August Wilson's Legacy

August Wilson was an African American playwright who created a series of 10 plays. “I read that [Moss Hart’s autobiography, Act One] when I was 20 and didn’t know anything about theater” (Kachka). His love for plays and theater was always there but at around the age of 20 he started actually writing some of his own work. He took notes of the people around him in his daily life, anything from people at the local bars to random people on the streets. Then when he would get home from doing his “research”, he would sit and write for hours. Wilson’s plays were very influential in fact that they were real, this is something that not many people had done in the past so it was definitely a change to the theatrical community. Because of how different these plays were and how the reality affected people, Wilson obviously made a lasting impression on the community.

As individuals and the public, every one apart of that said community leaves behind a legacy, whether it is good or bad. Wilson’s legacy of showing the reality of African Americans hardship and reality in society helped shape the next generation of playwrights and the theater goers. As an appreciation and acknowledgment of August’s work, a theater in New York City where he grew up, was renamed after him in 2005. Wilson was able to pass on his legacy by doing something that would forever change the theatrical community forever. I don’t think people understand that a legacy can leave behind a certain reputation. Whether a legacy is positive or negative it can affect the future and reflect on the past, leaving a legacy is a very important part of living. Leave a legacy you can be proud of.

Wilson's Legacy

To find the legacy of August Wilson we have to look at what he’s done. As stated in the article “A tough lesson about the N-word” to know a person’s aims, it may help to know his history (Bogira). August Wilson is an American playwright who’s best known for his cycle of 10 plays that demonstrate the 20^th century African-American experience. All but one of Wilson’s plays are set in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, the neighborhood where Wilson was born. While he misses his home he also dislikes it, he has said that he has this sort of love-hate relationship with Pittsburgh. Wilson wrote his first notable play in 1979, for which he earned a fellowship at the Minneapolis Playwright Center. This is where it all began for Wilson, in 1987 he earned his first Pultizer Prize for his play “Fences” (Wilson).[1] His plays were about how African Americans struggled in the 20^th century. He was so renowned that fourteen days after Wilson’s death, the Virginia Theatre in New York City’s Broadway Theater District was renamed the August Wilson Theatre.

His legacy reveals a larger message about race, power, and language in the sense that his plays demonstrated how African-Americans were treated in the 20^th century. They had no power and were treated terribly because of their race. Language played an important part because in his plays he would use the N word to show us what it was like to be an African-American in the 20^th century.  

August Wilson Legacy

August Wilson carriers a great legacy in his life time production of plays. August Wilson has a great legacy because he was one of the first African Americans to write plays for black people and still to this day his wife carries on his legacy. Wilson's plays are all about how African American's struggled back in the 20th Century how Africans struggled with adversary. He wanted to change the views hoe African Americans were being seen.  All the plays that August Wilson created opened spots for African Americans to be in his productions he wrote. August Wilson created a lot of shows but he was famous for Fences “which takes place in the 1950’s and 1960’s, is what Author Miller referred to in 1947 as “‘The Tragedy of the Common Man.’”(Sheteir)

August Wilson legacy reveals his influence he had on African Americans back in the 20^th century. In the Article it said “When Wilson started writing the cycle in 1979 (to remind us), you could count the number of mainstream African- American play writers on one hand.”(Sheteir) Also Wilson showed power to African Americans because without him taking the time to write plays for African Americans some people probably wouldn’t even have jobs. All in all you can say August Wilsons plays were very well thought out and very creative for African- Americans. “But Wilsons example led the way by setting the bar high for other African-American play writes. (And yet as Wilson would be the first to say, the American theater, particularly outside of New York, remains overwhelmingly white.)” (Sheteir)

August Wilson

The legacy of August Wilson was that he was the first African American that did a complete cycle but the other that have tried didn’t completely finish them but he did. His legacy reveal a larger message about how the race and power and language can affect any part in a person’s life. So in the spirt of august Wilson he didn’t reach the success without some down falls but even the facts that of him dropping out of high was a down fall because it never stopped him. He wasn’t just impacting the theater he impacted a lot of people in his tracks even his last wife before he passed away Judy Oliver says “August was very excited about it. I knew what he wanted in terms of casting and other things and being involved was a gift to me. It helped me with my grieving.”(Berson) but the fact that she was being involved about her late husband work and to this day she still too continues his work because she was involved of the process “I love his plays. And they will always bring him back to me” (Berson).

                 His legacy reveal a larger message because  when he was out in about in the streets he  knew and understood the struggles  of how African Americans were being treated  and what better way of writing then write about something that was close to heart and that is what he did. But he was inspired by Ed Bullins because it was his first time he saw a black character of that type for example “ what they would  call in today’s language the underclass present onstage." (Kachka)

Legacy of August Wilson

August Wilson was one of first and many African- American who wrote dozen of contemporary playwrights. He was a man who liked variety of different music and even some of his friend were very astonished when finding out he listens to German opera. Wilson would try to read enormous of different kid’s book. “Whatever I could get my hands on”. (Kachka) He wrote cycle of plays. He wrote one for every decade and each of his plays connect to one another which was very fascinating to know. Since Wilson was spending most of his time in the library, he would try to read different plays and even though he didn't understand the meaning he would try everything he could to understand the meaning behind each words and sentence. “I still don’t know, but it sounds good” (Kachka). One of Wilson legacy that isn't every physical would be in his play, it reflected on real life and the struggle of African American. Some physical legacy of Wilson would be that there is a theater name after him. He wanted people to notice the different stereotype being used in today’s world and in the 20^th century.

His legacy reveals a larger message about race, power and language intersect in the united by the different African American character he had in his plays which showed the struggle they were going through in those time. I have notice people would want you to talk a certain way because of how you were possibly raised and where you came from. For example in the article “language, power and the performance of race and class it talks about how Obama had African American family but didn't spend most of his time with them but in other hand he lived most his life with his white family and that’s why he “talks White”. “Of what member of the category “African American might look like-so why is he characterized here as half American” (Bailey). People believe that since you have some white in your skin color you should be toward that race rather than just African-American. 

