75. 12 Million black voices (52)

1. Who wrote "12 Million Black Voices?''

A:- Richard Wright wrote '12 Million Black Voices.

2. What is the subtitle?

A:- The subtitle is 'A Folk History of the Negro in the United States'.

3. When did Wright live?

A:- Richard Wright lived from 1908 to 1960.

4. When was 12 Million Black Voices published?

A:- '12 Million Black Voices' was published in 1941.

5. How is the black in the United States referred to as?

A:- The black in the United States is referred to as 'Negro.'

5. With whom did Richard Wright collaborated in 1941 to produce 12 MBV?

A:- Richard Wright collaborated with Edwin Rosskam in 1941 to produce 12 MBV.

6. What is 12 MBV about?

A:- 12 MBV is about the folk history of the Negroes in the United States.

7. What is the main theme of 12 MBV.

A:- The main theme of 12 MBV is about discrimination and slavery of African Americans and their sufferings and fears of the same people.

8. How many pictures are there in 12 MBV?

A:- There are 90 pictures in 12 MBV.

9. Of which year's lives of the black people is shown in the photos?

A:- The photos which show the lives of the black people belong to the year 1930.

10. How many parts are there in 12 MBV?

A:- There are four parts in 12 MBV.

11. Where from the photographs been selected?

A:- The photographs in 12 MBV have been selected from Security Farm Administration files.

12. Name the four parts?

A:- The four parts of 12 MBV are named as- "Our Strange Birth", "Inheritors of slavery", "Death of the city pavements" and "Men in the making."

13. Who selected the photographs?

A:- Edwin Rosskam selected the photographs for 12 MBV.

14. To which period did the photographs belong? Elaborate the significance of the period on the blacks.

A:- The photographs belonged to the Great Depression period of 1930s when the blacks were most discriminated. Depression era's literature was blunt, direct, simple, evocative and was part of social criticism.

The white male employment was the first priority. The blacks were paid less for the same jobs. Only 5% of blacks found well-paid jobs compared to 30% of whites.

15. 12 MBV consists of how many pages?

A:- 12 MBV consisted of 152 pages.

16. What information is consisted in the fourth part?

A:- The fourth part of 12 MBV also consists information about the photographs.

17. Who was Richard Wright?

A:- Richard Wright was an American novelist and writer who lived from 1908 to 1960. His writings were mainly on the lives and sufferings of African Americans of United States.

18. What is the full name of the writer of 12MBV?

A:- Richard Nathaniel Wright is the full of the author of 12MBV.

19. Who was Edwin Rosskam?

A:- Edwin Rosskam was a photo-director and collaborator in 12 MBV.

20. Is 12 MBV a poem?

A:- No, 12 MBV is a prose piece. But it has the elements of poetry and passion too.

21. Whose photographs were included ?

A:- The photographs included works by giants like Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange and Arthur Rothstein.

22. What did the photographs depict?

A:- The photographs depicted details from crowded, rundown farm shacks to Harlem storefront churches, the misery and weariness of the blacks under rural poverty, their spiritual strength and their lives in northern areas of United States. The 90 photos depict a powerful commentary on the origin and history of black oppression in the United States.

23. Who wrote the new prefaces in 12 MBV?

A:- Douglas Brinkley, Noel Ignatiev and Michael Eruc Dyson wrote the new prefaces in 12 MBV.

24. What is the time period covered in 12 MBV? What is it about?

A:- 12 MBV covers the time from slavery till the present time (till the times of Richard Wright) of blacks in the United States.

It is an account of injustice experienced by each generation of African Americans for being black coloured. It speaks about the crime of racism and about those who fought against it. It illustrates the struggle in forming an identity and finding a place in American history.

25. What is meant by 'folk' in the subtitle of 12 MBV?

A:- 'Folk' in the subtitle of 12 MBV means the traditions of the particular community of the African Americans or blacks of United Stares. It is pertaining to their land, culture and history. It can be described as something related to their beliefs and opinions about themselves and as opposed to the ruling whites.

26. Who coined the term "Talented Tenth?"

A:- W.  E.  B.  Du Bois coined the term "Talented Tenth" in the 1930s. 

27. What does the term "talented tenth" mean? 

A:- "Talented Tenth" means 10% of the blacks in the higher education system for developing leaders from among the blacks.

