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LaSharah Bunting LaSharah Bunting is an editor and journalist who worked at "The New York Times" for 14 years and was the senior editor of digital transformation and recruitment when she left as part of a restructuring plan in July 2017. It's been noted Bunting was one of the highest ranking African Americans in the newsroom at her departure"," and was one of seven high-profile women of color who left the "Times" in 2017, leaving few people of color at the management level. Bunting joined the Knight Foundation in August 2017.

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Anna J. Cooper Anna Julia Haywood Cooper (August 10, 1858February 27, 1964) was an American author, educator, sociologist, speaker, Black liberation activist, and one of the most prominent African-American scholars in United States history. Born into slavery in 1858, Cooper went on to receive a world-class education and claim power and prestige in academic and social circles. In 1924, she received her PhD in history from the Sorbonne, University of Paris. Cooper became the fourth African-American woman to earn a doctoral degree. She was also a prominent member of Washington, D.C.'s African-American community and a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. Cooper made contributions to social science fields, particularly in sociology. Her first book, "A Voice from the South: By a Black Woman of the South", is widely acknowledged as one of the first articulations of Black feminism, giving Cooper the often-used title of "the Mother of Black Feminism". Biography. Childhood. Anna "Annie" Julia Haywood was born enslaved in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1858. She and her mother, Hannah Stanley Haywood, were held in bondage by George Washington Haywood (1802–1890), one of the sons of North Carolina's longest serving state treasurer John Haywood, who helped found the University of North Carolina, but whose estate later was forced to repay missing funds. Either George, in whose household her mother worked in bondage, or his brother, Dr. Fabius Haywood, in whose household her older brother Andrew was enslaved, were probably Anna's father; Anna's mother refused to clarify paternity. George became state attorney for Wake County, North Carolina and with a brother owned a plantation in Greene County, Alabama. Cooper worked as a domestic servant in the Haywood home and had two older brothers, Andrew J. Haywood and Rufus Haywood. Andrew, enslaved by Fabius J. Haywood, later served in the Spanish–American War. Rufus was also born enslaved and became the leader of the musical group "Stanley's Band". Education. In 1868, when Cooper was nine years old, she received a scholarship and began her education at the newly opened Saint Augustine's Normal School and Collegiate Institute in Raleigh, founded by the local Episcopal diocese for the purpose of training teachers to educate the formerly enslaved and their families. The Reverend J. Brinton offered Cooper a scholarship to help pay for her expenses. According to Mark S. Giles, a Cooper biographer, "the educational levels offered at St. Augustine ranged from primary to high school, including trade-skill training." During her 14 years at St. Augustine's, she distinguished herself as a bright and ambitious student who showed equal promise in both liberal arts and analytical disciplines such as mathematics and science; her subjects included languages (Latin, French, Greek), English literature, math, and science. Although the school had a special track reserved for women – dubbed the "Ladies' Course" – and the administration actively discouraged women from pursuing higher-level courses, Cooper fought for her right to take a course reserved for men, by demonstrating her scholastic ability. During this period, St. Augustine's pedagogical emphasis was on training young men for the ministry and preparing them for additional training at four-year universities. One of these men, George A.C. Cooper, would later become her husband. He died after only two years of marriage. Cooper's academic excellence enabled her to work as a tutor for younger children, which also helped her pay for her educational expenses. After completing her studies, she remained at the institution as an instructor. In the 1883–1884 school year, she taught classics, modern history, higher English, and vocal and instrumental music; she is not listed as faculty in the 1884–1885 year, but in the 1885–1886 year she is listed as "Instructor in Classic, Rhetoric, Etc." Her husband's early death may have contributed to her ability to continue teaching; if she had stayed married, she might have been encouraged or required to withdraw from the university to become a housewife. After her husband's death, Cooper entered Oberlin College in Ohio, where she continued to follow the course of study designated for men, graduating in 1884. Given her academic qualifications, she was admitted as a sophomore. She often attempted to take four classes, rather than three as was prescribed by the College; she also was attracted to Oberlin by its reputation for music, but was unable to take as many classes in piano as she would have wished. Among her classmates were fellow black women Ida Gibbs (later Hunt) and Mary Church Terrell. At Oberlin, she was part of the "LLS", "one of the two literary societies for women, whose regular programs featured lectures by distinguished speakers as well as singers and orchestras". After teaching briefly at Wilberforce College, Cooper returned to St. Augustine's in 1885. She then went back to Oberlin and earned an M.A. in Mathematics in 1888, making her one of the first two Black women - along with Mary Church Terrell, who received her M.A. in the same year - to earn a Master's degree. In 1900 she made her first trip to Europe, to participate in the First Pan-African Conference in London. After visiting the cathedral towns of Scotland and England, she went to Paris for the World Exposition. "After a week at the Exposition she went to Oberammergau to see the Passion Play, thence to Munich and other German towns, and then to Italy through Rome, Naples, Venice, Pompeii, Mt. Vesuvius, and Florence." Washington DC years. She later moved to Washington, DC. In 1892, Anna Cooper, Helen Appo Cook, Ida B. Wells, Charlotte Forten Grimké, Mary Jane Peterson, Mary Church Terrell, and Evelyn Shaw formed the Colored Women's League in Washington, D.C. The goals of the service-oriented club were to promote unity, social progress and the best interests of the African-American community. Helen Cook was elected president. Cooper would develop a close friendship with Charlotte Forten Grimké – Cooper began teaching Latin at M Street High School, becoming principal in 1901. She later became entangled in a controversy involving the differing attitudes about black education, as she advocated for a model of classical education espoused by W.E.B. Du Bois, "designed to prepare eligible students for higher education and leadership", rather than the vocational program that was promoted by Booker T. Washington. As a result of this, she left the school. Later, she was recalled to M Street, and she fit her work on her doctoral thesis into "nooks and crannies of free time". "A Voice from the South". During her years as a teacher and principal at M Street High School, Cooper also completed her first book, titled "A Voice from the South: By a Black Woman of the South", published in 1892, and delivered many speeches calling for civil rights and women's rights. Perhaps her most well-known volume of writing, "A Voice from the South," is widely viewed as one of the first articulations of Black feminism. The book advanced a vision of self-determination through education and social uplift for African-American women. Its central thesis was that the educational, moral, and spiritual progress of Black women would improve the general standing of the entire African-American community. She says that the violent natures of men often run counter to the goals of higher education, so it is important to foster more female intellectuals because they will bring more elegance to education. This view was criticized by some as submissive to the 19th-century cult of true womanhood, but others label it as one of the most important arguments for Black feminism in the 19th century. Cooper advanced the view that it was the duty of educated and successful Black women to support their underprivileged peers in achieving their goals. The essays in "A Voice from the South" also touched on a variety of topics, such as race and racism, gender, the socioeconomic realities of Black families, and the administration of the Episcopal Church. Reception. "A Voice from the South" received significant praise from leaders in the Black community. Later years. Cooper was an author, educator, and public speaker. In 1893, she delivered a paper titled "The Intellectual Progress of the Colored Women of the United States since the Emancipation Proclamation" at the World's Congress of Representative Women in Chicago. She was one of five African-American women invited to speak at this event, along with: Fannie Barrier Williams, Sarah Jane Woodson Early, Hallie Quinn Brown, and Fanny Jackson Coppin. Cooper was also present at the first Pan-African Conference in London, England, in 1900 and delivered a paper titled "The Negro Problem in America." In a 1902 speech she said: In 1914, at the age of 56, Cooper began courses for her doctoral degree at Columbia University, but was forced to interrupt her studies in 1915 when she adopted her late half-brother's five children upon their mother's death. Later on she transferred her credits to the University of Paris-Sorbonne, which did not accept her Columbia thesis, an edition of "Le Pèlerinage de Charlemagne". Over a decade she researched and composed her dissertation, completing her coursework in 1924. Cooper defended her thesis "The Attitude of France on the Question of Slavery Between 1789 and 1848" in 1925. Cooper’s retirement from Washington Colored High School in 1930 was by no means the end of her political activism. The same year she retired, she accepted the position of president at Frelinghuysen University, a school founded to provide classes for DC residents lacking access to higher education. Cooper worked for Frelinghuysen for twenty years, first as president and then as registrar, and left the school only a decade before she passed away in 1964 at the age of 105. At the age of 65, she became the fourth Black woman in American history to earn a Doctor of Philosophy degree. Her work was eventually published in an anthology of medieval French literature, and was requested for classes and the bookstore at Harvard. Frelinghuysen University. Cooper's later years were much involved with Frelinghuysen University, of which she was the president. This was an institution providing continuing education to working African Americans at hours that did not interfere with their employment. After the University found servicing its mortgage prohibitive, she moved it to her own house. Death. On February 27, 1964, Cooper died in Washington, D.C., at the age of 105. Her memorial was held in a chapel on the campus of Saint Augustine's College, in Raleigh, North Carolina, where her academic career began. She was buried alongside her husband at the City Cemetery in Raleigh. Artistry. Writings. Although the alumni magazine of Cooper's undergraduate alma mater, Oberlin College, praised her in 1924, stating, "The class of '84 is honored in the achievement of this scholarly and colored alumna," when she tried to present her edition of "Le Pèlerinage de Charlemagne" to the college the next year, it was rejected. Cooper's other writings include her autobiographical booklet "The Third Step", about earning her doctorate from the Sorbonne, and a memoir about the Grimké Family, titled "The Early Years in Washington: Reminiscences of Life with the Grimkés," which appeared in "Personal Recollections of the Grimké family and the Life and Writings of Charlotte Forten Grimké" (privately published in 1951). Legacy. Pages 24 and 25 of the 2016 United States passport contain the following quotation: "The cause of freedom is not the cause of a race or a sect, a party or a class – it is the cause of humankind, the very birthright of humanity." – Anna Julia Cooper In 2009, the United States Postal Service released a commemorative stamp in Cooper's honor. Also in 2009, a tuition-free private middle school was opened and named in her honor - the Anna Julia Cooper Episcopal School on historic Church Hill in Richmond, Virginia. Cooper is honored with a Lesser Feast (with Elizabeth Evelyn Wright) on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA) on February 28. The Anna Julia Cooper Center on Gender, Race, and Politics in the South at Wake Forest University was established in Anna Cooper's honor. Melissa Harris-Perry is the founding director. There is an Anna Julia Cooper Professor of Women’s Studies at Spelman College.

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Marita Golden Marita Golden (born April 28, 1950) is an American novelist, nonfiction writer, professor, and co-founder of the Hurston/Wright Foundation, a national organization that serves as a resource center for African-American writers. Background and career. Marita Golden was born in Washington, D.C., in 1950 and attended the city’s public schools. She received a B.A. degree in American Studies and English from American University and a M.SC. in Journalism from Columbia University. After graduating from Columbia, she worked in publishing and began a career as a freelance writer, writing feature articles for many magazines and newspapers including "Essence Magazine", "The New York Times", and "The Washington Post". Golden's first book, "Migrations of the Heart" (1983), was a memoir based on her experiences coming of age during the 1960s and her political activism as well as her marriage to a Nigerian and her life in Nigeria, where she lived for four years. She has taught at many colleges and universities, including the University of Lagos in Lagos, Nigeria, Roxbury Community College, Emerson College, American University, George Mason University, and Virginia Commonwealth University. She holds the position of Writer in Residence at the University of the District of Columbia, in Washington, D.C. She has held previous Writer-in-Residence positions at Brandeis University, University of the District of Columbia, Hampton University, Simmons College, Columbia College, William and Mary, Old Dominion University and Howard University. As a literary activist, she co-founded the Washington, D.C.-based African-American Writers Guild, as well as the Hurston/Wright Foundation, named in honor of Zora Neale Hurston and Richard Wright, which serves the national and international community of Black writers and administers the Hurston-Wright Legacy Award.

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Gabby Douglas Gabrielle Christina Victoria Douglas (born December 31, 1995) is an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2012 Olympic all around champion and the 2015 World all-around silver medalist. She was a member of the gold-winning teams at both the 2012 and the 2016 Summer Olympics, dubbed the "Fierce Five" and the "Final Five" by the media, respectively. She was also a member of the gold-winning American teams at the 2011 and the 2015 World Championships. Douglas is the first African American to become the Olympic individual all-around champion, and the first U.S. gymnast to win gold in both the individual all-around and team competitions at the same Olympics. She was also the 2016 AT&T American Cup all-around champion. As a public figure, Douglas' gymnastics successes have led to her life story adaptation in the 2014 Lifetime biopic film, "The Gabby Douglas Story", as well as the acquisition of her own reality television series, "Douglas Family Gold". Douglas has also written a book about her life and what it takes to be an Olympic gold medalist by determination and perseverance. Early life. Gabrielle Douglas was born in Newport News, Virginia and grew up in Virginia Beach, Virginia, to parents Timothy Douglas and Natalie Hawkins-Douglas. She has three older siblings: two sisters, Arielle and Joyelle, and one brother, Johnathan. She began training in gymnastics at age six when her older sister convinced their mother to enroll her in gymnastics classes. In October 2002, Douglas began her training at Gymstrada. At the age of eight, Douglas won the Level 4 all-around gymnastics title at the 2004 Virginia State Championships. At 14, she moved to Des Moines, Iowa, to train full-time with coach Liang Chow. Because her family had to stay in Virginia while her siblings finished school, she lived with Travis and Missy Parton and their four daughters, one of whom also trained at Chow's gym. However, Douglas struggled to fit in because of the separation from her family and hometown. Douglas is Christian; she said, "I believe in God. He is the secret of my success. He gives people talent", and "... I love sharing about my faith. God has given me this amazing God-given talent, so I'm going to go out and glorify His name." Douglas has also stated in her biography that when she was younger her "family practiced some of the Jewish traditions", including attending a Conservative Jewish synagogue, keeping kosher, and celebrating Hanukah. Junior career. 2008. Douglas made her international debut in 2008 at the US Classic in Houston, Texas, where she placed 10th place in the all-around rankings. She went on to compete at the 2008 Visa Championships in Boston, Massachusetts. Placing 16th in that competition, Douglas was not eligible for the 2008 Junior Women's National Team. 2009. In 2009, Douglas suffered a fracture in the growth plate of her wrist. Due to this injury, she was not able to compete and missed the 2009 Covergirl US Classic. While she competed at the 2009 Visa Championships in Dallas, Texas, Douglas was unable to perform her full routines and competed only on balance beam and floor exercise. 2010. Douglas competed at the 2010 Nastia Liukin Supergirl Cup, a televised Level 10 meet held in Worcester, Massachusetts, where she placed fourth all-around. Her first elite meet was the 2010 CoverGirl Classic in Chicago, Illinois, where Douglas placed third on balance beam, 6th on vault, and 9th all-around in the junior division. At the 2010 U.S. Junior National Championships, Douglas won the silver medal on balance beam, placed fourth all-around and on vault, and tied for eighth on floor exercise. At the 2010 Pan American Championships in Guadalajara, Mexico, Douglas won the uneven bars title, and she won a share of the U.S. team gold medal. She also placed fifth all-around. In October, at age 14, Douglas moved into the home of Missy Parton in West Des Moines, Iowa, to train under Liang Chow, the former coach of 2007 World Champion and 2008 Summer Olympics gold medalist Shawn Johnson. Although Douglas' former coach, Walker, stated in 2012 that she was convinced Douglas could have made it to the Olympics if she had remained in Virginia Beach, Douglas said, "Something clicked in my head that said, if I really want to make this happen I need to get better coaching." The impetus for Douglas' move to Iowa was when Walker had invited Chow to teach a clinic at her gym, Excalibur. Douglas was impressed when Chow was able to teach her how to perform the Amanar vault in a single afternoon. Douglas considered a move to Texas to train with a renowned coach there, but after that coach declined to train her out of loyalty to Walker, Douglas selected Chow. Chow was initially skeptical, since Douglas had been just one of hundreds of children at the clinic in Virginia Beach. However, Chow subsequently informed Douglas's Excalibur coaches that he had agreed to train her, but pointed out that he did not recruit her, saying, "I would never recruit anybody to my program." Later on, Douglas suffered from a hamstring strain and a hip flexor injury in July. She couldn't do much during this time, but this allowed her to improve her bar skills. Senior career. 2011. At the City of Jesolo Trophy in Italy, Douglas was part of the US team that won gold. She also placed second on floor, tied for third on beam, and placed fourth in the all-around and on vault. Douglas earned the silver medal in uneven bars at the CoverGirl Classic in Chicago. At the 2011 U.S. National Championships in St. Paul, Minnesota, Douglas tied for third on bars and placed seventh all-around. At the 2011 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, Douglas shared in the team gold medal won by the U.S. Douglas also placed fifth in uneven bars. 2012. At the AT&T American Cup at Madison Square Garden in March, Douglas received the highest total all-around score in the women's competition, ahead of her teammate and current world champion Jordyn Wieber. However, her scores did not count towards winning the competition because she was an alternate. Later in March, she was part of the gold-winning U.S. team at the Pacific Rim Championships, where she also won gold in uneven bars. At the 2012 U.S. National Championships in June, Douglas won the gold medal in uneven bars, silver in the all-around, and bronze in floor. Márta Károlyi, the National Team Coordinator for USA Gymnastics, nicknamed Douglas the "Flying Squirrel" for her aerial performance on the uneven bars. 2012 Summer Olympics. At the 2012 Olympic Trials held in San Jose, California on July 1, Douglas placed first in the all-around rankings, securing the only guaranteed spot on the women's Olympic gymnastic team. At the 2012 Summer Olympics gymnastics event at the O2 Arena (North Greenwich Arena) in London, Douglas and her teammates – Jordyn Wieber, McKayla Maroney, captain Aly Raisman and Kyla Ross (collectively nicknamed the "Fierce Five"), won the team event gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics – the first since the "Magnificent Seven", including Shannon Miller, Dominique Moceanu, Kerri Strug and Dominique Dawes, did so as hosts in Atlanta in 1996. Douglas was the only gymnast on the team to compete on all four apparatus (vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise) during the finals of the team competition. She then won the gold medal in the individual all-around, becoming the first African-American woman, as well as the first woman of color of any nationality, to win the event. She also became the fourth American woman to win Olympic all-around gold as well as the third straight to do so (after Mary Lou Retton in Los Angeles in 1984, Carly Patterson in Athens in 2004 and Nastia Liukin in Beijing in 2008, all of whom were at the venue and watched Douglas equal their feat.) She also became the first American gymnast ever to win both the team and individual all-around gold at the same Olympics. Douglas finished eighth in uneven bars, and seventh in balance beam. She is the first all-around champion to fail to medal in an individual event since women's gymnastics was added to the Olympics in 1952. 2013–2014. In August 2013, Douglas left Missy Parton's home, and moved to Los Angeles to be with her family. Although she was no longer training with Chow, she said that she was still preparing to compete in the 2016 Olympics. In mid-April 2014, Douglas returned to Iowa to train once more with Coach Chow, in an attempt to qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Chow and his wife were delighted to have Douglas return to the Iowa gym, which they had not expected she would after her departure to Los Angeles in summer 2013. At that time they were also training promising junior Norah Flatley, who many considered similar to both Douglas and Shawn Johnson in performance style. In mid-July, it was announced that Douglas had once again left Chow's Gymnastics & Dance Institute. She remained in the market for a new coach until the beginning of August, when news broke that Douglas would train under Kittia Carpenter at Buckeye Gymnastics in Genoa Township, Ohio. Nia Dennis, national team member, also trained at Buckeye at the time. Carpenter announced that Douglas would not aim to return to competition at the 2014 national championships, as previously planned, but would instead train with a goal of returning in time for Worlds 2015. The stated reasoning for Douglas's delay is that she wishes to return as strong as – or stronger than – when she left. National Team Coordinator Marta Karolyi, who expressed satisfaction and some surprise with Douglas's physical condition at her first two national team training camps back (while she was once again working with Chow), commented on Douglas's planned comeback in Ohio, "My wish is that she will be consistent in her training. And if that's what she will do, I think she will be fine. But if she jumps up and down and left and right, it will be much harder." After participating in several national team camps in 2014, on November 25, 2014, Douglas was added back to the U.S. national team, along with Olympic teammate Aly Raisman and former Chow's Gymnastics teammate Rachel Gowey. 2015. In March 2015, Douglas returned to international competition at the 2015 City of Jesolo Trophy in Jesolo, Italy. Douglas helped the USA win gold in the team competition and also placed 4th all-around behind defending World Champion Simone Biles, newcomer Bailie Key, and Olympic teammate Aly Raisman. In July, Douglas competed at the U.S. Classic and finished second in the all-around behind 2-time World All-Around Champion Simone Biles and ahead of Maggie Nichols with a score of 60.500. She had a consistent night hitting clean routines. She placed second on uneven bars behind Madison Kocian and ahead of Bailie Key with a score of 15.400, third on balance beam behind Biles and Olympic teammate Aly Raisman with a score of 14.900, and second on floor exercise behind Biles and ahead of Key and Nichols with a score of 15.000. On August 13 & 15, Douglas competed at the P&G Championships Indianapolis, Indiana, where she placed 5th overall with a score of 117.950, placing behind Simone Biles, Maggie Nichols, Aly Raisman, and Bailie Key. Douglas started Night 1 on vault and despite a hop backwards on her double-twisting Yurchenko vault, she scored a 15.150. On bars, she had a high-flying piked Tkachev connected to her Pak Salto and had an excellent landing on her double layout dismount. She scored a 15.300 on bars. On beam, she had a shaky routine with balance checks but did score a 14.450. On floor, she had bad wobbles on her double Y-turn and her double turn with leg at horizontal (then didn't connect to her single turn with leg at horizontal). She had low landings and almost fell on her tucked full-in and scored a 13.850 to end Night 1 in 3rd with a total all-around score of 58.700. On Night 2, Douglas started on bars where she excelled once again on her inbar-stalder pirouettes and her piked Tkachev-Pak Salto connection but she took a large step forward on her double layout dismount and almost fell. She scored a 15.100. Her total bars score of 30.400 placed her 4th on the event behind Madison Kocian, Ashton Locklear and Key (by 0.100). On beam, she had a shaky routine, with multiple balance checks and some lost connections, as well as a hop and low landing on her double pike dismount. She scored 14.200 on the event for a two-day total of 28.650, placing 9th on the event and scoring .050 behind Raisman and Mykayla Skinner. On floor, she improved her turns and connections and had better landings on her tumbling passes. She scored a 14.800 and totaled her score to 28.650, placing her 6th on the event. Douglas was named to the Senior National Team for the first time since 2012 and received an invite to the 2015 Worlds Selection Camp in September. On October 8, 2015, it was announced that Douglas had been selected as a member of the 2015 US Women's World Championship team. At the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, Douglas shared in the team gold medal won by the U.S. She also qualified for the individual all-around in 3rd place, and to the uneven bars final in 6th place. Douglas won the silver in the all-around, becoming the first reigning Olympic all-around champion since 2001 to return to the sport and win a world championships medal. On November 13, 2015, "The Columbus Dispatch" revealed that Douglas would participate in the 2016 AT&T American Cup, in Newark, New Jersey. It was confirmed on December 17, 2015. 2016. In March 2016, following her win at the 2016 AT&T American Cup, Douglas participated at the 2016 City of Jesolo Trophy, where she won the all-around title. Douglas competed at the 2016 Secret US Classic in Hartford, Connecticut, on June 4. She did not compete in the all-around competition, which was won by Fierce Five teammate Aly Raisman. Douglas competed on UB and BB, scoring a 15.650 on UB to finish in 3rd behind Ashton Locklear and Madison Kocian on that event. On the balance beam, she scored a 14.550. This meant her all-around total was 30.200. On June 24 and 26, Douglas competed at the P&G Championships in St. Louis, Missouri. On Night 1, she scored a 14.800 on vault, a 15.100 on uneven bars, a 14.200 on balance beam, and a 14.800 on floor exercise. On Night 2, she scored a 14.900 on vault, a 14.500 on uneven bars, a 15.050 on balance beam, and a 14.450 on floor exercise. Her grand total was 117.800 for both nights, putting her in fourth all-around. On July 10, Douglas was named to the team for the 2016 Olympics, alongside Simone Biles, Laurie Hernandez, Madison Kocian, and Aly Raisman. She and Raisman became part of a select group of American gymnasts including Miller and Dawes to compete in two Olympics. On July 11, Mattel, Inc. released a "Gymnast Barbie" doll modeled after Douglas. 2016 Summer Olympics. On August 7, Douglas competed in the Women's Qualification at the 2016 Summer Olympics at the HSBC Arena (Arena Olimpica de Rio) in Rio de Janeiro. She scored a 15.166 on the vault, a 15.766 on the uneven bars, a 14.833 on the balance beam, and a 14.366 on the floor exercise. Along with the team final, she individually qualified into the uneven bars final. Douglas narrowly missed advancing to the all-around final to defend her title despite tallying the third-highest score in the preliminaries, since she was outscored by teammates Biles and Raisman and rules only allow two competitors from one NOC, similar to Wieber four years ago in London. Douglas also changed coaches during the competition, but kept her assistant coach. Douglas helped the United States win a second consecutive gold medal in the team event, which was also her third Olympic gold medal. When the team final scores were announced, Douglas and her teammates called themselves the "Final Five" in honor of coach Marta Karolyi's retirement and the team size being reduced to four beginning in 2020. Douglas finished seventh in the uneven bars event final. Awards and honors. In December 2012, the Associated Press named Douglas the Female Athlete of the Year. She became the fourth gymnast to receive the honor. Douglas was a nominee for the Laureus World Sports Award for Breakthrough of the Year. In June 2013, Douglas received two BET Awards for her accomplishments. In the media. In July 2012, Douglas and her teammates were featured on the cover of "Sports Illustrated" "Olympic Preview" issue, the first time an entire Olympic gymnastics team had been featured on the cover of the magazine. On July 20, Douglas was on one of five "Time" magazine Olympic covers. On August 3, the Kellogg Company announced that it would put a picture of Douglas standing on the podium with her gold medal on special-edition boxes of corn flakes, breaking the tradition of Olympic athletes appearing on Wheaties boxes. On August 23, Douglas threw the ceremonial pitch at Citi Field when the Colorado Rockies played the New York Mets. On August 26, Douglas spoke about racist bullying at Excalibur Gymnastics in an interview with Oprah Winfrey and how it nearly made her quit the sport. She described an incident in which she had heard other girls at the gym say, "Why doesn't Gabby do it? She's our slave," when chalk was needed to be scraped off the bars. The CEO of Excalibur Gymnastics, Gustavo Maure, denied these claims. In September 2012, Nintendo announced that Douglas would be part of a new ad campaign for "New Super Mario Bros. 2". On September 4, Douglas led the Pledge of Allegiance at the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. In December 2012, Douglas released her autobiography, "Grace, Gold, and Glory: My Leap of Faith". The book debuted at number four on "The New York Times" Young Adult Bestseller List. That same month, she performed a miniature floor routine at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards as part of the live performance by Alicia Keys and Nicki Minaj of the "Girl on Fire" Inferno Remix – following Douglas' success in London, Minaj had opted to end her verse with a reference to her: "I ain't tryna be that / Haters wanna see that / But I got 'em aggy / 'Cause I win the gold like Gabby." Douglas had a small acting role on the Disney XD series "Kickin It" in the episode "Gabby's Gold", which aired on August 12, 2013. "The Gabby Douglas Story" aired on Lifetime on February 1, 2014, starring Imani Hakim. Douglas performed all the gymnastic stunts herself. In 2015, it was announced that a reality television show for the Oxygen channel had been commissioned to follow Douglas and her family's life, issued under the working title "Douglas Family Gold". The show premiered on May 25, 2016. On August 23, 2016, it was announced that Douglas would be one of the judges at the 2017 Miss America pageant. In 2017, she went public about having been sexually abused as a teenager by Larry Nassar, a former doctor for USA Gymnastics. Douglas appeared as the boss in an episode of "Undercover Boss" that first aired on May 11, 2018. Gymnastic equipment used by Douglas at the 2012 Summer Olympics is at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. In 2020, Douglas competed on "The Masked Singer" spin-off "The Masked Dancer" as "Cotton Candy" and was declared the winner of the season. Selected competitive skills. Douglas is most well known for her high-flying release skills on the uneven bars (hence her nickname "The Flying Squirrel"), her resilient demeanor, and her upbeat floor exercise routines. The following routines are those that were performed by Douglas at either an Olympic or a World Championships competition.

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Carl Anthony Carl Anthony (born February 8, 1939) is an American architect, regional planner, social justice activist, and author. He is the founder and co-director of Breakthrough Communities, a project dedicated to building multiracial leadership for sustainable communities in California and the rest of the nation. He is the former President of the Earth Island Institute, and is the co-founder and former executive director of its urban habitat program, one of the first environmental justice organizations to address race and class issues. Early life. Carl Anthony was born in a predominantly African American neighborhood in Philadelphia, PA known as Black Bottom. His parents, Lewis Anthony (born William Edwards) and Mildred Anthony (née Cokine), sent Carl and his older brother Lewie to B.B. Comegys, an integrated elementary school in which only about a dozen of the 300 students were African American, rather than the segregated school called Woodrow Wilson, which was only a block away from their home. They later went on to attend Dobbins Vocational School, where Anthony was enrolled in the carpentry and cabinet-making shop. His teachers were impressed by his drawings and suggested that he transfer to the architectural drafting homeroom, where he fostered his interest in architecture. Education. Anthony graduated from Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation in 1969. Upon his graduation, he was awarded the William Kinne Fellowship, a grant to enrich students’ education through travel. Anthony visited traditional towns and villages in West Africa, studying the ways in which people utilized their few resources to shape their environments. Early Career: Architect’s Renewal Committee and UC Berkeley. Anthony began his professional career in the late 1960s at the Architect's Renewal Committee in Harlem, one of the first community design centers in the United States. Upon his return to the United States from West Africa in 1971, he relocated to California and taught at the University of California, Berkeley as an Assistant Professor of Architecture in the College of Environmental Design, later becoming a faculty member of the university's College of Natural Resources. In 1980 he left UC-Berkeley to work as an architect and urban planner. Urban Habitat (1989–2000). Anthony served as President of Earth Island Institute from 1991 to 1998. During this time, in spring 1996, he was an appointed Fellow at the Institute of Politics, housed within the John F. Kennedy School of Government, at Harvard University. Alongside his colleague Luke Cole at the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, Anthony founded and published the Race, Poverty, and the Environmental Journal, which was the United States’ first environmental justice periodical. In 1989, Anthony founded Earth Island Institute's Urban Habitat Program, the mission of which is to combine education with advocacy and coalition building to advance environmental and social justice in low-income communities in the Bay Area, with David Bower and Karl Linn, and he served as the initiative's Executive Director until 2000. Anthony directed various projects of Urban Habitat: Ford Foundation (2000–2008). In 2000, Anthony joined the Ford Foundation. There, he served as Acting Director of the Community and Resource Development Unit. He was also Director of the Sustainable Metropolitan Communities Initiative for seven years, and funded the Conversation of Regional Equity, a dialogue between policy analysts and advocates concerning racial justice and sustainability. Breakthrough Communities (2008–). In 2008, Anthony co-founded Breakthrough Communities, a project of Earth House Center, an advocacy nonprofit for regional equity and environmental and climate justice and is serving as the co-director. Anthony founded Six Wins, an initiative in the Bay Area addressing the mitigation of carbon dioxide emissions. "The Earth, the City, and the Hidden Narrative of Race" (2017). Anthony's memoir, "The Earth, the City, and the Hidden Narrative of Race", addresses regional equity and climate change.

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David Aldridge David Aldridge (born February 10, 1965) is an American sports journalist who works as a writer for "The Athletic". He was previously a reporter for Turner Sports, contributing to their NBA and MLB coverage. Other outlets that Aldridge has written and contributed for include ESPN, NBA TV, NBA.com, "The Washington Post", "The Philadelphia Inquirer", and TBD. In 2016, he was awarded the Curt Gowdy Media Award by the Basketball Hall of Fame. Biography. Education and early career. Aldridge is a graduate of DeMatha Catholic High School and American University and worked as a writer for "The Washington Post", where he spent nine years. During that time Aldridge was a beat writer covering Georgetown University basketball, the Washington Bullets, and the Washington Redskins. He also covered the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, national college basketball and football, the Super Bowl, the Stanley Cup playoffs, the World Series, the Indianapolis 500, and the U.S. Open tennis championships. To this day he is still an avid fan of American University men's basketball. ESPN. Before joining TNT in 2004, Aldridge reported for ESPN for eight years, primarily covering the NBA while occasionally doing NFL pieces. He wrote for ESPN.com and contributed to ESPN Radio. Aldridge frequently appeared on SportsCenter as well as "NBA 2 Night" (now "NBA Fastbreak") and "NBA Today." Aldridge conducted interviews for the "SportsCenter" "Sunday Conversations" with LeBron James, Allen Iverson, Shaquille O'Neal, Karl Malone and many others. He worked as an NBA sideline reporter both for ABC and ESPN in 2003 and 2004. "The Philadelphia Inquirer". Aldridge worked at "The Philadelphia Inquirer" from 2004 to 2008, covering the National Football League and National Basketball Association as a reporter and columnist. He was part of the "Inquirer" team that received a second-place award for the series "The Future of Pro Sports" in 2005 from the Society of Professional Journalists, Greater Philadelphia Chapter. He was initially scheduled to be one of dozens laid off at the paper in January 2007, but was retained. Turner Sports. He worked as the "Insider" for TNT's "Inside the NBA" and did sideline reporting work during the regular season, All-Star Weekend and the NBA playoffs. He was also co-host of the weekly show "The Beat" on NBA TV, and was a commentator for other "NBA on TNT" features. He also worked as a sideline reporter for television broadcasts of college football games and the Major League Baseball divisional series. "The Tony Kornheiser Show". From February 2007 through June 2008, Aldridge appeared on "The Tony Kornheiser Show" on Washington Post Radio and later WWWT in Washington, D.C. as co-host. He returned as sometime co-host of the latest incarnation on WTEM in September 2009. As of 2016, he is a regular co-host on the show. "The Athletic". In late 2018, Aldridge left Turner Sports to join the staff of "The Athletic" as a writer.