The legacy of August Wilson

                A famous 20^th century writer/playwright who extensively covered the lifestyle and history of African-American culture and struggle, August Wilson has left a tremendous impact on society today. Creating 10 plays(one for each decade of the 20^th century), Wilson depicted the lives of blacks and raised consciousness through the theater. Genuinely caring about the message that the audience took from his work, Wilson hoped to offer a different way to look at black Americans. Basic aspects of life – love, honor, beauty, etc. – were all presented through his characters throughout the 20^th century. Wilson’s legacy isn't just defined on how many people watched his plays or the awards he received, but the everlasting impression he’s had on society as a whole. Wilson’s ambition and integrity has set the bar high playwrights everywhere. Even today, after his death, August Wilson’s work is shown in multiple cities across the United States. The renaming of the Virginia Theater to the August Wilson Theater is a commendable highlight that honors his life and legacy.

                Writing on morally sensitive topics such as race and struggle, Wilson made people think about important aspects of race, power, and language. In the article “Language, Power, and the Performance of Race and Class” the relation between these concepts was generalized on how society perceives them. If you are a black man you are expected to talk differently than a Latino in language, and if you are a certain race you are grouped by power/status. Wilson positively expressed black language in his plays, not using dialect to separate and differentiate a certain race, but to take pride in your language. August Wilson showed the everyday life of African-Americans and basic ideas of living, bringing to light the conception of equality between race, power, and language. 

August Wilson and his legacy

August Wilson was, "an African American playwright whose works helped put Pittsburgh on the literary map" (Panchak). August had a 10-play cycle about African-American life in the 20th century. His plays highlighted the effects that racism has on African-American communities in the United States. August left a legacy that is still with us to this day. Being one of the first African- American playwrights, he has left a great influence. He gave African Americans a voice. "As long as people are reading, they will be reading about Pittsburg , and that's what August Wilson did for us, he said. "We owe him" (Panchak). He created famous work and achieved so much in his life time. He also set a high bar for other African-American playwrights.

August' legacy reveals a larger message about how race, power, and language intersect in the United States. In the article I read by Steve Bogira, Bernard Brown, a teacher,  found it extremely important that he enhanced his students understanding of their own African American roots. August' plays put these roots to life with his plays. Race, power, and language all intertwine when talking about August Wilson. He gave himself and other African-Americans power by standing up and highlighting the effects racism has on African Americans in his works, and the language he used. People to this day still can learn from August Wilson and his works. You can still find any of it today, and that just shows how much power he and other African-Americans gained from his works.

August Wilson Legacy

August Wilson legacy is great and respected, he was local play writer in Pittsburgh and in Pittsburgh there is a building name after him it’s called “August Wilson Center for African American culture” according to Bill Schackner. Unfortunately the building that has his name faced some financial problems and some local members of a school board banded together to fix the issue.  One member named Randall Taylor said “as long as people are reading, they will be reading about Pittsburgh, and that’s what August Wilson did for us, we owe him. Taylor also said “the city cannot let a building that bears Wilson’s named be associated with failure, according to Bill Schackner. This is important because there a lot of people who respect Wilson’s Legacy so much they don’t want to tarnish his great legacy.

What his legacy reveals is that when Wilson would write his Main topic would be about the lives of African Americans and what they go through daily. By him doing this it opened up the dialogue to talk to about race problems in the United States. Also when he would write it was true to how African American’s would speak at the time, which showed the difference in language in the United States. Lastly the fact he had so much power to influence people to see his plays and the fact that his plays made people feel comfortable with talking about race and Language in public and private settings as well.  

Thank you for reading .

Legacy of August Wilson

August Wilson was one of the first African Americans to create a "10 play cycle" covering every decade of the 20th century. He has received two Pulitzer prizes from "Fences" and also "The Piano" Lesson. His plays all center about the African-American struggle in 20th-century America. This created an opportunity for African Americans actors to obtain a position in one of his many plays.   His physical legacy is having the Broadway’s Virginia Theatre getting renamed as August Wilson Theatre, it was the first theater to be named after an African American. His legacy of plays showed everyone how much African Americans had to endure during the 1920's. He has left us with a lot more than just a theater, he has made many people think about what life was like for African Americans in that time period and what they have had to do to get where they are now.

His legacy revealed a larger message showing us that now African Americans have opportunities that they didn't have in the 1920's-1950's time period. He showed us that through his play "Fences", fences is about "Troy Maxson, who in his youth played in the Negro Leagues but then became a garbage man." (Shteir, Rachel) That play showed us how Troy wanted to play professional baseball but had to battle tons racism. I like what Benjamin Bailey said about race that “Race is not about what one is, but rather what one counts as in a particular time and place.” That is exactly what Wilson has shown us all, in that time era of his plays African Americans were considered to be the lesser race and now you look around and every race is equal. Everyone has an equal opportunity to get what they want. You can see now we have an African American president and they never would have thought we would have that back then.

The Legacy of August Wilson

By Brook Fuhlendorf

August Wilson was an African American playwright who is famous for his cycle of ten plays titled "The Pittsburgh Cycle". Each play represented a decade of the twentieth-century and was expressing the African American experience at this time. This is his legacy. One article, Embracing the Legacy of August Wilson, spoke of his legacy. It stated, "It is a small cardboard box. One box, containing 10 slim volumes" (Berson). That's all. "That might not seem like much. But that box contains a celebrated Seattle writer's life's work, and a century's worth of anguish, humor, poetry, rage and hope" (Berson). His tangible legacy consists of the scripts to his powerful plays, but more than that, his legacy is in the people he touched.  After he died, his wife said, "I love his plays. And they always bring him back to me" (Berson). Those who saw his plays may never forget him or the message that he portrayed to them. These people may pass on this message to their children and so on. Thanks to him, we, who did not know the experiences that he and other African Americans of the time had, can learn from this.  His legacy consists of those who are, even today, learning from his works. He has helped to create a more knowledgeable generation who can look on the past and learn from it.

His legacy reveals a larger message than one may believe. His plays are built upon a message of the connections of race, power, and language. Language can have a large effect on people. In his plays he used offensive language; this was not intended to offend, but to teach us about the effect of words. These words were used to target and belittle a race. The "n-word" was intended to show African Americans that white people had the power and were above them. Using this language in his plays made them more powerful and accurate for the time period. Additionally, his plays give a voice to those who haven't always had a voice. This intertwining of race, language, and power was a central idea in his plays. August Wilson was a man with a powerful legacy, no matter what size box you can fit it into.

