Bloomberg Distinguished Professor Lawrence Jackson discussed his new book Chester B. Himes: A Biography on Thursday at Barnes & Noble. Jackson, a professor of history and English, talked about the life and influence of Himes, a mid-20th century African-American novelist and member of the Harlem Renaissance movement.
Jackson previously worked in studying the history of African American literature and culture. In 2002, he published a biography on Himes’ contemporary, Richard Wright, who was also an African-American writer.
Jackson was first introduced to Himes in college when he read Lonely Crusade.
“Lonely Crusade was another one of these novels that no one was talking about,” he said. “It was such a remarkable treatment of so many of the issues that continue to have this extraordinary resonance in our own era. Just to name two examples: the crisis of race and the labor movement.”
While traveling in Europe in 2004, Jackson said he visited the home of Michel Fabre, a scholar of African-American literature. Fabre co-authored a biography of Himes, in which Himes is compared to prominent black authors James Baldwin and Richard Wright. Although Jackson appreciated Fabre’s book, he wanted to write a more extensive biography of Himes.
“I felt like Chester deserves a big book,” he said. “I did have to remove about 60,000 words from the book to meet the contractual stipulations that I agreed to. That’s a wrenching process for any writer. Nonetheless, I think that we have a product that enables readers to get close to Chester Himes: his stories, his encounters, his struggles and his achievements.”
Jackson traveled to Mississippi, South Carolina, Missouri and Ohio in order to better understand Himes’ family and background. In Ohio, Himes committed a series of crimes that resulted in a 20-year sentence of hard labor.
“I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out his life and the rhythm of life in prison,” Jackson said. “Chester Himes sort of creates the template that we’re very familiar with today of black male going to prison and writing his way out.”
During his sentence, Himes witnessed firsthand a fire in which more than 300 men were either burned alive or died from smoke inhalation when the Ohio State Penitentiary burned in 1930.
“We rightfully talk today about mass incarceration, the prison industrial complex and ways that especially African Americans and Latinos are super exploited by these forces,” Jackson said. “But it is worthwhile to remember that when Chester Himes went to prison in December 1928, African Americans were about five percent of the total Ohio population, and they were always 25-30 percent of the penitentiary.”
According to Jackson, Himes’ criminal past made him a unique character.
“He often compared the literary life to prize fighting... saying a fighter fights and a writer writes,” Jackson said.
Jackson explained that unlike many African-American authors of the time, Himes refused to compromise his beliefs for the sake of being popular.
In addition, Himes often faced pressure to offer solutions to racism, which he did not do in his writing. Many criticized the book If He Hollers Let Him Go,which explored interracial sexual desires.
“Critics thought that the book was powerful and important but that the book did not offer a solution to the race problem,” he said. “Black writers in the 1940s were thought to have primarily been given an opportunity to address the American public to resolve the race problem.”
Sophomore Jack Klein said Jackson’s talk inspired him to learn more about Himes.
“I really liked how Chester Himes was never apologetic,” he said. “He was not someone who was going to dance around the subject or try to tell something as it was not, he was telling it as he saw it. I definitely would like to read more.”
Senior Rowan Houlihan held similar respect for Himes.
“I like his attitude as a person in not abiding by what the white man was telling him to do... even though that was totally atypical from his time period,” she said.
Houlihan added that she appreciates Jackson for shedding light on Himes’ work because she feels that individuals like him are sometimes underrepresented.
“Most people are familiar with the Harlem Renaissance and the works that came out of that, but you kind of get a gap in literature and culture between the ‘20s and ‘60s when it comes to black movements, literary and otherwise,” she said.
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