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Kyle Baker Kyle John Baker (born 1965) is an American cartoonist, comic book writer-artist, and animator known for his graphic novels and for a 2000s revival of the series "Plastic Man". Baker has won numerous Eisner Awards and Harvey Awards for his work in the comics field. Biography. Early life and career. Kyle Baker was born in the Queens, New York City, the son of art director John M. Baker and high-school audiovisual-department manager Eleanor L. Baker. He has a brother and a sister. Their parents had both attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, and their father, who, Baker said, "worked in advertising [and] made junk mail", would "draw pictures for us and entertain us." Aside from this exposure to art, Baker has said, his early artistic influences included comic book artist Jack Kirby, caricaturist Jack Davis, and painter and magazine illustrator Norman Rockwell. He noted: Other influences included the Charlton Comics artwork of Jim Aparo and Steve Ditko. Breaking into comics. In his senior year of high school, Baker became an intern at Marvel Comics, making photocopies and filing fan mail. "I sort of fell into Marvel because I happened to know somebody there," he said. "But I always thought I was going to do funny stuff" rather than superhero comics. He became background assistant to Marvel inker Josef Rubinstein, and later also assisted Vince Colletta and Andy Mushynski. He cited Marvel artists Walt Simonson, Al Milgrom and Larry Hama and writer and editor-in-chief Jim Shooter as providing him art and storytelling advice. Part of his duties involved photocopying, and he would take copies of John Buscema penciling home on which to practice inking. While working for Marvel, Baker attended the School of Visual Arts, in Manhattan, studying graphic design and printmaking, but dropped out after two years. Through that connection, however, he began freelancing with famed graphic designer Milton Glaser, an SVA instructor, assisting him on a set of children's books. Baker's first credited work at Marvel is penciling the half-page entry "Kid Commandos" in "The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe" #13 (February1984). After a handful of inking assignments on issues of "Transformers", "The Avengers Annual" #14 (1985) and elsewhere, Baker made his professional story-illustration debut as penciler and inker of the publisher Lodestone Comics' "Codename: Danger" #2 (October 1985), with a 23-page story written by Brian Marshall, Mike Harris, and Robert Loren Fleming. Cover penciling and more interior inking for Marvel and occasionally DC followed. His first story penciling for one of the two major comics companies was the three-issue "Howard the Duck: The Movie" (December 1986 - February 1987), adapting the 1986 film "Howard the Duck", and which he self-inked. During this time, Baker also attempted to sell humor spot illustrations, but was rejected by the major newspaper syndicates. Jim Salicrup, a Marvel editor, did commission him "to write a few one-panel gags about [the superhero team] the X-Men", titled "It's Genetic" and appearing in the Marvel-produced fan magazine "Marvel Age". First graphic novel. At the recommendation of freelance artist Ron Fontes, an editor at the Dolphin imprint of the publishing house Doubleday expressed interest in Baker's sample strips of the character Cowboy Wally, "and asked if I had any more. I lied and said I did." This led to the 128-page graphic novel "Cowboy Wally". "The character of Noel was pretty much based on me," Baker said in 1999. "I lie all the time. The first part of the books is the collected strips, and the other three chapters were written for the book. "It didn't sell many copies," Baker said, "but at least it convinced DC [Comics] I should be allowed to draw, not just ink." Baker went on to draw DC's 1980s comics revival of the pulp fiction hero "The Shadow", beginning with "The Shadow Annual" #2 (1988), followed by the monthly series from issue #7 to the final issue, #19 (February 1988 - January 1989). He did assorted other DC work including "Justice, Inc." In 1990, Baker and writer Len Wein produced three issues of "Dick Tracy" for The Walt Disney Company's Hollywood Comics, the first two issues containing original stories, the third an adaption the 1990 "Dick Tracy" film. He began scripting comics around this time: Baker penciled and inked First Comics' "Classics Illustrated" #3 & 21 (February 1990 & March 1991), adapting, respectively, "Through the Looking Glass" and "Cyrano de Bergerac". While Peter David scripted the latter, Baker himself wrote the adaptation of the Lewis Carroll work. "I'd never planned to become a writer," Baker said in 1999. "I wrote short gags, like the kind you see in the newspapers and Cowboy Wally, but not stories. I only learned to write stories because people kept paying me to write them. In the years 1991-1994, 90 percent of my income was from writing, and I received very few offers to draw. I figured I should learn to write." "Why I Hate Saturn", commercial illustration. Baker achieved recognition and won an Eisner Award for his 1990 graphic novel "Why I Hate Saturn", published by the DC Comics imprint Piranha Press. Baker said in 1999 of his breakthrough work, Baker's cartoons and caricatures began appearing in "BusinessWeek, Details, Entertainment Weekly, ESPN, Esquire, Guitar World, Mad, National Lampoon, New York, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Spin, Us, Vibe", and "The Village Voice". He spent three years illustrating the weekly strip "Bad Publicity" for "New York" magazine. Animation. Baker's animation has appeared on BET and MTV, and in animated "Looney Tunes" projects, including the animated feature "". Baker was "guest art director" for Cartoon Network's "Class of 3000", and storyboarded the "Class of 3000" Christmas special. in 1994, Baker directed an animated video featuring the hip hop singer KRS-One, called "Break The Chain". Marvel Comics had published "Break the Chain" as a comic book packaged with a read-along hip-hop audiocassette. That same year and next, he contributed to the four-issue Dark Horse Comics humor anthology "Instant Piano" (December 1994 - June 1995), including drawing the cover of the premiere. For another anthology, DC's "Elseworlds 80-Page Giant" #1 (August 1999), Baker drew, colored, lettered and with his wife, teacher Elizabeth Glass, whom he married July 18, 1998, wrote the 10-page parallel universe story "Letitia Lerner, Superman's Babysitter". It would win a "Best Short Story" Eisner Award despite DC destroying all copies intended for the North American market after deeming some of the content unsuitable, though copies were still distributed in Europe. Baker said in 1999 he was writing a Christmas movie for Paramount Pictures, titled "U Betta Watch Out", and was animating a TV-movie title "Corey Q. Jeeters, I'm Telling on You". At this point in his career, Baker stated in an interview, "Nobody tells me what to write or how to draw. Only an idiot would dare tell Kyle Baker how to make a good cartoon. Hollywood and the magazine world are full of idiots. They water my stuff down and make it unfunny." He is credited with writing and storyboarding on the "Phineas and Ferb" television episodes "Candace Loses Her Head" and "Are You My Mummy?". 2000s. Baker drew writer Robert Morales' Marvel Comics miniseries "" #1-7 (January–July 2003), a Captain America storyline with parallels to the Tuskegee experiment. He also wrote and drew all but two issues (#7 and #12) of the 20-issue comedic adventure series "Plastic Man" vol. 4 (February 2004 - March 2006), starring the Golden Age of Comic Books superhero created by Jack Cole for Quality Comics. Baker contributed to the Dark Horse Comics series "The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist", a spin-off of Michael Chabon's novel, "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay". In 2006, his company, Kyle Baker Publishing, serialized a four-part comic book series about Nat Turner, and published the series "The Bakers", based on his family life, in two anthologies, "Cartoonist" and "Cartoonist Vol. 2: Now with More Bakers". He has also continued to provide comics material sporadically to Marvel, DC and Image Comics through at least 2010. In 2007 and 2008, Image Comics published Baker's six-issue Image Comics miniseries "Special Forces", a teen-soldier military satire that criticizes the exhortation of felons and disabled Americans into military service. "The New York Times" reviewed the 2009 trade-paperback collection of the first four issues, calling it "the harshest, most serrated satire of the Iraq War yet published." In 2008, Watson-Guptill published "How to Draw Stupid and Other Essentials of Cartooning", Baker's art instruction book. That same year, Baker hosted the comics industry's Harvey Awards. In 2010, he became regular artist on Marvel Comics' mature-audience MAX-imprint series, "Deadpool Max". Bibliography. Other publishers. Dark Horse: Image:

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Anatole Broyard Anatole Paul Broyard (July 16, 1920 – October 11, 1990) was an American writer, literary critic, and editor from New Orleans who wrote for "The New York Times". In addition to his many reviews and columns, he published short stories, essays, and two books during his lifetime. His autobiographical works, "Intoxicated by My Illness" (1992) and "Kafka Was the Rage: A Greenwich Village Memoir" (1993), were published after his death. He moved to Brooklyn, New York, with his family as a youth. His daughter Bliss Broyard wrote and was interviewed about the family. Several years after his death, Broyard became the center of controversy when it was revealed that he had "passed" as white as an adult. Moving to Greenwich Village, where there were other aspiring writers and artists who had moved from their pasts, he had wanted to be accepted as a writer, rather than a "black writer". Some friends said they always knew he had black ancestry. A Louisiana Creole of mixed-race ancestry, Broyard was criticized by some black political figures for his decisions, as he had acted as an individual during a period of increased communal political activity by African Americans. Since the late twentieth century, advocates of multiracial culture have cited Broyard as an example of someone insisting on an independent racial identity before it was widely popular in mainstream America. Life and career. Anatole Broyard was born in 1920 in New Orleans, Louisiana, into a Black Louisiana Creole family, the son of Paul Anatole Broyard, a carpenter and construction worker, and his wife, Edna Miller, neither of whom had finished elementary school. Broyard was descended from ancestors who were established as free people of color before the Civil War. The first Broyard recorded in Louisiana was a French colonist in the mid-eighteenth century. Broyard was the second of three children; he and his sister Lorraine, two years older, were light-skinned with European features. Their younger sister, Shirley, who eventually married Franklin Williams, an attorney and civil rights leader, had darker skin and African features. When Broyard was a child during the Depression, his family moved from New Orleans to New York City, as part of the Great Migration of African Americans to the northern industrial cities. His father thought there were more work opportunities in that city. According to his daughter, Bliss Broyard, "My mother said that when my father was growing up in Brooklyn, where his family had moved when he was six, he'd been ostracized by both white and black kids alike. The black kids picked on him because he looked white, and the white kids rejected him because they knew his family was black. He'd come home from school with his jacket torn, and his parents wouldn't ask what happened. My mother said that he didn't tell us about his racial background because he wanted to spare his own children from going through what he did." They lived in a working-class and racially diverse community in Brooklyn. Having grown up in the French Quarter's Creole community, Broyard felt he had little in common with the urban blacks of Brooklyn. He saw his parents "pass" as white to get work, as his father found the carpenters union to be racially discriminatory. By high school, the younger Broyard had become interested in artistic and cultural life; his sister Shirley said he was the only one in the family with such interests. As writer and editor Brent Staples wrote in 2003, "Anatole Broyard wanted to be a writer – and not just a 'Negro writer' consigned to the back of the literary bus." The historian Henry Louis Gates, Jr. wrote: "In his terms, he did not want to write about black love, black passion, black suffering, black joy; he wanted to write about love and passion and suffering and joy." Broyard had some stories accepted for publication in the 1940s. He began studying at Brooklyn College before the U.S. entered World War II. When he enlisted in the army, the armed services were segregated and no African Americans were officers. He was accepted as white at enlistment and he took that opportunity to enter and successfully complete officers school. During his service, Broyard was promoted to the rank of captain. After the war, Broyard maintained his white identity. Staples later noted: Those who had escaped the penalties of blackness in the military were often unwilling to go back to second-class citizenship after the war. One demographer estimated that more than 150,000 black people sailed away permanently into whiteness during the 1940s alone, marrying white spouses and most likely cutting off their black families. Broyard used the GI Bill to study at the New School for Social Research in Manhattan. He settled in Greenwich Village, where he became part of its bohemian artistic and literary life. With money saved during the war, Broyard owned a bookstore for a time. As he recounted in a 1979 column: Eventually, I ran away to Greenwich Village, where no one had been born of a mother and father, where the people I met had sprung from their own brows, or from the pages of a bad novel... Orphans of the avant-garde, we outdistanced our history and our humanity. Broyard did not identify with or champion black political causes. Because of his artistic ambition, in some circumstances he never acknowledged that he was partially black. On the other hand, Margaret Harrell has written that she and other acquaintances were casually told that he was a writer and black before meeting him, and not in the sense of having to keep it secret. That he was partially black was well known in the Greenwich Village literary and art community from the early 1960s. During the 1940s, Broyard published stories in "Modern Writing", "Discovery", and "New World Writing", three leading pocket-book format "little magazines". He also contributed articles and essays to "Partisan Review", "Commentary", "Neurotica", and New Directions Publishing. Stories of his were included in two anthologies of fiction widely associated with the Beat writers, but Broyard did not identify with them. He often was said to be working on a novel, but never published one. After the 1950s, Broyard taught creative writing at The New School, New York University, and Columbia University, in addition to his regular book reviewing. For nearly fifteen years, Broyard wrote daily book reviews for "The New York Times". The editor John Leonard was quoted as saying, "A good book review is an act of seduction, and when he [Broyard] did it there was no one better." In the late 1970s, Broyard started publishing brief personal essays in the "Times", which many people considered among his best work. These were collected in "Men, Women and Anti-Climaxes", published in 1980. In 1984 Broyard was given a column in the "Book Review", for which he also worked as an editor. He was among those considered "gatekeepers" in the New York literary world, whose positive opinions were critical to a writer's success. Marriage and family. Broyard first married Aida Sanchez, a Puerto Rican woman, and they had a daughter, Gala. They divorced after Broyard returned from military service in World War II. In 1961, at the age of 40, Broyard married again, to Alexandra (Sandy) Nelson, a modern dancer and younger woman of Norwegian-American ancestry. They had two children: son Todd, born in 1964, and daughter Bliss, born in 1966. The Broyards raised their children as white in suburban Connecticut. When they had grown to young adults, Sandy urged Broyard to tell them about his family (and theirs), but he never did. Shortly before he died, Broyard wrote a statement that some people later took to represent his views. In explaining why he so missed his friend the writer Milton Klonsky, with whom he used to talk every day, he said that after Milton died, "No one talked to me as an equal." Although critics framed the issue of Broyard's identity as one of race, Broyard wanted personal equality and acceptance: he wanted neither to be talked down to nor to be looked up to, as he believed either masked the true human being. Sandy told their children of their father's secret before his death. Broyard died in October 1990 of prostate cancer, which had been diagnosed in 1989. His first wife and child were not mentioned in his "The New York Times" obituary. Cultural references. Novelist Chandler Brossard, who knew Broyard in the late 1940s, based a character on him in his first novel, "Who Walk in Darkness" (1952). After the manuscript was submitted to New Directions Publishing, poet Delmore Schwartz read it and informed Broyard that the character Henry Porter was based on him; Broyard threatened to sue unless the novel's opening line was changed. It originally had read "People said Henry Porter was a 'passed Negro,'" which Brossard reluctantly changed to "People said Henry Porter was an illegitimate." Brossard restored his original text for a 1972 paperback edition. Novelist William Gaddis, who likewise knew Broyard in the late 1940s, modeled a character named "Max" on Broyard in his first novel, "The Recognitions" (1955). Given Broyard's stature in the literary world and discussions about his life after his death, numerous literary critics, such as Michiko Kakutani, Janet Maslin, Lorrie Moore, Charles Taylor, Touré, and Brent Staples, have made comparisons between the character Coleman Silk in Philip Roth's "The Human Stain" (2000) and Broyard. Some speculated that Roth had been inspired by Broyard's life, and commented on the larger issues of race and identity in American society. Roth stated in a 2008 interview, however, that Broyard was not his source of inspiration. He explained that he had only learned about Broyard's black ancestry and choices from the Gates "New Yorker" article, published months after he had already started writing the novel. He, instead, said in the open letter that his inspiration was Melvin Tumin, a longtime friend. Disclosure. In 1996, six years after Broyard's death, Henry Louis Gates criticized the writer, in a profile entitled "White Like Me" in "The New Yorker", for concealing his African-American ancestry. Gates expanded his essay in "The Passing of Anatole Broyard", a piece published the next year in his "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Man" (1997). Gates felt that Broyard had deceived friends and family by "passing" as white, but also understood his literary ambition. He wrote, When those of mixed ancestry—and the majority of blacks are of mixed ancestry—disappear into the white majority, they are traditionally accused of running from their "blackness." Yet why isn't the alternative a matter of running to their "whiteness"? In 2007, Broyard's daughter, Bliss, published a memoir, "One Drop: My Father's Hidden Life: A Story of Race and Family Secrets". (The title related to the "one-drop rule". Adopted into law in most southern states in the early twentieth century, it divided society into two groups, whites and blacks, classifying all persons with any known black ancestry as black.) Her book explored her psychological and physical journeys as she met members of her father's extended family in New York, New Orleans, and on the West Coast, and her developing ideas about her own identity and life.

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John Dunjee John William Dunjee (also John Dungy or John Dungee) (1833 – 1903) was an American missionary, educator, Baptist minister, publisher, agent of Storer College and founder of Baptist churches across the United States. Early life and education. John William Dungy was born into enslavement in New Kent County/Charles City County, Virginia, in 1833 to the Ferrell family. His family asserted that President John Tyler was his father and Dungy's mother was a slave. John William's absentee owners, the Ferrell family heirs, hired him out to former Virginia governor John Munford Gregory, and while working for Gregory in the winter of 1859 inside the family's house, Dungy learned that the Ferrells were going to take him to Alabama shortly. He then decided to make his escape to freedom in Canada through the Underground railroad with the help of William Still (who later published an account of Dunjee's escape) and others, landing in the port of Philadelphia in February. Dungy arrived on the 15th of that month in Hamilton, Canada West, where he stayed for several years, worked as a barber, studied at night, and married Lydia Ann Taylor. He returned to the United States at the conclusion of the Civil War, revisiting Richmond. He then studied at Oberlin College in Ohio, where he changed his name to "Dunjee" when he was informed about the "correct" spelling. William Still's daughter, Dr. Caroline Still Anderson, also studied at Oberlin during this period. Dunjee left Oberlin to seek cheaper tuition and better educational opportunities in Maine. From 1866 to 1868 John Dungy studied at Bates College (also known as the Maine State Seminary) in Lewiston, Maine, where he lived in Parker Hall with other former slaves, Alexander Sanders and Hamilton Keyes (later a student and incorporator of Storer College and member of the Storer Singers in 1873). Due to the connection of Bates and the Freewill Baptists with founding Storer College in West Virginia, Dungy moved to West Virginia to pursue missionary work and recruitment efforts through Storer. Career. Dunjee also played a particularly prominent role in supporting Storer College as an agent for the school, a Freewill Baptist College for African Americans in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. William Still, the abolitionist, who helped facilitate Dunjee's escape from slavery, also served as a trustee of Storer. After his work at Storer, Dunjee next became a minister with the Baptist Home Missionary Society. He traveled throughout the country from New England to the South to the Midwest preaching and starting new Baptist churches for African Americans in mainly rural areas. Dunjee was also an involved supporter of many other African-American educational institutions, such as Spelman College, Shaw College, Hampton College, and Langston University. His friends included such well-known figures as Frederick Douglass. Additionally, Dunjee founded the "Harper's Ferry Messenger" in 1882 and served as business manager. His children Drusilla Dunjee Houston, a historian, and Roscoe Dunjee later contributed to the "Messenger" and were editors of the "Black Dispatch" in Oklahoma. John Dunjee died in Oklahoma City in 1903.

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Joy DeGruy Joy DeGruy (née Leary) is an author, academic, and public speaker who previously served as assistant professor at the Portland State University School of Social Work. She is current president and CEO of DeGruy Publications, Inc. She is most known for her book "Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome," originally published by UpTone Press in 2005. DeGruy and her research projects have featured in news and activist coverage of contemporary African-American social issues, in addition to public lectures and workshops on U.S. college campuses. Early life and education. DeGruy's family background is from the American south. She grew up in South Central, Los Angeles where she graduated from Crenshaw High School. She recommends the book "The Warmth of Other Suns" as a source of insight into her family. She holds a bachelor's of science in Communication, two master's degrees (in Social Work and Clinical Psychology), and a Ph.D. in Social Work and Social Research from Portland State University's Graduate School of Social Work. Her doctoral dissertation, completed in 2001, studied predictive variables for African American Male Youth Violence using Sociocultural Theory, Social Learning Theory and Trauma Theory frameworks; she also employed the "new" theory of Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome, which would later become the subject of her 2005 book. Professor Eileen M. Brennan served as DeGruy's dissertation advisor. Research and publications. DeGruy's most famous work is undoubtedly her theorization of Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome ("P.T.S.S."), which she describes as:... a theory that explains the etiology of many of the adaptive survival behaviors in African American communities throughout the United States and the Diaspora. It is a condition that exists as a consequence of multigenerational oppression of Africans and their descendants resulting from centuries of chattel slavery. A form of slavery which was predicated on the belief that African Americans were inherently/genetically inferior to whites. This was then followed by institutionalized racism which continues to perpetuate injury... Under such circumstances these are some of the predictable patterns of behavior that tend to occur: Vacant Esteem...Marked Propensity for Anger and Violence...Racist Socialization and (internalized racism)... In an interview for Essence Magazine, DeGruy summarizes: "research has shown that severe trauma can affect multiple generations ... no one has ever measured the impact that slavery had on us, what it’s meant for us to live for centuries in a hostile environment. We have been hurt, not just by the obvious physical assaults, but in deep psychological ways..." DeGruy's theorization is based on qualitative and quantitative research conducted by the author in both America and Africa. Critical reception. The New Republic described the theory as "original thinking" that "explains[s] the effects of unresolved trauma on the behaviors of blacks that is transmitted from generation to generation," and suggested that the theory can be historicized more broadly alongside "new emphasis" on trauma-informed care in social work writ large. The California Institute of Integral studies has said P.T.S.S. "lays the groundwork for understanding how the past has influenced the present, and opens up the discussion of how we can use the strengths we have gained to heal." DeGruy's theory is not without controversy. P.T.S.S. has been criticized by scholars such as Ibram X. Kendi, who included it in his . P.T.S.S. has also come under fire by politically conservative advocacy group The National Association of Scholars. Among academics, critical engagement with P.T.S.S. formed the subject of subsequent doctoral dissertation work, which demonstrated that further research was needed to determine the theory's applicability. Critics have suggested that as an alternative to "pathologizing" African Americans, "future research should focus on the mental illness of African Americans' oppressors." In addition to P.T.S.S. theory, DeGruy co-developed the African American Adolescent Respect Scale, to serve as a practical measure of prosocial attitudes held by male adolescents. Other published work by DeGruy includes a chapter in "Should America Pay? Slavery and the Raging Debate on Reparations," edited by Raymond Winbush. She has participated in a wide array of public speaking engagements for non-profit organizations, colleges, and universities and has featured in publication lineups alongside the likes of Angela Davis. She is represented as a public speaker by the national organization Speak Out: The Institute for Democratic Education and Culture.

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Valorie Burton Valorie Burton is a life coach, author, motivational speaker and entrepreneur. She is the founder of the Coaching and Positive Psychology Institute (CaPP). Burton has been featured on the TODAY Show and the Dr. Oz Show and has made regular appearances on CNN and HLN. She has written for Oprah Magazine, Essence Magazine and many others. She was a columnist for BlackAmericaWeb.com and is a frequent guest on CNN's "Reclaim Your Career" segment. Burton co-hosted the Emmy-award-winning television program Aspiring Women, which aired on the Total Living Network (TLN). She has also co-hosted the national television program The Potter’s Touch with T.D. Jakes which aired weekdays on the TBN and BET. Early years. Burton grew up moving a number of times as a child in an Air Force family, living in Florida, West Germany and Colorado. She spent eight years in Dallas, Texas, which is where she started her first business, The Burton Agency. Burton ran the marketing and public relations firm from 1997 until 2001. The agency helped companies shape their image, positively influence customers and increase sales. In 2001, she founded Inspire, Inc. In the same year, Burton was appointed by Texas Governor Rick Perry to the Governor's Commission for Women and served a two-year term. In 2009, she launched CaPP to address organization’s coach training needs. The CaPP Institute offers coach training programs that focus on what makes people happier, more resilient, and prepared to perform better. The programs also provide participants with positive psychology research based tactics for entrepreneurial success. Burton is a former Miss Black Texas USA, Miss Black USA "top 10" finalist, and a runner-up to Miss Texas. Ms. Burton is a credentialed member of the International Coach Federation and a member of the National Speakers Association. Education. Burton graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a master's degree in applied positive psychology. She is also a graduate of Florida State University and has a master's degree in journalism from Florida A&M University. Publications. Burton is author of several books including "Successful Women Think Differently", "What's Really Holding You Back", and "Happy Women Live Better", "Rich Minds Rich Rewards", "How Did I Get So Busy", "Listen to Your Life", "Why Not You? 28 Days to Authentic Confidence", "Start Here Start Now", "Get Unstuck, Be Unstoppable", and "Where Will You Go From Here?", and "Successful Women Speak Differently". In "Rich Minds, Rich Rewards" (2001), she describes ways to focus "on what's truly important in life." In "What's Really Holding You Back?" (2005), Burton tackles fear, uncertainty and anxiety and how people can free themselves of fear. "Library Journal" calls "How Did I Get So Busy?" (2007) more than a "quick fix." Her book "Why Not You?" (2008), contains practical tips and a questionnaire for readers to "identify which four confidence levels they embody." In 2020, Burton released her most recent book, "Life Coaching for Successful Women" and advice on New Year's resolution to loudly tell your goals and start with baby steps. Burton also gave decision-making advice, "Without understanding God deep in our hearts, there is no success". Personal life. Burton currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Ashanti Alston Ashanti Omowali Alston (born 1954) is an anarchist activist, speaker, and writer, and former member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army. From 1974-1985 he spent time in prison for bank robbery which caused him to become further engaged in politics. He is currently on the Steering Committee of the Jericho Movement to free what they refer to as “political prisoners” in the US. Alston resides in Providence, Rhode Island. Early life. Alston grew up in the inner city of Plainfield, New Jersey, which he has described as being, at that time, "Niggertown with all the customs and traditions of racism, sexism and powerlessness". Alston was 11 years old during the assassination of Malcolm X and 13 years old during the 1967 Newark riots, events that both took place near his home town of Plainfield. In a 2010 interview, Alston said that he did not remember Malcolm X's death in 1965, but he began to understand the significance of Malcolm's legacy as rebellions occurred throughout the United States in 1967. Alston described the impact of seeing his older brother's copy of Malcolm X's autobiography with the subtitle "former pimp, hustler, robber, who becomes leader of the Black Revolution", which demonstrated to him that "people that come from that kind of background can play a heroic role in the struggle." He also recalled how witnessing the 1967 Plainfield rebellion gave him "an image of black men and women in heroic roles in our community crashing all the myths about us being 'niggers', all that stuff." Both Malcolm X's assassination and the Newark riots influenced Alston's decision to join the Black Panther Party at age 17, as he believed the Panthers were "taking Malcolm's teachings to the next level". At this time, Alston attended Nation of Islam meetings despite not being a member himself. He also felt a strong disdain for white people; however, upon joining the Panthers he changed his views. Black Panther Party, Black Liberation Army, and prison. In 1971, in the face of the Panther 21 trial which saw several of his peers possibly facing the death penalty, Alston joined the Black Liberation Army, a spin-off group from the Panthers that advocated for and attempted armed struggle against the United States government. In 1974, he was arrested and imprisoned for 11 years for taking part in a robbery designed to raise funds for the BLA. Alston credits his time in prison with helping him to learn about political movements, economic theories, political organizations, religion, and guerrilla theories. During this time he became an anarchist, in contrast to the Marxism-Leninism and Maoism explored by the Black Panther Party. While imprisoned, Alston also became disillusioned with the BLA, particularly due to its endorsement of drugs, as he understood the intention of the BLA to be the liberation of Black communities from the tyranny and influence of drugs at the time. Alston observed much sexism during his time in the Black Panther Party, despite the group's stated intention of gender equality, which he didn't fully realize until his stint in prison. However, he has acknowledged that some women still felt empowered by the Black Panther Party to fight sexism despite experiencing it within the party, recalling, "Sisters would tell you that because everybody had guns there were certain ways that they could tell a brother, 'you're not going to fuck with me, I'm not going to be your sexual object because I got a gun'." Personal life. In 1984, Alston married fellow BPP and BLA member Safiya Bukhari.

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Jeannette Caines Jeannette Caines was an American author of children's books, most notably "Abby", "Chilly Stomach" and "Just Us Women", a "Reading Rainbow" book. She was born and raised in Harlem, New York and worked as a Manuscript Coordinator. In 1989, Jeannette retired and relocated to Charlottesville, VA. She was the recipient of the National Black Child Developmental Institute's Certificate of Merit and Appreciation and the Charlottesville Lifetime Achievement Award (2004). In addition to this, Jeannette was the owner/operator of a small book store located in Charlottesville named THE PURPLE ALLIGATOR. Later in 2004, she was diagnosed with cancer and died on July 11. She had two children Alexander (deceased 2015) and Abby who still resides in New York.

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Augusta Braxton Baker Augusta Braxton Baker (April 1, 1911 – February 23, 1998) was an American librarian and storyteller. She was known for her contributions to children’s literature, especially regarding the portrayal of black Americans in works for children. Early life and education. Augusta Braxton Baker was born on April 1, 1911, in Baltimore, Maryland. Both of her parents were schoolteachers, who instilled in her a love of reading. During the day while her parents worked, her grandmother, Augusta Fax (from whom she received her name) cared for her and told her stories. Baker delighted in these stories, carrying her love for them throughout her life. She learned to read before starting elementary school, later enrolling in the (racially segregated) black high school where her father taught, and graduating at the age of 16. Baker then entered the University of Pittsburgh, where she both met and married James Baker by the end of her sophomore year. Relocating with her husband to New York, Baker sought to transfer to Albany Teacher’s College (now the State University of New York at Albany), only to be met with racial opposition from the college. Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of Franklin Roosevelt (who was then the Governor of New York), was on the board of the Albany Interracial Council (now the Albany Urban League). Mrs. Roosevelt heavily advocated for Baker’s transfer. Though the college did not want to admit blacks, they also did not want to oppose the governor's wife, and Baker was admitted. While there, she aimed toward a different career and wrote, "I discovered I loved books, but I didn't love teaching." She completed her education there, earning a B.A. degree in education in 1933 and a B.S. in library science in 1934. She became the first African-American to earn a master's degree in librarianship from the college. Professional career. After graduation, Baker taught for a few years, until she was hired in 1937 as the children's librarian at the New York Public Library's 135th Street Branch (now the Countee Cullen Regional Branch) in Harlem. Moore applied three times before the head of children’s services, Anne Carroll Moore, took a personal interest in her application. Moore later berated the director of the library for not passing along the application, as she was interested in anyone who showed an affinity for children's work In 1939, the branch began an effort to find and collect children's literature that portrayed black people as something other than "servile buffoons," speaking in a rude dialect, and other such stereotypes. This collection, founded by Baker as the James Weldon Johnson Memorial Collection of Children's Books, led to the publication of the first of a number of bibliographies of books for and about black children. Baker furthered this project by encouraging authors, illustrators, and publishers to produce, as well as libraries to acquire, books depicting blacks in a favorable light. In 1953, she was appointed Storytelling Specialist and Assistant Coordinator of Children's Services. Not long after that, she became Coordinator of Children's Services in 1961, becoming the first African-American librarian in an administrative position in the New York Public Library. In this role, she oversaw children's programs in the entire NYPL system and set policies for them. During this time, Baker also figured prominently in the American Library Association's Children's Services Division (now the Association for Library Service to Children), having served as its president. Additionally, she chaired the committee that awarded the Newbery Medal and the Caldecott Medal. Furthermore, Baker influenced many children's authors and illustrators—such as Maurice Sendak, Madeleine L'Engle, Ezra Jack Keats, and John Steptoe—while in this position. She also worked as a consultant for the then newly created children's television series "Sesame Street". In 1946, she published an extensive bibliography of titles relating to the black experience titled "Books about Negro Life for Children." In a 1943 article Baker stated her criteria for selection. The books included should be ones, “that give an unbiased, accurate, well rounded picture of Negro life in all parts of the world.” The lists and the standards were freely distributed from 135th Street Branch in Harlem. Many librarians, editors, and authors of the time used the lists in conjunction with their own work. In 1971, it was retitled "The Black Experience in Children's Books," and its criteria played an important part in bringing awareness about harmful stereotypes in Helen Bannerman's The Story of Little Black Sambo. In 1974, Baker retired from the New York Public Library. However, in 1980, she returned to librarianship to assume the newly created Storyteller-in-Residence position at the University of South Carolina; this was also the first such position in any American university at the time. She remained there until her second retirement in 1994. During her time there, Baker cowrote a book entitled "Storytelling: Art and Technique" with colleague Ellin Green, which was published in 1987. Death and continued legacy. After a long illness, Baker died at the age of 86 on February 23, 1998. Her legacy has remained even today, particularly through the "Baker’s Dozen: A Celebration of Stories" annual storytelling festival. Sponsored by the University of South Carolina College of Information and Communications and the Richland County Public Library, this festival originated in 1987 during Baker’s time at the University, and is celebrated still to this day. When asked: “What do you tell your students when you conduct your workshops?” Baker stated: “I tell them what I’ve always said. Let the story tell itself, and if it is a good story and you have prepared it well, you do not need all the extras - the costumes, the histrionics, the high drama. Children of all ages do want to hear stories. Select well, prepare well, and then go forth, stand tall, and just tell” Her legacy also continues through the Augusta Baker Collection of Children's Literature and Folklore at the University of South Carolina. The collection, donated by her son, James H. Baker III, contains over 1,600 children's books, including materials from her personal and working library, as well as papers, illustrations, and anthologies of folktales Baker used during her career. Bibliography. From Janice M. Del Negro, former Editor of "The Bulletin for Children's Books":

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Kevin Brown (author) Kevin Brown (born September 3, 1960) is a biographer, essayist and translator who has authored or contributed to three books. Kevin Brown has published brief lives of Romare Bearden and Malcolm X. He was a contributing editor to "The New York Public Library African American Desk Reference" Since 1978, many of Brown's essays, articles and reviews on the visual arts, cinema, dance, literature, music and politics have appeared in "Afterimage", the "American Book Review", "American Visions", the "Chicago Review", the "Kansas City Star", "Kirkus Reviews", the "Times Literary Supplement", "The Nation", "New York Newsday", the "Oakland Tribune", the "Threepenny Review". and the "Washington Post Bookworld", among others. Brown's 2005 translation into Spanish of Virginia Woolf's little known essay "Reviewing" appeared in the Iowa University journal of literary translation "eXchanges". His profile of translator Gregory Rabassa was published in 2006 by the University of Delaware's "Review of Latin American Studies". Biography. Predecessors. Brown's mother, Duan Nimmons, was born (1940) in New York City, where her family had been active in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and early 1930s. His maternal great-grandmother was Ida Mae Roberson (later, Ida Cullen-Cooper), widow of Harlem Renaissance poet Countee Cullen. Countee Cullen was a teacher at Frederick Douglass Junior High school, where James Baldwin was among his students. Prior to his marriage to Ida Mae Roberson, Countee Cullen had briefly been the son-in-law of W.E.B. Du Bois. Early life. Kevin Brown was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1960. Before primary school, he traveled around Western Europe and North Africa with his father, John Brown, a writer and running back with the late 1950s Iowa Hawkeyes football team that played against The University of California in the 1959 Rose Bowl. In the mid 1960s, John Brown met William S. Burroughs, Ted Joans and other writers associated with the Beat Generation in Tangier, Morocco. In the late 60s, Kevin Brown lived in the Haight Ashbury district of San Francisco, attending Twin Peaks Elementary School. In the early 1970s, he lived in the Bay Area peninsula, in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, attending Ralston Middle School in Belmont, California, as well as Rancho Junior High and Samuel Ayer High School in Milpitas, California, a suburb of San Jose. He graduated from Southeast High School in Kansas City, Missouri (1977). From 1978 to 1979, he lived in St. Louis, Missouri, reading, writing, waiting tables. Apprenticeship. From 1980 to 1984, in San Francisco, Brown studied Latin and Greek with a private tutor, reading widely in the works of the ancients and the French as well as contemporary post-war writers like Gore Vidal. He began publishing book reviews on writers like Zora Neale Hurston, Samuel Pepys and Virginia Woolf in newspapers such as the "Oakland Tribune" as well as longer essays on Spanish cinema and James Baldwin in the "Threepenny Review" Higher education. In 1986, Brown moved to New York, attending the Columbia University School of General Studies for one year before transferring to the City University of New York. There, he double-majored in Spanish as well as Translating & Interpreting, completing his undergraduate degree in the CUNY Baccalaureate Program for Unique and Interdisciplinary Studies, headquartered at the Graduate Center. He studied with literary translator Gregory Rabassa, among others. Personal life. Brown lived in New York for 22 years, from 1985 to 2007, during which time he married and had a son. His son has rose to notoriety for being the youngest person to ever simultaneously whip and nae-nae. Brown returned to California in 2007, and currently lives in San Diego. Selected publications. In 1985, Brown worked as an editorial assistant in the publishing industry in New York, and contributed to the "London Times Literary Supplement". From 1987 to 1989, Brown was a regular contributor to "Kirkus Reviews", where he published book reviews on subjects as various as Africa, African-American writers, 20th century American poetry, Anglo-American common law, Australian-New Zealand writers, French history and literature, the Harlem Renaissance, music, photography, politics. During the 1990s, he traveled in Central America and Eastern Europe, contributed to the "American Book Review", "American Visions" and "New York Newsday", and contracted to begin work on a series of biographies on Romare Bearden, Malcolm X and Countee Cullen. Books. Commissioned in 1993, just after the release of Spike Lee's movie on the same subject, Brown's second book attempts to chronicle the rise and fall of Malcolm X as well as that of rival leader Martin Luther King against the backdrop of the civil rights and black nationalist movements. Profiles and interviews. At Queens College and other campuses throughout the 23-college CUNY system, Kevin Brown studied both literary as well as technical translation with Gregory Rabassa and other faculty from Spain and Latin America. His profile-interview of Rabassa appeared in the University of Delaware's "Review of Latin American Studies".

