Frank Marshall Davis: The Fire and the Phoenix (a Critical Biography)

226 Pages·2012·142.674 MB·English

by  Kathryn Waddell Takara

The Fire and the Phoenix
A Critical Biography
Kathryn Waddell T I(aqul, Ph.D.

e,
Pacific Raven Press Publishing, Hawaii
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Copyright© Kathryn Waddell Takara, Ph.D.
ISBN-13
97809841228-9-9
ISBN-10
09841228-9-3
Second Printing: March 2012
Book Cover Idea & Concept by Ayin M. Adams & Kathryn Waddell
Takara, Ph.D.
Cover Design and Typesetting by Saforabu Graphix
Published by PACIFIC RAVEN PRESS
P.O. Box 678, Ka'a'awa, HI 96730 USA
www.pacificravenpress.com
Email: [email protected]
Telephone : [phone] USA
Fax Number: 1-808-237-8974 USA
Published in the United States of America.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by
any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without
the express written consent of Kathryn Waddell Takara, Ph.D. and Pacific
Raven Press Publishing.
Printed in USA.
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LITERARY REVIEWS
“Dr. Takara has brought forth a brilliant work. She has unearthed a gem
and polished it with skill, wit and a keen insight. The luminosity of her work
brings into sharp focus the life of an engaged writer, activist and a man with all
the complications of a human being. By using a socio-historical approach, Dr.
Takara reveals the scope of the work and time in which Frank Marshall Davis’
life was lived. We are informed of the social, political and cultural events
that shaped his life and inspired his creative world and writing. The role of a
biographer as listener and recorder has been painstakingly rendered, a labor of
love. This is a wonderful addition to the canon of African American Literature.
We are all the richer for this work!”
Rashidah Ismaili, ret. Rutgers University
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“Dr. Takara has done a masterful job of telling the story of Frank Marshall
Davis by encapsulating the experiences and circumstances that turned an
imaginative and creative mind into a force for civil rights and justice who
ultimately sacrificed power and career for a semblance of dignity and solace.
Takara has shed light on Davis’ near-disappearance from the literary limelight,
making a convincing argument that he is deserving of a place in the pantheon
of his contemporaries. Frank Marshall Davis: The Fire and the Phoenix is
an eye-opening glimpse into the soul of a complicated figure, and few could
duplicate the account of his journey as poignantly without Takara’s precious
firsthand experience.”
Marsha McFadden, City Editor, Honolulu Star Advertiser
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“Kathryn Waddell Takara has organized this work both in a time line and
commentary to guide the reader to appreciate Davis’s work under difficult
environments, including his last days in Hawai'i. Hawai'i challenged Davis
to survive in economic terms and to describe and to analyze the effects of the
similarities and differences of the Hawaiian influences in the Black experiences
in and around Hawai'i.”
Kiyoshi Ikeda, Professor Emeritus, University of Hawai'i
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“I have always known that Kathryn Takara was an astute intellectual. She
writes prose with the precision and passion of a poet. Her biography of Frank
Marshall Davis brings to life a man who lived in tumultuous times. The racism
of the times can be experienced clearly through his eyes via the words of Dr.
Takara. A wonderfully passionate story!”
Carol A. Dickson, Professor, University of Hawai'1 at
Manoa
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BOOKS BY KATHRYN WADDELL TAKARA
New and Collected Poems. Berkeley, CA:
Ishmael Reed Publishing Co., 2003.
Pacific Raven: Hawaii Poems. Ka'a awa, HI:
Pacific Raven Press, 2009.
Tourmalines: Beyond the Ebony Portal. Ka'a awa, HI:
Pacific Raven Press, 2010.
DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to my loving, courageous, brilliant, and
inspirational parents, William H. Waddell, VMD and Lottie Rochelle
Younge Waddell, MA in French and an MA in German, and to the family of
Frank Marshall Davis.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I wish to extend hearty and warm thanks to my professors and
colleagues who through the years gave me feedback on my ideas for this
manuscript, various drafts, revisions and generously offered their time,
comments, criticism, and suggestions including, but not limited to: Peter
Manicas, Deane Neubauer, Manfred Henningsen, Farideh Fardhi, Majid
Tehranian, Miles Jackson, Paul Lyons, Craig Howes, Rodney Roberts, John
Edgar Tidwell, Ishmael Reed, Barbara Christian (d), Joe Balaz, Therese
Mera Moore Lafferty, Elizabeth Buck, Marie Iding, Carolann Dickson,
Steve Tracy, Robert Chrisman, Rashidah Ismaili, Karla Brundage, Diane
Pikeborn (d), Pat Hickman, and Maya Angelou.
A huge bouquet of gratitude goes to my family, near and far. If it were
not for the love and support of my parents, Bill and Lottie Waddell, my
husband, Harvey Takara, daughters, Karla Brundage and Natasha Takara
Harrington, and the extended Takara, Younge, Green, and Waddell clans, 1
might not have stuck with this large and sometimes thorny project.
The loving listening, reading, feedback, encouragement and abundant
support, food, laughter, libations, music, prayers, and company of friends
and artists gave me the amazing strength and fortitude to persist, to speak
out for freedom, justice, and inclusion. I salute and give thanks to these
inspiring friends who shared their care, attention, energy, and stories with
me, including but not limited to: Richard Hamasaki, Daphne and Andre
Wooten, Sandra Simms, Andrea Anixt, George and Terri Rainey, Tom
Mountain, Gladys Crampton, Doug Matsuoka, Gary Pak, Marc Shlachter,
Joan and Irwin Koff, Doug Lamerson, Carla Blank and Tennessee Reed,
Debra Taniguchi and Mosso Uli'i, Lois Saruwatari, Ruth Rendely, Lyndon
Fong, Brenda Andrieu, Carol Shepherd, Opal Palmer Adisa, Lucille Day,
Amahra Hicks, Reginald Lockett, Kathy Sloane, Q R Hand, Percy and Joan
Hintzon, Ibrahim Aoude, Mary Myers, bell hooks, Lucille Clifton, Margaret
Burroughs, the Harrington family, the Carter family, the Malanaphy clan,
Beth Davis Charlton, Allison Francis, Bill Danks, Adela Chu and Kim
Duffett, Tony Edward, Corinna Fales, John and Jackie Streetz, Karyn
Parham Jones, Francesca Calderone Steichen Stamer, Bambi Good, Marita
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Rivero, Chuck Lawrence and Mari Matsuda, Haunani-Kay Trask, Kristen
Timothy, Gail Hovey, The Hawai'i Links, Inc., and Ayin Adams.
Last, but certainly not least, I am grateful to Pacific Raven Press who
believed in me, my research and writing, and convinced me that I had a
great story to tell that would contribute to the history of Jim Crow in middle
America, black journalism, black editors and community activists, the role
of blacks in the labor movement, early Civil Rights issues and struggles, and
the transcendence of Davis as a witness of his times and as a courageous
warrior who wrote his life and documented the times, both on the mainland
USA and in Hawai'i.
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