28. Who were the earliest settlers in America in the 16th-17th century?

A:- The Puritans from England were the earliest settlers in America in the 16th and 17th century.

29. What is New England?

A:- America was called New England by the Englishmen or Puritans who settled there.

30. How was America divided?

A:- America was divided as Northern and Southern America.

31. Who occupied the Southern America more?

A:- The Southern America was mostly occupied by the blacks who had been transported from Africa as slaves.

32. What was grown in Southern America?

A:- Southern America was mostly occupied with cotton planatation which was grown by the blacks.

33. Which European revolution affected the liberation struggle of the blacks?

A:- The principles of "equality, liberty and fraternity" of the French Revolution had affected a section of the Puritans who in turn infused the blacks with the same ideas to help abolish slavery. This led to the starting of the black struggle to end slavery.

34. Who were the 'master' as per the Bible and the whites?

A:- As per the Bible the 'master' to be obeyed must be God only. But the whites in America misconstrue the meaning of 'master' for the blacks and want the latter to obey the whites instead of obeying the biblical principle of equality.

35. Give two examples of how the blacks were discriminated in education and church.

A:- Some of the discriminations that the blacks faced from the whites in America were like, the black children were barred from going to schools and the blacks were expected to sing praises of God and hymns in lowered voices.

36. Who were the two group of leaders as per Richard Wright?

A:- Bosses of the Buildings and Lords of the Land were the two groups of leaders for the blacks as per Richard Wright.

37. Why did the white Americans wanted to levy taxes?

A:- The whites wanted to levy taxes upon the entire nation with the sole objective to raise money for deporting the blacks.

38. What were the different cultivations that the blacks were engaged in?

A:- Cotton plantation and sugar plantation were some of the major cultivations that the blacks were engaged in. Tobacco was also cultivated.

39. What was the strength of the blacks in agriculture?

A:- More than one-half of blacks in the United States were tillers of the soil and three-fourths of the tillers were sharecroppers and day labourers.

40. What does the word 'Negro' indicate?

A:- The word 'Negro' indicates the black folk of the United States. The using of this word actually creates a psychological barrier in between the blacks and others. It artificially and arbitrarily defines the blacks in that country and regulates and limits the scope of living lives fully generations after generations.

41. Who first started the slave trade?

A:- The Portugals and other colonizers first started the Atlantic slave trade in the 15th century when they went to colonize Africa.

42. Who were the original or natives of USA?

A:- The Red Indians and the Spanish people were the original people or natives of USA.

43. Which state first abolished slavery in USA?

A:- Pennsylvania first abolished slavery in the USA.

44. Who abolished slavery from America?

A:- Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery from America in the 19th century.

45. By which amendment was slavery abolished from America?

A:- Slavery was abolished in America in 1865 with the help of the famous 13th amendment. It came into effect in 1866.

46. Are Africans monolithic?

A:- Africans are not monolithic people. They are enriched with various cultures within themselves.

47. What was the condition of the slave women? 

A:- The slave women or black women were also ill treated by the whites. The were either maids or nannies. When their men were away in work they were physically assaulted or raped.

48. What role did the black slave women play in America? 

A:- The black slave women played huge role in preserving their African culture even in America. They handed down the African stories and songs orally from generation to generation. They even preserved the female African way of dressing. The African women not only gave highest importance to family but they even maintained polygamy with acceptance and as part of their family.

49. How did the blacks reacted in public even after abolition of slavery?

A:- Even after slavery was abolished,  the blacks in America could not immediately free themselves from the mental slavery in front of the whites.  When they travelled in trains from South to North for jobs and better opportunities they were scared to sit side by side in the same wagons with the whites.  Even inside buses, they first waited for the whites to occupy seats. In various other jobs they continued to do odd jobs and still behaved as slaves. The blacks could not forget the three hundreds years old slavery so fast. That was why he could not become easily free in public places.

50. How many ships did the first slave ship carry? 

A:- The first slave ship carried just twenty slaves from Africa to America.

51. What is Queen cotton?

A:- Queen cotton is the cotton cultivation of southern America. It was called Queen because it gave enormous profits to America. There was huge global demand for cotton and America became the largest producer of cotton at that time.

52. Under which genre does this book come under? 

A:- 12MBV comes under colonial/protest or resistance/minority/black/psychological colonialism/Afro-American/World/New literature or slave narrative genre.