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William P. Foster William Patrick Foster (August 25, 1919 – August 28, 2010), also known as The Law and The Maestro, was the director of the noted Florida A&M University Marching "100". He served as the band's director from 1946 to his retirement in 1998. His innovations revolutionized college marching band technique and the perceptions of the collegiate band. Foster was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame, the National Association for Distinguished Band Conductors Hall of Fame, the Florida Music Educators Association Hall of Fame and the Afro-American Hall of Fame among others. He also served as the president of the American Bandmasters Association and was appointed to the National Council on the Arts by President Bill Clinton. Foster wrote the book titled "The Man Behind the Baton". Education. At age 12, Foster began his music career by learning to play the clarinet. While in high school, his talent was recognized and he was appointed student director of the Sumner High School Orchestra, in Kansas City, Kansas. In 1936, he became the director of an all-city band. Foster was a fellow of the Rosenwald General Education Board at Teacher's College, Columbia University, 1953–1955 for Doctorate Studies. He received his Bachelor of Music Education Degree from the University of Kansas in 1941, a Master of Arts in Music Degree from Wayne State University in 1950, a Doctor of Education Degree with a major in music from Teachers College, Columbia University in 1955, and an Honorary Doctor of Human Letters Degree in 1998 from Florida A&M University. He became a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia in 1953 at Columbia University. The Marching "100". The original FAMU Band was organized in 1892 under the leadership of P.A. Van Weller. At that time, the school was still known as the State Normal and Industrial College for Colored Students. When Foster became the director of bands in 1946, the school was known as the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College for Negroes. Foster brought over 30 new techniques to the band, which have now become standard procedure for high school and college bands nationwide. Under his direction, the Marching "100" appeared in films, commercials, numerous magazine and newspaper articles, nationally televised performances. In 1989, the French chose Foster and his band as America's official representative in the Bastille Day Parade, celebrating the bicentennial of the French Revolution. On January 27, 1996, the Marching "100" was the center-piece of the Opening Ceremonies of the Walt Disney Indy 200. The Band was also the featured attraction at the Fifteenth and Twenty-fifth Anniversary National Telecast of Walt Disney World in 1986 and 1996. In January 1993 and 1997, the band appeared in the Inaugural Parade of President Bill Clinton. Innovation of techniques. The collective style of the FAMU marching band evolved by happenstance during band practice in 1946. "Our first dance routine, I don't know how or why it came about," said Foster, in his book "Band Pageantry, A Guide for the Marching Band". Foster's break with tradition was a fanfare that trumpeted the changing of the guard in marching band style and forever changed the look, feel and emotion associated with halftime performances. The block, militaristic, corps style immediately became secondary to Foster's upbeat, high-energy shows and, by the '60s, bands such as Grambling, Southern and Tennessee State in addition to Florida A&M began to garner national attention. Foster's innovations made for a quantum leap for a U.S. marching band scene, which had already witnessed lagging interest in live band concerts as the numbers of radio and vinyl-record fans began to soar. While educators saw bands as a way to teach music to large numbers of students, few college bands existed around the turn of the century. Those that did were usually either small and informal club-like organizations modeled on the community bands, or ROTC bands modeled on the music of the military. "I don't know what possessed me to go to the dean's office, but I was there and he asked me what I wanted to do," recalled Foster in his book on marching band technique. "I told him I wanted to be a conductor, but he said, 'You should rethink that. There are no jobs for colored conductors.' And he was right! So I wanted to develop a band that would be better than any white band in the country." At FAMU, Foster began redefining band pageantry with a showy style—rapid tempos, high-stepping, dancing, etc., which was eschewed by some band directors who continued to cling to more staid military tradition and its emphasis on correct carriage and marching precision. Foster has been credited with developing at least 30 new marching band techniques, including the double-time marching step of 240 steps per minute or four steps per second, and the triple-time marching step of 360 steps per minute, the death-slow cadence of 20 steps per minute or one step every three seconds, and memorization of all music played in stands, parades, pre-game and halftime shows. Other achievements. Foster authored 18 articles for professional journals, 4 published marching band shows, and the textbook, "Band Pageantry", considered "The Bible" for the marching band. He is the composer of "Marche Brillante", "National Honors March", "March Continental", and "Centennial Celebration". Foster was the first recipient of the United States Achievement Academy Hall of Fame Award and the Outstanding Educator Award presented by the School of Education Society of the University of Kansas Alumni Association. In 1992, "Sports Illustrated" declared The 100 as the best marching band in the country. In 1998, Foster was inducted as a Great Floridian by the Museum of Florida History. He was also a director of the prestigious McDonald's All-American High School Band (1980–1992). President Bill Clinton nominated and the United States Congress approved Foster as a member of the National Council on the Arts. Foster was a member of the Hall of Fame of the following organizations: Music Educators National Conference; the Florida Music Educators Association, Florida A&M University Sports, the National High School Band Directors, and the Afro-American Hall of Fame. He was a Board member with G. Leblanc Corporation, John Philip Sousa Foundation, International Music Festival, Inc., and the Marching Musician. On December 17, 1998, the Board of Electors in Chicago, Illinois elected Foster to the National Band Association Hall of Fame of Distinguished Band Conductors, the most prestigious honor a bandmaster can receive. Death. On August 23, 2010, Foster, who had been a resident of Miracle Hill nursing home in Tallahassee, Florida, was admitted to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital's Intensive Care Unit. He died on August 28, 2010 at 12:01 AM. His funeral was held in Florida A&M University's Lee Hall on September 4, 2010. He was 91 years old.

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John Henrik Clarke John Henrik Clarke (born John Henry Clark; January 1, 1915 - July 16, 1998) was an American historian, professor, and pioneer in the creation of Pan-African and Africana studies and professional institutions in academia starting in the late 1960s. Early life and education. He was born John Henry Clark on January 1, 1915, in Union Springs, Alabama, the youngest child of John Clark, a sharecropper, and Willie Ella Clark, a washer woman, who passed away in 1922. ). With the hopes of earning enough money to buy land rather than sharecrop, his family moved to the closest mill town in Columbus, Georgia. Counter to his mother's wishes for him to become a farmer, Clarke left Georgia in 1933 by freight train and went to Harlem, New York as part of the Great Migration of rural blacks out of the South to northern cities. There he pursued scholarship and activism. He renamed himself as John Henrik (after rebel Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen) and added an "e" to his surname, spelling it as "Clarke". He also joined the U.S. Army during World War II. Clarke was heavily influenced by Cheikh Anta Diop, which inspired his piece "The Historical Legacy of Cheikh Anta Diop: His Contributions to a New Concept of African History". Clarke believed that the credited Greek philosophers gained much of their theories and thoughts from contact with Africans, who influenced the early Western world. Positions in academia. Clarke was a professor of Black and Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College of the City University of New York from 1969 to 1986, where he served as founding chairman of the department. He also was the Carter G. Woodson Distinguished Visiting Professor of African History at Cornell University’s Africana Studies and Research Center. Additionally, in 1968 he founded the African Heritage Studies Association and the Black Caucus of the African Studies Association. In its obituary of Clarke, "The New York Times" noted that the activist's ascension to professor emeritus at Hunter College was "unusual... without benefit of a high school diploma, let alone a Ph.D." It acknowledged that "nobody said Professor Clarke wasn't an academic original. " In 1994, Clarke earned a doctorate from the non-accredited Pacific Western University (now California Miramar University) in Los Angeles, having earned a bachelor's degree there in 1992. Career. By the 1920s, the Great Migration and demographic changes had led to a concentration of African Americans living in Harlem. A synergy developed among the artists, writers, and musicians and many figured in the Harlem Renaissance. They began to implement supporting structures of study groups and informal workshops to develop newcomers and young people. Arriving in Harlem at the age of 18 in 1933, Clarke developed as a writer and lecturer during the Great Depression years. He joined study circles such as the Harlem History Club and the Harlem Writers' Workshop. He studied intermittently at New York University, Columbia University, Hunter College, the New School of Social Research and the League for Professional Writers. He was an autodidact whose mentors included the scholar Arturo Alfonso Schomburg. From 1941 to 1945, Clarke served as a non-commissioned officer in the United States Army Air Forces, ultimately attaining the rank of master sergeant. In the post-World War II era, there was new artistic development, with small presses and magazines being founded and surviving for brief times. Writers and publishers continued to start new enterprises: Clarke was co-founder of the "Harlem Quarterly" (1949–51), book review editor of the "Negro History Bulletin" (1948–52), associate editor of the magazine, "Freedomways," and a feature writer for the black-owned "Pittsburgh Courier". Clarke taught at the New School for Social Research from 1956 to 1958. Traveling in West Africa in 1958–59, he met Kwame Nkrumah, whom he had mentored as a student in the US, and was offered a job working as a journalist for the "Ghana Evening News". He also lectured at the University of Ghana and elsewhere in Africa, including in Nigeria at the University of Ibadan. Becoming prominent during the Black Power movement in the 1960s, which began to advocate a kind of black nationalism, Clarke advocated for studies of the African-American experience and the place of Africans in world history. He challenged the views of academic historians and helped shift the way African history was studied and taught. Clarke was "a scholar devoted to redressing what he saw as a systematic and racist suppression and distortion of African history by traditional scholars". He accused his detractors of having Eurocentric views. His writing included six scholarly books and many scholarly articles. He also edited anthologies of writing by African-Americans, as well as collections of his own short stories. In addition, Clarke published general interest articles. In one especially heated controversy, he edited and contributed to an anthology of essays by African-Americans attacking the white writer William Styron and his novel, "The Confessions of Nat Turner", for his fictional portrayal of the African-American slave known for leading a rebellion in Virginia. Besides teaching at Hunter College and Cornell University, Clarke founded professional associations to support the study of black culture. He was a founder with Leonard Jeffries and first president of the African Heritage Studies Association, which supported scholars in areas of history, culture, literature, and the arts. He was a founding member of other organizations to support work in black culture: the Black Academy of Arts and Letters and the African-American Scholars' Council. Personal life. Clarke's first marriage was to the mother of his daughter Lillie (who died before her father). They divorced. In 1961, Clarke married Eugenia Evans in New York, and together they had a son and daughter: Nzingha Marie and Sonni Kojo. The marriage ended in divorce. In 1997, John Henrik Clarke married his longtime companion, Sybil Williams. He died of a heart attack on July 16, 1998, at St. Luke's Hospital in New York City. He was buried in Green Acres Cemetery, Columbus, Georgia.

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Henry Bibb Henry Walton Bibb (May 10, 1815 in Shelby County, Kentucky – 1854) was an American author and abolitionist who was born a slave. After escaping from slavery to Canada, he founded an abolitionist newspaper, "The Voice of the Fugitive". He returned to the US and lectured against slavery. Biography. Bibb was born to an enslaved woman, Milldred Jackson, on a Cantalonia, Kentucky, plantation on May 10, 1815. His people told him his white father was James Bibb, a Kentucky state senator, but Henry never knew him. As he was growing up, Bibb saw each of his six younger siblings, all boys, sold away. Bibb was also very attached to his original owner's dog, which he named Geels, but the dog passed away at only 5 years of age. In 1833, Bibb married another enslaved mulatto, Malinda, who lived in Oldham County, Kentucky. They had a daughter, Mary Frances. In 1842, he managed to flee to Detroit, from where he hoped to gain the freedom of his wife and daughter. After finding out that Malinda had been sold as a mistress to a white planter, Bibb focused on his career as an abolitionist. He traveled and lectured throughout the United States. In 1849-50 he published his autobiography "Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, An American Slave, Written by Himself", which became one of the best known slave narratives of the antebellum years. The passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 increased the danger to Bibb and his second wife, Mary E. Miles. It required Northerners to cooperate in the capture of escaped slaves. To ensure their safety, the Bibbs migrated to Canada and settled in Sandwich, Upper Canada, now Windsor, Ontario. In 1851, he set up the first black newspaper in Canada, "The Voice of the Fugitive". The paper helped develop a more sympathetic climate for blacks in Canada as well as helped new arrivals to adjust. Due to his fame as an author, Bibb was reunited with three of his brothers, who separately had also escaped from slavery to Canada. In 1852 he published their accounts in his newspaper. He died on August 1, 1854, at Windsor, Canada West, at the age of 39.

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Cheryl Clarke Cheryl L. Clarke (born Washington DC, May 16, 1947) is a lesbian poet, essayist, educator and a Black feminist community activist: she lives in Jersey City, New Jersey, and Hobart, New York. With her life partner, Barbara Balliet, she is co-owner of Bleinheim Hill Books, a used and rare bookstore in Hobart. Her younger sister is novelist Breena Clarke, with whom Clarke and Balliet organize the Hobart Festival of Women writers each summer. Her scholarship focuses on African-American women's literature, black lesbian feminism, and the Black Arts Movement in the United States. Retired from her work in higher education, she maintains a teaching affiliation with the Graduate Faculty of the Department of Women and Gender Studies, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and serves on the board of the Newark Pride Alliance. Early life and education. The daughter of James Sheridan Clarke (September 18, 1912 – January 18, 2009), a veteran of World War II, and Edna Clarke, Cheryl was born and raised in Washington, D.C. at the height of the American civil rights movement, one of four sisters and a brother. The family was Catholic, descended from freed slaves who had emigrated to the nation's capitol after the Civil War. Both parents were civil servants and registered Democrats: James Clarke worked for the National Bureau of Standards for 33 years, and was considered to be the "mayor" of their neighborhood in the NW section of Washington. Experiencing Jim Crow segregation first hand in Washington for much of their lives, James and Edna raised their children with a strong sense of social justice and a belief in the importance of political activism. When she was 13, Clarke crossed a picket line of African-American activists protesting segregation at Woolworth's on 14th Street, believing that this was a rebellious act. However, when she came home her mother, a staunch union member, told her never to cross a picket line again, educating her about the role of direct action politics in the civil rights movement. At 16, Clarke was allowed by her parents to attend the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom with them, despite their concerns that there might be violence. The day before the march, on the way downtown to acquire information about the route, she ran into Martin Luther King Jr., who would deliver his "I Have a Dream" speech the next day. Clarke attended parochial schools in the District of Columbia, and matriculated at Howard University in 1965. She received a B.A. in English literature in 1969. Subsequently, she enrolled at Rutgers University, completing a master's degree in 1974, an MSW in 1980, and a Ph.D in 2000. For much of this time, she also worked for Rutgers, beginning her employment there in 1970 as an administrator in student services. At Rutgers, Clarke was a pioneer in co-curricular programming that made the university more accessible to students of color and LGBT students. In 1992, she was the founding Director of Diverse Community Affairs and Lesbian/Gay Concerns, which became the Office for Social Justice Education and LGBT Communities in 2004. She served as the Dean of Students of the Livingston Campus at Rutgers University from 2009 to 2013. After 41 years in higher education, Clarke retired from Rutgers in 2013. Writing. Clarke is the author of four collections of poetry: "Narratives: Poems in the Tradition of Black Women" (originally self-published in 1981 and distributed by in 1982); and for Firebrand Books "Living as a Lesbian" (1986), "Humid Pitch" (1989) and "Experimental Love" (1993). She also published "After Mecca — Women Poets and the Black Arts Movement" (Rutgers University Press, 2005), the first study of its kind that made more visible the contributions of black women to a field that traditionally recognized black men, and "Days of Good Looks: Prose and Poetry, 1980–2005" (Carroll & Graf Publishing, 2006), a collection that represented 25 years of published writing. Clarke has served on the editorial collective of "Conditions", an early lesbian publication, and has been published in numerous anthologies, journals, magazines, and newspapers, including "Conditions 5, The Black Women's Issue" (1979), ' (1982), ' (1984), "The Black Scholar", "The Kenyon Review", "Feminist Review of Books", "Belles Lettres", "The Gay Community News". Clarke's iconic articles, "Lesbianism: an act of resistance" and "The Failure to Transform: Homophobia in the Black Community", published in "This Bridge" and "Home Girls", respectively, are often included in women studies, black studies, and English studies curricula. Clarke's fifth book of poetry, "By My Precise Haircut" (2016), is published by The Word Works Books of Washington, D.C., a press committed to the publication of contemporary poetry. “Lesbianism: an Act of Resistance” (1981). Cheryl Clarke is the author of "Lesbianism: an Act of Resistance," originally published in 1981 in the feminist anthology "This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color." The essay's main intervention is to expand the categories of who counts as a lesbian and what lesbianism is. Rather than defining a lesbian only as a woman who has sex with other women, Clarke insists that "there is no one kind of lesbian, no one kind of lesbian behavior, and no one kind of lesbian relationship." Thinking of "lesbian" as a continuum, she makes space for women who may have sexual and emotional relationships with women but identify with other labels (bisexual, for instance). In the same way, she redefines lesbianism "as an ideological, political, and philosophical means of liberation of all women from heterosexual tyranny." Because she imagines lesbianism to be in opposition to male tyranny and coerced heterosexuality, she defines it as resistance, no matter how a woman is actually practicing it in her personal life. “The Failure to Transform: Homophobia in the Black Community” (1983). The book "" also includes one of Clarke’s essays, titled “The Failure to Transform: Homophobia in the Black Community” (1983). This essay is a literary critique, including critiques of LeRoi Jones’ "Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note" (1961), Michele Wallace’s "Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman" (1979), and bell hooks’ "Ain’t I a Woman" (1981). Clarke argues that homophobia is not unique to the Black community, but is indicative of a larger homophobic culture. This piece is directed at Black men, who Clarke says perpetuate homophobia and the white supremacist, anti-Black concepts of gender and sexuality as a means of becoming more palatable to white America. She specifically critiques the “intellectual Black man” for acting as the savior that will bring liberation to the Black community by way of perpetuating homophobia to condemn Black lesbians as detrimental to the Black Family and Black nationhood (201). Additionally, Clarke asserts that intellectual Black women have excluded Black lesbians from their scholarship and subtly deny the womanhood of Black lesbians—“homophobia by omission”. The oppression and exclusion of Black lesbian women from the Black liberation movement, according to Clarke, is counter-revolutionary and only by addressing and eliminating homophobia can the Black community find liberation. Clarke concludes that Black people must be committed to eliminating homophobia in the community by engaging in discussion with advocates for gay and lesbian liberation, educating ourselves about gay and lesbian politics, confronting homophobic attitudes within ourself and others, and understanding how these attitudes prevent us from being totally liberated. Community. Clarke has served on a number of boards and community organizations, including New York Women Against Rape (1985), New Jersey Women and AIDS Network, Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center, and the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice. Currently, she is a member of the Board of Directors of the Newark Pride Alliance, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to LGBTQ advocacy and programming in the city of Newark, New Jersey. She lives and writes in Jersey City, New Jersey.

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Yvette Flunder (Bishop) Yvette A. Flunder (born July 29, 1955) is an American womanist, preacher, pastor, activist, and singer from San Francisco, CA. She is the senior pastor of the City of Refuge United Church of Christ in Oakland, California and Presiding Bishop of The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries. Life. Flunder was born in San Francisco, California and raised between the Bay Area and Mississippi. She graduated High School from Church of God in Christ’s Saints Academy in Lexington, Mississippi before returning to California. She was raised in the Church of God in Christ. In 1984 she began singing and recording with Walter Hawkins and the Love Center Choir, where she was the lead singer. She was later ordained by Hawkins. Flunder earned an undergraduate degree from College of San Mateo. She then went on to receive a Certificate of Ministry Studies and a Master of Arts in 1997 from the Pacific School of Religion, before earning her Doctor of Ministry degree from the San Francisco Theological Seminary in 2001. In 2000 she founded the Fellowship of Affirming Ministries, a trans-denominational coalition of Christian churches who "desire to celebrate and proclaim the radically inclusive love of Jesus Christ", and was appointed its Presiding Bishop in 2003. Flunder identifies as a womanist and a reconciling liberation theologian. In 2005 she authored a book, "Where the Edge Gathers: Building a Community of Radical Inclusion". Carlton Pearson cites her among the first religious leaders to embrace and encourage him after he was declared a heretic due to coming out in support of universal reconciliation. In 2013 she was named as a Distinguished Alumna of the Pacific School of Religion. On December 1, 2014, Flunder was a keynote speaker in the White House for World AIDS Day, where she described the harmful effects of stigma and homophobia on those living with HIV and on AIDS education in general.The following year she was a guest speaker at the American Baptist College's Garnett-Nabrit Lecture Series. Since 2015 Flunder has been a member of the board of trustees of the Starr King School for the Ministry and also served as a member of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. Flunder's spouse is Shirley Miller, the cousin of Walter Hawkins; they have been committed partners since the mid-1980s. Ministry. Bishop Flunder was raised in the "womb" of the church coming from church founding families in the Bay Area. From a young age, Flunder's life reflected her beliefs to treat people with value and equality. In 1986, Flunder was moved to minister to people with HIV/AIDS in response to the epidemic of the 1980s. She founded several not-for-profit enterprises in the San Francisco Bay Area, providing services for people affected by HIV: Hazard-Ashley House, Walker House and Restoration House, through the Ark of Refuge, Inc., which later became the Y. A. Flunder Foundation, and is now City of Refuge. In 1991, she founded the City of Refuge under the United Church of Christ, "in order to unite a gospel ministry with a social ministry". She describes the City of Refuge UCC as an effort to "create a spiritual community that will embrace our collective cultures, faith paths, gender expressions, and sexual/affectional orientations while simultaneously freeing us from oppressive theologies that subjugate women, denigrate the LGBT community, and disconnect us from justice issues locally and globally". The Transcendence Gospel Choir was a community choir affiliated with the City of Refuge and was the first all-transgender choir in the United States. Flunder's work expands into digital spaces. In 2021 she was a panelist for "Fire and Desire" the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture's Center for the Study of African American Religious Life as they discussed "Black Male Gospel Music Performance" Film and television and Media. Flunder was portrayed by actress Phylicia Rashad for the final 3-part episode as part of the Dustin Lance Black mini-series "When We Rise" on March 3, 2017 on the major television network ABC. The Bishop's role in the show highlights the compassion of the church, the commitment of its leadership and the loving home the church provides to minister in the tough, primarily African-American community in San Francisco. Flunder was also depicted by Joni Bovill in the Joshua Marston drama film "Come Sunday", which premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and was released on Netflix in April 2018. Flunder is active on many social media platforms using her platforms to consistently advocate for black lives, queer lives, medical accessibility, and destigmatization of HIV+ lives. in 2021, Flunder was featured in PBS's "The Black Church: This is our story, this is our song." Published Work. Where the Edge Gathers Birthing the Sermon: Women Preachers on the Creative Process Those Preaching Women: A Multicultural Collection Queer Christianities: Lived Religion in Transgressive Forms

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Niggerati The Niggerati was the name used, with deliberate irony, by Wallace Thurman for the group of young African-American artists and intellectuals of the Harlem Renaissance. "Niggerati" is a portmanteau of "nigger" and "literati". The rooming house where he lived, and where that group often met, was similarly christened Niggerati Manor. The group included Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, and several of the people behind Thurman's journal "FIRE!!" (which lasted for one issue in 1926), such as Richard Bruce Nugent (the associate editor of the journal), Jonathan Davis, Gwendolyn Bennett, and Aaron Douglas. The African-American bourgeoisie tried to distance itself from the slavery of the past and sought social equality and racial integration. The Niggerati themselves appeared to be relatively comfortable with their diversity of gender, skin color, and background. After producing "FIRE!!", which failed because of a lack of funding, Thurman persuaded the Niggerati to produce another magazine, "Harlem". This, too, lasted only a single issue. Origin. In his autobiographical novel, "Infants of the Spring", Thurman referred to the Harlem literati, whose pretensions he often considered to be spurious and whose achievements he often considered to be second-rate, as the Niggerati. (In the novel, Sweetie May Carr, a character modelled on the real-life Hurston, christens the Harlem rooming house where Dr Parkes, modelled on the real life Alain Locke, establishes a salon of artists, Niggerati Manor, just as Thurman's own rooming house was in real life.) Thurman himself was infamous amongst that literati, although popular amongst the younger, bohemian, crowd. Thurman rejected what he called "society Negroes". He himself, as many others of the literati did, would hold parties on Saturday nights, which Langston Hughes described in "The Big Sea" by observing that "at Wallace Thurman's you met the bohemians of both Harlem and the Village." Recalling the days of Niggerati Manor, Theophilus Lewis wrote: All three of Hughes, Hurston, and Thurman enjoyed the shock value of referring to themselves as the Niggerati. Hurston's biographer Valerie Boyd described it as "an inspired moniker that was simultaneously self-mocking and self-glorifying, and sure to shock the stuffy black bourgeoisie". Hurston was actually the coiner of the name. The quickest wit in what was a very witty group, which encompassed Helene Johnson, Countee Cullen, Augusta Savage, Dorothy West (then a teacher), Harold Jackman, and John P. Davis (a law student at the time), as well as hangers-on, friends, and acquaintances, Hurston dubbed herself the "Queen of the Niggerati". In addition to Niggerati Manor, the rooming house at 267 West 136th Street where both Thurman and Hughes lived, Niggerati meetings were held at Hurston's apartment, with a pot on the stove, into which attendees were expected to contribute ingredients for stew. She also cooked okra, or fried Florida eel. Whilst Hughes, Hurston, and Thurman were comfortable with the appellation, others were less so. Cullen, for example, found Carl Van Vechten's novel "Nigger Heaven" so offensive that he refused to talk to him for 14 years. Hurston, though, had no trouble with language that challenged the sensibilities of others. She dubbed the well-heeled white liberals who were involved in the Harlem Renaissance "Negrotarians" (c.f. rotarian). "FIRE!!". "FIRE!!" itself represented the aesthetic frustrations of the Niggerati. Its single issue was published in November 1926, a year after the publication of Alain Locke's "The New Negro". Whilst "The New Negro" was viewed by the Niggerati as subtle propaganda, appropriating their talents for racial propagandist purposes, "FIRE!!" was intended to be "devoted to the younger Negro artists", and was edited, paid for, and published by the Niggerati themselves, with the intention both of being purely aesthetic and of causing outrage amongst black literary critics. The journal's title came from a poem that Hughes had written, which was a sinner's lament in the fashion of a Negro spiritual. In a letter written to Locke, Hurston stated that there needed to be "more outlets for Negro fire", and the Niggerati distanced themselves even from Locke, declining his offer of patronage for the journal. Organization. In addition to Nugent; Bennett, Douglas, Thurman, Hurston, and Hughes formed the journal's editorial board, with Thurman at the head. Davis was the business manager. Each editor was supposed to contribute 50 dollars towards the publication costs, although only three (not including Hurston) actually did. Thurman signed an I.O.U. for the printer, making him personally liable for the bill of nearly $1,000. He borrowed $150 from the Harlem Community Church, and another $150 from the Mutual League, only to be mugged on a street corner in Harlem, losing both all of the money and his clothing. For the next four years, Thurman's pay was attached in order to pay the debt. Hurston solicited subscriptions on a folklore-collecting trip to the South in 1927, in order to help, and both she and Hughes submitted essays to "World Tomorrow", which had loaned money to "FIRE!", to repay that loan. This shaky financial foundation was symptomatic of the troubles that beset the journal, one of the most major of which was that none of the Niggerati had time to work on it. By the Autumn of 1926, Hurston had begun a course at Barnard, Hughes had returned to college in Pennsylvania, Davis was at Harvard and occupied with editing "Crisis", Bennett was at Howard and occupied with her column for "Opportunity", and even Thurman had taken a new job editing "World Tomorrow" magazine. Nugent and Douglas were artists, not editors. One of Nugent's stories, submitted for publication, was destroyed accidentally whilst stored at Hurston's apartment, and he had to rewrite it. He did so on a roll of toilet paper, which he gave to Thurman. Nugent himself stated that the most amazing thing about "FIRE!!" was that it was ever published at all. In a final irony, the printer gave the entire print run of the magazine to the Niggerati, in the hope that they would sell better in quantity, only for several hundred copies to be lost in a fire in the basement in which they were stored. Hurston later commented "I suppose that 'Fire' has gone to ashes quite, but I still think the idea is good.". Content. The one issue of "FIRE!!" to be published contained stories by several of the Niggerati, most of which had transgressions of moral and aesthetic boundaries as their themes. Thurman's story "Cordelia the Crude" was a story about a sixteen-year-old black girl becoming a prostitute — an image that would have outraged black critics of the time, whose view of black female sexuality was that images of it should be moral. Nugent's story was "Smoke, Lilies and Jade", an overtly homoerotic story with black and Latino protagonists, and the first such story published by an African American. Hurston submitted two stories, one of which, her play "Color Struck" (a reworked version of what she had won the 1925 "'Opportunity" contest with), Thurman had considered printing under a nom de plume, in order to prevent the issue being too "Zoraish". Like the other stories, "Color Struck" condemned the bourgeois attitude of envying whites, on biological and intellectual grounds, its subject being that of a woman who was so conscious of the colour of her skin that she missed out on the love of a good man. Her other submission was a short story entitled "Sweat", which Hemenway praises as being "a remarkable work, her best fiction of the period", and observes that such stories could have led to the magazine's eventual success, had it not suffered from the other problems. Reception. The Niggerati sought to challenge borgeoise attitudes with "FIRE!!", and intended it (in Thurman's own words from his solicitation letters) to be "provocative ... to provide the shocks necessary to encourage new types of artistic interest and new types of artistic energy". However, their efforts failed. They were not taken very seriously. Most of the negative reactions were little stronger than slaps on the wrist. Locke criticized their "effete echoes of contemporary decadence" and yet praised their anti-Puritanism. The NAACP even handled some of the journal's prepublication publicity. Du Bois, editor of "Crisis", simply ignored them. The way in which the Niggerati "thought" that "FIRE!!" was received reveals much about their intent in publishing it. Hughes wrote in "The Big Sea" that "None of the older Negro intellectuals would have anything to do with "FIRE". Dr. Du Bois in "Crisis" roasted it.". In fact, Du Bois did no such thing. The only mention that "FIRE!!" received was a brief announcement in the January 1927 issue, calling it "a beautiful piece of printing" that was "strikingly illustrated by Aaron Douglas" and concluding "We bespeak for it wide support.". Hughes "thought" that Du Bois panned "FIRE!!" because he "expected" him to pan it, that being the reaction that he and the other Niggerati had intended to elicit. Nugent reported that once all initial submissions had been made, Thurman had asked the group for something that would get the journal banned in Boston, which led to the inclusion of "Cordelia the Crude" and "Smoke, Lilies and Jade". "Harlem". The Niggerati's next magazine, "Harlem", published in November 1928, was subtly different in tone to "FIRE!!". Whilst still choosing themes that critics considered inappropriate and shocking, the magazine was more politically oriented, was more commercially viable, and had a wider variety of articles, stories, advertisements, and other contents. It also had a different look, and lacked the inter-generational rhetoric of "FIRE!!". Thurman himself described it as a "wholly new type of magazine", with a new outlook, celebrating "a new day in the history of the American Negro". Thurman aimed the magazine squarely at the New Negroes envisioned by Locke and others. Unlike "FIRE!!", "Harlem" was not intended solely a vehicle for the Niggerati themselves, but was intended to accept articles from anyone, as long as the authors had skill. Organization. Most of the editors of "FIRE!!" also contributed to "Harlem". They also approached other writers. One such was Nella Larsen, a friend of Peterson. Peterson had wanted no part in another magazine published by Thurman, and had been approached by Nugent and Scholley Alexander, to write a monthly theatrical column, under the pretext that Alexander was the editor. Upon receiving a thank-you letter with Thurman's name as editor on the letterhead, she withdrew, despite pleas from Alexander acknowledging Thurman's "selfish treatment of those who have helped him gain a place in the literary world" and stating that he would not let Thurman run amok. Alexander asked Peterson to ask her friends "to forbear — to "with-hold their criticism until they have the first issue at hand to criticize"" (original emphasis and underlining). Larsen also declined, on the grounds that she was not going to be paid for her submissions, confessing that her ultimate goal in writing was "money". "I write so slowly and with such great reluctance that it seems a waste of time.", she also observed. Content. The first issue of "Harlem" contained essays by Lewis, Locke, Nugent, and Walter Francis White; poems by Helene Johnson, Georgia Douglas Johnson, Alice Dunbar Nelson, and Effie Newsom; stories by Roy de Coverly and George Little; and illustrations. Although intended to be more moderate than "FIRE!!", Thurman abandoned this stance in later pages of the issue. His review of Larsen's "Quicksand" gave closer attention to the review of the novel given by Du Bois than it did to the novel itself, saying that Larsen "no doubt pleases Dr. Du Bois for she stays in her own sphere and writes about the sort of people one can invite to one's home without losing one's social prestige. She doesn't give white people the impression that all Negroes are gin drinkers, cabaret hounds and of the half world. Her Negroes are all of the upper class. And how!". Reception. Like "FIRE!!", "Harlem" also failed, with the readership responding unfavourably. Nugent wrote to Peterson after the publication of the first issue, expressing his disappointment and blaming the failure on "Wally's" editorship. According to Nugent, neither Alexander nor Douglas had been able, nor had had the strength, to counteract Thurman. Nugent himself had been on tour, with the cast of "Porgy", whilst the issue was being edited. Nugent distanced himself from the magazine, and wanted it made clear to Van Vechten that he had not been "in any way responsible for the perpetration of "Harlem"". In December 1928, Thurman resigned from the magazine's editorial board.

