Ethiopia is Now: Black America and Italian Imperialism, 1935-36

• In Event: Rhetoric, Race, and Resistance: Old and New Challenges

Abstract

In 1935 Italy invaded Ethiopia and African Americans negotiated their relationship with the last free state in Africa and its symbolic configurations in their discursive past. This essay analyzes J.A. Roger’s response to the invasion, a 1936 pamphlet entitled “The Real Facts About Ethiopia.” I argue that the text employs a temporal frame to critique racial and political boundaries created by colonialism and to articulate a progressive, empowered afro-diasporic community.

Author

• Aric E. Putnam, St. John's University