Amy and Jacob both note that Black rhetoric is a way for marginalized people to find their voices and gain power. I would argue that Black rhetoric can be used for achieving power, amongst other uses. As several of Gates's examples illustrate, Signifyin(g) is not only used for power or to belittle another, but it can also be used to uplift others or as a form of self expression. According to Gates, "Signifying allowed you a choice--you could either make a cat feel good or bad. If you had just destroyed someone verbally or if they were just down already, Signifying could help them over" (1570). Also, Mitchell-Kernan's definition of Signifying echoes this idea: "Signifying...does not...always have negative valuations attached to it; it is clearly thought of as a kind of art--a clever way of conveying messages" (1577). By including Mitchell-Kernan's example of the one woman talking about the 300 pound woman wearing stretch pants (no race indicated), Holmes makes it clear that Signifying is not just about a game of black against white. He places much importance on the third term, or "the third ear, an intraracial ear through which encoded vernacular language is deciphered" (1567). Gates states, "The third term both critiques the idea of the binary opposition and demonstrates that Signifying (g) itself encompasses a larger domain than merely the political. It is a game of language independent of reaction to white racism or even to collective black wish-fulfillment vis-a-vis white racism" (1567). Signifyin(g) instead is a way of representing and conveying meaning rooted in black cultural tropes. Rhetoric has changed in the sense that rhetors are drawing artistic tools from other cultures outside of white Western culture.
In terms of what we have read about rhetoric, Gates's explanation of Black rhetoric does have similarities with what we know so far. Gate's interpretation of Black rhetoric, Signifyin(g) in particular, aligns to some extent with Burke and Richards in the sense of ambiguity, as the signified does not have inherent meaning. As Amy mentioned, conveying meaning in Black rhetoric does not lead audiences to the Truth. Instead, Gates's concept of Signifyin(g) is an act of linguistic misdirection; it leads the audience to meaning while leading them away from meaning. Gates states, "Signifyin(g) is not engaged in the game of information giving...Signifyin(g) turns on the play and chain of signifiers and not on some supposedly transcendent signified" (1557). As mentioned in the text, this idea of misdirection is similar to Derrida's concept of "differance," which explains how meaning differs and defers. Yet, Derrida focuses on how true meaning is unobtainable because of the ambiguities in language. The ambiguity in Signifyin(g), however, seems to be caused by the person doing the Signifyin(g): "it refers to the trickster's ability to talk with great innuendo, to carp, cajole, needle, and lie. It can mean in other instances the propensity to talk around a subject, never quite coming to the point" (1558). If context causes ambiguity in meaning for Richards, and dichotomies for Burke, it seems for Gates, the speaker or trickster causes the ambiguities in Black rhetoric.
An area where I do see how rhetoric has changed from what we have read is in the participatory nature of Black rhetoric. Holmes's article illustrates how Shuttlesworth's rhetorical strategy (using a view of scripture that "paradoxically deconstructs, disrupts, and dismantles a canonized view perspectives on racial, religious, national, and international identities") was used to repudiate slavery (812). However, Holmes goes on to argue that Shuttlesworth also used rhetoric to "foreground broader discourses of progressive patriotism, religious activism, and racial egalitarianism" (812). Shuttlesworth's use of rhetoric went beyond active speaker and passive listener; it asked people to participate in a movement. Black rhetoric appears to involve action. The speaker calls for a response from his or her audience and asks them to participate in the rhetorical situation. In order for participation to occur, there must be a sense of solidarity, stemming from identification. This seems to align with Burke's idea of identification as a resource for rhetoric. As people can identify with the rhetor, they will be more likely to accept his or her words. By drawing on scripture, Shuttlesworth had a mass group of people willing to participate at church meetings since they identified with the scripture readings, prayers, and hymns. The mass meetings were a place where religious devotion and sociopolitical activism fused (817). By identifying with the religious audience, Shuttlesworth was able to use a sermonic styled rhetoric to not only convey his ideas, but to invite the audience to participate in the conversation. This participatory aspect of Black rhetoric is something I don't think we have seen in what we have covered so far.
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