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Rich Benjamin Rich Benjamin is an American cultural critic, anthropologist, and author. Benjamin is perhaps best known for the non-fiction book "Searching for Whitopia: An Improbable Journey to the Heart of White America". Benjamin's investigation of Whitopia was the subject of a TED Talk. He is also a lecturer and a public intellectual, who has discussed issues on NPR, PBS, CNN and MSNBC. His writing has appeared in "The New York Times", "The New Yorker", "The Guardian" and the "Los Angeles Times." Benjamin's work focuses on United States politics and culture, comparative world politics, money, class, Blacks, Whites, Latinos, public policy, global cultural transformation, and demographic change. In 2017, Benjamin left his tenure as Senior Fellow and Director of the Fellows Program at the think tank Demos.

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Larry D. Alexander Larry Dell Alexander (born May 30, 1953) is an American artist, Christian author and Catechist from Dermott, Arkansas in Chicot County. Alexander is best known for his creations of elaborate colorful, and black & white "pen and ink" drawings in his "crosshatching", or "hatching" technique, and his acrylic paintings. His works not only depict the African-American experience but also the experiences of people throughout American history itself. He also received notoriety and a personal presidential thanks for his personal rendition of a "Clinton Family Portrait" oil painting which he gave to U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1995. It is now a part of the collection at the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Arkansas. He is also known for the Arkansas Schools Tours that he did between 1996 and 2006. He has written several bible commentary books on the Christian Bible and in recent years he is better known for his writings and teachings on Christianity Early life and career. Born in the small rural town of Dermott, Arkansas to Robert and Janie Alexander, Larry is the fourth of ten children and the second of the union of his parents. His father was a truck driver, and his mother was a beautician. Alexander began drawing at about the age of four. He never received any formal art training during any level of his schooling while growing up, as none was available in his small rural hometown. After graduating from Dermott High School in May 1971, Alexander moved to Pine Bluff, Arkansas, where he studied Architectural Residential Design at Pines Vocational Technical School, now Southeast Arkansas College. In later years he also attended Richland College in Dallas, Texas where he studied AutoCAD. Today, six pieces of his work from his popular "Dermott Series", a series of paintings he painted about his childhood home of Dermott, are now a part of the permanent collection at the Arts and Science Center for Southeast Arkansas in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Alexander's work is mostly influenced by his experiences in life, such as growing up in the rural south during the 1950s and 1960s, as well as his life in Detroit, Michigan during the 1970s and 1980s. Alexander moved to Detroit, Michigan after two years of school in Pine Bluff to seek employment in his chosen field. However, he was unsuccessful in the short run, and instead, he ended up finding work in a Chrysler auto assembly plant and became fascinated with the innerworkings of cars. This led him to become a certified mechanic, a craft he worked at for the next seventeen years. He ultimately met and married his wife, Patricia while living in Detroit, and they moved their family to Irving, Texas where he opened his own auto repair shop and operated it until 1991. Encouraged by Patricia, he began using his art talent for the first time in fifteen years. His career as a professional artist can be traced back to this point as he developed his "pen and ink" style that he calls "crosshatching", and used it to create several lines of greeting cards under his, now defunct, "Alexander Greeting Cards Company" name. He coined the phrase "The Expressions Line" for his first line of greeting cards in 1991, but did not trademark the name. As a result, Hallmark Cards now has used the name on a line of their cards since 1997. His line should not be confused or associated with their product line. Between 1991 and 1994 he created over 80 pieces of "pen and ink" fine art, including "Renetta", "Girlfriends", "Cowboy Fiddler", "Young Kennedys", and "Roundup". He also used many of his drawings on his "Fine-arTshirt" T-shirt line of the mid-nineties. Alexander is also a "realist painter" who works in a variety of other mediums including oils, acrylics, and watercolors. He is a self-taught artist who chooses mostly to do exhibits in venues that provide mainstream exposure to a large variety of people such as festivals, schools, malls, libraries, banks, art institutions, and even U.S. Post Office branches on occasion. The Dermott Series. In early 1996 Alexander finished and released his popular "Dermott Series", a 20 piece collection of oil and acrylic paintings that offered a nostalgic look back at his childhood of growing up in rural southeast Arkansas. The paintings feature images of people, buildings, and sites of Dermott, Arkansas, such as a cotton gin, his childhood house, where he went to school, and other images. Alexander said at the time that, "I did the Dermott Series for many personal reasons, and I'm overwhelmed by the response this collection is creating here in Texas". The series includes, "Birthplace", "Where I grew up", "Picking Cotton", "Cotton Gin", "Hot Grits", "In the kitchen with mama", and the old Chicot County High School, among others. The Detroit Series. In 1999 Alexander unveiled his "Detroit Series", a series of oil and acrylic paintings of various sites in Detroit, Michigan at the American Black Artist Institute on West Grand Boulevard in Detroit. The nine piece series includes paintings on Belle Isle Park, the Detroit skyline, the Detroit River, Hitsville USA (the original home for Motown Records), Greektown Historic District, the old Tiger Stadium (Detroit), the old J.L. Hudson building, former mayor Coleman A. Young, and many more. The Delta Series. In May 1998 Alexander unveiled his "Delta Series, which was painted entirely with acrylics, during "the Arkansas Schools Tours". The tour was expanded that year to include stops in Greenville, Mississippi, and Memphis, Tennessee. This series included paintings of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain region from Monroe, Louisiana, to Memphis. It includes a painting of Graceland, Elvis Presley's former home, the landmark Greenville Courthouse in Greenville, a perspective of Beale Street in Memphis, and his classic rendition of a "Cotton Farm", among other subjects. Another piece from the Delta Series, "Aunt Eira Mae", was donated to the permanent collection of the African American Museum (Dallas, Texas), in 2004. The Series of P.A.T.R.I.C.E. Alexander has also donated work to art departments of schools and colleges. In October 1996 at halftime at the inaugural football game, billed as the "Mobil Gridiron Classic", at Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas, Alexander presented a piece from one of his series, "The series of P.A.T.R.I.C.E", to the president, and the chancellor, of the participating colleges, respectively, Texas Southern University and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. The Sixties Series. Alexander's most popular Pen and Ink art series, "The Sixties Series" has been exhibited in schools, libraries, and art institutions in several places since it was completed in 1993. It consists of elaborate drawings of well known figures and events of the 1960s, such as the civil rights Selma to Montgomery marches of 1965, and portraits of Martin Luther King Jr., Lyndon Johnson, Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, and Rosa Parks. This series also covers the Vietnam War. The theme pieces in the collection are a piece called "Composite Sixties", and one called "Composite Protests", which make up a composite of people, places and events that were prominent in the 1960s. For example, they show images of John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard M. Nixon, the United States presidents who served during the sixties, also J. Edgar Hoover, Jackie Kennedy, Ted Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, an image of U.S. astronauts landing on the moon in 1969, and many of the American protests that took place during this turbulent decade, to name a few. African-American history book. In 2001, Alexander finished his first book called "African-American History at a Glance", which also included several pen and ink drawings of African-Americans who have contributed substantially to the American success story. "There is a lack of input regarding African-Americans in the American history curriculum of schools all over America" Mr. Alexander says. "There are a lot of schools that offer it as a choice to students, but I think it should be a part of regular American history". Alexander's book was used to help create a supplemental text, that was later put together by the Irving Independent School District to help improve the American history curriculum in the high schools of Irving, Texas in 2002. His book deliberately ignores the contributions of African-Americans in the areas of sports and entertainment, as he feels they are already too well known and over-emphasized in society. Alexander says in his book that, "By no means is this an attempt to downplay the prowess of these particular individuals, or to discourage other individuals who aspire to excel in those areas. This publication is intent on bringing to the forefront, some of the African-American contributions that have historically been largely ignored". The Arkansas School Tours. Alexander and his cousin Lawrence "Larry" Crockett, both natives of Dermott, Arkansas put together the first "Arkansas schools tour" in 1996, and in May of that year, visited ten schools in seven cities in four days. Crockett and his son, B.J., both traveled with Alexander on the initial tour, while they were on a one-week break from the tour of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical "Carousel", which B.J. had a role in at the time. After the first year however, the tour was continued on by Alexander alone through 2007. Alexander says he wanted to give back to his home state of Arkansas and be a blessing to the children who live there, and, because of the success of the first tour in 1996, Alexander decided to continue doing it once annually for the next ten years. Its major objective was to instill hope and encouragement in the children of Arkansas, and to aid them in making good choices during the developing stages of life. These annual visits to high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools, were also conducted to instruct and encourage children in pursuing their goals and careers in the visual arts, as well as other areas, and to stay away from illegal drugs. It was during the second tour in 1997 that Alexander incorporated his anti-drug slogan "Eradicate Drug Use Common Among Teens Everywhere" (EDUCATE). Alexander usually ended his tour with a two-day art exhibit and print signing at the Dermott, Arkansas Crawfish Festival. Religion. Alexander is a devout Christian who teaches Sunday school and has also served as a Church deacon. He has taught Sunday school for several years and he also teaches through his books, online "Weekly Sunday School Lesson" commentaries, which are based on the international Sunday school lesson system, his online Book by Book Bible Study, and, his national e-mail system. He also has created a large body of artwork in Christian and biblical themes over the years, such as his paintings, "The Twenty-third Psalm Series", which are a visual depiction of the verses of Psalm 23 in the Holy Bible, "Memories of St. Paul", which is a depiction of his childhood church in Dermott, Arkansas, "Bible Stories", "The Fall of Man", a depiction of Adam and Eve after being evicted from the Garden of Eden, "Sunday Sermon", and many others. Personal life. Alexander lives in Texas with his wife Patricia. They have four children: Ken, Leandra, Kawanna, and Patrice.

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Derrick Barnes Derrick Barnes is an American author. He is known for writing several popular series of children's books and is a former staff writer for Hallmark greeting cards. In 2018 Barnes received several awards that include the Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Award for his 2017 book "". Barnes' books celebrate African American culture and feature positive images of black children in everyday life. Career. Barnes began his writing career in 1999 as the first full-time black male copywriter for Hallmark. In 2003, he left Hallmark and moved to New Orleans, where he worked a variety of jobs before signing a multi-book deal with children's book publisher Scholastic. In 2011, Barnes began working part-time in the Kansas City Public Library's outreach department. As part of the library's "Stories to Go" program, Barnes was hired to travel to sites such as schools, daycares, and churches reading to children, and share stories with them. Books. In 2004, Scholastic published his books "The Low-down, Bad-day Blues", and "Stop, Drop, and Chill". Barnes' first young adult book, "The Making of Dr. Truelove", was published in 2008. The story, about a 16-year-old boy and his pursuit of the girl of his dreams, revolves around relationships and sexuality, and the book was ranked as one of the top 100 books for teens by the New York Public Library. "Ruby and the Booker Boys". Barnes' popular series of books entitled "Ruby and the Booker Boys" covers the story of Ruby Booker, a sassy third grader trying to make a name for herself in the shadow of her three older brothers. The series started with two books published simultaneously in 2008, "Brand New School, Brave New Ruby" and "Trivia Queen, 3rd Grade Supreme." The sequel "The Slumber Party Payback" was released the same year, and "Ruby Flips For Attention" was released in 2009. Critical reviews of the series highlighted Barnes' ability to create positive stories for young readers. "Critical Survey of Children's Literature" wrote, "The warm and gentle themes and images of the Ruby series—a loving family, quirky but confident children, a vibrant sense of community spirit, a joy in diversity—provide a literary reflection of an African American reality not often represented in children’s literature or popular culture." "We Could Be Brothers". "We Could Be Brothers", a hardcover novel written for young teenagers, tells the story of two middle-grade boys with two different upbringings who both attend the same school. The book explores coming-of-age themes, including race, self-respect, women, and what it means to grow up as a black kid in American society. It was published by Scholastic in 2010. Critics praised its story line and its focus on the themes of friendship and community. "Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut". Barnes' first picture book, "," illustrated by Gordon C. James, was published in 2017 to critical acclaim. The story is about a young black boy and his experience getting a haircut in a barbershop. It explores aspects of African American culture, and celebrates themes of self-confidence and pride. "Crown" was well received, featuring at the 2018 ALA Youth Media Awards and winning several awards including a 2018 Newbery Honor (for content), a Caldecott Honor (for illustrations), a Coretta Scott King Award (for both author and illustrator), the Ezra Jack Keats Book Award (writer and illustrator), and the $50,000 Kirkus Prize. "The King of Kindergarten". The picture book "The King of Kindergarten" illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton was released in July 2019. "I Am Every Good Thing". Barnes' 2020 book, "I Am Every Good Thing", won the 2020 Kirkus Prize for young people's literature. Influences. Barnes has identified Stevie Wonder and Langston Hughes as influences, saying that "Hughes and his Simple short-story series helped him learn about dialogue and character development, while the liner notes of Wonder's albums inspired Barnes to manipulate language the way the songsmith did to add rhythm to his writing style. He recounts reading the liner notes as a seven-year-old child, enthralled by the language." In an interview with The Kansas City Star, Barnes explained that there aren't enough books about kids of color by people of color. "I want to leave behind a body of work my children can be proud of, but I also want to change how children see themselves in this world. I want to thwart those negative images and make sure they know they are loved." Personal life. Barnes grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, reading many picture books from a young age. Barnes graduated from Jackson State University with a degree in Marketing. Barnes, his wife Dr. Tinka Barnes, and their four sons currently reside in Charlotte, North Carolina.

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Christian Cooper Christian Cooper is an American science writer and editor, and also a comics writer and editor. He is based in New York City. Career. Cooper has written stories for "Marvel Comics Presents", which often feature characters such as "Ghost Rider" and "Vengeance". He has also edited a number of X-Men collections, and the final two issues of the "Marvel Swimsuit Special". Cooper is currently a senior biomedical editor at Health Science Communications. LGBTQ comics. Cooper was Marvel's first openly gay writer and editor. He introduced the first gay male character in "Star Trek", Yoshi Mishima, in the "" series, which was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award in 1999. He also introduced the first openly lesbian character for Marvel, Victoria Montesi and created and authored "Queer Nation: The Online Gay Comic". Cooper was also an associate editor for "Alpha Flight" #106 in which the character Northstar came out as gay. Personal life. In the 1980s, he was president of the Harvard Ornithological Club, and is currently on the Board of Directors for NYC Audubon. Cooper has a long history of LGBT activism including being the co-chair of the board of directors of GLAAD in the 1980s. On May 25, 2020, Cooper played a key role in the Central Park birdwatching incident, which led to the creation of Black Birders Week. The incident is also the basis for his online comic book about racism, illustrated by Alitha Martinez and published by DC Comics, called "It's a Bird".

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Jordannah Elizabeth Jordannah Elizabeth (born October 16, 1986 in Baltimore, MD) is an American journalist, lecturer, music critic, author and screenwriter. Journalism & Lectures (2013 - 2020). Elizabeth started her professional writing career by earning bylines in Vice Magazine, Nerve.com and Bitch Media in March 2013. In October 2013, she was brought on as a regular contributing writer and entertainment reporter for New York Amsterdam News arts and entertainment section where she has conducted high-profile interviews with African American leaders of their fields like producer, Teddy Riley, Walter Williams of The O'Jays and Black Girls Code founder, Kimberly Bryant. As a national journalist, Jordannah wrote for a number of Bay Area publications in 2014 such as San Francisco Bay Guardian, East Bay Express SF Weekly and worked as the associate editor of The Deli Magazine San Francisco from 2013 to 2017. Jordannah expanded her reach as a global journalist, writing for MTV Iggy, MTV's (now defunct) world music blog and covering global Women's and Girl's Rights for Ms. Magazine. From 2015 through 2018, Jordannah's work became more focused on literature, jazz criticism and global feminist reporting. Elizabeth has shared panels with esteemed journalists like Greg Tate, Lara Pellegrinelli and Michelle Mercer. Her bylines have expanded to Chicago Reader, DownBeat, LA Weekly, Hearst Magazines, NPR Music, Popsugar, Condé Nast and other publications. Elizabeth's writing ranges from interviews, music journalism, personal essays, articles on healing in relationships and trauma to literary journalism. Her broad voice has made her an active teacher and lecturer, teaching writing and journalism workshops at institutions like Maryland Institute College of Art and Center for New Music in San Francisco. She has lectured at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, De Montfort University in Leicester, England, and was invited as a guest journalist at Harvard University's Black Lives Matter: Music, Race, and Justice Conference in February 2017. She has also moderated panels on literature and film at Baltimore Book Festival and Creative Alliance in Baltimore, MD. In 2020, her writing has appeared in Chamber Music Magazine, New York City Jazz Record, The ZORA Music Canon , Universal Music Group's branded content online publication, uDiscover Music and has written a COVID-19 arts & entertainment column for New York Amsterdam News entitled "Stealth Isolation". In August 2020, she was a participant in the inaugural Florence Price Festival as a panelist on the Race and Gender in Classical Music Criticism in panel. Journalism & Lectures (2021). Jordannah interviewed Emmy award winning filmmaker, Stanley Nelson Jr. for New York Amsterdam News in March of 2021. In April 2021, she was selected as a keynote speaker and panelist at the Columbia University's Music Scholarship Conference along with classical music critic, Anne Midgette and Emmy award winning video journalist, Estelle Caswell. Her children's book, "She Raised Her Voice!: 50 Black Women Who Sang Their Way into Music History" published by Running Press Kids is due out in December 2021. Television & Radio. Jordannah's has shared commentary and made many guest appearances on radio shows and podcasts including CBC syndicated radio, BBC 2, WYPR and several podcast shows. She has appeared episodes of the Reelz Channel music docu-series, Breaking the Band and is slated to appear on the Reelz Channel/Viacom CBS International Studios music docu-series, The Story of the Song. She has also work on projects by Bert Marcus Productions and the UK production company, RAW TV. Jordannah is a recipient of the Sundance Institutes' Press Inclusive Initiative grant and received scholarships to study television writing at Sundance Co//ab. As a screenwriter, Jordannah has written an original pilot based on her novella series, "The Warmest Low" and wrote the script for an episode of the PBS Digital web series, Sound Field. She has been mentored by screenwriters and showrunners, Jessica Hinds, Diane Ruggiero, Krista Vernoff and Evette Vargas.

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Lorraine Bethel Lorraine Bethel is an African-American lesbian feminist poet and author. Professional experience. She is a graduate of Yale University. Bethel has taught and lectured on black women's literature and black female culture at various institutions. She currently works as a freelance journalist in New York City. Involvement with the Combahee River Collective. She participated in the Combahee River Collective, an organization that was part of the Women's Liberation Movement in the 1960s and 1970s. The Combahee River Collective was a black feminist group founded in Boston in 1974. It fought against racial, sexual, heterosexual, racial stereotypes and class oppression. Feminist writing. In an issue of "off our backs", a feminist news journal, a participant recounts her experience in the 3rd World Lesbian Writers Conference on February 24, 1979 at New York City's Women's Center, in which Lorraine Bethel and Barbara Smith moderated one of the five workshops available. In their workshop, called "Third World Feminist Criticism", Bethel and Smith discussed various topics such as the definition of "criticism", criticism as a "creative" art, white feminism versus black feminism, intersectional feminism, and the unification of black lesbians. Later that year, in November 1979, Lorraine Bethel and Barbara Smith guest-edited "The Black Women's Issue" of "Conditions: Five", a literary magazine primarily for black lesbian women. In the introduction, it is stated that the issue "disproves the 'non-existence' of Black feminist and Black lesbian writers and challenges forever our invisibility, particularly in the feminist press." Bethel wrote the poem, "What Chou Mean We, White Girl? Or, The Cullud Lesbian Feminist Declaration of Independence", which was published in this issue. Bethel's essay, ""The Infinity of Conscious Pain": Zora Neale Hurston and the Black Female Literary Tradition" appeared in the seminal book, "All of the Women Are White, All of the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave: Black Women's Studies." Identifying in this essay as a Black feminist critic, she wrote, "...I believe there is a separate and identifiable tradition of Black women writers, simultaneously existing within and independent of the America, Afro-American, and American female literary traditions."

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Horace Griffin Reverend Horace L. Griffin is an Episcopal minister and gay man. Griffin is the author of "Their Own Receive Them Not: African American Lesbian and Gays in Black Churches", which was released in October 2006.

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Vernice Armour Vernice Armour (born 1973) is a former United States Marine Corps officer who was the first African-American female naval aviator in the Marine Corps and the first African American female combat pilot in the U.S. Armed Forces. She flew the AH-1W SuperCobra attack helicopter in the 2003 invasion of Iraq and eventually served two tours in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Early life and education. Armour was born in 1973 in Chicago, Illinois to Gaston Armour Jr. and Authurine Armour. After her parents divorced, Clarence Jackson married Authurine. Both her father and her stepfather had served in the military - Gaston Armour was a retired major in the U.S. Army Reserve, and Clarence Jackson was a former Marine Corps sergeant that served three tours in Vietnam. Her grandfather was a Montford Point Marine, the first African Americans to integrate the Marine Corps between 1942 and 1949. Raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Armour graduated from Overton High School, where she was a member of the mathematics honor society, the National Honor Society, and class vice-president. Career. In 1993, while a student at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), Armour enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve and later entered into the U.S. Army's ROTC. In 1996, she took time off from college to become a Nashville police officer (her childhood dream). She became the first female African-American on the motorcycle squad. Armour graduated from MTSU in 1997. In 1998, Armour became the first African American female to serve as a police officer in Tempe, Arizona before joining the U.S. Marines as an Officer Candidate in October 1998. Commissioned a second lieutenant on December 12, 1998 Armour was sent to flight school at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas and later Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. Earning her wings in July 2001, Armour was not only number one in her class of twelve, she was number one among the last two hundred graduates. She became the Marine Corps' first African-American female pilot. After flight school, Armour was assigned to Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton near San Diego, California for training in the AH-1W SuperCobra. While at Camp Pendleton, she was named 2001 Camp Pendleton Female Athlete of the Year, twice won the Camp's annual Strongest Warrior Competition, and was a running back for the San Diego Sunfire women's football team. In March 2003, she flew with HMLA-169 during the invasion of Iraq becoming America's first African-American female combat pilot. She completed two combat tours in the Gulf. Afterwards, she was assigned to the Manpower and Reserve Affairs Equal Opportunity Branch as program liaison officer. Personal life. Leaving the U.S. Marine Corps in June 2007, Armour began a career as a professional speaker and expert on creating breakthroughs in life. In 2011, her book "Zero to Breakthrough: The 7-Step, Battle-Tested Method for Accomplishing Goals that Matter" was published.

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Robert A. George Robert A. George is an editorial writer for the "New York Daily News" (and formerly for the "New York Post") and a conservative/libertarian blogger and pundit. He was born in Trinidad and lived in the United Kingdom before moving to the United States. A 1985 graduate of St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland, George worked for the Republican National Committee and, following the 1994 midterm elections, Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich. Career. In an article for the New York Daily News, January 31, 2018, he wrote these autobiographical comments regarding his work for the GOP: Nearly 30 years ago, a recent college graduate noticed that it was a presidential election year. He had always been interested in politics, and, while his ideological compass was all over the map, wouldn't it be interesting to see the process upclose? How about attending a political convention. Heck, let's be really crazy/dumb, why not try going to both conventions, see everything really intimately, interact with politically aware folks of my own age, learn from them? Well, if a youngish black immigrant with few connections — and less experience — in politics, what does he do? Well, he realized, he did have some connections. On the one hand, a professor — or tutor, as faculty at his alma mater, St. John's College in Annapolis, are called — was married to a member of a prominent Democratic family. He asked the tutor if he could inquire with his wife about any possible volunteer positions at the 1988 Democratic National Convention in Atlanta. The tutor said he'd look into it. And, a few months before, the graduate had befriended a couple who had just moved in next door. The husband was the fund-raising director at the Republican National Committee. The graduate asked his neighbor about volunteering for the '88 GOP convention in New Orleans. After allowing a reasonable amount of time to pass, the graduate circled back. The GOP neighbor said, "Yes, we'd love to have you!" Conversely, the tutor said his wife had said, alas, that the DNC volunteer slots were assigned months before and, well ... sorry. Who knows? Many years later, that graduate may still have become an editorial writer for two metropolitan newspapers, but the road would likely have been vastly different if Kathleen Kennedy Townsend — aunt to Joe Kennedy III — had managed to find a volunteer spot at the 1988 Democratic National Convention. In addition to his newspaper work, George also has appeared on MSNBC, CNN, Fox and regularly appears on other political affairs programs. George has written for the conservative "National Review," the libertarian "Reason" and the liberal "Huffington Post." He also sponsors his own group political/cultural blog, Ragged Thots. In addition, George occasionally moonlights as a stand-up comic and improviser. Politics. George was one of the first conservatives to call for the resignation of Trent Lott as Senate Majority Leader following comments made by Lott at the birthday party of retiring Senator Strom Thurmond. George has not written for "National Review" since publishing an article in "The New Republic" that he could not vote for the re-election of George W Bush. He instead voted for Libertarian candidate Michael Badnarik and said he voted in 2000 for Harry Browne. George shares a name with a well known Princeton University professor and ethicist. Because they often wrote for the same publications, it became standard to refer to George as Robert A. George and to the Princeton professor as Robert P. George.

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Linda Beatrice Brown Linda Beatrice Brown is an American author and educator. She was born in Akron, Ohio, and went to college in North Carolina at Bennett College. While in North Carolina, she won several awards for her writing in both fiction and nonfiction. Brown has published many books, including "Belles of Liberty", "Black Angels", "Crossing Over Jordan" and "The Long Walk". The genres and styles of writing in which she wrote include fiction, nonfiction, playwriting and poetry. Many of her works are centered on the Civil Rights Movement and the struggles that can be rooted back to slavery during the time of the American Civil War. Biography. Early life. Brown was born in Ohio, the daughter of Raymond R. Brown and Edith Player Brown. She moved to North Carolina to pursue her education at the collegiate level. She attended Bennett College, while her aunt Willa Beatrice Player was the president, and majored in English and French. She graduated as the valedictorian of her graduating class at Bennett. After undergrad, she attended graduate school at Case Western Reserve University where she got her master's degree. Moving back to Ohio, she received her PhD in African American Literature and Creative Writing from Union Institute and University. Career. Brown has been an educator at schools and universities including Kent State University, University of North Carolina-Greensboro, and finally Guilford College. Presently, she is the Willa B. Player Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at Bennett College for Women. She teaches African American literature there. Awards and nominations. Brown has received awards during her time in North Carolina. These include 2nd place in the Creative Writing Contest at her college, 1st place in fiction writing from the NC Coalition of the Arts and a residency at the Headlands Center.

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The Lady Chablis The Lady Chablis (March 11, 1957 – September 8, 2016), also known as The Grand Empress and The Doll, was an American actor, author, and transgender club performer. Through exposure in the bestselling nonfiction book "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil", and its 1997 film adaptation, she became one of the first trans performers to be introduced to a wide audience. Early life. Born Benjamin Edward Knox on March 11, 1957, Chablis grew up in Quincy, Florida. Her parents divorced when she was five, and she was supported by her aunt, Katie Bell, and grandmother, Anna Mae Ponder, after her mother moved to Chicago to be a nurse. She did not meet her mother until she was nine, or her father until she was 12. She went on to live with her father in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, in 1969. She changed her name to "The Lady Chablis" when she was 16 years old and living in Atlanta. "My mom was going to have a baby and she miscarried. The baby's name was going to be La Quinta Chablis and she told me to take the name. I didn't even know what Chablis was." Chablis' mother moved back to Florida and practiced nursing at Sunnyland Hospital in Tallahassee. She lived with her mother and her new husband, who owned a dry-cleaning business. Chablis became close to her neighbor, Connie, who offered her a lot of support and a refuge from homophobic troubles at home. Career. Chablis began her career at age 15 in the Fox Trot gay bar in Tallahassee. It was there that she met Cliff Taylor, who performed under the pseudonym of Miss Tina Devore. He was the first male in Quincy that Chablis ever met who dressed up. Taylor offered to have Chablis stay with him if she ever moved to Atlanta. She moved there in 1974 at the age of 17, previously living with her aunt in Tallahassee for about eighteen months. She began working at the Prince George Inn, a gay-owned restaurant, where she began a relationship with one of her co-workers. She left in 1975 after the relationship ended, and picked up work at Eckerd's Drugstore. After becoming sick for three weeks, she had to leave that position too. A new friend, Linda, saw the decline in Chablis' health and moved her into her two-bedroom apartment. She found another job, this time at a Burlington Coat Factory outlet. Chablis and Linda moved to Regency Woods apartment complex. Encouraged by her friend's lush life and surroundings, Chablis decided to return to the stage. She eventually found herself at The Locker Room, a bathhouse. In the late 1980s, a job offer from The Friends Lounge, a cabaret bar in Savannah, Georgia, resulted in her moving south from Atlanta. She performed at Club One on its opening night in 1988, and was a regular performer there until August 6, 2016, just before she was hospitalized. In the early 1990s, she moved with her partner, Jesse, to Columbia, South Carolina, where she began working at a new spot, The Menage. The Menage closed after three years, due to new competition, and Chablis did not find much work for a couple of years. Chablis returned to Savannah, beginning work at new club, The Edge. She was a prominent character in John Berendt's best-selling 1994 book "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil", during her days working at The Pickup on Congress Street. She left her job in a dispute over pay. Chablis frequently performed at her "home" nightclub of Club One, where she was known as the "Grand Empress". Chablis traveled the U.S. performing her show, "The Doll Revue", at various venues and special events, such as gay pride gatherings. She also appeared on radio shows. Chablis' autobiography "Hiding My Candy: The Autobiography of the Grand Empress of Savannah" was published in 1996, a year before she played herself in the Clint Eastwood-directed movie adaptation of "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil", starring Kevin Spacey and John Cusack. The Lady Chablis was featured in the closing segment of the Savannah episode of "Bizarre Foods America" on The Travel Channel. She joined host Andrew Zimmern at several Savannah restaurants including Elizabeth on 37th. In 2012, she was interviewed in Savannah on the local television and internet talk show "MAMA Knows Best" (season 2, episode 1). On April 19, 2013 Chablis performed for the grand opening of the short-lived Mama's Cabaret in Lewiston, Maine, with "MAMA" Savannah Georgia. Awards and titles. In her early career as an entertainer, under the name Brenda Dale Knox, she won multiple titles in drag pageantry including: Personal life. Chablis said she did not want any label except her name, "The Lady Chablis", and said she found it hurtful when people called her a "drag queen". In his book, Berendt wrote that he met Chablis as she was returning home from having a hormone injection. In her book "Hiding My Candy", Chablis said she had not undergone sex reassignment surgery. Death. The Lady Chablis died on September 8, 2016, from "Pneumocystis" pneumonia, aged 59, at Savannah's Candler Hospital. On November 5, a special screening of "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" was shown at Savannah's Lucas Theatre for the Arts, with a tribute to Chablis beforehand. A few of Chablis' gowns were on display in the theatre's lobby. Jerry Spence, the former hairdresser who appeared in both the book and movie, was in attendance. A reception was held at Club One after the memorial service and, after the movie screening, Club One Cabaret held two Lady Chablis tribute shows. Tributes. Upon news of her death, several of Chablis' former co-stars made tributes to her. Paul Hipp, whom she appeared alongside in the movie adaptation of "Midnight in the Garden", said: "So sad to hear of The Lady Chablis' passing. She was super talented, kind, and laugh out loud funny. She was a true transgender pioneer, way ahead of her time (in the Deep South, no less). This pic of The Lady and me was taken between shots while filming "Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil". Feel free to envy our glamour."