August Wilson and His legacy

August Wilson is an American playwright best known for his unprecedented cycle of 10 plays that account for the 20th century African-American experience. I believe august Wilson legacy is for his plays that explores a century’s worth of African-American struggle and triumph in his plays, beginning with the complex narrative of freedom at the turn of the century. While he might just been a playwright his plays gave an historical insight of the effect America’s racism on the African-American community. His plays were in Broadway. Also giving inspiration to the modern day playwrights we have in America today such as Suzan Lori Parks, or the elegant Lynn Nottage that seen his plays who stared Fantastic African-American actors such as Lawrence Fishbone. You could see the physical sense of his legacy in our artistic culture today by the theater that was named after him.

His legacy reveals a larger message about how race, power, and language intersect in the United states in the play Fences in the article that I read “August Wilson; what is his legacy, really?” it said that main character is Troy Maxson, Troy while he was young played in the Negro Leagues. But since it was the play was set 1950’s Troy later became a garbage man while being set at a time where there slim to none career choices that African-American have, the plays relays a bigger message on power and class because in our society there are equals rights for all races in Americas melting pot cities from the south to plains of North Carolina.

Wilson's Contribution to Breaking Down Race Illusions

August Wilson's legacy consisted of a collection of plays and works he crafted that dealt with significant social conundrums that related to racial discrimination, language barriers and much more that resulted in "the Century Cycle". The projects were decade by decade and tackled the problematic race generalizations and the many more misunderstandings and complications that plagued the times he wrote about. These were critically acclaimed and enlightened many people and touched them as well. This is clear when Romero takes over his work and does what she needed to do to continue to enhance and spread his message in order to reach more people and make more of an impact. His work paints a larger picture of a community and culminates to an astounding set about the misinformation and other details that prevents movement and forward thinking. The works had reworked covers showing "Black America" which paints a picture Wilson conveys through his plays that there is a larger sense of art and a flourishing network of incredible people while trying to eliminate stereotypes and implicate education and enlightenment. I feel Romero proved this point when she "put a portrait of Ma Rainey on the cover of Wilson's 'Ma Rainy's Black Bottom.' A young black child at the keyboard adorns the script of his Pulitzer Prize work, 'The Piano Lesson';Wilson enlightened his audience about the hardships and trials minorities deal with and how certain behaviors and processes are perceived and results in racial categorization in the United States. Wilson's work highlighted these fallacies and continued to do so when he outlined these thoughts in each individual volume. His work had made an impact on many different people and many of which were also African American artists like when "Romero also drafted leading dramatists, critics and actors to write new prefaces for each script. 'I asked [playwright] Tony Kushner to do 'Seven Guitars,' because it's his favorite work by August. For 'Piano Lesson,' she went to novelist Toni Morrison. And actors Laurence Fishburne and Phylicia Rashad wrote prefaces to Wilson's plays they starred in on Broadway- respectively, 'Two Trains Running' and 'Gem of the Ocean.'

August Wilson and his Legacy

 

            August Wilson was one of the first African Americans to create plays, not just any other plays but plays about equality and equal rights. The legacy of August Wilson is just a simple yet so powerful thing that has several little things inside it. “One box, holding 10 slim volumes. That may not seem like much. But that box contains a celebrated Seattle writer’s life’s work, and a century’s worth anguish, humor, poetry, rage and hope” (Berson 1) The ten slim volumes that are in the box are all plays that somehow are connected all together that brings together race and equality. In his plays that he created, the message that he reveals about race, power and language majorly touched the United States.

He showed everyone the wrongs that have been going on and how it should be stopped. August portrays things that have been happened to African Americans and other races that are not white and dominant. People are treated horribly and tortured and sometimes killed from something that they weren’t able to control or change. This opened people’s eyes and realized that what was happening was completely wrong and should be stopped right away and it was. His plays make people think heavily and for some it makes them happy. “August is my past, my present and my future. I love his plays. And they will always bring him back to me.” (Berson 3) August has changed the minds of men and women and has touched their hearts about what is going on in the society around us. His plays turned into a role model, entertainment but most importantly, a legacy.

Wilson's Legacy

August Wilson was an inspiring person and did many great things in his life before sadly dying of liver cancer in 2005. Before Wilson died he left a legacy behind and one the big things he did was write a cycle of plays (NPR Podcast). This hadn't really been done before because other playwrights died before finishing their cycles so it was a big thing. Many people wanted to work with him and would constantly be playing his plays because of the impact and message they were sending (NPR Podcast). Wilson even had a theater named after him in Virginia. Another part of Wilson’s legacy was the August Wilson Center for African American Culture. The people of Pittsburgh were grateful for Wilson putting their town on the maps because of his work so it was their way of giving back to him so his legacy could live on even after he died (Schackner).

Growing up Wilson had a rough childhood which turned out good for him because of the amazing plays he wrote. His plays expressed a bigger message something the audience could take away and use in real life like the idea of racism. Wilson’s plays would show the struggle that people of color had to deal with whether it was name calling or being treated differently (NPR Podcast). His plays show how race, power, and language all fit together and how they can be a positive or a negative thing depending on how it’s used; for example when Lincoln Brown used the N word in a 6^th grade class to make them consider their own use of the word and to really think before saying anything that could hurt someone’s feelings (Bogira). Brown was trying to do something positive with this idea of race, power, and language but still was penalized for it. Brown didn't care though because his students got the message even if Mason (the principle) did not; Brown new he made a difference and that was all that mattered. 

Legacy through the Eyes of your Spouse

First of all legacy in the dictionary dot com defines legacy as “anything handed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor” (dictionary).The legacy of August Wilson culminates in the Pittsburgh Cycle which he received two Pulitzers prizes for drama. Each one is written about a different decade, each one describing the aspects of the African-American experience. Each one is a story of love, honor, duty and betrayal. His legacy also includes the ability to create the first complete cycle. Another legacy that he left was he was married three times to all separate women. He will be known to two of them as a failed marriage, but for Constanza Romero he was everything she ever wanted. She defined his legacy as the “marriage to one of the finest modern American playwrights, his ties to Seattle” (Berson).  She does her best to carry out his legacy how he would want it to be. She also said that his legacy of his personality and how he had her with his genuine interest in people, his humanity. As well as that she was taken by his thoughtfulness. Lastly how he will always be her past, her present, and her future.

Thinking about the biggest legacy anyone can point to is his Pittsburgh cycle is that race, power, and language all intersect in the United States. His cycle points at how all this race concept is seen through the eyes of an African American living in the U.S. His cycles will always be talking about how race is only seen through one way and pushes it to get away from thinking race is only about the differences between people and see them for their power, language and class.  

