argues that Southern Black art is not merely a product of survival but a profound act of resistance and love for a land that has not always reciprocated that affection. The discussion will also consider how education, music, and visual storytelling have shaped Southern Black artistic expression, contrasting this with the cultural hubs of the North, such as Harlem during the Renaissance.
Trauma and Family History in Southern Black Art
Intergenerational trauma is a recurring theme in Southern Black art, reflecting the enduring impact of slavery, segregation, and systemic violence. Unlike a transient event, trauma does not dissipate; it embeds itself within family histories and cultural memory. This is poignantly illustrated in Micheaux’s *Within Our Gates*, one of the earliest surviving films by an African American director. Released in 1920, the film confronts the brutal realities of lynching and sexual violence in the South, juxtaposed with the protagonist’s pursuit of education as a path to liberation. As scholars note, Micheaux’s work underscores the belief—widely held in the early 20th century—that “education was the key for blacks to move ahead” (Green, 2000). By intertwining personal and collective trauma, Micheaux’s narrative challenges viewers to acknowledge the South as both a site of suffering and a space for resilience.
Similarly, RaMell Ross’s Hale County This Morning, This Evening offers a contemporary exploration of Black life in Alabama’s Hale County, capturing mundane yet profound moments of family and community. Ross’s non-linear, poetic style resists stereotypical depictions of Southern Black poverty, instead presenting a meditation on persistence and beauty amid historical pain (Ross, 2018). These works suggest that Southern Black artists often grapple with family history not as a static past but as a living force shaping identity and artistic expression. This contrasts with Northern Black art of the Harlem Renaissance, where artists like Langston Hughes often framed their work as a break from Southern oppression, celebrating urban modernity (Huggins, 1971). The Southern perspective, however, reveals a more ambivalent relationship with place—one of rootedness despite adversity.
The Decision to Stay: Resistance and Reclamation
The act of remaining in the South, or returning after migration, can be seen as a radical form of resistance. While the Great Migration symbolised hope for a better life in the North, it also implied that the South was a place to escape—a “graveyard” of opportunity (Wilkerson, 2010). Yet, many Black individuals and families chose to stay, driven by ties to land, kin, and cultural heritage. This theme is evident in Charles Burnett’s *To Sleep with Anger*, a 1990 film that explores the cultural clash between Southern roots and Northern aspirations. The film centres on a family in Los Angeles, descendants of Great Migration migrants, whose suburban stability is disrupted by Harry, an old friend from the South. Harry embodies the survivalist cunning and moral ambiguity forged in a hostile Southern environment—traits necessary for endurance but unsettling in the North (Burnett, 1990). Through this narrative, Burnett highlights the cultural baggage of the South, suggesting that staying or returning is not passivity but a confrontation with history.
Furthermore, Southern Black art often reframes the narrative of place. Rather than viewing the South solely as a site of oppression, artists like those depicted in Hale County reveal a deep, complex love for the region. This act of reclamation—loving a land that has not always loved you back—challenges the dominance of Northern migration stories and asserts the South as a space of cultural vitality. As Wilkerson (2010) argues, staying in the South often required a different kind of courage, one rooted in enduring and transforming a hostile environment rather than fleeing it.
Southern Artistic Forms: Music and Beyond
The South’s contribution to Black art is inseparable from its musical traditions, which emerged as a primary mode of expression during and after slavery. Unlike the North, where literacy and access to public education developed more rapidly for African Americans during the early 20th century, the rural South lagged behind, with systemic barriers limiting formal education (Anderson, 1988). Music, however, required no institutional access—it was a communal, oral tradition passed through generations. Spirituals, blues, and later jazz and gospel became outlets for trauma, hope, and resistance, embedding Southern Black experiences into the cultural fabric of America (Levine, 1977). While Northern hubs like Harlem transformed these forms into polished literary and visual art during the Renaissance, the South remained the crucible of raw, unmediated expression.
Beyond music, Southern Black artists have employed film and visual storytelling to document their realities. Films like Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012) and Sounder (1972) capture the resilience of Southern Black communities, often through child protagonists who navigate poverty and loss with dignity. These narratives contrast with Northern-focused stories, such as those of the Harlem Renaissance, which often celebrated cosmopolitanism and intellectual freedom. The Southern lens, however, prioritises endurance and intimate familial bonds, reflecting the material and emotional constraints of the region (Levine, 1977).
North vs. South: Opportunity and Cultural Hubs
The Harlem Renaissance exemplifies how migration to the North created unparalleled opportunities for Black artists. As a cultural mecca in the 1920s and 1930s, Harlem fostered writers, poets, and musicians who could access education, publishing, and audiences unavailable in the segregated South (Huggins, 1971). However, this essay contends that the flourishing of Black art in the North was not solely due to superior talent migrating but rather the structural conditions—literacy programs, urban density, and relative freedom—that enabled expression. The South, conversely, often stifled formal education and artistic infrastructure, yet its cultural output persisted through alternative forms like music and oral storytelling.
Importantly, the notion that one must leave the South to succeed oversimplifies Black creative potential. As Anderson (1988) notes, the capacity for art and innovation was always present in African American communities; it was access, not ability, that differed between regions. Southern Black art, therefore, represents not a lack but a different kind of genius—one forged in isolation and adversity.
Conclusion
Southern Black art, as explored through works like *Within Our Gates*, *Hale County This Morning, This Evening*, and *To Sleep with Anger*, offers a vital counter-narrative to the dominant story of Northern migration. It reveals the complexities of staying in or returning to a region marked by trauma, while also celebrating the resilience and cultural depth of Southern Black communities. Themes of family history and intergenerational trauma underscore the persistence of the past in shaping contemporary identity, while music and visual storytelling emerge as key forms of expression in a region historically denied educational equity. By contrasting Southern art with Northern hubs like Harlem, this essay highlights that creative potential is inherent, not migratory—it is the conditions of place that shape its manifestation. Ultimately, to engage with Southern Black art is to confront a profound question: what does it mean to love and reclaim a land that has caused such pain? For modern audiences, both young and old, this exploration offers critical insights into history, identity, and the ongoing dialogue between past and present.
References
- Anderson, J. D. (1988) The Education of Blacks in the South, 1860-1935. University of North Carolina Press.
- Burnett, C. (1990) To Sleep with Anger. [Film]. Samuel Goldwyn Company.
- Green, J. R. (2000) Straight Lick: The Cinema of Oscar Micheaux. Indiana University Press.
- Huggins, N. I. (1971) Harlem Renaissance. Oxford University Press.
- Levine, L. W. (1977) Black Culture and Black Consciousness: Afro-American Folk Thought from Slavery to Freedom. Oxford University Press.
- Micheaux, O. (1920) Within Our Gates. [Film]. Micheaux Book & Film Company.
- Ross, R. (2018) Hale County This Morning, This Evening. [Film]. Cinema Guild.
- Wilkerson, I. (2010) The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration. Random House.