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J. Mason Brewer John Mason Brewer (March 24, 1896 – 1975) was an American folklorist, scholar, and writer noted for his work on African-American folklore in Texas. He studied at Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, and Indiana University, while he taught at Samuel Huston College in Austin, Texas, Booker T. Washington High School in Dallas, Claflin College in Orangeburg, South Carolina, Texas Southern University in Houston, Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina, and East Texas State University in Commerce, Texas (now Texas A&M University–Commerce). He published numerous collections of folklore and poetry, most notably "The Word on the Brazos" (1953), "Aunt Dicey Tales" (1956), "Dog Ghosts and Other Texas Negro Folk Tales" (1958), and "Worser Days and Better Times" (1965). Brewer was the first African American to be an active member of the Texas Folklore Society, to be a member of the Texas Institute of Letters, and to serve on the council of the American Folklore Society. He was also the first African American to deliver a lecture series at the University of Arizona, the University of California, and the University of Colorado, and he broke the color barrier at Austin's Driskill Hotel. He has been compared to Zora Neale Hurston, Joel Chandler Harris, and Alain Locke. He also published a book on African American legislators in Texas during the Reconstruction era up until their disenfranchisement. Early life. J. Mason Brewer was born on March 24, 1896, in Goliad, Texas. His mother, Minnie T. Brewer, was a public school teacher; his father, J. H. Brewer, worked a variety of jobs, including as a barber, drover, grocer, mail carrier, postmaster, and wagoner. Brewer's four sisters (Gladys, Jewell, Marguerite, and Stella) all became educators (working in Atlanta, Austin, and Houston), while his only brother (Claude) became an interior decorator in Austin. Brewer's father told him Texas stories as a child, while his mother provided him with access to books on African-American history as well as the works of Paul Laurence Dunbar. According to James W. Byrd, as a child Brewer was an "avid listener" who became an "avid reader" and ultimately also an "avid writer". Bruce A. Glasrud and Milton S. Jordan particularly credit his father for Brewer's interest in folklore. Brewer attended public schools in Austin and Fannin, and graduated from high school in 1913 at the age of 17. He then attended Wiley College in Marshall, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1917. Following this, he taught for a year in Austin before joining the American Expeditionary Forces in 1918, serving as a corporal in France, where he worked as an interpreter due to his knowledge of French, Italian, and Spanish. In 1919, Brewer returned from Europe to teach and serve as a principal in Fort Worth, working there in the public schools for five years. In 1924, Brewer moved to Denver to work briefly for the Continental Oil Company. While in Denver, he wrote both poetry and stories for his employer's trade journal as well as for "The Negro American". He returned to teaching as a principal in Shreveport, Louisiana, and in 1926 earned a position as a professor at Samuel Huston College in Austin. In the 1930s, he taught English and Spanish at Booker T. Washington High School in Dallas. Early career. In 1932, while in Austin, Brewer met J. Frank Dobie, then the secretary and editor of the Texas Folklore Society. According to Byrd, Dobie was the "biggest influence on [Brewer's] career as a writer". Also in 1932, the Society published a collection of African-American folktales collected by Brewer that was entitled "Juneteenth". He studied folklore formally for the first time at Indiana University, under the direction of Stith Thompson, ultimately earning his Master of Arts degree there in 1933. That same year, he published "Negrito: Negro Dialect Poems of the Southwest". In 1936, he wrote "The Negro in Texas History" for the occasion of the Texas Centennial. After teaching for a year at Claflin College in Orangeburg, South Carolina, Brewer returned to the newly renamed Huston-Tillotson College in 1943 to serve as Chairman of the Department of English Language and Literature, as well as Director of Research. During summers, he also taught at Texas Southern University in Houston. In 1945, Brewer published "Humorous Folktales of the South Carolina Negro". The next year he published "Mexican Border Ballads and Other Lore", which included his story collection entitled "John Tales", with the Texas Folklore Society. The "John Tales" feature the eponymous John, who according to Glasrud and Jordan is "the trickster hero of the southern plantation [who] always comes out victorious in his contests with the slave owner or overseer." In 1947, Brewer privately published a volume of works entitled "More Truth Than Poetry". With illustrations drawn by H. E. Johnson, Glasrud and Jordan describe this volume of poetry as "Brewer at his sardonic best". Middle career and success. In 1951, Brewer was granted an honorary Doctor of Literature degree by Paul Quinn College in Waco, for "his unmatched contribution to African American literature and folklore." In 1953, he published "The Word on the Brazos: Negro Preacher Tales from the Brazos Bottoms of Texas", through the University of Texas Press; it was "widely" considered a "classic", according to Byrd, and Texas historian Walter Prescott Webb referred to it as "the best of its sort ever". Glasrud and Jordan called it "his first major folklore collection". "Jet" magazine named it its Book of the Week on February 11, 1954, noting how Brewer had "interviewed old-timers and carefully collected tales which have been handed down for generations." In 1956, Brewer published a limited edition of 400 for his "Aunt Dicey Tales", a collection of 14 "snuff-dipping tales of the Texas Negro". This edition was also well known and well regarded for its crayon drawings by John T. Biggers, with Dobie raving that the "tales illustrate the drawings as much as the drawings illustrate the tales". In 1958 Brewer published what Byrd considers his "third and best" of his "major volumes", "Dog Ghosts and Other Texas Negro Folk Tales"; of its 63 stories, only 9 are ghost stories involving dog ghosts. Glasrud and Jordan called it "a rich and delightful trove of stories". Brewer began his tenure as a professor of English at Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina, in 1959. After moving to North Carolina, Brewer's most significant publications were the articles "Animal Tales as Told by African Students of Livingstone College" and "North Carolina Negro Oral Narratives" (both published in the journal "North Carolina Folklore") and two books, "Three Looks and Some Peeps" (1963) and "Worser Days and Better Times" (1965). Later career. In 1969, Brewer published a "well-received" collection of stories entitled "American Negro Folklore" through Quadrangle Books and the New York Times Book Company. That same year, he took a position as Visiting Distinguished Professor at East Texas State University (ETSU) in Commerce, Texas (now Texas A&M University–Commerce), where he taught until his death in 1975. While at ETSU, he organized symposia and workshops in addition to teaching classes, which he occasionally lectured in verse, while also turning his major research focus to African influences on Mexican folklore. He was the first African American professor in ETSU's English Department, and was hired only one year after David Talbot became the university's first African American professor. In 1972, Brewer wrote the introduction to Henry D. Spalding's "Encyclopedia of Black Folklore and Humor", as well as the 80-page chapter "Plantation to Emancipation". Spalding introduced Brewer's chapter by calling Brewer "the nation's most illustrious black folklorist". By the end of his career, Brewer had received research grants for his work in African American folklore from the American Philosophical Society, the Library of Congress, the National Library of Mexico, the National University of Mexico, and Piedmont University's Center for the Study of Negro Folklore. Personal life. Brewer was a Methodist and a member of the Democratic Party. He married twice, and had a son with his first wife; his second wife, Ruth Helen, was from Hitchcock, Texas. After his death, he was buried in Austin. Legacy. Brewer was the first African American to be an active member of the Texas Folklore Society, to be a member of the Texas Institute of Letters, and to serve on the council of the American Folklore Society, where he rose to the position of vice-president. He was also the first African American to deliver a lecture series at the University of Arizona, the University of California, and the University of Colorado. Additionally, he broke the color barrier at Austin's Driskill Hotel when he was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters. Geneva Smitherman called Brewer "America's most distinguished Negro folklorist", Charles Leland Sonnichsen called him the "premier collector of Negro folklore in Texas", while Alan Dundes referred to him as "one of the few professionally trained Negro folklorists". Humanities Texas argued that he "almost single-handedly preserved the African American folklore of his home state." Brewer is often compared with Floridian Zora Neale Hurston because, in the words of Byrd, "they were both successful in collecting and publishing Negro folklore." He has also been compared to Joel Chandler Harris due to both his subject matter and the "extended use of Negro dialect" in his writings. He has additionally been compared to Alain Locke, although Brewer himself criticized the Harlem Renaissance as "unrepresentative" of the African American experience. Byrd considers Brewer's best long works, in order of publication, to be "The Word on the Brazos", "Aunt Dicy Tales", "Dog Ghosts", and "Worser Days and Better Times". Byrd also emphasized the importance of humor in the stories Brewer collected. According to Texas scholar Michael Phillips, themes prevalent in Brewer's stories include "intelligence winning over brute force" and "a defiant attitude toward white America". A 1969 interview with Brewer is featured in the Oral History Collection at Texas Tech University's Southwest Collection. In 1997, Brewer was posthumously given the "Compañero/a de las Americas" award by the American Folklore Society for his "outstanding contributions to the further understanding of folk traditions in the Americas and the Caribbean" at the same ceremony at which his friend Américo Paredes was likewise honored. In 1999, the University of Texas at Austin's Harry Ransom Center held an exhibition on "Aunt Dicy Tales" that prominently featured the illustrations created by John Biggers. In January 2017, Texas A&M University–Commerce held a J. Mason Brewer Day featuring Brewer scholars Bruce Glasrud and Milton Jordan as well as a panel discussion involving his former colleagues and students. Brewer described his tales in "Dog Ghosts" in his own words as "as varied as the Texas landscape, as full of contrasts as Texas weather. Among them are tales that have their roots deeply embedded in African, Irish, and Welsh mythology; other have parallels in pre-Columbian Mexican traditions; and a few have versions that can be traced back to Chaucer's England." Bibliography. Articles. "Sources"

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Clay Cane Clay Cane is a journalist, author, television commentator, radio host and filmmaker. He is the director and creator of the documentary "Holler If You Hear Me: Black and Gay in the Church", which was nominated for a 2016 GLAAD Media Award. He is the author of "Live Through This: Surviving the Intersections of Sexuality, God, and Race", which was released June 2017. Cane is also the host of "The Clay Cane Show" on SiriusXM Urban View channel 126. Career. A graduate from Rutgers University, Phi Beta Kappa, with a B.A. in English and African-American Studies, Cane's commentary is heard on MTV, HLN, MSNBC, FOX, VH1, CNN and numerous other television programs, including "The O'Reilly Factor", "Don Lemon Tonight" and "Melissa Harris-Perry". He has contributed to print and online publications including CNN.com, The Washington Post and Gawker. Cane was the host of "Clay Cane Live", a weekly, call in and political radio talk show on WWRL 1600AM, which was home to radio programs for Reverend Al Sharpton and Ed Schultz. After 86 years, the station aired its final broadcast in December 2013. In November 2017, Cane returned to radio on SiriusXM Urban View channel 126 for "The Clay Cane Show". He is a member of New York Film Critics Online and the Broadcast Television Journalists Association. Cane is the co-editor and contributing writer of the 2012 anthology "For Colored Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Still Not Enough: Coming of Age, Coming Out, and Coming Home". He also contributed to "Where Did Our Love Go: Love and Relationships in the African-American Community". In 2015, Cane created, directed and produced the BET.com original documentary "Holler If You Hear Me: Black and Gay in the Church". Premiering at NYU in November 2015, the film explored homophobia in the black church by tackling the intersections of race, gender, sexuality and religion. The film earned a 2016 GLAAD Media Award nomination for Outstanding Digital Journalism and a Black Reel Award nomination for Best Television Documentary or Special. On February 24, 2016, The White House featured Cane as a Black History Month speaker along with a screening of the documentary. Cane was also presented on a panel discussion, which focused on the film, faith, sexuality and the African American community. He has toured the film at various universities and organizations all over the country. Cane is the author of "Live Through This: Surviving the Intersections of Sexuality, God, and Race." The book was published via Cleis Press in June 2017. Publishers Weekly called the book, "Cane’s observations on the intersections of class and race, which do not shy away from the quagmire of being poor in America, resonate in today’s fraught political climate. Even when he addresses painful issues such as domestic violence, sexual exploitation, food insecurity, and inadequate mental health care, he retains humor and compassion."

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Lucy Delaney Lucy Ann Delaney, born Lucy Berry (c. 1830 – after 1891), was an African-American author, and activist, a former slave notable for her 1891 narrative From the Darkness Cometh the Light, or, Struggles for Freedom. This is the only first-person account of a "freedom suit" and one of the few slave narratives published in the post-Emancipation period. The memoir recounts her mother Polly Berry's legal battles in St. Louis, Missouri, for her own and her daughter's freedom from slavery.For her daughter's case, Berry attracted the support of Edward Bates, a prominent Whig politician and judge, and the future US Attorney General under President Abraham Lincoln. He argued the case of Lucy Ann Berry in court and won in February 1844. Their cases were two of 301 freedom suits filed in St. Louis from 1814 to 1860. Discovered in the late twentieth century, the case files are held by the Missouri Historical Society and are searchable online. Biography. Early Life and Education. For decades little was known of Lucy Ann Delaney beyond her memoir. In the 1990s her mother's and her freedom suits were among the brief case files found for 301 freedom suits in St. Louis, dating from 1814–1860. Related material is available online in a searchable database created by the St. Louis Circuit Court Historical Project, in collaboration with Washington University. In addition, scholars have conducted research into censuses and other historic material related to Delaney's memoir to document the facts. Born into slavery in St. Louis, Missouri in 1830, Lucy Ann Berry was the second daughter of slaves Polly Berry (born Polly Crocket) and a mulatto father whose name she did not note. Their first daughter was named Nancy. Berry's family was held by Major Taylor Berry and his wife, Frances. Lucy's mother had been born free in Illinois (a free state), but was kidnapped as a child by slave catchers and sold into slavery in Missouri. Family Freedom Suits. In her freedom suit, Polly Berry deposed that she was held as a slave in Wayne County, Kentucky by Joseph Crockett, and was brought by him to Illinois. There they stayed for several weeks while he hired her out for domestic work. As Illinois was a free state, he was supposed to lose his right to hold slave property by staying there, and Polly could have been freed. It was on this basis that she was later awarded freedom, as witnesses were found to testify as to her having been held illegally as a slave in Illinois. The major told Polly and her husband that they and his other slaves would be freed upon his death and the death of his wife. After the major died in a duel, the widow Fanny Berry married Robert Wash, a lawyer later appointed as a Missouri State Supreme Court judge. When Fanny Wash died, the Berry slave family's fortunes changed. Judge Wash sold Lucy Ann's father to a plantation down the Mississippi River in the Deep South. Polly Berry became concerned for the safety of her daughters, and determined they should escape. Lucy Ann's older sister Nancy slipped away while traveling with a daughter of the family, Mary Berry Cox, and her new husband on their honeymoon in the North. Nancy left them at Niagara Falls, took the ferry across the river, and safely reached Canada and a friend of her mother's. After having conflict with Mary Cox in 1839, Polly Berry was sold to Joseph A. Magehan, but escaped about three weeks later. She reached Chicago, but was captured by slave catchers. They returned her to Magehan and slavery in St. Louis. On returning, Polly Berry (also known as Polly Wash after her previous master) sued for her freedom in the Circuit Court in the case known as "Polly Wash v. Joseph A. Magehan" in October 1839. When her suit was finally heard in 1843, her attorney Harris Sproat convinced a jury of her free birth and kidnapping as a child. Wash was freed. She remained in St. Louis to continue her separate effort to secure her daughter Lucy Ann Berry's freedom, for which she had filed suit in 1842, shortly after Berry fled her master. Marriage and Family. In 1845, Lucy Ann met and married steamboat worker Frederick Turner, with whom she settled in Quincy, Illinois. Her mother lived with them. Turner died soon after in a boiler explosion on the steamboat "The Edward Bates". (It was named for the lawyer who had helped secure Lucy Ann's freedom two years before.) Polly Wash and Lucy Ann returned to St. Louis. In 1849, Lucy Ann met and married Zachariah Delaney. They were married for the rest of their lives, and her mother lived with them. Though the couple had four children, two did not survive infancy. The remaining son and daughter both died in their early twenties. Later Life. In the late nineteenth century, many blacks migrated to St. Louis from the Deep South for its industrial jobs. Delaney met with new arrivals to try to track down her father. Learning that he was living on a plantation 15 miles south of Vicksburg, Mississippi, she wrote and asked him to visit her. Her sister Nancy from Canada joined their reunion in St. Louis. Their father was glad to see them, but, as his wife Polly had died by then, he returned to Mississippi and his friends of 45 years. She died in her Missouri home August 31, 1910. Funeral services were held for her in St. Louis, sponsored by the Heroines of Jericho. Trial and freedom. By 1842, Lucy Ann was working for Martha Berry Mitchell, another of the married Berry daughters. They came into conflict in part because of the slave girl's inexperience at heavy domestic tasks, including laundry. Martha decided to sell her, and her husband David D. Mitchell arranged the sale. The day before she was to leave, Lucy Ann escaped and hid at the house of a friend of her mother's. Since her own case had not been settled, Wash was still considered a slave with no legal standing, but under the slave law, she could file suit in Circuit Court in St. Louis for Lucy Ann Berry's freedom as "next friend". The law provided a slave with the status of a "poor person", with court-appointed counsel when the court determined the case had grounds. Delaney's memoir suggests that her mother's attorneys suggested her strategy of filing separate suits for her and her daughter, to prevent a jury's worrying about taking too much property from one slaveholder. The case was prepared primarily by Francis Butter Murdoch, who litigated nearly one third of the freedom suits filed in St. Louis from 1840–1847. Francis B. Murdoch had served as the Alton, Illinois district attorney, and prosecuted the murder of the printer Elijah Lovejoy by anti-abolitionists. Wash also attracted the support of Edward Bates; a prominent Whig politician and judge, he argued Lucy Ann's case in court. Bates later served as the US Attorney General under President Abraham Lincoln. While waiting for trial, Lucy Ann Berry was remanded to the jail, where she was held for more than 17 months. It was customary to lease out slaves to offset expenses and earn money for such slaves' masters. In February 1844 the case went to trial. By then her mother's case had been settled, and Polly Wash was declared free, based on her free birth in Illinois. In addition, Wash had affidavits from people who knew her and her daughter. Judge Robert Wash (Fanny Berry Wash's widower and Polly's previous master) testified that Lucy Ann was definitely Polly Berry Wash's child. The jury believed the case for freedom had been proved, as the girl had been born to a legally free mother. The judge announced Lucy Ann Berry was free. She was approximately 14 years old. Lucy Ann and Polly Berry lived in St. Louis after gaining her freedom. They had to get certificates as free blacks and deal with other restrictions of the time against free people of color. They worked together as seamstresses. Civic Engagement. As Delaney recounted in her memoir, she became active in civic and religious associations. Such organizations developed rapidly in both the African-American and white communities nationally in the years following the Civil War. She joined the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1855, founded in 1816 in Philadelphia as the first independent black denomination in the US. In addition, Delaney was elected president of the first colored society, the Female Union, an organization of African-American women. She also served as president of the Daughters of Zion, as well as a women's group affiliated with the Freemasons, to which her husband belonged.They often supported community education and health projects. Delaney belonged to the Col. Shaw Woman's Relief Corps, No. 34, a women's auxiliary to the Col. Shaw Post, 343, Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). The veterans' group was named after the white commanding officer of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, the first of the United States Colored Troops and a unit that achieved renown for courage in the Civil War. Delaney dedicated her memoir to the GAR, which had fought for the freedom of slaves. Memoir. In 1891, Delaney published her "From the Darkness Cometh the Light, or, Struggles for Freedom," the only first-person account of a freedom suit. The text is also classified as a slave narrative, most of which were published prior to the Civil War and Emancipation. Delaney devoted most of her account to her mother Polly Berry's struggles to free her family from slavery. Though the story is Delaney's, she features her mother as the lead protagonist. The narrative is steeped in spirituality, as was typical of the genre and people's lives. Delaney delebrated what she considered God's benevolent role in her own life, and she attacked the hypocrisy of Christian slave owners. "From the Darkness" emphasizes the strength of the African Americans who suffered under slavery, rather than recount its abuses. By continuing her memoir after she gained freedom at age 14, Delaney could demonstrate her fortitude as a young widow, and after the deaths of each of her four children. She portrayed her mother Polly Berry as serving as an adviser and role model. By celebrating her political and civic activities, Delaney stated the way African Americans fully participated in US democracy. Publication history. "From the Darkness" was originally published in St. Louis in 1891 by J.T. Smith. After the rise of the mid-20th-century Civil Rights Movement and feminism, and new interest in historic black and women's literature, in 1988 the book was reprinted in the collection "Six Women's Slave Narratives" by Oxford University Press. It is available in full for free online by Project Gutenberg, as well as by the University of North Carolina in its "Documents of the American South" website . Literary critic P. Gabrielle Foreman suggested that author Frances Harper based her character of "Lucille Delaney", in the novel "Iola Leroy" (1892), on Delaney's memoir published the year before. Legacy. The city of St. Louis has frequently acknowledged Lucy Ann Berry's significance to local and national Black History. Citations. 1900 United States Census, Missouri St. Louis ED 396 Precinct 11 St. Louis city Ward 26 Zach Delaney Male 77 Married Black, B. Feb 1823 Ohio, Married 1850, Father born Virginia, Mother born Virginia, Head of Household, Employed as Janitor Lucy A Delaney Female 74 Married Black, B. May 1826 Missouri, Married 1850, Father born Kentucky, Mother born Illinois, Mother of 7 children total https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-632Q-PKF?cc=1325221&personaUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.familysearch.org%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AM3D8-9CR Ancestry City Directories 1822-1995, Zachariah resides in St. Louis occupation as Cook, Porter or Janitor Last entry in St. Louis City Directory was on page 257 for 1904, Zachariah Delaney, Janitor resides at 1317 Washington. Approx death date of 1904-5 https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2469/images/11389200?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&queryId=0c43f4a31237085f1143b9c949a836bd&usePUB=true&_phsrc=OKr682&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=616552954 Boiler Explosion and Fire of the Edward Bates where Lucy's first husband Frederick Turner perished as a deckhand. Listed among those Mortally wounded, dying of his injuries with one William Robinson, presumed a co worker. *Note a Claudine and Louisa Robinson lived next door to the Delaneys on the 1900 census for St. Louis. Eli Delany, First Cook, listed among dead crewmen Missouri Republican August 14, 1848 "...Missing and Dead of the Crew -- JOHN BROWN, colored fireman, Quincy, blown overboard; ANDREW HATFIELD, colored fireman, Ill., do.; ELI DELANY, first cook, St. Louis, do.; GEO. MATSON, fireman, do., do.; JOHN LEMON, deck-hand, do. do., HARRY JOHNSON, do. do.; WM. PARKS, do. do.; C. W. LYONS, do. do.; Quincy, do.; ______ HOLLIDAY, do. do.; WM. AMNET, do., St. Louis, died of wounds; FRED., (Frenchman) cook, do. do.; ISAAC DOZIER, deck-hand, Ala., do. Four missing names not known. Total Killed 28; do. wounded 30..." Newspaper clipping states 'dead were buried at Hamburg, Illinois" https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2798352/steamboat-edward-bates-explosion/ https://www.steamboats.org/archive/1720-2.html http://www.gendisasters.com/illinois/1434/hamburg%2C-il-steamboat-edward-bates-disaster%2C-aug-1848 The wounded were at once placed in the cabin of the boat, and every attention paid to them by the officers of the two boats. Some of the dead were interred at Hamburg, while the boat lay at that place. Others died shortly after the boat landed at our wharf. As soon as it could be done, the Mayor, with praisewothy[sic] alacrity, order the removal of all the wounded, except two or three who went to the Charity Hospital, to the City Hospital. In the afternoon, as we learned from the attending physician, the wounds of those at the City Hospital had all been dressed, and they were in a comfortable condition, with a prospect of their recovery. -- Of the thirteen wounded persons left at Hamburg after the explosion of the above boat, 12 have died. The cause of the explosion has been traced to the negligence of MR. DONAHOE, the engineer. - The Davenport Gazette Iowa 1848-08-24 Steamboat Disasters Part 2, Genealogy Trails http://genealogytrails.com/ark/greene/SteamboatDisastersPartTwo.htm#:~:text=the%20edward%20bates%20A%20flue%20of%20the%20steamer,death%20of%20fifty-three%20persons%2C%20and%20wounding%20forty%20others. THE EDWARD BATES A flue of the steamer Edward Bates collapsed on the Mississippi river, near Hamburg, Ill., on the 9th day of August, 1848, causing the death of fifty-three persons, and wounding forty others. The particulars are unknown, as few of those who witnessed the disaster survived to tell the melancholy story. The names of some of the killed and wounded have been preserved, and will be found in the following list: Killed—William Chamberlain, Mr. White, Mr. Rarridon, and Mr. Haines, deck passengers; Mrs. Bowen and nephew; Mrs. John Bowen and child ; Mrs. Susan Bowen and child ; Mr. Eades and two children ; Master Eades, his nephew; John Brown, Andrew Hatfield, and Eli Delmay, deck hands ; Geo. Matson and John Lenan, firemen ; Henry Johnson, Wm. Parks, G. W. Lyons, J. Holliday, Win. Amet, Frederic Smith, colored fireman, and Isaac Dozier. Thirteen dead bodies, exclusive of the above, were afterwards picked up at Hamburg. Wounded—George Blackwell, T. B. Ewing, D. E. Cameron, Samuel Simpson, Preston Leiper, Le Roy Jenkins, E. B. Morrison and wife, (badly,) M. Vansel, James Cook, J. H. Simpson, Master Bowen, Mr. Eades, E. T. Hudson, H. M. Swazy, J. Righter, and friend. Mortally Wounded—George Watt, Samuel Dolsey, Wm. Wells, John Montague, Silas Bowman, Samuel Ferguson, T. M. McDonald, Joseph Morrison, Jacob Andrews, F. Turner, Jno. Swan, and Wm. Robinson.

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Sarah Louise Delany Sarah Louise "Sadie" Delany (September 19, 1889 – January 25, 1999) was an American educator and civil rights pioneer who was the subject, along with her younger sister, Elizabeth "Bessie" Delany, of the "New York Times" bestselling oral history biography, "", by journalist Amy Hill Hearth. Sadie was the first African-American permitted to teach domestic science at the high-school level in the New York public schools, and became famous, with the publication of the book, at the age of 103. Biography. Delany was the second-eldest of ten children born to the Rev. Henry Beard Delany (1858–1928), the first black person elected Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States, and Nanny Logan Delany (1861–1956), an educator. Rev. Delany was born into slavery in St. Mary's, Georgia. Nanny Logan Delany was born in a community then known as Yak, Virginia, seven miles from Danville. Sadie Delany was born in what was then known as Lynch Station, Virginia, at the home of her mother's sister, Eliza Logan. She was raised on the campus of St. Augustine's School (now University) in Raleigh, North Carolina, where her father was the Vice-Principal and her mother a teacher and administrator. Delany was a 1910 graduate of the school. In 1916, she moved to New York City, where she attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, then transferred to Columbia University where she earned a bachelor's degree in education in 1920 and a master's of education in 1925. She was a New York City schoolteacher until her retirement in 1960. She was the first black person permitted to teach domestic science on the high school level in New York City. Delany died at the age of 109 in Mount Vernon, New York, where she resided in the final decades of her life. She is interred at Mount Hope Cemetery in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Delany Sisters. In 1991, Delany and her sister Bessie were interviewed by journalist Amy Hearth, who wrote a feature story about them for "The New York Times" ("Two 'Maiden Ladies' With Century-Old Stories to Tell"). A New York book publisher read Hearth's newspaper story and asked her to write a full-length book on the sisters. Ms. Hearth and the sisters worked closely for two years to create the book, an oral history called "Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years", which dealt with the trials and tribulations the sisters had faced during their century of life. The book was on "The New York Times" bestseller lists for 105 weeks. It spawned a Broadway play in 1995 and a television film in 1999. Both the play and film adaptations were produced by Judith R. James and Dr. Camille O. Cosby. In 1994, the sisters and Hearth published "The Delany Sisters' Book of Everyday Wisdom," a follow-up to "Having Our Say." After Bessie's death in 1995 at age 104, Sadie Delany and Hearth created a third book, "On My Own At 107: Reflections on Life Without Bessie." Her siblings were: Delany was the aunt of science fiction writer Samuel R. Delany Jr., the son of her youngest brother. Living Relative Families: Delany, Mickey, Stent, and Graham Families

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Ryan N. Dennis Ryan N. Dennis is an American curator and writer who is currently Chief Curator and Artistic Director at the Mississippi Museum of Art's Center for Art and Public Exchange (CAPE). She previously served as Curator and Programs Director (2017-2020) and Public Art Director and Curator (2012-2017) at Project Row Houses in Houston, Texas. Dennis focuses on African American contemporary art with an emphasis on site-specific projects and community engagement. Early life and education. Ryan N. Dennis was born in Houston, Texas. In 2007, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Houston where she was in the African American studies program and the art history program. She received a M.A. degree in arts and cultural management from the Pratt Institute in New York City in 2011. Dennis interned in the curatorial department of the Menil Collection in Houston, where she would later work professionally. Professional career. Early in her career, Ryan N. Dennis worked as a curatorial assistant at the Menil Collection (2007-2009). She moved to New York City to pursue her degree, where she was a fellow at The Laundromat Project in 2009, worked in public programs at the New Museum, and was traveling exhibition and artists-in-residence manager at the Museum for African Art (now The Africa Center) from 2010 to 2012. Dennis joined Project Row Houses in 2012 as Public Art Director and Curator. In 2017, she was promoted to Curator and Programs Director. During her tenure at Project Row Houses, she organized and co-organized ten rounds of exhibitions, including Round 41: "Process and Action: An Exploration of Labor" (2015), Round 43: "Small Business/ Big Change: Economic Perspectives from Artists and Artrepreneurs" (2015), Round 44: "Shattering the Concrete: Artists, Activists, and Instigators" (2016), Round 45: "Local Impact" (2016), Round 46: "Black Women Artists for Black Lives Matter at Project Row Houses" (2017), Round 47:"The Act of Doing: Preserving, Revitalizing and Protecting Third Ward" (2018), Round 48: "Beyond Social Practice" (2019), Round 49: "penumbras: sacred geometries" (2019), and Round 50: "Race, Health and Motherhood" (2019). Artists who have participated in these rounds include Simone Leigh, Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, Autumn Knight, Lovie Olivia, Ayanna Jolivet McCloud, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, Martine Syms, Erika DeFreitas, Michelle Barnes, Robert Pruitt, and Regina Agu. Dennis was selected for the 2019 Center for Curatorial Leadership annual Fellowship, where she completed a weeklong residency at the Brooklyn Museum. In 2019, she was selected, along with Evan Garza, to co-curate the seventh edition (2021) of the Texas Biennial, a "geographically-led, independent survey of contemporary art in Texas." She was a juror for the 2019 Whitney Museum of American Art Bucksbaum Award, which every two years awards $100,000 and is one of the largest cash awards for individual visual artists. In April 2020, she became the Chief Curator and Artistic Director at the Mississippi Museum of Art's Center for Art and Public Exchange (CAPE). It is the largest art museum in the state. Ryan N. Dennis' written works appear in "Prospect.3 Notes for Now" (2014) as part of Prospect New Orleans, "" (2015)"," the "Miami Rail" (2017). She also contributed to the monograph of Autumn Knight published in 2018.

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George Cain George Cain (October 27, 1943 – October 23, 2010) was an African-American author who is renowned for writing "Blueschild Baby", a semi-autobiographical novel published in 1970. The book is about the life of a drug user who finally overcomes his addiction. Cain was himself a drug user but, unlike the character in his novel, he never overcame his addiction nor went on to write another book. Born on October 27, 1943, as George Maurice Hopkins, he would adopt the pen name Africa Cain, later choosing to use his original first name. He grew up in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan and moved with his family to Teaneck, New Jersey after graduating from the McBurney School, which he attended on scholarship. His basketball skills earned him a scholarship at Iona College, but he dropped out as a junior and headed to the American Southwest. While in Mexico he was charged and sentenced to six months in jail for possession of marijuana. After completing his sentence he moved to Brooklyn and started writing "Blueschild Baby". George Cain's representative character in the book starts using drugs in high school, which starts his descent into the drug world, following the death of a favorite grandmother in a fire. The George Cain in the book finally finds his way and stops using drugs, but Cain himself had his life destroyed by drugs. The book describes how Cain's middle-class parents moving to the suburbs only to find themselves "surrounded, hounded and harassed by the white mob". Reviewer Addison Gayle, Jr., of "The New York Times" called the book "the most important work of fiction by an Afro-American since "Native Son"", describing "a world that only black people can fully comprehend", written in "a language that abounds in colorful in-group symbols and metaphors". Despite favorable responses to the book, he never completed a planned sequel to his debut book and as described by his ex-wife Jo Lynne Pool he "had a lot of friends from the street, and they were going down", and he went down along with them, his life and family falling apart. Cain died at the age of 66 on October 23, 2010, in Manhattan due to complications of kidney disease. He was survived by two daughters, a son and five grandchildren.

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Barbara T. Bowman Barbara Taylor Bowman (born October 30, 1928) is an American early childhood education expert/advocate, professor, and author. Her areas of expertise include early childhood care/education, educational equity for minority and low-income children, as well as intergenerational family support and roles. She has served on several boards and was the co-founder of Erikson Institute, where she pioneered the teaching of early childhood education and administration. Early years. Bowman was born and raised on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Laura Dorothy Vaughn (née Jennings) and Robert Rochon Taylor, who was on the board of the Chicago Housing Authority. Her grandfather was architect Robert Robinson Taylor. Her parents were African-American. After receiving a B.A. degree from Sarah Lawrence College, she began teaching at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools' nursery school, while simultaneously earning her M.A. degree in education from the University of Chicago in 1952. Career. Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty and the 1965 creation of Head Start inspired Bowman. The next year, with the support of businessman and philanthropist Irving B. Harris, Bowman cofounded the Chicago School for Early Childhood Education (now known as the Erikson Institute) with child psychologist Maria Piers and social worker Lorraine Wallach. Bowman went on to serve as its president during the period of 1994 to 2001, and maintains a professorship at the institute, where she is the Irving B. Harris Professor of Child Development. The institute's Barbara T. Bowman Professor of Child Development professorship is named in her honor. Bowman is the Chicago Public Schools' Chief Early Childhood Education Officer. She is the past president (1980–1982) of the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Her Board memberships are many including: Business People in the Public Interest, Chicago Public Library Foundation, Great Books Foundation, High Scope Educational Foundation, Institute for Psychoanalysis, and National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Among the many honorary degrees awarded to Bowman are those from Bank Street College, Dominican University, Governors State University, Roosevelt University, and Wheelock College. During her career, she has also served on the Editorial Board of "Early Childhood Research Quarterly", and chaired the National Academy of Science, National Research Council's Committee on Early Childhood Pedagogy. Personal life. Bowman was married to the late James E. Bowman, renowned pathologist and geneticist of African American descent, and the first black resident at St. Luke's Hospital. They have one daughter, Valerie Jarrett, who was Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Liaison in the Obama administration. Their granddaughter, Laura Jarrett, graduated from Harvard Law School in 2010 and married Tony Balkissoon, who is also a lawyer and the son of Ontario MP Bas Balkissoon, in June 2012.