Wilson's Legacy

August Wilson is a renowned playwright who left a unique legacy. August Wilson began his incredible writing career in high school. He attended three high schools before getting his diploma from the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Wilson switched out of one of his high schools because he felt he wasn't challenged enough (August Wilson Center for African American Culture). Wilson was such an incredible writer even then that he “dropped out of Gladstone after a teacher accused him of plagiarizing a 20-page paper on Napoleon” (August Wilson Center for African American Culture). Throughout his career, Wilson wrote many poems and plays, and he helped found a theater workshop group, and an actual theater as well. Wilson’s real legacy is his ten play cycle, each covering a different decade of the 20^th century. The cycle is the only one of its kind and “chronicle the African American experience in 20^th century America” (August Wilson Center for African American Culture). The plays are set where Wilson grew up, and have many of his own ideas and experiences incorporated in them. Because of the uniqueness of the cycle, this is Wilson’s biggest legacy he left for the world.

                Because the ten play cycle is from the African American’s experience, it sheds light on their lives in a way that other people might never have realized. In the history of the United States, African Americans have had different experiences and treatments than say white people. The plays that Wilson has written might be able to reveal just how different the races have been treated in the past, and how they have been oppressed from positions of power. Wilson’s legacy might be able to show people the differences and similarities in people’s everyday lives and how our language, attitudes, power, and race affect each person. 

August Wilson

and His Connection to Today

August Wilson was a playwright who by according to the August Wilson Center for African American Culture “Wilson is best known for his 10-play cycle covering every decade of the 20^th century….the plays chronicle the African American experience in the 20^th century America”.  This was an incredible feet for both the Black society in America and for the theatre society, according to his biography nearly every one of his plays won a NYDCC honor for best American Play and each one enlightened the world about what the African American people went through during these times.  He wanted to show the world about the culture of African Americans and he will always be remembered for his plays, they even named a theater on Broadway after him.  He will be remembered as an important figure in African American history and in the world of the theatre and playwrights.  But I also feel that his legacy will leave behind a sense of power for the rest of society as well, because in a time when race was still a hard viewed issue and we viewed race based on how a person looks like on the outside, their speech, and their social class, all these things led to stereotypes that we as a society can still not really shake even with August Wilson breaking from his stereotype.  There has always been an uneven balance of power in the United States, and even now, with huge jumps in social awareness we still catch flak about problems with racism and stereotyping.  The way we speak may seem important on showing others what you feel, but I believe that what we actually say is equally if not more important on determining where we sit, something that August Wilson had no issue in showing in his plays that speak from the heart and touch all of ours.

The Legacy of August Wilson

August Wilson was born April 27^th, 1945 was an American play writer before his death from liver cancer on October 2^nd, 2005 August has many legacy’s that follow him. From physical structures such as buildings to awards, famous plays he has won, as well as stretching as far as the struggles he was able to overcome as a child. August had a difficult schooling life as a child. He went to multiple schools after being bullied because of his race, and eventually drop school altogether after be accused by a teacher for plagiarizing. This did not stop August from getting his education. “In 1999, Wilson was awarded the first and only high school diploma given by the Carnegie library of Pittsburgh”. August also won many rewards for his famous plays he went to produce. “New York drama critics circle awards: Ma Rainey’s black bottom, fences, joe turner’s come and gone, the piano lesson, two trains running, seven guitars, jitney and radio gold” That’s only to name a few.  Finally after all the work he was able to accomplish the “August Wilson Center” was named after him, to honor him and the legacy he left behind. August even has a date in history to honor him! “In 1987, Saint Paul's mayor George Latimer named May 27 "August Wilson Day.””  From the struggles, he was able to face in school, and all the rewards he has won. It’s important we take away from what August left behind. No matter what happens to you, you can be successful.

August Wilson

August Wilson’s Legacy made up his contribution in the theatre, which included many different plays he has done. He has won two Pulitzer prizes for his drama plays. Every one of his plays was made from each different decade that involved tragic aspects of the African American Experience in the 20^th century. People see him as a good play writer for his famous play Fences, is referred to as “the tragedy of the common man.” And His best work is considered to describe a world that only a good amount of audiences have seen, as it challenges wisdom about race. While he was creating these Plays he intended to give a message on how race, language and power come across in the World. And in one of the plays he notes how the struggle of being an African American in the 20^th century and he shows the audience how it really is a big factor now and in the past. In the Article Straight Talk about the N-Word There is a quote I would like to share, speaking of how the N-word is used it says “young black teens like to use the word as a friendly word” (Lester) I understand that but now that it is history those teens think it was only for their use because of the past it started with them not the nonblack teens. And also there is a quote showing how we have to use the word in a responsible way not just throwing the word out there for fun but in a smart manner. “To self-reflect critically on how we all use language and the extent to which language is a reflection of our innermost thoughts” (Lester). As you see here Wilsons message has reached a huge extent of people and it’s the movement he has produce for others to learn and take in from his plays. 

Legacies of August Wilson

            August Wilson has many different types of legacies. He has legacies that are physical and some that are intangible. One of his more physical legacies is the renaming of the Broadway Virginia Theatre. In the article Embracing the legacy of August Wilson the author states, “Romero immersed herself immediately in Wilson projects: the renaming of Broadway’s Virginia Theatre as the August Wilson Theatre” (Berson). The renaming of that theatre allows everyone to remember him just by going to that theatre. This means he has left a rather permanent legacy within the world of theater. Another less tangible legacy that he has left is the message of his plays. Many of his plays involve a character who is a middle class working American. This means that he brings his views to the common public so that the message resonates with as many people as possible. Along with his messages he brought the legacy of being the first writer to complete a cycle that mapped out the history of the African American community. He did so throughout ten plays that each covered a timespan of ten years throughout the twentieth century. This cycle is one of the most important legacies Wilson left due to the fact that it is the first cycle of its kind and it maps out and important time span of our nation’s history from the point of view that usually isn't focused on in plays.

            His legacy reveals the message that nowadays race does not matter when thinking about the arts. By creating his plays based on African Americans he showed how there is no more barrier between races for the parts that can be played in plays. He also was able to show that race is not something taken into consideration when someone has a theater named after them but instead it is solely based off of their works and how important they are in the world of theater. The legacy that he has left has also brought about a message within the language used in the United States. His works have shown the controversy of the “N-word” and have been able to show the background behind the meaning of the word. By doing this he has been able to start discussions on the meaning of the “N-word” today. Overall his legacy has been able to show the change in power between multiple races and show the history behind language that is losing it’s negative connotation within generations today.

