audiobook A Defense Weapon Known to Be of Value: Servicewomen of the Korean War Era by Linda Witt; Judith Bellafaire; Britta Granrud; Mary Jo Binker in History

Description

This book; like a major archaeological dig; unearths a littleknown; now vanished civilization and changes how we understand history. In the 1940s; when FDR opened up the defense industry to black workers; it inspired a massive wave of black migration to a small area of Los Angeles along Central Avenue—and cultural ferment in the arts; culture; and politics. In a neighborhood densely packed with black musicians; independent labels and after hours spots; rhythm and blues was spawned. Chester Himes fathered the black detective novel and a noir sensibility. Black comics took off minstrel blackface for the first time and addressed audiences directly with socially-tinged humor. And; Smith suggests; the civil rights movement helped get its start; as the strategy of building mass movements and giving power to ghetto dwellers gained favor in opposition to the top-down strategies of the NAACP and the Urban League. Harlem's Renaissance had been driven by the intellectual elite. In L.A.; a new sense of black identity arose from street level. But when the moment was over; many hopes and lives were swept away with it. Based on original research and interviews; told through an engaging narrative; this book shows convincingly that much that we take for granted today; from hip hop and slang to modern-day street fashion; all flowed from the 1940s scene along the Great Black Way.