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Eldridge Cleaver Leroy Eldridge Cleaver (August 31, 1935 – May 1, 1998) was an American writer and political activist who became an early leader of the Black Panther Party. In 1968, Cleaver wrote "Soul on Ice", a collection of essays that, at the time of its publication, was praised by "The New York Times Book Review" as "brilliant and revealing". Cleaver stated in "Soul on Ice": "If a man like Malcolm X could change and repudiate racism, if I myself and other former Muslims can change, if young whites can change, then there is hope for America." Cleaver went on to become a prominent member of the Black Panthers, having the titles Minister of Information and Head of the International Section of the Panthers, while a fugitive from the United States criminal justice system in Cuba and Algeria. He became a fugitive after leading an ambush on Oakland police officers, during which two officers were wounded. Cleaver was also wounded during the clash and Black Panther member Bobby Hutton was killed. As editor of the official Panthers' newspaper, "The Black Panther", Cleaver's influence on the direction of the Party was rivaled only by founders Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. Cleaver and Newton eventually fell out with each other, resulting in a split that weakened the party. After spending seven years in exile in Cuba, Algeria, and France, Cleaver returned to the US in 1975, where he became involved in various religious groups (Unification Church and CARP) before finally joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as well as becoming a conservative Republican, appearing at Republican events. Early life. Eldridge Cleaver was born in Wabbaseka, Arkansas; as a child he moved with his large family to Phoenix and then to Los Angeles. He was the son of Leroy Cleaver and Thelma Hattie Robinson. He had four siblings: Wilhelima Marie, Helen Grace, James Weldon, and Theophilus Henry. As a teenager, he was involved in petty crime and spent time in youth detention centers. At the age of 18, he was convicted of a felony drug charge (marijuana, a felony at the time) and sent to the adult prison at Soledad. In 1958, he was convicted of rape and assault with intent to murder, and eventually served time in Folsom and San Quentin prisons. While in prison, he was given a copy of "The Communist Manifesto". Cleaver was released on parole December 12, 1966, with a discharge date of March 20, 1971. In 1968 he was arrested on violation of parole by association with individual(s) of bad reputation, and control and possession of firearms Cleaver petitioned for habeas corpus to the Solano County Court, and was granted it along with a release of a $50,000 bail. Black Panther Party. Cleaver was released from prison on December 12, 1966. He was writing for "Ramparts" magazine and organizing efforts to revitalize the Organization of Afro-American Unity. The Black Panther Party was only two months old. He then joined the Oakland-based Black Panther Party (BPP), serving as Minister of Information, or spokesperson. What initially attracted Cleaver to the Panthers, as opposed to other prominent groups, was their commitment to armed struggle. In 1967, Cleaver, along with Marvin X, Ed Bullins, and Ethna Wyatt, formed the Black House political/cultural center in San Francisco. Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, Askia Toure, Sarah Webster Fabio, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Avotcja, Reginald Lockett, Emory Douglas, Samuel Napier, Bobby Hutton, Huey Newton, and Bobby Seale were Black House regulars. The same year, he married Kathleen Neal Cleaver (divorced 1987), with whom he would have son Ahmad Maceo Eldridge (born 1969, Algeria; died 2018, Saudi Arabia) and daughter Joju Younghi (born July 31, 1970, North Korea). Cleaver was a presidential candidate in 1968 on the ticket of the Peace and Freedom Party. Having been born on August 31, 1935, Cleaver would not have been the requisite 35 years of age until more than a year after Inauguration Day 1969. (Although the Constitution requires that the President be at least 35 years of age, it does not specify whether he need have reached that age at the time of nomination, or election, or inauguration.) Courts in both Hawaii and New York held that he could be excluded from the ballot because he could not possibly meet the Constitutional criteria. Cleaver and his running mate Judith Mage received 36,571 votes (0.05%). In the aftermath of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968, there were riots across the nation. On April 6, Cleaver and 14 other Panthers were involved in a confrontation with Oakland police officers, during which two officers were wounded. Cleaver was wounded during the ambush and 17-year-old Black Panther member Bobby Hutton was killed. They were armed with M16 rifles and shotguns. In 1980, he admitted that he had led the Panther group on a deliberate ambush of the police officers, thus provoking the shootout. Some reporters were surprised by this move, because it was in the context of an uncharacteristic speech, in which Cleaver also discredited the Black Panthers, stated "we need police as heroes", and said that he denounced civilian review boards of police shootings for the "bizarre" reason that "it is a rubber stamp for murder". Some speculated his admission could have been a pay-off to the Alameda County justice system, whose judge had only just days earlier let Eldridge Cleaver escape prison time; Cleaver was sentenced to community service after getting charged with three counts of assault against three Oakland police officers. The PBS documentary "A Huey Newton Story" claims that "Bobby Hutton was shot more than twelve times after he had already surrendered and stripped down to his underwear to prove he was not armed." Charged with attempted murder after the incident, he jumped bail to flee to Cuba in late 1968. Initially treated with luxury by the Cuban government, the hospitality ended upon reports Fidel Castro had received information of the CIA infiltrating the Black Panther Party. Cleaver then decided to head to Algeria, sending word to his wife to meet him there. Elaine Klein normalized his status by getting him an invitation to attend the Pan-African Cultural festival, rendering him temporarily safe from prosecution. The festival allowed him to network with revolutionaries from all over Africa in order to discuss the perils of white supremacy and colonialism. Cleaver was outspoken in his call to violence against the United States, contributing to his mission to "position the Panthers within the revolutionary nationalist camp inside the United States and as disciples of Fanon on the world stage". Cleaver had set up an international office for the Black Panthers in Algeria. Following Timothy Leary's Weather Underground-assisted prison escape, Leary stayed with Cleaver in Algiers; however, Cleaver placed Leary under "revolutionary arrest" as a counter-revolutionary for promoting drug use. Cleaver also cultivated an alliance with North Korea in 1969, and BPP publications began reprinting excerpts from Kim Il Sung's writings. Although leftists of the time often looked to Cuba, China, and North Vietnam for inspiration, few had paid any attention to the secretive Pyongyang regime. Bypassing US travel restrictions on North Korea, Cleaver and other BPP members made two visits to the country in 1969–1970 with the idea that the "juche" model could be adapted to the revolutionary liberation of African-Americans. Taken on an official tour of North Korea, Cleaver expressed admiration at "the DPRK's stable, crime-free society which provided guaranteed food, employment, and housing for all, and which had no economic or social inequalities". Byron Vaughn Booth (former Panther Deputy Minister of Defense) claimed that, after a trip to the DPRK, Cleaver discovered his wife had been having an affair with Clinton Robert Smith Jr. Booth told the FBI he had witnessed Cleaver shoot and kill Smith with an AK47. Elaine Mokhtefi, in the "London Review of Books", writes that Cleaver confessed the murder to her shortly after committing it. In his 1978 book "Soul on Fire", Cleaver made several claims regarding his exile in Algeria, including that he was supported by regular stipends from the government of North Vietnam, which the United States was then bombing. Cleaver stated that he was followed by other former criminals turned revolutionaries, many of whom (including Booth and Smith) hijacked planes to get to Algeria. Split and new directions. Eldridge Cleaver and Huey Newton eventually had a disagreement over the necessity of armed struggle as a response to COINTELPRO and other actions by the government against the Black Panthers and other radical groups, which led to Cleaver's eventual expulsion from the BPP. Also Cleaver's interest in North Korea and global anti-imperialist struggle drew ire from other BPP members who felt that he was neglecting the needs of African-Americans at home in the US. Following his expulsion from the Black Panthers in 1971, the group's ties with North Korea were quickly forgotten. Cleaver advocated the escalation of armed resistance into urban guerrilla warfare, while Newton suggested the best way to respond was to put down the gun, which he felt alienated the Panthers from the rest of the black community, and focus on more pragmatic reformist activity by lobbying for increased social programs to aid African-American communities and anti-discrimination laws. Cleaver accused Newton of being an Uncle Tom for choosing to cooperate with white interests rather than overthrow them. Cleaver left Algeria in 1972, moving to Paris, France, becoming a born again Christian during time in isolation living underground. He turned his hand to fashion design; three years later, he released codpiece-revival "virility pants" he called "the Cleavers", enthusing that they would give men "a chance to assert their masculinity". Cleaver returned to the United States in 1977 to face the unresolved attempted murder charge. By September 1978, on bail as those proceedings dragged on, he had incorporated Eldridge Cleaver Ltd, running a factory and West Hollywood shop exploiting his "Cleavers", which he claimed liberated men from "penis binding". He saw no conflict with his newfound Christianity, drawing support for his overtly sexual design from 22 Deuteronomy. The long-outstanding charge was subsequently resolved on a plea bargain reducing it to assault. A sentence of 1,200 hours' community service was imposed. Later life. In the early 1980s, Cleaver became disillusioned with what he saw as the commercial nature of evangelical Christianity and examined alternatives, including Sun Myung Moon's campus ministry organization CARP. He later led a short-lived revivalist ministry called Eldridge Cleaver Crusades, "a hybrid synthesis of Islam and Christianity he called 'Christlam'", along with an auxiliary called the Guardians of the Sperm. Cleaver was then later baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) on December 11, 1983. He periodically attended regular services and lectured by invitation at LDS gatherings. By the 1980s, Cleaver had become a conservative Republican. He appeared at various Republican events and spoke at a California Republican State Central Committee meeting regarding his political transformation. In 1984, he ran for election to the Berkeley City Council but lost. Undaunted, he promoted his candidacy in the Republican Party primary for the 1986 Senate race but was again defeated. The next year, his 20-year marriage to Kathleen Neal Cleaver came to an end. In 1988, Cleaver was placed on probation for burglary and was briefly jailed later in the year after testing positive for cocaine. He entered drug rehabilitation for a stated crack cocaine addiction two years later, but was arrested for possession by Oakland and Berkeley Police in 1992 and 1994. Shortly after his final arrest, he moved to Southern California, falling into poor health. Death. Cleaver died at age 62 on May 1, 1998, at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center in Pomona, California. He is buried at Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena, California. "Soul on Ice" (1968). While in prison, he wrote a number of philosophical and political essays, first published in "Ramparts" magazine and then in book form as "Soul on Ice". In the essays, Cleaver traces his own development from a "supermasculine menial" to a radical black liberationist, and his essays became highly influential in the black power movement. In the most controversial part of the book, Cleaver acknowledges committing acts of rape, stating that he initially raped black women in the ghetto "for practice" and then embarked on the serial rape of white women. He described these crimes as politically inspired, motivated by a genuine conviction that the rape of white women was "an insurrectionary act". When he began writing "Soul on Ice", he unequivocally renounced rape and all his previous reasoning about it. The essays in "Soul on Ice" are divided into four thematic sections: "Letters from Prison", describing Cleaver's experiences with and thoughts on crime and prisons; "Blood of the Beast", discussing race relations and promoting black liberation ideology; "Prelude to Love – Three Letters", love letters written to Cleaver's attorney, Beverly Axelrod; and "White Woman, Black Man", on gender relations, black masculinity, and sexuality. External links.

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Ariel Serena Hedges Bowen Ariel Serena Hedges Bowen (March 3, 1863 – July 7, 1904) was an African-American writer, temperance activist, and professor of music at Clark University in Atlanta in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. "Twentieth Century Negro Literature" (1902) noted that "she is regarded as one of the foremost and best cultured women of her race." Biography. Ariel Serena Hedges was born in Newark, New Jersey where her father, Charles Hedges, was a Presbyterian clergyman. He was an 1869 graduate of Lincoln University in Pennsylvania and he had organized churches in New York State. Her mother represented one of the oldest Presbyterian families of that state. Her grandfather was a bugler in the Mexican war, and was a Guard of Honor when Lafayette revisited the United States. Her parents moved to Pittsburgh, where she attended the Avery Institute and completed the academic course at this school. Her parents then moved to Baltimore, where her father became pastor of Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, and finally of Grace Presbyterian Church. She was sent to high school in Springfield, Massachusetts where she remained, and they graduated her with honor in 1885. She also took the Teachers' Course and Examination and passed a creditable examination, afterwards being favorably considered as teacher for one of the schools of that city. She then was called to teach History and English Language at the Tuskegee Institute, Tuskegee, Alabama under Prof. B. T. Washington. She read Greek, Latin, and German with facility. In 1886, Hedges was married to Dr. J. W. E. Bowen of the Gammon Theological Seminary, Atlanta, Georgia. She became a life member of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. She moved to Atlanta with her husband in 1893, where the couple raised a family of four children (one son and three daughters). Bowen became Professor of Music in Clark University in 1895, writing broadly on music ("Music in the Home"), as well as being an accomplished vocalist and musician with the piano and pipe organ. Bowen also was a notable figure in the Southern Women's Christian Temperance Union, writing "The Ethics of Reform" and serving as state president of the Georgia W. C. T. U., No. 2. Ariel Bowen Memorial United Methodist Church in Atlanta, Georgia is named in her memory.

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Donna Franklin Donna LaVonne Franklin is an African-American social scientist and author, and a nationally recognized scholar on African American families. Early life and education. Franklin was born to Donald A. Franklin and Helen Kirkpatrick Franklin in Los Angeles, California. When she was young, her parents moved to La Sierra, California (later annexed to the City of Riverside). She attended elementary school and began high school in Riverside. For her last years of high school Franklin transferred to the co-educational African American boarding school Pine Forge Academy, located in Berks County, Pennsylvania. The campus was built on land once owned by Thomas Rutter, an abolitionist iron miller, and was a terminal for the Underground Railroad during the closing days of the Civil War. Franklin graduated from Loma Linda University with a BA in Sociology, and holds a Master’s in social work and a PhD from the University of Southern California. Career. Franklin was the first African American woman to be appointed at the assistant professor level at the University of Chicago School of Social Administration, in 1982. She was recruited by Dolores Norton, a graduate of Temple University and Bryn Mawr, who was the first African American woman to be tenured at the University of Chicago. During Franklin’s tenure at the University of Chicago, she was a co-investigator on a multimillion-dollar research project that focused on urban poverty and family structure. Primarily, her interests included how social and structural processes interact to influence an adolescent female’s decisions regarding sexuality and pregnancy. Six years later, Franklin was promoted to associate professor. In 1994, Franklin accepted the John Milner Visiting Professor appointment at the University of Southern California. From 1997 to 2008, she taught Advanced Social Theory at Smith College, a required course in the doctoral program at Smith’s School for Social Work. Franklin has also held academic appointments at Howard and Tuskegee universities. Franklin was one of the first national co-chairs of the Council on Contemporary Families, from 1997 to 1999, and has also served on its board of directors. She retired from academic life to focus on writing in 2008. Publications. Books. Franklin's first book, "Ensuring Inequality: The Structural Transformation of the African American Family," was based on her research at University of Chicago and included a foreword by William Julius Wilson, a Harvard University Professor and recipient of the National Medal of Science. Published by Oxford University Press in 1997, "Ensuring Inequality" won the American Sociological Association's William J. Goode Distinguished Book Award; She was the first African-American author to win this award. Franklin's second book, "What's Love Got to Do With It: Understanding and Healing the Rift Between Black Men and Women", was published by Simon & Schuster in 2000. It examines the history and tensions of gender relations in the African American community. Franklin is currently working on a memoir with the working title "From Slavery to Freedom: A Memoir of an American Family and Myself." Other Publications. Franklin has contributed essays to two anthologies. “African Americans and the Birth of the Modern Marriage” is included in "Families As They Really Are," a collection penned by an interdisciplinary community of experts who study and work with families. “The Obama Marriage: A Model for Moving Forward the ‘Stalled Revolution’” appears in "Obama on Our Minds: The Impact of Obama on the Psyche of America." Published in 2016, the book was written by multicultural theorists and researchers, who delve into President Barack Obama’s success and societal impact. Among other chapters, academic papers, and shorter pieces, Franklin has penned an op-ed published in the "New York Times" entitled "Black Herstory." Written in the wake of the Million Man March, the piece outlines the distinctive “herstory” of black women’s equality with black men (compared to other American women) following their emancipation from slavery and its aftermath, and argues that, consequently, black women should have been included in the march. Family Background. On her father’s side, Franklin is descended from one of the first African American families to settle in California’s San Gabriel Valley. Approximately 50 members of the Franklin family are buried in the historic Savannah Memorial Park in Rosemead. Franklin’s great-grandfather Lawrence (usually called Harry) was born in the state about 1864. Her paternal great-grandmother, Sabra Ann Hardison, was born a slave in the township of Jamesville, North Carolina, around the beginning of the Civil War. Sabra Ann came to California as a domestic servant to members of the family of Gail Borden, Jr. (inventor of condensed milk), and settled in the San Gabriel Valley. Sabra Ann met Harry shortly after she arrived, a consequence of the two being among the few African Americans in the area. Harry spoke fluent Spanish and was at the time employed by the sheriff in El Monte. Sabra Ann and Harry married on October 2, 1886, and lived out their lives in Alhambra, California. Personal life. Franklin was married to historian and playwright Bart McSwine from 1971 to 1982. She is the mother of one daughter, Myisha Karimah McSwine, and one grandson, Malo Kagen McSwine.

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William J. Anderson William J. Anderson wrote a narrative describing his life as a slave. Early life. Anderson is believed to have been born on or around June 2, 1811, to Susan and Lewis Anderson. William's mother was a free woman, but his father was a slave, belonging to a Mr. Shelton. Later in William's life he wrote a narrative about himself that was published by the "Chicago Daily Tribune" and entitled: Life and Narrative of William J. Anderson, Twenty-four Years a Slave; Sold Eight Times! In Jail Sixty Times!! Whipped Three Hundred Times!!! or The Dark Deeds of American Slavery Revealed. Containing Scriptural Views of the Origin of the Black and of the White Man. Also, a Simple and Easy Plan to Abolish Slavery in the United States. Together with an Account of the Services of Colored Men in the Revolutionary War--Day and Date, and Interesting Facts. After the death of his father, his mother Susan sold William to Mr. Vance, who lived about ten miles away from her. William's life with Mr. Vance was not a good one. William was very interested in learning how to read and write and would often secretly steal or borrow books from white boys to practice these skills. Whenever his master discovered what William had been up to, he would whip and kick him. Nevertheless, William remained devoted to learning. Religious beliefs. William was a devout Christian. He believed that if he was a good Christian, he would go to heaven. He thought that this was important because he had never been treated well on earth, and it would be one place he could be happy and rest. Finally after much practice and determination, William learned how to read. The next thing that he wanted to do was learn how to write. Late at night, when his master was asleep, he would practice his writing by candlelight. He soon took to teaching a short lesson on Sundays to some of the other slaves on the plantation. But soon the white people found out and banned them from meeting again to talk about learning. Anderson was a slave. New master. William's next master kidnapped him in the night time and handcuffed him to bring him to his plantation. Anderson was not allowed to get any of his belongings or to say anything to friends or family. In Anderson's narrative he describes this master as "one of those cunning, fox-like slaveholders." Next he was brought to a slave market and sold to a southern trader. The trader then on November 6, 1826, tied together sixty to seventy slaves, Anderson included, and made them walk from Eastern to Western Tennessee. The journey took a total of two months. While William and the other slaves walked they sang "Farewell, ye children of the Lord". When they reached their final destination, women and men were separated to stand in lines to be sold. Charged with crime. On December 12, 1856, William was arrested and charged with helping slaves from Kentucky. On pages 53 and 54 of his narrative he explains how horribly he was treated by the guards. He also explains what it was like to be an African American during those times in jail charged with such a crime. When the day of the trial came, several people testified against him but nevertheless, the court found him a free man. In the Appendix of his narrative it has a plan that he has written for a plan to abolish slavery:

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Ben Carson Benjamin Solomon Carson Sr. (born September 18, 1951) is an American retired neurosurgeon, author, and politician who served as the 17th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2017 to 2021. He was a candidate for President of the United States in the 2016 Republican primaries. He is considered a pioneer in the field of neurosurgery. Carson became the Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in 1984 at age 33; he was the youngest chief of pediatric neurosurgery in the United States. At retirement, he was professor of neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery, and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Carson's achievements include participating in the first reported separation of conjoined twins joined at the back of the head. Although surgically a success, the twins continued to suffer neurologic/medical complications. Additional accomplishments include performing the first successful neurosurgical procedure on a fetus inside the womb; developing new methods to treat brain-stem tumors; and revitalizing hemispherectomy techniques for controlling seizures. He wrote over 100 neurosurgical publications. He retired from medicine in 2013. Carson gained national fame among political conservatives after delivering a speech at the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast which was perceived as critical of the policies of President Barack Obama. Following widespread speculation of a presidential run, Carson officially announced his campaign for the 2016 Republican nomination for President in May 2015. Carson performed strongly in early polls, leading to him being considered a frontrunner for the nomination during the fall of 2015; however, his polling support began to decline following scrutiny of his foreign policy credentials after the November 2015 Paris attacks. Carson withdrew from the race after Super Tuesday, following a string of disappointing primary results, and endorsed Donald Trump. Following Trump's victory, Trump nominated Carson as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, being confirmed by the United States Senate in a 58–41 vote on March 2, 2017. Carson has also been seen as a symbol of black conservatism. Carson has received numerous honors for his neurosurgery work, including more than 60 honorary doctorate degrees and numerous national merit citations. In 2001, he was named by CNN and "TIME" magazine as one of the nation's 20 foremost physicians and scientists, and was selected by the Library of Congress as one of 89 "Living Legends" on its 200th anniversary. In 2008, Carson was bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States. In 2010, he was elected into the National Academy of Medicine. He was the subject of the 2009 TV film "", where he was portrayed by Cuba Gooding Jr. Carson has also written and co-written six bestselling books. Early life and education. Carson's parents were Robert Solomon Carson Jr. (1914–1992), a World War II U.S. Army veteran, and Sonya Carson (née Copeland, 1928–2017). Robert Carson was a Baptist minister, but he later became a Cadillac automobile plant laborer. Both his parents came from large families in rural Georgia, and they were living in rural Tennessee when they met and married. Carson's mother was 13 and his father was 28 when they married, and after his father finished his military service, they moved from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Detroit, where they lived in a large house in the Indian Village neighborhood. Carson's older brother, Curtis, was born in 1949, when his mother was 20. In 1950, Carson's parents purchased a new 733-square foot single-family detached home on Deacon Street in the Boynton neighborhood in southwest Detroit. Carson was born in Detroit, Michigan, on September 18, 1951. Carson's Detroit Public Schools education began in 1956 with kindergarten at the Fisher School and continued through first, second, and the first half of third grade, during which time he was an average student. At the age of five, his mother learned that his father had a prior family and had not divorced his first wife. In 1959, at the age of eight, his parents separated and he moved with his mother and brother to live for two years with his mother's Seventh-day Adventist older sister and her sister's husband in multi-family dwellings in the Dorchester and Roxbury neighborhoods of Boston. In Boston, Carson's mother attempted suicide, had several psychiatric hospitalizations for depression, and for the first time began working outside the home as a domestic worker, while Carson and his brother attended a two-classroom school at the Berea Seventh-day Adventist church where two teachers taught eight grades, and the vast majority of time was spent singing songs and playing games. In 1961, at the age of 10, he moved with his mother and brother back to southwest Detroit, where they lived in a multi-family dwelling in a primarily white neighborhood, (Springwells Village), across the railroad tracks from the Delray neighborhood, while renting out their house on Deacon Street, which his mother received in a divorce settlement. When they returned to Detroit public schools, Carson and his brother's academic performance initially lagged far behind their new classmates, having, according to Carson, "essentially lost a year of school" by attending the small Seventh-day Adventist parochial school in Boston, but they both improved when their mother limited their time watching television and required them to read and write book reports on two library books per week. Carson attended the predominantly white Higgins Elementary School for fifth and sixth grades and the predominantly white Wilson Junior High School for seventh and the first half of eighth grade. In 1965, at the age of 13, he moved with his mother and brother back to their house on Deacon Street. He attended the predominantly black Hunter Junior High School for the second half of eighth grade. At the age of eight, Carson dreamt of becoming a missionary doctor, but five years later he aspired to the lucrative lifestyles of psychiatrists portrayed on television, and his brother bought him a subscription to "Psychology Today" for his 13th birthday. High school. By ninth grade, the family's financial situation had improved, his mother surprising neighbors by paying cash to buy a new Chrysler car, and the only government assistance they still relied on was food stamps. Carson attended the predominantly black Southwestern High School for ninth through 12th grades, graduating third in his class academically. In high school, he played the euphonium in band and participated in forensics (public speaking), chess club, and the U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) program where he reached its highest rank—cadet colonel. Carson served as a laboratory assistant in the high school's biology, chemistry, and physics school laboratories beginning in 10th, 11th, and 12th grades, respectively, and worked as a biology laboratory assistant at Wayne State University the summer between 11th and 12th grades. In his book "Gifted Hands", Carson relates that as a youth, he had a violent temper. "As a teenager, I would go after people with rocks, and bricks, and baseball bats, and hammers," Carson told NBC's "Meet the Press" in October 2015. He said he once tried to hit his mother on the head with a hammer over a clothing dispute, while in the ninth grade he tried to stab a friend who had changed the radio station. Fortunately, the blade broke in his friend's belt buckle. Carson said the intended victim, whose identity he wants to protect, was a classmate, a friend, or a close relative. After this incident, Carson said he began reading the Book of Proverbs and applying verses on anger. As a result, he states he "never had another problem with temper". In his various books and at campaign events, he repeated these stories and said he once attacked a schoolmate with a combination lock. Nine friends, classmates, and neighbors who grew up with him told CNN in 2015 they did not remember the anger or violence he has described. In response, Carson posted on Facebook a 1997 "Parade Magazine" issue, in which his mother verified the stabbing incident. He then questioned the extent of the effort CNN had exerted in the investigation. Carson has said that he protected white students in a biology lab after a race riot broke out at his high school in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. "The Wall Street Journal" confirmed the riot but could not find anyone who remembered Carson sheltering white students. College. Carson's SAT college admission test scores ranked him somewhere in the low 90th percentile, which according to him resulted in a "Detroit Free Press" article "Carson Gets Highest SAT Scores in Twenty Years" of any student in Detroit public schools. He wanted to attend college farther away than his brother who was at the University of Michigan. Carson says he narrowed his college choices to Harvard or Yale but could afford the $10 application fee to apply for only one of them. He said he decided to apply to Yale after seeing a team from Yale defeat a team from Harvard on the "G.E. College Bowl" television show. Carson was accepted by Yale and offered a full scholarship covering tuition, room and board. In 1973, Carson graduated with a B.A. in psychology from Yale "with a fairly respectable grade point average although far from the top of the class". Carson does not say in his books whether he received a college student deferment during the Vietnam War. He does say that his older brother, then a student at the University of Michigan, received a low number (26) in the first draft lottery in 1969 and was able to enlist in the Navy for four years instead of being drafted, whereas he received a high number (333) in the second draft lottery in 1970. Carson said he would have readily accepted his responsibility to fight had he been drafted, but he "identified strongly with the anti-war protesters and the revolutionaries" and enthusiastically voted for anti-war Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern in 1972. In his book, "America the Beautiful" (2012), Carson said: "The Vietnam War was, in retrospect, not a noble conflict. It brought shame to our nation because of both the outcome and the cause." In the summers following his high school graduation until his second year in medical school, Carson worked at a variety of jobs: as a clerk in the payroll office of Ford Motor Company, supervisor of a six-person crew picking up trash along the highway under a federal jobs program for inner-city students, a clerk in the mailroom of Young & Rubicam Advertising, assembling fender parts and inspecting back window louvers on the assembly line at Chrysler, a crane operator at Sennett Steel, and finally a radiology technician taking X-rays. At Yale, Carson had a part-time job on campus as a student police aide. In his autobiography, Carson said he had been offered a scholarship to West Point. "Politico" reported that West Point has no record of his ever seeking admission. The academy does not award scholarships to anyone; cadets receive a free education and room and board in exchange for a commitment to serve in the military for at least five years after graduation. Carson also said the University of Michigan had offered him a scholarship. His staff later said the described scenario was similar to that of West Point, as he never actually applied for entry to the University of Michigan. In his autobiography, "Gifted Hands", Carson recounted that exams for a Yale psychology course he took his junior year, "Perceptions 301", were inexplicably burned, forcing students to retake the exam. Carson said other students walked out in protest when they discovered the retest was significantly harder than the original examination, but he alone finished the test. On doing so, Carson said he was congratulated by the course instructor who told him the retest was a hoax intended to find "the most honest student in the class". Carson said the professor awarded him $10 and that a photographer for the "Yale Daily News" was present to take his picture, which appeared in the student newspaper with a story about the experiment. Doubts were raised about this story in 2015 during Carson's presidential campaign. "The Wall Street Journal" attempted to verify Carson's account, reporting that Yale undergraduate courses were identified with only two digits in the early 1970s, that Yale had offered no course called "Perceptions 301" at the time, and that Carson's photo had never appeared in the "Yale Daily News". Carson, while acknowledging the class number was not correct, said: "You know, when you write a book with a co-writer and you say that there was a class, a lot of [the] time they'll put a number or something just to give it more meat. You know, obviously, decades later, I'm not going to remember the course number." Medical school. Carson entered the University of Michigan Medical School in 1973, and at first he struggled academically, doing so poorly on his first set of comprehensive exams that his faculty adviser recommended he drop out of medical school or take a reduced academic load and take longer to finish. He continued with a regular academic load, and his grades improved to average in his first year of medical school. By his second year of medical school, Carson began to excel academically by seldom attending lectures and instead studying textbooks and lecture notes from 6a.m. to 11p.m. Carson graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School with an M.D. in 1977, and he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. Carson was then accepted by the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine neurosurgery program, where he served one year as a surgical intern and five years as a neurosurgery resident, completing the final year as chief resident in 1983. He then spent one year (1983–1984) as a Senior Registrar in neurosurgery at the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Nedlands, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Medical career. Upon returning to Johns Hopkins in 1984, Carson was appointed the university's Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery. As a surgeon, he specialized in traumatic brain injuries, brain and spinal cord tumors, achondroplasia, neurological and congenital disorders, craniosynostosis, epilepsy, and trigeminal neuralgia. He has said that his hand–eye coordination and three-dimensional reasoning made him a gifted surgeon. While at Johns Hopkins, Carson figured in the revival of the hemispherectomy, a drastic surgical procedure in which part or all of one hemisphere of the brain is removed to control severe pediatric epilepsy. Encouraged by John M. Freeman, he refined the procedure in the 1980s and performed it many times. In 1987, Carson was the lead neurosurgeon of a 70-member surgical team that separated conjoined twins, Patrick and Benjamin Binder, who had been joined at the back of the head (craniopagus twins). The separation surgery held promise in part because the twin boys had separate brains. The Johns Hopkins Children’s Center surgical team rehearsed the surgery for weeks, practicing on two dolls secured together by Velcro. Although there were few follow-up stories following the Binder twins' return to Germany seven months after the operation, both twins were reportedly "far from normal" two years after the procedure, with one in a vegetative state. Neither twin was ever able to talk or care for himself, and both eventually became institutionalized wards of the state. Patrick Binder died sometime during the last decade, according to his uncle, who was located by "The Washington Post" in 2015. The Binder surgery served as a blueprint for similar twin separations, a procedure that was refined in subsequent decades. Carson participated in four subsequent high-risk conjoined twin separations, including a 1997 operation on craniopagus Zambian twins, Joseph and Luka Banda, which resulted in a normal neurological outcome. Two sets of twins died, including Iranian twins Ladan and Laleh Bijani. Another separation resulted in the death of one twin and the survival of the other, who is legally blind and struggles to walk. According to "The Washington Post", the Binder surgery "launched the stardom" of Carson, who "walked out of the operating room that day into a spotlight that has never dimmed", beginning with a press conference that was covered worldwide, and it created name recognition leading to publishing deals and a motivational speaking career. On the condition the film would have its premiere in Baltimore, Carson agreed to a cameo appearance as "head surgeon" in the 2003 Farrelly brothers' comedy "Stuck on You", starring Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear as conjoined twins who, unhappy after their surgical separation, continue life attached to each other by Velcro. In March 2013, Carson announced he would retire as a surgeon, saying he would "much rather quit when I'm at the top of my game". His retirement became official on July 1, 2013. In 2021, Carson joined Galectin Therapeutics to assist with development of the Company’s galectin-3 inhibitor, belapectin, as a treatment for NASH cirrhosis and in combination with immunotherapy for the treatment of cancers. Articles, books, business relationships, media posts. Carson has written many articles in peer-reviewed journals and six bestselling books published by Zondervan, an international Christian media and publishing company. The first book was an autobiography published in 1992. Two others are about his personal philosophies of success and what he sees as the stabilizing influence of religion. According to CNN, Carson had an "extensive relationship" from 2004 to 2014 with Mannatech, a multi-level marketing company that produces dietary supplements made from substances such as aloe vera extract and larch-tree bark. Carson gave four paid speeches at company events. He has denied being paid by Mannatech to do anything else, saying he has been a "prolific speaker" who has addressed many groups. In a 2004 speech, he credited the company's products with the disappearance of his prostate cancer symptoms. The nature of this relationship became an issue in 2015 during Carson's presidential campaign. Carson's relationship with Mannatech continued after the company paid $7 million in 2009 to settle a deceptive-marketing lawsuit in Texas over claims that its products could cure autism and cancer. His most recent paid speech for the company was in 2013, for which he was paid $42,000. His image appeared on the corporation's website in 2014, and in the same year, he praised their "glyconutrient" supplements in a PBS special that was subsequently featured on the site. Carson delivered the keynote address at a Mannatech distributor convention in 2011, during which he said the company had donated funds to help him obtain a coveted endowed-chair post at Johns Hopkins Medicine: "...three years ago I had an endowed chair bestowed upon me and uh, it requires $2.5 million to do an endowed chair, and I'm proud to say that part of that $2.5 million came from Mannatech." In October 2015, Carson's campaign team said "there was no contribution from Mannatech to Johns Hopkins", and his statement had been "a legitimate mistake on his part. Confusion. He had been doing some fundraising for the hospital and some other chairs about that time, and he simply got things mixed up." During the CNBC GOP debate on October 28, 2015, Carson was asked about his relationship with Mannatech. He replied, "That's easy to answer. I didn't have any involvement with Mannatech. Total propaganda. I did a couple speeches for them. I did speeches for other people—they were paid speeches. It is absolutely absurd to say I had any kind of relation with them. Do I take the product? Yes. I think it is a good product." Politifact rated Carson's denial of any involvement as "false", pointing to his paid speeches for Mannatech and his appearances in promotional videos in which he favorably reviewed its products, despite not being "an official spokesman or sales associate". When the CNBC moderator commented that Carson was on Mannatech's website, Carson replied that he had not given his permission. Earlier, he had said he was unaware of the company's legal history. On November 3, 2015, Mannatech said on its website that for compliance with Federal campaign finance regulations, the company had removed all references to Carson before he announced his bid for the presidency. In July 2013, Carson was hired by "The Washington Times" as a weekly opinion columnist. In October 2013, Fox News hired Carson as a contributor, to provide analysis and commentary across Fox News Channel's daytime and primetime programming, a relationship that lasted until the end of 2014. In 2014, some House Republicans (who later formed the House Freedom Caucus) approached Carson about the possibility of his standing for Speaker of the House in the event that the incumbent Speaker, John Boehner, had to step down due to intra-party disunion. Carson declined, citing preparations for his 2016 presidential campaign. Ultimately, Boehner resigned in October 2015, and Paul Ryan was elected as the new Speaker. In financial disclosure forms, Carson and his wife reported income of between $8.9 million and $27 million from January 2014 to May 3, 2015, when he announced his presidential campaign. Over that period, Carson received over $4 million from 141 paid speeches, between $1.1 million and $6 million in book royalties, between $200,000 and $2 million as a contributor to "The Washington Times" and Fox News, and between $2 million and $10 million as a member of the boards of Kellogg Co. and Costco Wholesale Corp. He resigned from Costco's board in mid-2015, after serving on it for more than 16 years. Carson was Chairman of the Baltimore-based biotechnology company Vaccinogen from August 2014 until the announcement of his US presidential bid in May 2015. Carson had previously served on Vaccinogen's Medical Advisory Board. 2016 presidential campaign. Background and increasing political visibility. Carson, who had been registered as a Republican, changed his registration to independent in the 1990s after watching Republicans impeach President Clinton for perjury regarding an extramarital affair with Monica Lewinsky. "I just saw so much hypocrisy in both parties," he said. In February 2013, Carson said he was not a member of any political party. In his book "America the Beautiful" (2013), he wrote: "I believe it is a very good idea for physicians, scientists, engineers, and others trained to make decisions based on facts and empirical data to get involved in the political arena." Carson was the keynote speaker at the National Prayer Breakfast on February 7, 2013. The speech garnered Carson considerable attention because the event is normally apolitical in nature, and the speech was critical of the philosophy and policies of President Barack Obama, who was sitting 10 feet away. About the speech, Carson said: "I don't think it was particularly political... You know, I'm a physician." Regarding the policies of President Obama, he said: "There are a number of policies that I don't believe lead to the growth of our nation and don't lead to the elevation of our nation. I don't want to sit here and say all of his policies are bad. What I would like to see more often in this nation is an open and intelligent conversation." Carson's sudden popularity among conservatives led to his being invited as a featured speaker at the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). He tied for seventh place in the "Washington Times"/CPAC 2013 Straw Poll with 4% of the 3,000 ballots cast. In the 2014 CPAC straw poll, he was in third place with 9% of the vote, behind senators Ted Cruz of Texas (with 11%) and Rand Paul of Kentucky (31%). In the presidential straw poll at the 2013 Values Voter Summit, he and Rick Santorum polled 13%, with winner Ted Cruz polling 42%, and in 2014 he polled 20% to Cruz's winning 25%. On November 4, 2014, the day of the 2014 midterms, he rejoined the Republican Party, saying it was "truly a pragmatic move" because he was considering running for president in 2016. In January 2015, "The Weekly Standard" reported that the Draft Carson Committee had raised $13 million by the end of 2014, shortly after Carson performed well in a CNN/ORC poll of potential candidates in December 2014, coming second in two different versions. He polled 10% to Mitt Romney's 20%, but in the same poll with Romney removed from the list, Carson polled 11% to Jeb Bush's 14%. "The Wall Street Journal" mentioned that the Draft Carson Committee had chairmen in all of Iowa's 99 counties, and that Carson had recently led two separate Public Policy polls for the state of Pennsylvania. Announcement of campaign. On May 2, 2015, Carson proclaimed that in two days he was going to make a major announcement on his decision on whether to enter the Presidential Race. In an interview with Cincinnati station WKRC-TV on May 3, 2015, Carson accidentally confirmed his candidacy for president. The interview was also broadcast live on WPEC. The next day, May 4, 2015, at the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts in his home town of Detroit, he officially announced his run for the Republican nomination in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The announcement speech was preceded by a choir singing "Lose Yourself" with Carson sitting in the audience. After the song, Carson took the stage and announced his candidacy alongside a speech on his rags to riches life story, at one point stating: "I remember when our favorite drug dealer was killed." Surge in polls. In October 2015, the Super PAC supporting Carson, The 2016 Committee (formerly the Draft Carson Committee), announced it had received donations in mostly $100 increments from more than 200 small businesses around the country over the course of one week. Fox Business reported that "Carson's outsider status is growing his small business support base." Ben Walters, a fundraiser for The 2016 Committee, expressed optimism about Carson's small business support base: "It's unbelievable the diversity of businesses that we are bringing on. We are seeing everything from doctors' offices and folks in the healthcare profession to motorcycle repair shops and bed and breakfasts." In October, it was noted that Carson's "improbable" political career had surged in polls and fundraising, while he continued to participate in nationally televised Republican debates. Decline in polls. The campaign brought considerable attention to Carson's past. CBS News described Carson's narrative of "overcoming impossible odds as a child growing up in an impoverished, single-parent household to reach international prominence as a pediatric neurosurgeon" as "a key part of his presidential campaign". "The Wall Street Journal" said the narrative came under "the harsh scrutiny of presidential politics, where rivals and media hunt for embellishments and omissions that can hobble a campaign". CNN characterized the core narrative as "acts of violence as an angry young man", followed by a spiritual epiphany that transformed Carson into the "composed figure" he now portrays. Media challenges to a number of Carson's statements included allegations of discrepancies between documented facts and certain assertions in his autobiography "Gifted Hands"—allegations dismissed by Carson as a media "witch hunt". In November 2015, the "Detroit Free Press" republished an article from 1988 "to try to bring some clarity to the claims currently being brought into question". In November 2015, Carson's campaign aired a 60-second TV advertisement in which excerpts from Carson's stump speech were intercut with a rap by an artist named Aspiring Mogul. They spent $150,000 on the ads, which were aired in Atlanta, Detroit and Miami. Carson defended the ad, saying "Well, there are people in the campaign who felt that was a good way to do things... I support them in doing that, but I probably would have taken a little different approach." Later, he said the advertisement was done without his knowledge, that "it was done by people who have no concept of the black community and what they were doing", and that he was "horrified" by it. Statements that Carson made regarding foreign policy called into doubt his familiarity with the domain. "The New York Times" reported in 2015, "Carson has acknowledged being something of a novice on foreign affairs." Regarding the Ukrainian crisis, Carson would send arms to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against pro-Russian rebels. He also believes the Baltic states should "get involved in NATO" (apparently unaware they are NATO members). In a November 2015 Republican debate, Carson declared his intentions to make ISIS "look like losers" as he would "destroy their caliphate". Carson also advocated capturing a "big energy field" outside of Anbar, Iraq, which he said could be accomplished "fairly easily". Regarding the Middle East, he also claimed that "the Chinese are there", while in contrast, "The Guardian" reported that "there are no known members of the Chinese armed forces currently engaged in any conflict in the Middle East." Carson said he is not opposed to a Palestinian state, but he questioned why it needs "to be within the confines of Israeli territory [...] Is that necessary, or can you sort of slip that area down into Egypt?" Withdrawal from campaign. On March 2, following the Super Tuesday 2016 primaries, Carson announced that he did "not see a political path forward" and would not attend the next Republican debate in Detroit. He said, "this grassroots movement on behalf of 'We the People' will continue," indicating that he would give more details later in the week. He suspended his campaign on March4 and announced he would be the new national chairman of My Faith Votes, a group that encourages Christians to exercise their civic duty to vote. In total, Ben Carson's campaign spent $58 million. However, most of the money went to political consultants and fundraising rather than advertising. Carson questioned whether his campaign was economically sabotaged from within. Further activities during the 2016 election. On March 11, 2016, a week after Carson ended his presidential campaign, he endorsed Trump, calling him part of "the voice of the people to be heard". Carson's subsequent comments that Americans would have to sustain Trump for only four years if he was not a good president drew criticism, and he admitted that he would have preferred another candidate, though he thought Trump had the best chance of winning the general election. On the other hand, at the press conference Carson said Trump had a "cerebral" side. On April 25, Carson expressed opposition to Harriet Tubman replacing Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill the day after dubbing the replacement "political expediency", though he indicated interest in Tubman having another tribute. In late April, Carson wrote to the Nevada Republican Party, requesting the two delegates he won in Nevada be released and free to support whoever they want. On May 4, after Trump wrapped up the Republican nomination, he hinted that Carson would be among those who would vet his vice-presidential pick. The same day, in an interview Carson expressed interest in Ted Cruz serving as Attorney General of the United States, a position that Carson said would allow Cruz to prosecute Hillary Clinton, and then as a Supreme Court Justice nominee from the Trump administration. On May 6, Carson said in an interview that Trump would consider a Democrat as his running mate, conflicting with Trump's assertion that he would not. A Carson spokesperson later said Carson expected Trump to select a Republican. Carson was said by aide Armstrong Williams in a May 10 interview to have withdrawn from the Trump campaign's vetting team, though the campaign confirmed he was still involved. Later that month, Carson revealed a list of potential vice-presidential candidates in an interview with "The Washington Post". On May 16, Carson said the media could not keep opinion out of reporting and cited Walter Cronkite as a fair journalist who was, in his words, a "left-wing radical". During the Republican National Convention, Carson appeared with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in support of the pro-Donald Trump Great America PAC at an event in Cleveland. Results. In total, Carson received 857,039 votes during the Republican primaries; this total represented 2.75% of the votes cast. He received the support of seven delegates at the Republican National Convention. Trump received the Republican nomination and went on to be elected president on November 8, 2016. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Nomination and confirmation. After Donald Trump's win in the 2016 election, Carson joined Trump's transition team as Vice Chairman. Carson was also offered a cabinet position in the administration. He declined, in part because of his lack of experience, with an aide stating, "The last thing he would want to do was take a position that could cripple the presidency." Although it was reported that the position was for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Carson's business manager has disputed this, stating, "Dr. Carson was never offered a specific position, but everything was open to him." He was eventually offered the position of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, which he accepted. On December 5, 2016, Trump announced that he would nominate Carson to the position of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. During the confirmation process, Carson was scrutinized by some housing advocates for what they perceived as his lack of relevant experience. On January 24, 2017, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs voted unanimously to approve the nomination. Senate Democrats attempted to defeat Carson's nomination via filibuster, but that vote failed on March 1, 2017, and he was then confirmed by the Senate by a 58–41 vote the next day. Tenure. On March 6, his first day as secretary, while addressing Housing and Urban Development (HUD) employees, Carson saluted the work ethic of immigrants, and during his comments, he likened slaves to involuntary immigrants. A HUD spokesman said that no one present thought Carson "was equating voluntary immigration with involuntary servitude". In the same speech, Carson was criticized by some for saying that the human brain "was incapable of forgetting and could be electrically stimulated into perfect recall". Under the federal budget proposed by Trump in 2017, HUD's budget for the fiscal year 2018 would be cut by $6.2 billion (13%) and the Community Development Block Grant, a program which Carson praised in a trip to Detroit as HUD secretary, would be eliminated. Carson issued a statement supporting the proposed cuts. Carson suggested that federal funds for housing in Detroit could be part of an expected infrastructure bill. In April 2017, while speaking in Washington at the National Low Income Housing Coalition conference, Carson said that housing funding would be included in an upcoming infrastructure bill from the Trump administration. In July 2017, during his keynote address at the LeadingAge Florida annual convention, Carson stated his concern about "seniors who become destitute" and reported that the Department of Housing and Urban Development had increased public housing programs for the elderly by an unspecified number. In summer 2017, Carson allowed his son, Baltimore businessman, Ben Carson Jr., to participate in organizing a HUD "listening tour" in Baltimore. Internal documents obtained by "The Washington Post" under the Freedom of Information Act showed that the younger Carson "put people he'd invited in touch with his father's deputies, joined agency staff on official conference calls about the listening tour and copied his wife on related email exchanges". The son's involvement prompted HUD staff to express concern; the department's deputy general counsel for operations wrote in a memorandum "that this gave the appearance that the Secretary may be using his position for his son's private gain". Carson's wife, son, and daughter-in-law also attended official meetings. In February 2018, the HUD inspector general's office confirmed that it was looking into the role Carson's family played at the department. During congressional testimony in May 2019, Carson did not know what the term REO ("Real Estate Owned" refers to housing owned by a bank or lending institution post-foreclosure) stood for and confused it with the cookie, Oreo. In response, Carson went on the Fox Business Network where he accused Democrats of adhering to "Saul Alinsky" tactics. On March 1, 2020, the office of Vice President Mike Pence announced Carson's addition to the White House Coronavirus Task Force. On November 9, 2020, Carson tested positive for COVID-19 after attending President Trump's Election Night party. He initially treated himself with a homeopathic oleander extract on the recommendation of Mike Lindell, the founder of My Pillow, Inc., which Carson said caused his symptoms to disappear. Oleander was previously rejected by the Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for COVID-19 and Carson received criticism for promoting an unscientific homeopathic treatment. He disclosed on November 20 that he subsequently became "extremely sick" and attributed his recovery to Regeneron's experimental antibody therapy. He said that President Trump had given him access to the drug. Office furnishing scandal. Carson received criticism for spending up to $31,000 on a dining set in his office in late 2017. This expenditure was discovered after Helen Foster, a career HUD official, filed a complaint alleging that she had been demoted from her position because she refused to spend more than the legal $5,000 limit for office redecorations. Carson and his spokesman said that he had little or no involvement in the purchase of the dining set. Later, email communications revealed that Carson and his wife selected the dining set. On March 20, 2018, Carson testified before the United States House Committee on Appropriations that he had "dismissed" himself from the decision to buy the $31,000 dining room set and "left it to my wife, you know, to choose something". On September 12, 2019, HUD's inspector general released a report clearing Carson of misconduct. Remarks on transgender use of homeless shelters. Carson was accused by members of the Department of Housing and Urban Development of making transphobic remarks at a meeting in San Francisco in September 2019. He warned that "big, hairy men" might infiltrate homeless shelters for women, prompting one woman to walk out. Reps. Joe Kennedy III of Massachusetts and Jennifer Wexton of Virginia called for his resignation, but Carson said the accusations were a "mischaracterization". A HUD spokesperson responded that Carson "does not use derogatory language to refer to transgendered individuals. Any reporting to the contrary is false." Carson Scholars Fund. In 1994, Carson and his wife started the Carson Scholars Fund that awards scholarships to students in grades 4–11 for "academic excellence and humanitarian qualities". Recipients of the Carson Scholars Fund receive a $1,000 scholarship towards their college education. It has awarded 6,700 scholarships. In recognition for his work with the Carson Scholars Fund and other charitable giving throughout his lifetime, Carson was awarded the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership in 2005. American Cornerstone Institute. In 2021, Carson founded the American Cornerstone Institute or ACI, a conservative think tank centered around advancing policies that promote "faith, liberty, community, and life." The ACI's mission statement is "dedicated to promoting and preserving individual and religious liberty, helping our country’s most vulnerable find new hope, and developing methods to decrease the federal government’s role in society and to improve efficiency to best serve ALL our nation’s citizens. Headed by world-renowned neurosurgeon, presidential candidate, and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson, ACI will be a voice for reason and civility in a nation that is increasingly devoid of common sense." Personal life. Carson and his wife, fellow Detroit native Lacena "Candy" Rustin, met in 1971 as students at Yale University and married in 1975. They began living in West Friendship, Maryland, in 1988. Together, the couple have three sons (Rhoeyce, Benjamin Jr., and Murray), as well as several grandchildren. Their oldest son, Murray, was born in Perth, Australia, while Carson was undertaking a residency there. In 1981 Carson's wife became pregnant with twins before miscarrying in the fifth month of her pregnancy. In 2001, Ben and Candy Carson bought a 48-acre property in Upperco, Maryland. After being diagnosed with prostate cancer, Carson underwent a two-hour operation at the Johns Hopkins Hospital on August 7, 2002. In 2013, Carson, his wife, and Carson's mother moved to West Palm Beach, Florida. Surrounding his confirmation as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Carson bought a $1.22 million home in Vienna, Virginia, in February 2017 and sold his West Palm Beach home for over $900,000 in May 2017. Religion. Carson and his wife are members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA). Carson was baptized at Burns Seventh-day Adventist Church in Detroit. A few years later, he told the pastor at a church he was attending in Inkster, Michigan, that he had not fully understood his first baptism and wanted to be baptized again. He has served as a local elder and Sabbath School teacher in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Although Carson is an Adventist, the church has officially cautioned church employees to remain politically neutral. In keeping with his Seventh-day Adventist faith, Carson announced in 2014 his belief "that the United States will play a big role" in the coming apocalypse. He went on to say, "I hope by that time I'm not around anymore." In an interview with Katie Couric, Carson said that Jesus Christ came to Earth to redeem the world through his atoning sacrifice and that all people are sinners and need his redemption. Carson has stated that he does not believe in hell as understood by some Christians: "You know, I see God as a very loving individual. And why would he torment somebody forever who only had a life of 60 or 70 or 80 years? Even if they were evil. Even if they were only evil for 80 years?" This is fully in line with Adventist teaching, which promotes annihilationism. Carson endorsed Seventh-day Adventist theology, which includes belief in a literal reading of the first chapters of Genesis. In a 2013 interview with "Adventist News Network", Carson said "You know, I'm proud of the fact that I believe what God has said, and I've said many times that I'll defend it before anyone. If they want to criticize the fact that I believe in a literal, six-day creation, let's have at it because I will poke all kinds of holes in what they believe." Carson's Adventism was raised as an issue by his then-primary rival Donald Trump. Some Adventists have argued that Carson's political positions on gun rights and religious liberty conflict with historic Adventist teachings in favor of nonviolence, pacifism, and the separation of church and state. Claim about Egyptian pyramids. During a commencement speech at Andrews University in Michigan in 1998, Carson stated that he believed that the pyramids of Giza were created by the Biblical figure Joseph to store grain, despite the fact that the story of Joseph is set in the time of Egypt's Middle Kingdom, five centuries after the pyramids of Giza were built. When questioned about it again in 2015, he stood by his original assertion. Vegetarianism. Consistent with the practice of many Adventists, Carson is a lacto-ovo vegetarian (he will eat dishes containing milk, eggs, or cheese, and occasionally, poultry). He has said his main reason for becoming vegetarian was health concerns, including avoiding parasites and heart disease, and he emphasizes the environmental benefits of vegetarianism. His transition was made easier because he had eaten little meat for aesthetic reasons as a child, and he readily adopted his wife's vegetarianism because she does much of the cooking in their household. Speaking in 1990, he said that with the increasing availability of meat substitutes, "It might take 20 years. But eventually there will no longer be a reason for most people to eat meat. And animals will breathe a sigh of relief." To avoid causing others discomfort, he is willing to occasionally eat chicken or turkey, although he finds eating pork highly unpleasant. Awards and honors. Carson is a member of the American Academy of Achievement, Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, and the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans. Carson has been awarded 38 honorary doctorate degrees and dozens of national merit citations. Detroit Public Schools opened the Dr. Benjamin Carson High School of Science and Medicine for students interested in pursuing healthcare careers. The school is partnering with Detroit Receiving Hospital and Michigan State University.

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Xernona Clayton Xernona Clayton Brady (née Brewster, born August 30, 1930) is an American civil rights leader and broadcasting executive. During the Civil Rights Movement, she worked for the National Urban League and Southern Christian Leadership Conference, where she became involved in the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Later, Clayton went into television, where she became the first African American from the southern United States to host a daily prime time talk show. She became corporate vice president for urban affairs for Turner Broadcasting. Clayton created the Trumpet Foundation. She was instrumental in the development of the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame that was developed by the foundation to honor the achievements of African Americans and civil rights advocates. She convinced a Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan to denounce the Klan. Clayton has been honored by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the city of Atlanta for her work. Early life. Xernona and her twin sister Xenobia were born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, the daughters of Reverend James and Elliott (Lillie) Brewster. Her parents were administrators of Indian affairs in Muskogee, Oklahoma. In 1952, Clayton earned her undergraduate degree with honors from Tennessee State Agricultural and Industrial College in Nashville, Tennessee. She majored in music and minored in education. At TSU, Clayton became a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. She is a Baptist. She pursued graduate studies at the University of Chicago. Career. Clayton began her career in the Civil Rights Movement with the National Urban League in Chicago, working undercover to investigate racial discrimination committed by employers against African Americans. Clayton moved to Atlanta in 1965, where she organized events for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), under the direction of Martin Luther King Jr. She developed a deep friendship with Dr. King's wife, Coretta Scott King. Clayton and Scott King traveled together on concert tours. Although Clayton did not march with King, citing a fear of being arrested, Clayton helped plan King's marches. In 1966, Clayton coordinated the Doctors' Committee for Implementation, a group of African American physicians who worked for and achieved the desegregation of all Atlanta hospitals. The Doctors' Committee served as a model for nationwide hospital desegregation, and was honored by the National Medical Association. Clayton then headed the Atlanta Model Cities program, a federally funded group dedicated to improving the quality of desegregated neighborhoods. Clayton met Calvin Craig, the Grand Dragon of the Georgia Ku Klux Klan, through the Model Cities program, as Craig served in a policy position with the organization. Craig cited Clayton's influence when he decided to denounce the Klan in April 1968. In 1967, Clayton became the first Southern African American to host a daily prime time talk show. The show was broadcast on WAGA-TV in Atlanta and was renamed, "The Xernona Clayton Show". Clayton joined Turner Broadcasting in 1979 as a producer of documentary specials. In the 1980s, she served as director of public relations for Turner Broadcasting. In 1988, Turner Broadcasting promoted Clayton to corporate vice president for urban affairs, assigning her to direct Turner projects and serve as a liaison between Turner Broadcasting and civic groups in Atlanta and throughout the country. Clayton retired from Turner Broadcasting in 1997, choosing to call the retirement a "professional transition". Clayton serves on the board of directors of the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change. She served on the Board of Review for the state of Georgia's Department of Labor. In 1991, she published an autobiography, "I've Been Marching All The Time", a title inspired by King. The book focused on her life and her views of the Civil Rights Movement. In 1993, Clayton, with Turner Broadcasting, created the Trumpet Awards to honor achievements of African Americans. She serves as the chair, president, and CEO of the Trumpet Awards Foundation that was formed in late 2004. In early 2004, Clayton created the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame. Personal life. Clayton was a member of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was the pastor. Clayton was married to Ed Clayton (who also worked with Dr. King) from 1957 until his death in 1966. She co-authored a revised edition of her late husband's biography of Martin Luther King Jr. that is entitled, "The Peaceful Warrior". Following her first husband's death, Clayton married Paul L. Brady, the first African American to be appointed as a Federal Administrative Law Judge, in 1974. Brady and Clayton have two children from Brady's previous marriage, Laura and Paul Jr. Honors. TSU honored Clayton at their Blue and White All-Star Academy Awards in 2005. Clayton's footprints were added to the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame in 2006. On May 1, 2011, Clayton received the James Weldon Johnson Lifetime Achievement Award from the Detroit branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). She received the Local Community Service Award from Spelman College in 2004. In September 2011, the Atlanta City Council renamed a street and a plaza at Hardy Ivy Park in downtown Atlanta in Clayton's honor. In conjunction with the National Newspaper Publishers Association, the AFC Enterprises Foundation awards an annual Xernona Clayton Black Press Scholarship amounting to $10,000 to a student pursuing a doctoral degree in journalism. The Mattel Toy Company created a "Xernona Clayton Barbie" doll in her honor in 2004. Xernona Clayton has been honored worldwide for her contributions to humanity, which includes: "Bronze Women of the Year" for Human Relations, 1969; "Communications Woman of Achievement Award" by the Atlanta Chapter of American Women in Radio and Television, 1984–85; "Superior Television Programming Award" by Iota Phi Lambda Sorority, 1971; being named one of "Georgia's Most Influential Women 1984" and "Black Georgian of the Year 1984"; being included in "Leadership Atlanta," Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, 1971; named "Bethune-Tubman Woman of the Year Award", Chicago, 1985; named "Woman of the Year" by Black Women Hall of Fame foundation, 1985; "The Kizzy Award" 1979; "Humanitarian Award", Hillside International Truth Center, 1986; First Black woman to receive "The Trailblazer Award" by the Greater Atlanta Club Business and Professional Woman; named one of the nation's "Top 100 Black Business and Professional Women" by Dollars and Sense Magazine, 1985; being one of Seven Atlanta honorees for "Black Achievers Award" by the Equitable, 1986; being inducted into the "Academy of Women Achievers" by the YWCA, 1986; "Communications Award" by the OICs of America, 1986; "American Spirit Award" by the United States Air Force Recruiting Service, 1987; and receiving the "President's Award" by the National Conference of Mayors, 1983.

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Sharon Bridgforth Sharon Bridgforth (born May 15, 1958 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American writer working in theater. Early life. Bridgforth was born in Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, and moved to South Central Los Angeles when she was 3 years old. She discovered the diversity of the city during her long bus commutes to school. Career. From 1993 to 1998, Bridgforth worked as the founder, writer, and artistic director of the root wy'mn theatre company. root wy'mn's touring roster included: the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, The Theater Offensive in Boston, La Peña Cultural Center in Berkeley, California and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. From 2002 to 2009, she served as the anchor artist for the Austin Project, produced by Omi Osun Joni L. Jones and the John L. Warfield Center for African and African American Studies, University of Texas at Austin. Her work, "Finding Voice Facilitation Method" was published in "Experiments in a Jazz Aesthetic Art, Activism, Academia, and the Austin Project" edited by Osun Joni L. Jones, Lisa L. Moore, and herself. In 2008, Bridgforth received a National Performance Network Creation Fund award, for "delta dandi", co-commissioned by Women & Their Work, in partnership with the National Performance Network. Freedom Train Productions in New York presented a reading of the work in 2008. A workshop production of the work was produced in 2009 at the Long Center in Austin, Texas. At Northwestern University, as the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation artist-in-residence in the Performance Studies department, Bridgforth presented a workshop production of "delta dandi" during the 2009 Solo/Black/Woman performance series. Since 2009, Bridgforth has been resident playwright at New Dramatists, New York. Her work "blood pudding", was presented in the 2010 New York SummerStage Festival. She was the 2010–2012 Visiting Multicultural Faculty member at the Theatre School at DePaul University and is the curator of the Theatrical Jazz Institute at Links Hall, produced by the school, Links Hall and herself. Roell Schmidt produced Bridgforth's "River See". "the bull-jean stories". Published by RedBone Press, "the bull-jean stories" give cultural documentation and social commentary on African-American herstory and survival. Set in the rural South of the 1920s through the 1940s, "the bull-jean stories "uses traditional storytelling and nontraditional verse to chronicle the course of love returning in the lifetimes of one woman-loving-woman named bull-dog-jean. "Love Conjure/Blues". Both a performance and a novel," Love Conjure/Blues" places the fiction-form inside a traditional Black American voice, inviting dramatic interpretation and movement within a highly literary text: It is filled with folktales, poetry, haints, prophecy, song, and oral history. "Love Conjure/Blues "was also published by RedBone Press. "dat Black Mermaid Man Lady". Exists as a show, oracle deck, performance/novel, performance, sung children's book, and artistic mentorship towards homeownership. The performance celebrates the different embodiments of gender through the journey of three characters alongside Yoburba deities Oya, Osun, and Yemaya. The show premiered at the Pillsbury House + Theater in Minneapolis, MN, on May 30, 2018 and ran through June 17, 2018. The performance was written by Sharon Bridgforth, directed by Ebony Noelle Golden, with dramaturgy by Alexis Pauline Gumbs, and vocal composition by Mankwe Ndosi. In addition to a performance, "dat Black Mermaid Man Lady" is an oracle deck. The deck consists of characters from the performance/novel and features artwork by Yasmin Hernandez. The oracle deck is a working deck that Bridgforth used for a series of weekly readings. Partnering with Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association and City of Lakes Community Land Trust, Bridgforth worked with five to seven emerging artist of color to create new works and more toward homeownership. Awards, residences, and grants. In 1997, Bridgforth's script "no mo blues "was nominated for an Osborn Award (sponsored by the American Theatre Critic's Association). "The bull-jean stories" won a Lambda Literary Prize for "Best Book by a Small Press" in 1998. The collection also received a nomination for a Lambda Literary Prize in the category of "Best Lesbian Fiction" and a nomination from the 1998 American Library Association for "Best Gay/Lesbian Book". Bridgforth was nominated for the 2002-2003 Alpert Award in the theatre category. She has received the 2000 Penumbra Theatre (St. Paul, MN) Playwriting Fellowship and 2001 YWCA Woman Of The Year in Arts Award in Austin, Texas. A recipient of the 2008 Alpert/Hedgebrook Residency Prize, her work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts commissioning program; the National Endowment for the Arts/Theatre Communications Group, playwright-in-residence program; National Performance Network commissioning and community fund; the Paul Robeson Fund for Independent Media; and the Rockefeller Foundation Multi-Arts Production Fund Award. Bridgforth was also the recipient of the Creative Capital Performing Arts Award in 2016. Personal life. She has a daughter, Sonja Perryman, from a past marriage. A lesbian, her partner is Omi Osun Joni L. Jones. Jones also has a daughter, Leigh Gaymon-Jones, from a past marriage.