Legacy of August Wilson

Legacy of August Wilson

August Wilson’s was one of the first African-Americans to have a huge serious of plays, this is a legacy itself. August Wilson’s legacy was his influence his motivation and his physical legacies. His influence on African Americans and specifically the African-American actors, after him shining as a play writer, his plays of the African-American struggle in 20th-century America into a massive 10-play cycle opened opportunities to the African-American actors by giving them a role in his plays and because his plays were huge it was something great for the actors. His motivation to the African-Americans, was that he writing despite the pressure and the racism, stepping up, not accepting injustice and writing plays about the struggle African-Americans faced, showed that their voices can be heard throw his plays. The physical influence which is  Virginia Theatre in New York City's Broadway was named after him because of his huge influence he was the first African American to have a theatre be named after him, The vacated Republican street was renamed as August Wilson’s way. His legacy reveals a larger message about how race, power and language intersect by writing the plays of the African- American struggle he used their language to show how the race is losing their rights by the power of the race of the other, so his plays was a voice that every African-American wanted to be heard. His legacy showed by using plays as a type of language the power of injustice and racism can be defeated.

Wilson's Legacy

If we were to describe August Wilson’s legacy it would consists of many different things and the main part of his legacy are the play’s that he’s created there are 10 volumes that he’s written the names of the plays are “Two Trains Running,” “Seven Guitars,” “King Hedley II,” “Gem of the Ocean,” And his last play “Radio Golf.” Other things that will keep his legacy going was the Broadway’s Virginia Theatre getting renamed as August Wilson Theatre. He’s legacy has revealed some of the troubles that the African Americans have gone through and the things that he has been through. His plays are bibliography of his experiences that are in each play. Each play represents a decade of the 20^th century. You can’t understand the play if you haven’t seen all of the plays because each play is connected to the play before.

August Wilson moved from Pittsburgh to Seattle 15 years, where he would later die from liver cancer. But before his death he had finished writing his last play which was preformed 3 months after his death in 2005. He dropped out of high school in the 9^th grade because he didn't want to prove to the teacher that the paper he wrote was his. He’s turned out pretty well even though he didn't finish high school. He and Romero which was his 3rd wife moved to Seattle together and Romero is still continuing Wilson’s legacy to this day to keep his legacy alive and well going. 

What is August Wilson's legacy?

August Wilson has left August Wilson center which is considered as his legacy. In 2005, the Virginia Theater in New York City was renamed the August Wilson center to make him live forever. It is the first theater to have the name of an African American.  This building carries about $0.5 million to $10 million in total debt and Pittsburgh Public Schools Board is trying very hard to raise some funds to save this building. These efforts might not be there if name of August Wilson was not associated with it. This building is a representative of their community. According to school board, “What’s at stake not only for African-Americans in the city but for the community as a whole.” August Wilson had studied African American culture. He used to write about experiences of African-Americans of every decade. His topics were related with racial issued, his life and the entire world. His plays are all related to each other, talking about life. He was the one who talked about the condition of African-Americans. Probably, this was the reason that his legacy, the August Wilson Center was so important to the whole community of African-Americans. “Even the possibility of that building being bought by somebody and torn down would be heartbreaking.” August Wilson was the one who helped African-Americans raise their voice. His writings are written in the way African-Americans speak the language, which was considered as the wrong way by the overpowering community. He made their way the right way. He helped their race, their language, gain some power. 

Egalitarianism

August Wilson was an amazing playwright, on the other hand, he was also an effective social-reformer. August Wilson Wrote “a cycle of plays, one for each decade of the 20^th century” and through his plays, he was spreading a certain message, however with every new and upcoming play, his ideals would get revised and be up to date. “Wilson has never been interested in plot” he didn’t care that his plays were predictable, in fact if you were able to predict what was going to happen, you would better understand that message he was trying to send out; and that critical message he was so dire to spread out is,  egalitarianism, aka social equality. Wilson’s plays according to him offer white Americans a different outlook on black Americans. For example, in his play Fences all the white Americans see is a garbage man, a person they don’t usually concern themselves with, someone they usually pay no regard to, in spite of this, they somehow fail to recall that this “garbage man” this individual, this soul, this HUMAN BEING, this SOMEBODY is a person as well. Moreover this somebody feels the same you do. He craves the same things we all do, love, honor, beauty, and despises the same things we do pain, betrayal, anguish, sorrow. Recognizing that these things are as much part of the white American’s life, can affect how they think and correspond with Black people in their lives. Wilson once said, “if humanity of a garbage man is a revelation to anyone, we are in much worse shape than the most apocalyptic social critics thinks. 

August Wilson and His Legacy

August Wilson, a man that produced plays that not only entertained an audience but also altered the viewpoint or perspective of racism. Wilson not only reminded people of how he saw our world but informed others of how it was like to be an African American during his time. But it wasn’t like Wilson wrote his plays from the kind of perspective that white people were mean to black people, he wrote the plays to allow everyone to see that we are all the same. ‘Fences which is one of the most popular plays Wilson created is centered on that same idea. “Recognizing that these things are as much part of his life as theirs can affect how they think about and deal with black people in their lives” (Shteir). Bridging the gap between whites and blacks was the goal of August Wilson, or at least getting people to notice and think about our lives and the stereotypes we encounter each day. Stereotypes most commonly associated with physical appearance that seems for most people to help categorize individuals into a certain racial category. It is like the known statement “don’t judge a book by its cover”. You shouldn't be able to make assumptions about another person based on their appearance, you should be focused on the individual’s actions and what they go through in life. “Assumptions about race and behavior often appear to be supported by what we see around us” (Bailey). This is very true, most people’s views come from what they notice around themselves. One of the more common one being media and how that portrays a certain individual. Wilson not only portrayed these ideals in the many plays he created but he also got people thinking about race in it of itself. “Race is not about what one is, but rather what one counts as in a particular time and place” (Bailey). Wilson dove deeper into this idea and explored how we as a world see race. Wilson wanted to show the world the true meaning of race and help remind others of the basis of human interaction. His legacy is a culmination of how race, power, and language all come together and form different views in the world. 

