“A Free America for All Peoples . . .”: Fredi Washington, the Negro Actors Guild, and the Voice of the People (Article)
Title: “A Free America for All Peoples . . .”: Fredi Washington, the Negro Actors Guild, and the Voice of the People
Author: Laurie A Woodard
Abstract: “‘A Free America for All Peoples…’: Fredi Washington, the Negro Actors Guild, and the Voice of the People” explores the work of New Negro performing artist and civil rights activist Fredi Washington during the 1930s. I delve into her tenure as a founding member and Executive Director of the Negro Actors Guild, Inc. and as a columnist for Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.’s progressive newspaper “The Peoples Voice” and argue that Washington’s experience both on and off the stage and screen transforms our understanding of the New Negro Renaissance. Because of her unique vantage point as a black, female, performing artist, a writer, and an activist, Washington was both a central actor in and a reflection of the New Negro Renaissance, which was integral to the long civil rights movement, the Black Freedom Movement, and the social transformation of 20th-century America.
Year: 2020
Primary URL: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/709201
Access Model: subscription only
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Journal of African American History
Publisher: Uniniversity of Chicago Press

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