After reading the expert from Coates’ book Between the World and Me, and Baldwin’s “Letter to My Nephew” from the Fire Next Time, consider the argument between W.E.B. DuBois and Alain Locke about the responsibility of artists.
Is the job of the African artist to express their own individuality while creating something of universal appeal, or to represent blacks and the black experience with an aim to uplift the race?
is it possible to create art that does not reflect ones identity in society? do black artists represent their race whether they want to or not?
on which sided do Coates and Baldwin fall in this debate, and why?