Tim Hanks

In order to explore August Wilson's legacy we must first look at what he did.  August Wilson was an American playwright often associated with Pittsburgh, New York, and Seattle. Wilson's works, available as a box set known as The Century Cycle, "Constitute a singular 20th century panorama of the African-American experience". This boxed set of works cover topics of race and show a picture of the working class of America. Many of Wilson's works, if not all, were written from personal experience, saying that he had lived through many of the problems that people today faced. "They were like his autobiographies".

Overall, August Wilson's legacy is huge. His works showcased a lot of modern problems, even though many are set in past decades. His topics of race and working class conditions touch on issues of race and power in today's society. Due to his legacy, he has had Broadway's Virginia theater named after him.

Wilson's legacy intersects power, race, and language in America. The problems he wrote about persist today, and are just as relevant then as they are now.

August Wilson's Legacy

August Wilson’s legacy is made up of his contributions in theatre. His work included a series of ten plays, “The Pittsburgh Cycle,” for which he won two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama. Each of his plays portrayed a different decade that shared the comic and tragic aspects of the African-American experience in the 20^th century. Wilson is seen as a notable playwright who’s most famous play, Fences, is referred to as “the tragedy of the common man.” His best work is considered to describe a world that only a handful of audiences have seen, as it challenges wisdom about race.

Through his creations, Wilson was able to offer a larger message on how race, power, and language intersect in the United States. His play’s that note the struggles of being African-American in the 20^th century shows the audience the emphasis on these topics. In “Language, power, and the performance of race and class,” by Benjamin Bailey, we see an idea that “… the commonsense notion of race as being about physical appearance is misleading, and that race is more fundamentally about power.” This idea is supported in fences where the audience follows a 53-year-old head of household named Troy who struggles with providing for his family. In the earliest instance of the play, we see Troy’s race being challenged through power rather than physical appearance (which Benjamin Bailey illustrated). Troy’s character is revealed through his speech about how he went up to their boss, Mr. Rand and asked why Black men are not allowed to drive garbage trucks (Troy works as a garbage man).

Wilson’s writings helps reveal a larger message about how race, power, and language intersect in the United States through his situations his African-American characters have to go through because of the racial discrimination at the time. 

August Wilson's Legacy

August Wilson’s legacy is all around. His plays are all about the black struggle in 20^th-century America. He once said “I think my plays offer (white Americans) a different way to look at black Americans,” Fourteen days after Wilson’s death, the Virginia Theatre in New York City’s Broadway Theater District was renamed the August Wilson Theatre. It was the first Broadway theatre to bear the name of an African-American. Streets have been named after him, scholarships have been provided, and buildings have been named after him. August Wilson changed the societal views of African-Americans, allowing their voices to be heard. Growing up wasn’t easy for him. “As the only African American student in school, he was constantly threatened and harassed, so he left just before the end of his freshman year” (Biographical Sketch of August Wilson). “In 1960, at age 15, Wilson dropped out of Gladstone after a teacher accused him of plagiarizing his 20-page paper on Napoleon” (Biographical Sketch of August Wilson). He was passionate toward the African-American experience in the 20^th century. The legacy of August Wilson lives on through the places, streets, and scholarships named after him, as well as his famous plays. Growing up he didn’t have the most promising life but he continued to succeed in doing what he loved- writing.

August Wilson’s legacy reveals a larger message about how race, power, and language intersect in the United States because he was not treated very fair growing up. He was accused of plagiarizing, harassed, and threatened because he was the only African-American attending the school. Race, power, and language intersect in the United States. For example: “Ralph Nader characterized candidate Barack Obama as ‘half African American’ and accused Obama of wanting to ‘talk white’ (Language, Power, and the Performance of Race and Class). This is saying that Ralph Nader thinks that since Obama is “half African-American” that he is supposed to act and speak as if he is one or the other. “Race is more fundamentally about power” (Language, Power, and the Performance of Race and Class). It is misleading to say that race is about physical appearance. It is about the power you hold. People often classify the way you speak with how much education you have, how old you are, and where you grew up. For instance, “he don’t got none” and “he doesn’t have any” (Language, Power, and the Performance of Race and Class). The two utterances have similar meanings but we tend to associate the first form with speakers who have less education and social status than speakers who use the second form. I found it interesting that there are stereo-typical language-based judgments of social class status and the overlapping of race and ethnicity. “‘African-American’ or ‘Latino’ are generally associated with lower socioeconomic status” (Language, Power, and the Performance of Race and Class). In the article, “Language, Power, and the Performance of Race and Class” it talks a lot about how the way you speak, how you define yourself, and how society views you. It ties together with August Wilson because it demonstrates how language and power connect with race and language. The way you speak depends on a few factors: where you live, how you grew up, your education, gender, your age, and social status.

August Wilson

August Wilson left behind a legacy with his plays. They were all about the African American experience during the 20^th century and were known as the “Century Cycle” or “Pittsburgh Cycle” which covered every decade of the 20^th century. Through his plays, he was able to communicate a message about race. Many people today can still watch his work. His legacy gives insight into what it was like for African Americans in the United States. It also shows the effect that race has had in the U.S. In the article I read, a teacher got in trouble for using the n-word in his sixth-grade classroom. Although it was taken out of context, he still got in trouble for it. The article talked about how the context in which someone uses the word- their aims, effects, and alternatives- is important. Some rappers have said that they use the word, which has been historically used by whites to degrade and oppress them, and turn it into something beautiful that they can call their own. It can be used as a sign of respect or to show affection toward each other. Also, as a playwright, August Wilson had the power to share his thoughts and opinions on the topic, like many people can do today. People have the ability to express how they feel about race. A person’s power and who they are can have an influence on how a person’s race is used in society. In the same article about the teacher that used the n-word, for example, he said that he used the word to show his students what it would be like to hear the word from someone they respected, hoping they might reconsider using it.

