Toni Morrison and the New Black
Reading God Help the Child

Toni Morrison and the New Black examines how Morrison explores the concept of the new black in the context of post-soul, post-black and post-racial discourses. Morrison evolves the new black as symbolic of unprecedented black success in all walks of life, from politics to the media, business and beyond. Jaleel Akhtar's work shows how the new black reaffirms the possibility of upward mobility and success, and stands as testimony to the American Dream that anyone can achieve material success provided they work hard enough for it.

Acknowledgements

Introduction

1 Passing as the Old Black

2 Passing as the New Black

3 Oreotizing the New Black

4 The New Black Melancholy

Conclusion: Apostrophe in God Help the Child

Bibliography

Index

In his detailed, textured analysis, Jaleel Akhtar assesses God Help the Child as

Toni Morrison’s articulation of “new black” identities as fluid, plastic and evolving

from both Harlem Renaissance conceptualizations of the “New Negro” and from

the post-civil rights era