Artifact 1: “Blood On The Leaves” by Billie Holiday

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Billie Holiday’s 1939 song “Blood On The Leaves” is a moving and impactful example of African-American rhetoric (AAR) that is just as relevant today as it was when it was originally recorded. At the time, African-Americans were facing systemic injustice and institutional violence as a result of post-slavery legislation that perpetuated mistreatment before the Civil Rights Movement. Our modern perspective allows us to reflect on how far we’ve come, but simultaneously on how we still have so far to go to reach equality of treatment and opportunity for all Americans regardless of their skin color. Holiday’s song cuttingly likens the Black Americans who were lynched in the American South to fruit on poplar trees, whose blood stained the leaves and the culture as a whole.

Holiday later went on to face persecution for unrelated incidents that are now largely contested and questionable. This reminds me of the treatment received by Martin Luther King, Jr. after he was deemed a disruptive figure by authoritarian and racist figures in the United States who didn’t want anyone questioning the status quo. This song made its impact before becoming subject to such scrutiny, however, and has become an incredibly recognizable song that employs AAR tactics masterfully.

Holiday uses many foundational AAR techniques to maximize the emphasis of her messaging and tone, but the two that stand out most to me are pathos and tonal semantics. Firstly, Holiday’s emotional appeal is one of the strongest I’ve ever seen regardless of discipline or subject matter. I was in the eighth grade when I heard this song for the first time, and I remember how significant of an impact it had on me when I realized what was being symbolized in the lyrics. When the listener understands that the “strange fruit” hanging from the southern trees in the song is really Black Americans who have been killed, the reasonable response is to feel sickened and horrified, which is the exact impact that Holiday was likely striving to evoke by tackling this issue. The shock of the subject matter makes this song incredibly emotionally resonant, and therefore, rhetorically effective.

Tonal semantics is the use of voice and delivery to convey meaning, which Holiday uses amazingly while singing this song. Her vocal delivery comes off almost as if she’s in disbelief as to what she’s seeing, while eventually coming to the terrifying understanding that this is the culture and world she finds herself living in. The ominous tone of the song’s instrumental backing supports Holiday’s vocal delivery hauntingly, and her use of tonal semantics strengthens this song’s impact.

Our modern understanding of African-American rhetoric is shaped by the long-lasting artifacts from our history like Holiday’s “Blood On The Leaves”. While nothing will ever precisely recapture the historical context and resonance that this song seems to so effortlessly deliver, it has been referenced countless times. There is still systemic injustice in the United States, and Holiday proves that our willingness to communicate this injustice through art can lead to eventual meaningful change.

Artifact 2: Invisible Man by Ralph Waldo Ellison

Ralph Waldo Ellison’s 1952 novel Invisible Man contains many examples of African-American rhetorical tactics that help communicate the Black experience in America during the twentieth century. Ellison, whose magnum opus novel has become a social and literary staple because of its clear messaging and carefully-constructed narrative, was a messenger for advocator for social justice throughout his storied career. Although disheartening at times, Invisible Man’s ending is optimistic for a better future.

I find that many of the topics covered in this novel relate to those of cultural critic and prophetic mind W.E.B Du Bois who wrote The Souls of Black Folk at the dawn of the twentieth century. One of these concepts is the idea of a “double consciousness” that many Black Americans had to navigate, as they needed to appease both white Americans and other Black Americans’ perceptions of them. This put many in a challenging situation, especially in regard to their sense of self-awareness, as they were unable to find comfort in any community in the United States. Invisible Man’s narrator experiences many of the same phenomena, and Ellison communicates these struggles incredibly well.

Narrative sequencing is the result of a strong tradition of storytelling in Black communities as a means to communicate meaningful ideas. These specific kinds of stories can be used to serve a variety of purposes, including to persuade, inform, or emphasize certain things, which makes it a valid rhetorical strategy. The nameless narrator-protagonist of this story relates to his audience as a collective who wants to understand how he’s wound up in his hiding place established at the beginning of the story. By establishing the relationship between the reader and narrator as familiar, Ellison sets the stage to use narrative sequencing to communicate the ideas of double consciousness that Du Bois founded nearly a half-century earlier.

The concept of “Maat” is a sense of justice and balance in society, and is often the goal of African-American rhetoric’s employment. After establishing the mistreatment faced by the narrator in this story, who states in the opening chapter that “I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me. Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorting glass. When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves or figments of their imagination, indeed, everything and anything except me,” (Ellison) the reader understands that changes need to occur to establish any sense of Maat in this story. By the story’s conclusion, the narrator states that he has shared his details to help others understand and see him, and to let the readers know that he sees them, saying: "Who knows but that, on the lower frequencies, I speak for you?" (Ellison) Work still needs to be done, but a sense of Maat feels achievable at the end of this novel through empathy and listening, which are still necessary in today’s society.

Invisible Man helps us understand that there is still so much work to be done, but that achieving a sense of equality is possible one day. Ending fairly idealistically, the novel encourages the reader to reflect on other African-American rhetorical artifacts from real life, like Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech, which reminds us to treat one another based on the content of character instead of the color of skin. African-American rhetoric uses a variety of tools and strategies to entice audiences, educate others on struggles and perspectives, and communicate ancestral traditions of communal support and culture that lives on through it. It should be celebrated, studied, and incorporated in as many modern rhetorical situations as possible to extend its vivacious and meaningful legacy.