The Legacy of August Wilson

After reading the article Influences by Boris Kachka I learned one significant part of August Wilson's legacy. August didn’t start out great with literature but he strived to excellence, shown in this quote “You dropped out of high school but spent a few years reading alone in a library. What struck you most? I remember Levi-Strauss’s The Origin of table manners; I couldn’t read it, didn’t understand what it was about, so I put it back. I read Margaret Mead and worked my way up.” (Kachka) During our class discussion I found out that August wrote plays about the struggles that African Americans went through, which was a firsthand experience for him. During the NPR radio show they said, he was one of the best play writers at the time let alone an African American play writer. He created a ten part play that all went together but also if you just watched one play it could stand alone. The ten plays he wrote correlated to each decade of the 20^th century. He was even the first African American to have a broad way theater named after him. His legacy had a great impact of race, power and language in the United States. Since his plays were focused on the African American’s life it opened the eye of a lot of other races. He wanted equality no matter the race, which you can see in our history has happened. One example is from an article wrote by Steve Bogira he sates “Or, as the rapper Mos Def told Blaze madazine in 1999: “When we call each other ‘n***a,’ we take a word that has been historically used by whites to degrade and oppress is, a word that has so many negative connotations, and turned it into something beautiful, something we can call our own. I know it sounds cliché, but it truly becomes a ‘term of endearment.”(Bogira) I think this quote shows that times have changed dramatically. Also in this quote it states the N-word was used by whites and the title of this article is “A thought lesson about the N-word: Should a Chicago Public Schools teacher have used “n***er” in a sixth grade class” Which shows the equality pieces also, before, whites would use it all the time to insult blacks, and now there is a lawsuit because a white teacher said it one time.

August Wilson legacy

August Wilson is African-American playwright that wrote many plays about the life of the African-Americans over the centuries. His impact in the theater was incredible, for the first time someone decided to write a play about how African-American were considered and treated over the years. His goal was to not forget, and not let anyone forget, how African-American had to fight for their rights. The legacy that he left behind is still visible for us, the approach that now actors have of theater, especially African-American, is different from how was in the past, now they are interested in what they are acting, and how plays can really influence their own real life. August Wilson showed to the audience something that they never saw before, he showed them how African-American lives were in the past, he showed the American public how racism was, and sometimes still, a problem in the United States, how African-American did not have the possibility of be themselves because someone with a different race and more power would not let them. The message that he narrated in his play is continuous over the full cycle of plays, but to understand it we don’t need to see all of them, the message is clever in each one of them. A different kind of legacy that he left behind is visible in how much different cities are interested is remember his importance giving to different building his name and making sure that those are kept in good conditions. The Virginia’s Theater decided to change its name in August Wilson Theater to honor the playwright; the August Wilson Center for the Pittsburgh City School was trying to find a way to save the building that have his name to make it a place that really represent the importance that he had on the present life.

Race, Power and Language

August Wilson was an African American writer that wrote playwrights. His legacy is giving an insight of African American struggles through his playwrights, and his own personal struggles. His legacy that he left behind got him the August Wilson Center named after him in his honor for African American culture (from the article “Ideas Abound at Public Meeting Held to Save August Wilson Center”), and his plays are still well known. In the United States, there are many stereotypes. For example, people expect lower class communities to be filled with Hispanics and/or African Americans. Race is major factor in the United States. We are one of the most diverse countries. With each different race, there factors in a different language or accent. Language is considerably significant when it comes to your class or “power”. “Talking white” or talking proper is what can get you a higher paying job and will make people look at you more respectably. Speaking English in the United States makes it easier to communicate and get a job. Race, power and language all intersect in the United States because it almost all like a chain reaction. If you are white, in the middle or upper class, and speak proper, then you are more likely to be considered to succeed in life. If you are African American, lower class or middle class, and speak a little more ghetto, then it most likely will be harder for you to be considered to succeed. The struggles that August Wilson wrote about in his playwrights are still alive in today’s society in the United States.

Race, Power and Language

August Wilson’s is well known for the series of plays he has written. All of Wilson’s plays had to do with racial issues and African American History. Wilson’s message reveals a larger message about how race, power and language intersects in the United States. With race we see that there are lot of stereotypes that go with it, because if your of this or that skin color than people tend to put you in some type of category. With race Wilson tried to raise awareness to the African American history that people tend to just push to the side and really don’t understand. Then with power  it seems like the majority of people with power are non-minority rich people, but aside from that Wilson kind of talked more about the power within oneself and how when he was 14 years old he had a hero and once he saw that his hero got knocked out he realized that instead of having someone else be his hero his could be his own hero and decide his own reality and not need to depend on other to fix his problems because he was able to find that strength within himself and feel more in charge of oneself and I guess Wilson was trying to persuade that once you have that power within yourself you could accomplish more within this harsh society. And with language is carries so many different meaning. When Wilson was 20 years old he realized that Dylan Thomas’s work had given him the idea of what it was to be an artist and even though he didn’t understand exactly was it was talking it amused his with the language and rhythm it was written in. Wilson continued to work his way up and read different peoples works and from there was when he was inspired to write his own works with a certain meaning behind it.

Wilson's Legacy

August Wilson left a legacy because of how influential he was. There were not many African-American playwrights before him. He set the bar high for other African-American playwrights. Wilson was very pro-African-American. “His best work describes a world that a few theater audiences had seen, and it punches holes in common wisdom about race.” (Shteir). Within his cycle of plays, he showed a different way to look at black Americans. Wilson wrote a cycle of plays that could all stand by themselves, but also go together. This showed how dedicated and hardworking he was. August Wilson proved that anyone can accomplish their goals. Wilson also left a legacy because of the impact he had on others. According to NPR Radio Show, a segment about August Wilson’s life, Wilson worked with many famous African-Americans. For some, he gave them their jump starts to fame. These actors portrayed Wilson’s message through their acting, which is why not everyone could have roles in his plays. Wilson’s legacy is carried on through his works and plays.

His legacy revels a larger message about how race, power, and language intersect in the United States because he himself was African-American. This showed that anyone could do it and proved many people wrong. “People can quickly make rapid judgments about class and speech based on racial identities.” (Bailey). According to NPR Radio Show, Wilson dropped out of high school in 9^th grade because he did not want to prove that he wrote a paper. This truly showed his character. Because he was uneducated, many people would assume that he could not create these playwrights. August Wilson proved that race power, and language is not about what one is, but rather what one counts as in a particular time and place.

Legacy and Race

In the article about August Wilson, he was bullied or picked on because he was black. “Only African American student in the school, he was constantly threatened and harassed” (August Wilson Center for African American Culture, 1). He eventually dropped out of school and went to Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. After school he began to write and made good plays, he won like 4 or more awards for NYDCC (New York Drama Critics Circle) Best Play Award. All of his plays got awards besides one. “The first Wilson play not to win the NYDCC award” (August Wilson Center for African American Culture, 3).  His legacy was known for his 10-play cycle covering every decade of the 20^th century.

In the past paper I have read, it talks about the “n-word”.In the article it talks about how young black kids say the “n-word” more and use it as the meaning “friend”. But when a white kid says the word, black people get mad and try to fight him/her. But white people buy the most of the hip-hop music. “Some are so comfortable with the n-word because they’ve grown up on and been nourished by hip-hop. White youths, statistically the largest consumer of hip-hop”. (Lester, 2). Also the word changed so much over the years. “We know that as early as the 17^th century, “nergro” evolved to “nigger” as intentionally derogatory” (Lester, 2). Now a days, it means friend or something along those lines. So everyone should be treated the same no matter what. Everyone is the same.

Empowerment in our Culture and Society

August Wilson's legacy starts off with how he got started as a student of culture. When he was in the 9^th Grade of High School, he wrote a paper. His teacher gave him two grades, one an A+ and one an F. The teacher said that if he can prove if he wrote the paper, he would get an A+, if not, the F. I believe that this was the turning point in his life, when this possible discrimination against color comes out, he decided to leave school and become divulged in culture. He became a playwright to not only express his diverse culture, but also to show the struggles of real life, through the jobs that were prevalent to that time area, one play for each decade, spanning one hundred years.

Now how does this interlace with what his legacy was all about? Most of these plays weren’t about fictional characters or mythical beasts, they were about the working class. Life of a garbage man was what one of his plays focused around, which is not a very common play concept, but he was able to work it in, casually citing his own experience. He also was a man of the community as was spoken in the radio show by NPR. He brought them together through the race aspect by allowing literature that would interest that time era and the races that were established. In the article (Language, power, and the performance of race and class), they speak about how race is just an “identity “, and that if we were to remove the color factor, we would all be the same underneath. He also had brought a new concept to his language when speaking in the plays, which not all people could act out during performances. This was and still is discriminated against in the past and present through how some people think that when someone is illiterate, they will not know how to doing anything job specific, or that they are just bad at their job. In the prior article, they give the idea that if you were a doctor, and are not that literate, that you shouldn’t be a doctor, which is not the case. If you do the schooling and get your PhD, then you are deserving of that job because you did the work and had the determination to get to that point. He brings power to the equation by working with the community to help the minority of America feel as if they are not left out, and that they can make a difference in society.

All in all, August Wilson changed the lives of many people, by giving them the idea to think about how the other races and cultures of society have changed the world, through the power that we can make a difference in the world, the equality of race, and the literature that we can express to change the way people perceive different races, but also to give us an idea of how to change our society to give back to culture and our roots.

What was August Wilson's legacy?

August Wilson was a Seattle writer who moved here from Pittsburgh, who later died of liver cancer. Before his death, him and his wife came to the agreement, in an article covering his legacy, “Before he died we touched base on a few things. He understood I had to make decisions that would benefit his body of work, his legacy” (Berson). In this piece of evidence, we learn that not only was Wilson’s legacy because of him, but also because of the continuation of his wife carrying on his work. The legacy of August Wilson is all of the work that he has left behind, the cycle that represents 10 years of history through the perception of Wilson. His legacy can also be seen as the many African-American actors that were involved in his plays and were touched by his stories. Not only are his plays a profound legacy left behind, but after his death, his wife continues to carry on his legacy; working to continue his projects. One project that his wife was involved in was the renaming of Broadway’s Virginia Theatre as the August Wilson Theatre.

August Wilson’s legacy reveals a larger message about how race, power, and language intersect in the United States by presenting to his audience his perception of what happened in a decade. Since his plays covers race and class in every decade of the 20^th century, there are changing ideas and trends in this long span of time that definitely reveal a message that race, power, and language are all tied together, but have also changed over the years.

The Legacy of August Wilson

August Wilson’s legacy was his 10-play cycle that covered every decade of the 20^th century. His plays were always about the history of African American’s in the 20^th century. “Wilson is best known for his 10-play cycle…the plays chronicle the African American experience in the 20^th century America…” (Biographical Sketch of August Wilson). When he was younger, he was always threatened and harassed because he was the only African American in his school. Also, when he was 15, a teacher accused him of plagiarizing a 20 page paper and he dropped out of school. After he dropped out of school is when he began to write his plays based on the life of African Americans during that time (Biographical Sketch of August Wilson). The legacy of his reveal a larger message about how race, power, and language intersect in the United States because as you can see in the previous sentences above, he was treated like he was lower than the people around him for being the only African American in his school community. Language and power go along with race because the way a person speaks vary among people by their income, education, their age, gender, their location, and themselves. “…ways of speaking vary among members my income and education, age, gender, geographical location, and the individual,” (Language, Power and the Performance of Race and Class). An example of how race, power, and language intersect in the United States is when Ralph Nader accuses Obama of “talking white”. This goes back to language, power, and race because Mr. Nader thinks that since Obama is “half African American”, he shouldn’t want to “talk white” but Obama’s father is Kenyan and his mother is White American and the reason that Obama “talks white” is because he was more around his mom’s side of the family and that’s how he grew up talking. Also, he is just talking in a very formal and professional manner since he is the President of the United States. People talk in different ways when they are in different situations. “…people speak differently in informal encounters with peers than in more formal interactions in institutions,” (Language, Power and the Performance of Race and Class).

Social impacts of Wilson's legacy

If we were to describe the legacy of August Wilson we would look at the physical awards he left behind, like the August Wilson theater and his cycle of 10 works. But if we named the social changes he made it would span through almost everyone who has seen his plays, met him in person or heard his life story. He bring to light the topics no one really want to talk about, the racism we see throughout the US, the power we give words, and how that language separates us. He shows we give power to language to determine how people are in our eyes, which can affect how we see different races so we tend to form groups based on color. We can see this in almost all cases brought up in the news, like Brown vs Board, the modern version of it when brown said the n-word in front of Mason the principal. We see how one words use can change our view on people and how words can hurt us. But it can also make it so we are treated as equal, like brown says “I had to show them I was going to stand up for myself-”. Some people would have never seen this power we give to words so they can hurt if they hadn't seen Wilson’s plays or heard his life story. The people closest to him understood that, like his wife. She says that “I lived long enough with August to feel I know what he wanted done with his work”. She even continues helping with his plays even after his death.