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Herman Cain Herman Cain (December 13, 1945July 30, 2020) was an American businessman and activist for the Tea Party movement within the Republican Party. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Cain grew up in Georgia and graduated from Morehouse College with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. He then earned a master's degree in computer science at Purdue University while also working full-time for the U.S. Department of the Navy. In 1977, he joined the Pillsbury Company where he later became vice president. During the 1980s, Cain's success as a business executive at Burger King prompted Pillsbury to appoint him as chairman and CEO of Godfather's Pizza, in which capacity he served from 1986 to 1996. Cain was chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Omaha Branch from 1989 to 1991. He was deputy chairman, from 1992 to 1994, and then chairman until 1996, of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. In 1995, he was appointed to the Kemp Commission and, in 1996, he served as a senior economic adviser to Bob Dole's presidential campaign. From 1996 to 1999, Cain served as president and CEO of the National Restaurant Association. In May 2011, Cain announced his 2012 presidential candidacy. By the fall, his proposed 9–9–9 tax plan and debating performances had made him a serious contender for the Republican nomination. In November, however, his campaign faced allegations of sexual misconduct, which he denied. He announced the suspension of his campaign on December 3, but remained involved in politics. In the 2020 election cycle, Cain was a co-chairman of Black Voices for Trump. Cain died from COVID-19 on July 30, 2020, at the age of 74. Early life. Herman Cain was born on December 13, 1945, in Memphis, Tennessee, to Lenora Davis Cain (1925–1982), a cleaning woman and domestic worker, and Luther Cain (1925–2005), who was raised on a farm and worked as a barber and janitor, as well as a chauffeur for Robert W. Woodruff, the president of The Coca-Cola Company. Cain said that as he was growing up, his family was "poor but happy." Cain related that his mother taught him about her belief that "success was not a function of what you start out with materially, but what you start out with spiritually." His father worked three jobs to own his own home—which he achieved during Cain's childhood—and to allow his two sons to attend college. Cain grew up on the west side of Atlanta, attending S. H. Archer High School and the Rev. Cameron M. Alexander's Antioch Baptist Church North in the neighborhood now known as The Bluff. Eventually the family moved to a modest brick home on Albert Street in the Collier Heights neighborhood. He graduated from high school in 1963. Education and career. In 1967, Cain graduated from Morehouse College with a Bachelor of Science in mathematics. In 1971, he received a Master of Science in computer science from Purdue University, while working full-time as a ballistics analyst for the U.S. Department of the Navy as a civilian. After completing his master's degree from Purdue, Cain left the Department of the Navy and began working for Coca-Cola in Atlanta as a computer systems analyst. In 1977, he moved to Minneapolis to join Pillsbury, becoming director of business analysis in its restaurant and foods group in 1978. Burger King and Godfather's Pizza. At age 36, Cain was assigned to analyze and manage 400 Burger King stores in the Philadelphia area. At the time, Burger King was a Pillsbury subsidiary. Under Cain, his region posted strong improvement in three years. According to a 1987 account in the "Minneapolis Star Tribune", Pillsbury's then-president Win Wallin said, "He was an excellent bet. Herman always seemed to have his act together." At Burger King, Cain "established the BEAMER program, which taught our employees, mostly teenagers, how to make our patrons smile" by smiling themselves. It was a success: "Within three months of the program's initiation, the sales trend was moving steadily higher." Cain's success at Burger King prompted Pillsbury to appoint him president and CEO of another subsidiary, Godfather's Pizza. On his arrival on April 1, 1986, Cain told employees, "I'm Herman Cain and this ain't no April Fool's joke. We are not dead. Our objective is to prove to Pillsbury and everyone else that we will survive." Godfather's Pizza was performing poorly, having slipped in ranks of pizza chains from third in 1985 to fifth in 1988. Under Cain's leadership, Godfather's closed approximately 200 restaurants and eliminated several thousand jobs, and by doing so returned to profitability. In a leveraged buyout in 1988, Cain, executive vice president and COO Ronald B. Gartlan, and a group of investors bought Godfather's from Pillsbury. Federal Reserve Bank and National Restaurant Association. Cain served as chairman of the board of the Omaha Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City from January 1, 1989, to December 31, 1991. He became a member of the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City in 1992. He served as deputy chairman from January 1, 1992, to December 31, 1994, and then as its chairman until August 19, 1996, when he resigned to become active in national politics. Cain left Godfather's Pizza in 1996 and moved to the District of Columbia, From 1996 to 1999 he served as CEO of the National Restaurant Association, a trade group and lobbying organization for the restaurant industry, on whose board of directors he had previously served. Cain's lobbying work for the association led to a number of connections to Republican lawmakers and politicians. Under Cain's leadership, the Association lobbied against increases to the minimum wage, mandatory health care benefits, regulations against smoking, and lowering the blood alcohol limit that determines whether one is driving under the influence. Cain was on the board of directors of Aquila, Inc., Nabisco, Whirlpool, Reader's Digest, and AGCO, Inc. After Cain's term with the restaurant advocacy group ended in 1999, he returned to Omaha for about a year, then moved to his hometown of Atlanta in 2000. Media work. Cain wrote a syndicated op-ed column, which was distributed by the North Star Writers Group. Cain appeared in the 2009 documentary "An Inconvenient Tax". From 2008 to February 2011, Cain hosted "The Herman Cain Show" on Atlanta talk radio station WSB. On January 19, 2012, Cain began working for WSB again by providing daily commentaries, while occasionally filling in for Erick Erickson and Neal Boortz. On October 1, 2012, Cain began writing weekly online columns for the media organization Newsmax, in a series titled "9–9–9 To Save America". Cain took over Boortz's radio talk show on January 21, 2013, upon Boortz's retirement. The show was dropped from the Westwood One Radio Network in December 2016 in favor of The Chris Plante Show, but continued to air in limited syndication through WSB's owner, Cox Radio. On February 15, 2013, Fox News Channel announced Cain would join the network as a contributor. In March 2019, Cain was a panelist on a "Watter's World" episode. Recognition. Cain received the 1996 Horatio Alger Award and was bestowed with honorary degrees from Creighton University, Johnson & Wales University, Morehouse College, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the New York City College of Technology, Purdue University, Suffolk University, and Tougaloo College. Then former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Jack Kemp, referred to Cain as "the Colin Powell of American capitalism". Kemp stated that Cain's "conquests won't be counted in terms of countries liberated or lives saved, but in those things that make life worth living—expanding opportunity, creating jobs and broadening horizons, not just for those he knows, but through his example, for those he'll never meet." Possible nomination to the Federal Reserve Board. On April 4, 2019, President Donald Trump said that he intended to nominate Cain to the second of the two vacant seats on the Federal Reserve Board. Assessing the possible nomination, news publications reviewed Cain's sexual misconduct allegations that preceded his withdrawal from the 2012 presidential election. Cain acknowledged that the nomination process would be "more cumbersome" for him due to his "unusual career". He initially stated that he was not considering withdrawing his name from consideration for the seat. After it appeared likely that he would not receive enough votes to support his confirmation, Cain withdrew on April 22, 2019. Black Voices for Trump. In the 2020 election cycle, Cain was a co-chairman of Black Voices for Trump. Political activities. Role in the defeat of 1993 Clinton health care plan. In 1994, as president-elect of the National Restaurant Association, Cain challenged President Bill Clinton on the costs of the employer mandate contained within the Health Security Act and criticized the effect on small businesses. Bob Cohn of "Newsweek" described Cain as one of the primary opponents of the plan: The Clintons would later blame "Harry and Louise," the fictional couple in the ads aired by the insurance industry, for undermining health reform. But the real saboteurs are named Herman and John. Herman Cain is the president of Godfather's Pizza and president-elect of the National Restaurant Association. An articulate entrepreneur, Cain transformed the debate when he challenged Clinton at a town meeting in Kansas City, Missouri. Cain asked the president what he was supposed to say to the workers he would have to lay off because of the cost of the "employer mandate". Clinton responded that there would be plenty of subsidies for small businessmen, but Cain persisted. "Quite honestly, your calculation is inaccurate," he told the president. "In the competitive marketplace it simply doesn't work that way." Because Kemp was impressed with Cain's performance, he chartered a plane to Nebraska to meet Cain after the debate. As a result, Cain was appointed to the Kemp Commission in 1995. Joshua Green of "The Atlantic" called Cain's exchange with President Clinton his "auspicious debut on the national political stage." Senior adviser to 1996 Dole campaign. Cain was a senior economic adviser to the Bob Dole presidential campaign in 1996. 2000 presidential campaign. Cain briefly ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000. He later said in looking back at the effort that it was more about making political statements than winning the nomination. "George W. Bush was the chosen one, he had the campaign DNA that followers look for." However, Cain went on to state, "I believe that I had a better message and I believe that I was the better messenger." After ending his own campaign, however, he endorsed Steve Forbes. 2004 U.S. Senate campaign. In 2004 Cain ran for the U.S. Senate in Georgia and did not win in the primaries. He was pursuing the seat that came open with the retirement of Democrat Zell Miller. Cain sought the Republican nomination, facing congressmen Johnny Isakson and Mac Collins in the primary. Collins tried to paint Cain as a moderate, citing Cain's support for affirmative action programs, while Cain argued that he was a conservative, noting that he opposed the legality of abortion except when the mother's life is threatened. Cain finished second in the primary with 26.2% of the vote, ahead of Collins, who won 20.6%, but because Isakson won 53.2% of the vote, Isakson was able to avoid a runoff. Americans for Prosperity and America's PAC. Starting in 2005, Cain worked for the political advocacy group Americans for Prosperity (AFP) alongside Mark Block. Block would later become campaign manager for Cain's 2012 presidential run and would be joined in Cain's campaign by several other AFP employees. Cain continued to receive honoraria for speaking at AFP events until he announced his campaign for the Republican nomination. Cain's senior economic advisor during his 2012 presidential campaign, Rich Lowrie, who helped devise Cain's 9–9–9 tax plan, had served on the AFP board. In 2006, Cain voiced several radio ads encouraging people of color to vote Republican; the ads were funded by a group called America's PAC and its founder J. Patrick Rooney. 2012 presidential campaign. A Tea Party activist, Cain addressed numerous Tea Party rallies in 2010. Following the 2010 midterm elections, Cain announced his intentions to run for president in December 2010, stating that there was a 70% chance that he would attempt to seek the office. Later that month, he was the "surprise choice" for 2012 GOP nominee in a RedState.com reader poll. Cain announced the formation of an exploratory committee on January 12, 2011, before formally announcing his candidacy on May 21 in Atlanta. Straw poll victories. Cain's addresses to conservative groups were well received, and in late September and early October 2011, Cain won the straw polls of the Florida Republican Party, TeaCon, and the National Federation of Republican Women's Convention. "My focus groups have consistently picked Herman Cain as the most likeable candidate in the debates," said GOP pollster Frank Luntz. "Don't underestimate the power of likability, even in a Republican primary. The more likeable the candidate, the greater the electoral potential." 9–9–9 Plan. In July 2011, an advisor suggested that his campaign's tax policy plan be called "the Optimal Tax", but Cain rejected the name, saying "we're just going to call it what it is: 9–9–9 Plan." The plan would have replaced the then current tax code with a 9-percent business transactions tax, a 9-percent personal income tax, and a 9-percent federal sales tax. During a debate on October 12, Cain said his plan "expands the base," arguing that "when you expand the base, we can arrive at the lowest possible rate, which is 9–9–9." An analysis released to Bloomberg News by the campaign claimed that the rate for each of the three taxes could in fact be as low as 7.3%, but "poverty grants"—which Cain described as a lower rate in targeted "empowerment zones"—necessitated a national rate of nine percent. Paul Krugman criticized the plan, saying it shifts much of the current tax burden from the rich to the poor. Arthur Laffer, Lawrence Kudlow, the Club for Growth, and Congressman Paul Ryan spoke favorably of the plan. On October 21, Cain told a crowd in Detroit that the plan would be 9–0–9 for the poor, saying that "if you are at or below the poverty level ... then you don't pay that middle nine on your income." Cain's 9–9–9 plan attracted skepticism from his fellow candidates at numerous Republican debates. Sexual harassment allegations and end of campaign. In late October 2011, "Politico" reported that Cain had been accused by two women of sexual harassment and misconduct during his time as CEO of the National Restaurant Association in the late 1990s. Two other women made additional harassment accusations later on. Cain acknowledged that the restaurant organization made financial settlements to the complainants. Two of the four women came forward publicly: Sharon Bialek and Karen Kraushaar. On November 28, 2011, Cain asserted that a woman named Ginger White claimed to have had an affair with him and that the allegation was not true. In an interview with White, which aired on the same day, she stated that the affair lasted 13 years and ended right before Cain announced his presidential campaign. On November 30, 2011, Cain denounced the allegations of sexual harassment and adultery at an event in Dayton, Ohio. On December 3, 2011, Cain suspended his campaign. The sexual harassment claims were widely considered responsible for the sharp drop in his poll numbers. According to a Pew Research Center report on December 21, 2011, Cain was the "most covered candidate" among the Republicans during that year. Cain's Solutions Revolution. On January 4, 2012, Cain announced the "Cain's Solutions Revolution". Cain's stated goal was to get commitments from members of Congress to support the 9–9–9 Plan before the 2012 elections. Cain stated that he started a new movement because the "biggest comment I got when I ended my candidacy was to keep 9–9–9 alive. That's what this is about, and I'm going to keep it alive with what I'm calling Cain's Solutions Revolution." In order to promote this movement, Cain employed both a bus tour and a new website. "New York" magazine stated, "It's Cain's earnest effort to keep 9–9–9 alive and focus on solutions." On January 20, 2012, Cain spoke at Stephen Colbert's "Rock Me Like a Herman Cain: South Cain-Olina Primary Rally". "The Huffington Post" reported the crowd size was between 3,000 and 5,000 people. It was described at the time as "the largest campaign rally so far during this GOP presidential primary season". State of the Union response. For President Barack Obama's 2012 State of the Union address, the Tea Party Express chose Cain to give its second annual response. After Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels gave the official GOP response, Cain delivered his speech at the National Press Club. The speech was streamed live on the Tea Party Express website. Cain referred to Obama's address as a "hodgepodge of liberal ideas," adding that there were "no big ideas that would impact job growth" and "no big ideas that would stimulate economic growth in this country." Call for a third party. Although Mitt Romney was endorsed by Cain on May 15, 2012, he would eventually lose the general election to President Obama. Cain then told Bryan Fischer that the Republican Party no longer represented the interests of conservatives in the United States and that it did not have "the ability to rebrand itself." He asserted that "a legitimate third party" would be needed to replace it. Personal life. Cain married Gloria Etchison of Atlanta, soon after her graduation from Morris Brown College in 1968. The couple had two children, Melanie and Vincent, and four grandchildren. Cain served as an associate minister at the Antioch Baptist Church North in Atlanta, which he joined at the age of 10. The church is part of the National Baptist Convention and is politically liberal and theologically conservative. The church's senior pastor, Rev. Cameron M. Alexander, did not share Cain's political philosophy. Disclosures filed during Cain's 2011 campaign categorized his wealth at that time as being between $2.9 and $6.6 million, with Cain's combined income for both 2010 and 2011 being between $1.1 and $2.1 million. Health and death. In 2006, Cain was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer, metastases to his liver, and a 30 percent chance of survival. After he underwent surgery and chemotherapy, the cancer was reported to be in remission. Cain opposed masking mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic. He attended the 2020 Trump Tulsa rally on June 20 and was photographed not wearing a face mask in a crowd who also were not wearing masks. On June 29, Cain tested positive for COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic in Georgia and was admitted to an Atlanta-area hospital two days later. On July 2, Cain's staff said there was "no way of knowing for sure how or where" he contracted the disease. Dan Calabrese, the editor of Cain's website, said, "I realize people will speculate about the Tulsa rally, but Herman did a lot of traveling [that] week, including to Arizona where cases [were] spiking." After four weeks of hospitalization, Cain died from COVID-19 complications on July 30, 2020, at the age of 74.

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Brian Fox (computer programmer) Brian Jhan Fox (born 1959) is an American computer programmer and free software advocate. He is the original author of the GNU Bash shell, which he announced as a beta in June 1989. He continued as the primary maintainer of bash until at least early 1993. Fox also built the first interactive online banking software in the U.S. for Wells Fargo in 1995, and he created an open source election system in 2008. Free Software Foundation. In 1985 Fox worked with Richard Stallman at Stallman's newly created Free Software Foundation. At the FSF, Fox authored GNU Bash, GNU Makeinfo, GNU Info, GNU Finger, GNU Echo and the readline and history libraries. He was also the maintainer of GNU Emacs for a time, and made many contributions to the software that was created for the GNU Project between 1986 and 1994. Open source election systems. In 2008, Fox collaborated with Alan Dechert and Brent Turner to create a completely open source election system. The system was coded together with Parker Abercrombie, and demonstrated at the LinuxWorld conference in Moscone Center in San Francisco, August 5–7, 2008. Fox also is a founding member of both the California Association of Voting Officials (CAVO) and the National Association of Voting Officials (NAVO). These not-for-profit organizations promote open source voting systems for use in public elections. Fox co-wrote a "New York Times" piece in 2017 with former CIA head R. James Woolsey advocating open source election systems as a means of securing US elections against Russian interference. Other software. Fox also wrote AMACS, a cut-down implementation of Emacs for the Apple II series. Relatives. He is the fourth born in a family of six siblings, composer and musician Donal Fox, Thaddeus Fox, sister Ena Fox, Daniel Fox and sister Sara Fox-Ray. He lives in Santa Barbara with longtime partner Lissa Liggett and their three children. He is the son of physicist and educator Herbert Fox and grandson of artist Daniel Fox, creator of the Monopoly Man.

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David George (Baptist) David George (c. 1742–1810) was an African-American Baptist preacher and a Black Loyalist from the American South who escaped to British lines in Savannah, Georgia; later he accepted transport to Nova Scotia and land there. He eventually resettled in Freetown, Sierra Leone. With other slaves, George founded the Silver Bluff Baptist Church in South Carolina in 1775, the first black congregation in the present-day United States. He was later affiliated with the First African Baptist Church of Savannah, Georgia. After migration, he founded Baptist congregations in Nova Scotia and Freetown, Sierra Leone. George wrote an account of his life that is one of the most important early slave narratives. Early life and escapes. David George was born in Essex County, Virginia, in 1742 to African parents John and Judith, as the slave of a man called 'Chapel'. George ran away after witnessing his mother's horrible whipping. He also personally experienced a traumatic severe whipping. George received help to run away from some white travelers and worked for these men for some time. It was not until his master offered a reward for George that he ran away and worked for another white man whom he encountered (this time for many years). Because his master continued to pursue him, George migrated to South Carolina. He was captured by a Creek Indian chief named Blue Salt. He considered George his prize and made him work. When George's owner found out that he was working for Blue Salt, he brought rum, linen and a gun to exchange for the slave, but Blue Salt refused to give him up. For several years, George worked for Creek and Natchez Indians. George escaped and ran away again, this time encountering a Scottish trader named George Galphin (appears in some records as Gaulfin, Gaulphin), for whom he worked four years at Silver Bluff, South Carolina. Because of his close association with the Native Americans, Galphin had many slaves who had intermarried with the Creek. George received help to read and write from the children of Galphin. He primarily used the Bible while learning how to read and write. Marriage and family. During this time, George met and married Phyllis, who was part Creek. Together they had four children born in what is now the United States. They had two more children born while in Nova Scotia, and four more children born in Sierra Leone. Baptism. In 1773 George met an old childhood friend and former slave, George Lisle, who had been converted to the Baptist faith. During the Great Awakening, Baptist preachers had traveled throughout the South, converting both whites and blacks, free and slave. Brother Palmer was a white Minister that uplifted and spread the word of God to David George and other Black people. Palmer was the start of the Church in Silver Bluff. Impressed with Liele's conversion, George, his wife and eight others were baptized at Silver Bluff. In 1775 George and eight other slaves formed one of the first African-American Baptist congregations in the United States. A somewhat different account of George during these years is presented by Mark A. Noll, American church historian: "The first continuing black church was the Silver Bluff Church in Aiken County, South Carolina, where an African-American preacher, David George (1742-1810), established a congregation around 1773 or 1774. George’s pilgrimage marked him as one of the most remarkable religious figures of his century. After serving as a slave, he was converted through the influence of an-other slave named Cyrus. Soon George began to exhort his fellow bondsmen, an activity that led to his becoming, in effect, the pastor of the Silver Bluff Church. ... American patriots were trying to throw off the "slavery" of Parliament, but for those in chattel bondage like David George, the British were the agents who combated racial, chattel slavery." Three years later during the American Revolutionary War, the slaves escaped to Savannah, where they gained freedom behind British lines, as they had occupied the city. George continued to minister to a Baptist congregation. Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone. As they had promised, in 1782 the British began transportation of Black Loyalist freedmen to Nova Scotia and other colonies. They transported George, his wife and three children (Jesse, David and Ginny) to Shelburne, Nova Scotia for freedom after the defeat of the British during the American War of Independence. This was part of an evacuation of nearly 3500 former slaves from the United States to Nova Scotia. George established a church in Shelburne and became the leader of the Baptist contingent of the African-American Loyalists, and he also attracted whites to his congregation. Some whites resented his influence in the community. His house and those of many of his followers were attacked and destroyed in July 1784 by racist mobs in the Shelburne Riots. George and his wife moved to the nearby Free Black settlement of Birchtown and became one of the influential African-American families at the center of black settlement. Several years later, the George family chose to migrate with other Black Loyalists to Freetown, Sierra Leone, where the British provided some assistance in setting up a new colony and settlement in West Africa. William Gwinn, his wife and daughter also emigrated to Sierra Leone. George founded the first Baptist church there. George was very influential; he was elected a "tythingman", a position of power in the colony at that time. George wrote a memoir that is considered one of the important slave narratives. He died in Freetown in 1810. His descendants are part of the Sierra Leone Creole people of the Western Area of Freetown. Many of George's descendants belong to the Masonic Lodges of Sierra Leone. One of his descendants, also named David George, is a member of the organization "Amistad Sankofa", working to educate students about international issues and bridge the racial divide. In August 2007, the African United Baptist Association of Nova Scotia and the Atlantic Baptist Convention had a joint convention and liturgy, to acknowledge earlier racism by the white convention, and seek reconciliation. They had had separate associations since the 19th century.

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Jeffrey Banks Jeffrey Banks is a fashion designer and author who has been described as a major black fashion maker. Early life. Banks worked as a design assistant to Ralph Lauren (1971–73) and Calvin Klein (1973–76). He has claimed credit for Klein's logo garments, stating that he had the logo from a press folder silkscreened onto the sleeve of a brown T-shirt as a present for Klein. The gift was assumed by Barry K. Schwartz to be part of the upcoming line, and similar shirts formed the uniform for the front-of-house staff at Klein's next catwalk show, leading to the buyers asking to purchase them. Career. After leaving Calvin Klein, Banks launched his own-name label in New York City in 1977, according to his official website, although some sources state 1978. By 1996, suits, shirts, eyewear and accessories from "Jeffrey Banks Ltd." and "Jeffrey Banks International" were being sold worldwide with sales of about $20 million. Author. As an author, Jeffrey Banks has co-authored three fashion books with Doria de la Chapelle for Rizzoli, including a 2007 book on tartan, a 2011 book on the preppy style, and a 2015 book on the milliner Patricia Underwood. The second book led to Banks and de la Chapelle collaborating with Erica Lennard on "Perry Ellis: an American original", the first in-depth monograph on Banks's former friend and colleague, the designer Perry Ellis, published in 2013.

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Flo Anthony Florence "Flo" Anthony is a gossip columnist, syndicated radio host, TV contributor and author. She is an African-American reporter who writes for the gossip page of the "Philadelphia Sun". Anthony resides in the East Harlem section of New York City. Biography. Florence Anthony is a graduate of Howard University. After working as a publicist for sports legends like Muhammad Ali, Butch Lewis, Michael Spinks, Larry Holmes, Mike McCallum and Matthew Saad Muhammad; Anthony wrote in the mid-1980s entertainment news. She became the first African-American reporter to work on the gossip column of the "New York Post", as well as the first African-American to pen a column in The National Examiner. An expert on everyone from Michael Jackson and O.J. Simpson to Whitney Houston and Donald Trump, Anthony was a contributor on news magazine shows like Inside Edition, The Insider and Entertainment Tonight. In the 1990s, Anthony became a gossip girl on "The Ricky Lake Show", The "Rolonda Watts Show", "The Joan Rivers Show", "The Geraldo Show", "The Sally Jessy Raphael Show", "The Tempestt Bledsoe Show", "The Gordon Elliott Show", "Forgive or Forget", "The Leeza Gibbons Show", "The Danny Bonaduce Show", "The Bertice Berry Show", "The Mark Walberg Show", "The Vicki Lawrence Show", and "The Maury Povich Show". She was also a guest on Court TV, MSNBC, Fox News Channel, CNN and HLN; and "The Dini Petty Show" and "The Camilla Scott Show". For six seasons, Anthony was a contributor and in time co-host of E! Entertainment's "The Gossip Show", a roundtable entertainment news show of gossip columnists. She also appeared on "E! True Hollywood Story" episodes on celebrities like La Toya Jackson, Robin Givens, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Bobby Brown and countless others. Anthony continues to be a fixture in multimedia. With her own company, Dottie Media Group LLC, Anthony has two syndicated radio shows, "Gossip To Go With Flo" and "Flo Anthony's Big Apple Buzz", that are distributed in partnership with Superadio. The shows are heard by over 3 million listeners daily in upwards of 20 radio markets nationwide. As a writer, Anthony is a regular contributor to the "New York Daily News", providing entertainment news stories for its popular Confidential column. The famed Hollywood insider also has a weekly syndicated column of her own that appears in "The New York Amsterdam News", "Philadelphia Sunday Sun", "BRE Magazine", "Columbus Times" and "Oklahoma Eagle". Anthony also heads up Steven Hoffenberg's PostPublishing.buzz website and is a contributing writer for "Resident"magazine. She is also the former publisher/editor-in-chief of "Black Noir" magazine, as well as editor-in-chief of "Black Elegance" magazine. On TV, she is regularly featured as a guest contributor on TV One (U.S. TV network)'s documentary series "Unsung" and "Unsung: Hollywood." She also appeared for numerous seasons on TV One's now defunct series "Life After". Anthony can also be seen talking breaking news and celebrity culture on multiple cable news shows and local shows like "Good Day New York". As an author, Anthony made her debut in 2000 with her first novel, "Keeping Secrets Telling Lies" Her second tome came 13 years later in 2013, when she inked a book deal with Zane (author)'s Strebor Books to release "Deadly Stuff Players." The sequel to that novel, "One Last Deadly Pay" was released in 2016 through W. Clark Distribution. Anthony regularly appears at book festivals and expos signing copies of her books. She also handles personal appearances and publicity for boxing great Michael Spinks.

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John P. Davis John Preston Davis (January 19, 1905 – September 11, 1973) was an American journalist, lawyer and activist intellectual, who became prominent for his work with the Joint Committee on National Recovery (JCNR). In 1935 he co-founded the National Negro Congress, an organization dedicated to the advancement of African Americans during the Great Depression. In 1946 he founded "Our World" magazine, a full-size, nationally distributed publication for African-American readers. He also published the "American Negro Reference Book", covering virtually every aspect of African-American life, present and past. Biography. John P. Davis was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Dr. William Henry Davis and Julia Davis. His father was a graduate of Howard University and served as principal of Armstrong High School. During World War I, Dr. Davis was appointed as Secretary to Dr. Emmett Jay Scott, Special Assistant to the United States Secretary of War. In the 1920s, Dr. Davis served as Secretary to the Presidential Commission investigating the economic conditions in the Virgin Islands. The early years. Davis attended segregated schools in Washington, D.C., graduating from the elite Dunbar High School, which stressed an academic curriculum. In 1922 he enrolled in Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. He graduated in 1926, earning an A.B. and double honors in English and Psychology. At Bates, he was president of Delta Sigma Rho, an honorary debating fraternity, and editor of the student publication "The Bobcat". He enlisted the aid of Bates trustee Louis B. Costello, when Delta Sigma Rho's national council denied him membership because of his race. Davis toured Europe with the Bates College debating team. He was among the first African-American men to be sent overseas under the auspices of the American University Union to engage in international debate; his team from Bates met and defeated Cambridge University. While an undergraduate at Bates College, Davis was nominated for a Rhodes scholarship. He contributed short stories to "The Crisis", official magazine of the NAACP, and "", published by the National Urban League. His short story "The Overcoat" was a prize-winner in "Opportunity"s 1926–27 literary contest. With his literary interests, Davis was drawn into the Harlem Renaissance. After college, he moved to New York City, where for a time, he replaced the celebrated scholar W. E. B. Du Bois as literary editor of "The Crisis". During this period, Davis joined with other young black writers – Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Bennett, Wallace Thurman, Aaron Douglas, Richard Bruce – to produce "Fire!!", a magazine devoted to young African-American artists. Harvard University. Davis had a fellowship to Harvard University from 1926 to 1927, and earned his master's degree in Journalism. He left Harvard to join the staff of Fisk University, a historically black college in Nashville, where he served as Director of Publicity from (1927 to 1928). He returned to Harvard University and earned an LLB degree from Harvard Law School in 1933. At Harvard, Davis cemented lifelong friendships with a small core of black students, including fellow Dunbar High School alumni Robert C. Weaver, later appointed as the first black member of a Presidential cabinet; William Hastie, later appointed as the first black federal judge; and Ralph Bunche, later a statesman and diplomat who was awarded a Nobel Prize for Peace. These friends remained important to Davis throughout his career. During their student years, the men discussed race and politics, especially the inadequacy of the black Republican leadership. When the Great Depression intensified the social and economic problems confronting black America, Davis and his colleagues looked to the example of Reconstruction, when federal power was used to redress the plight of former slaves. They called on the federal government to ensure black civil and political rights. The New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt seemed to offer the possibility of federal intervention for economic justice. Marriage and family. Davis married Marguerite DeMond, the daughter of Reverend Abraham Lincoln DeMond and Lula Watkins (Patterson) DeMond. Marguerite had attended Avery Normal Institute in Charleston, South Carolina, operated by the American Missionary Association and the Congregationalist Church. Even before the Civil War, Avery Normal Institute's racially integrated faculty was providing quality educations for African Americans. She attended Syracuse University in 1931 and came to Washington, D.C., with her mother in 1932, after the death of her father. Marguerite DeMond went to work as a researcher for African-American historian Carter G. Woodson's Association for the Study of African American Life and History. After a one-year courtship, she and Davis were married. They had four children, including Michael DeMond Davis, who became a journalist and author of "Black American Women in Olympic Track and Field" and the Thurgood Marshall biography. Joint Committee on National Recovery. In the summer of 1933 John P. Davis, a law graduate, and Robert C. Weaver, a doctoral student at Harvard, acted to ensure that African-American interests were represented in government programs. The two men returned to Washington, D.C. and established an office on Capitol Hill, where they fought successfully against the racial wage differential and for the integration of Negro families into the program of the Homestead Subsistence Division in the first recovery program. Davis and Weaver organized the Negro Industrial League to pressure New Deal agencies to address the needs of blacks. They monitored the hearings of the National Recovery Administration to ensure that blacks benefited from the program. Their efforts led to the establishment of the Joint Committee on National Recovery (JCNR), a group of 26 national groups, including the YWCA, National Urban League (NUL), and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Davis became Executive Secretary of the JCNR, a position he held until 1936, serving as a legislative lobbyist. The committee lobbied for fair inclusion of African Americans in government-sponsored programs. It publicized incidents and patterns of racial discrimination. The implementation of a National Recovery Program promised to have immediate and long-term consequences for African Americans. While Davis and Weaver worked, more established African-American leaders deliberated about how to respond to the flurry of New Deal legislation. National Negro Congress. In May 1935 a conference on the economic status of the Negro was held at Howard University in Washington, D.C., out of which emerged a major civil rights coalition that was active in the late 1930s and 1940s: the National Negro Congress (NNC)—whose sponsors included Davis, Ralph J. Bunche and Alain Locke of Howard University, A. Philip Randolph of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, James Ford of the Communist Party USA, Lester Granger and Elmer Carter of the Urban League, and Charles Hamilton Houston of the NAACP. Davis was one of the original founders; he served as Executive Secretary until 1942. The NNC represented one of the first efforts of the 20th century to bring together under one umbrella black secular leaders, preachers, labor organizers, workers, businessmen, radicals, and professional politicians, with the assumption that the common denominator of race could weld together such divergent segments of black society. It was the Communist Party’s effort to build support among activists in the black mainstream. The evolution of the NNC dramatized the growing convergence of outlook between Communists and activist black intellectuals that had taken shape in the protests of the early Depression years and reached full fruition during the years of the Popular Front. In 1943 Davis brought the first lawsuit challenging segregated schools in Washington, D.C., in the name of his five-year-old son Michael D. Davis, who was rejected from his neighborhood's Noyes School, a white elementary school. The "Washington Star" newspaper criticized the African-American lawyer for legally challenging the District's dual segregated school system after the principal of Noyes School refused to admit Mike Davis. The "Washington Star" said that District citizens had long accepted separate schools for blacks and whites, and that the suit brought by John P. Davis would cause deeper racial divisions in the nation's capital. In response to Davis' suit, the US Congress appropriated federal funds to construct the Lucy D. Slowe elementary school, for African-American children, directly across the street from his Brookland neighborhood home. At that time, a committee of Congress directly administered District government. "Our World" magazine. After World War II, in 1946 Davis was founding publisher of "Our World" magazine, a full-size, nationally distributed magazine to appeal to African-American readers. Its first issue, with singer-actress Lena Horne on the cover, appeared on the nation's newsstands in April 1946. "Our World" was a premier publication, covering contemporary topics from black history to sports and entertainment, with regular articles on health, fashion, politics and social awareness. It was based in New York City, the publishing capital of the country. "Our World" portrayed a thriving black America; its covers featured entertainers such as Lena Horne, Marian Anderson, Harry Belafonte, Eartha Kitt, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Nat King Cole. The magazine ceased publication in 1957. "The American Negro Reference Book". In 1964 Davis served as editor of special publications for the Phelps-Stokes Fund. He compiled in a single volume a reliable summary on the main aspects of Negro life in America, presenting it with historical depth to provide the reader with a true perspective. "The American Negro Reference Book" covered virtually every aspect of African-American life, present and past. Papers and collections. The largest collection of Davis' papers is in the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library. Insight into Davis' political and social views can be found in his own writings. "The Papers of the National Negro Congress" reproduces all of the organization’s records that are housed at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, including the voluminous working files of Davis and successive executive secretaries of the National Negro Congress. Beginning with papers from 1933 that predate the formation of the National Negro Congress, the wide-ranging collection documents Davis’ involvement in the Negro Industrial League. It includes the "Report Files" of Davis’ interest in the "Negro problem." The most extensive overview of Davis' life is by Hilmar Jenson in an edition of his writings, John Preston Davis, "The Forgotten Civil Rights" (1996). Much of the scholarly writing about Davis focuses on his experiences in the National Negro Congress. Artifacts and papers of Davis are being acquired by the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African-American History and Culture.

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John Hope Franklin John Hope Franklin (January 2, 1915 – March 25, 2009) was an American historian of the United States and former president of Phi Beta Kappa, the Organization of American Historians, the American Historical Association, and the Southern Historical Association. Franklin is best known for his work "From Slavery to Freedom", first published in 1947, and continually updated. More than three million copies have been sold. In 1995, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. Born in Oklahoma, Franklin attended Fisk University and then Harvard University, receiving his doctorate in 1941. He was a professor at Howard University, and in 1956 was named to head the history department at Brooklyn College, part of the City University of New York. Recruited to the University of Chicago in 1964, he eventually led the history department and was appointed to a named chair. He then moved to Duke University in 1983, as an appointee to a named chair in history. Early life and education. Franklin was born in Rentiesville, Oklahoma in 1915 to attorney Buck (Charles) Colbert Franklin (1879–1957) and his wife Mollie (Parker) Franklin. He was named after John Hope, a prominent educator who was the first African-American president of Atlanta University. Franklin's father Buck Colbert Franklin was a civil rights lawyer, aka "Amazing Buck Franklin." He was of African-American and Choctaw ancestry and born in the Chickasaw Nation in western Indian Territory (formerly Pickens County). He was the seventh of ten children born to David and Milley Franklin. David was a former slave, who became a Chickasaw Freedman when emancipated after the American Civil War. Milley was born free before the war and was of one-fourth Choctaw and three-fourths African-American ancestry. Buck Franklin became a lawyer. Buck Franklin is best known for defending African-American survivors of the 1921 Tulsa race riot, in which whites had attacked many blacks and buildings, and burned and destroyed the Greenwood District. This was known at the time as the "Black Wall Street", and was the wealthiest Black community in the United States, a center of black commerce and culture. In 2015 Buck Franklin's previously unknown written eyewitness account of the 1921 Greenwood attack, a 10-page typewritten manuscript, was discovered and subsequently obtained by the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture. Franklin and his colleagues also became experts at oil law, representing "blacks and Native Americans in Oklahoma against white lawyers representing oil barons." His career demonstrated a strong professional black life in the West, at a time when such accomplishments would have been more difficult to achieve in the Deep South. John Hope Franklin graduated from Booker T. Washington High School (then segregated) in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He graduated in 1935 from Fisk University, a historically black university in Nashville, Tennessee, then earned a master's in 1936 and a doctorate in history in 1941 from Harvard University. Career. "My challenge," Franklin said, "was to weave into the fabric of American history enough of the presence of blacks so that the story of the United States could be told adequately and fairly." In his autobiography, Franklin has described a series of formative incidents in which he confronted racism while seeking to volunteer his services at the beginning of the Second World War. He responded to the navy's search for qualified clerical workers, but after he presented his extensive qualifications, the navy recruiter told him that he was the wrong color for the position. He was similarly unsuccessful in finding a position with a War Department historical project. When he went to have a blood test, as required for the draft, the doctor initially refused to allow him into his office. Afterward, Franklin took steps to avoid the draft, on the basis that the country did not respect him or have an interest in his well-being, because of his color. In the early 1950s, Franklin served on the NAACP Legal Defense Fund team led by Thurgood Marshall, and helped develop the sociological case for "Brown v. Board of Education". This case, challenging "de jure" segregated education in the South, was taken to the United States Supreme Court. It ruled in 1954 that the legal segregation of black and white children in public schools was unconstitutional, leading to integration of schools. Professor and researcher. Franklin's teaching career began at Fisk University. During WWII, he taught at St. Augustine's College from 1939 to 1943 and the North Carolina College for Negroes, currently North Carolina Central University from 1943 to 1947. From 1947 to 1956, he taught at Howard University. In 1956, Franklin was selected to chair the history department at Brooklyn College, the first person of color to head a major history department. Franklin served there until 1964, when he was recruited by the University of Chicago. He spent 1962 as a visiting professor at the University of Cambridge, holding the Professorship of American History and Institutions. David Levering Lewis, who has twice won the Pulitzer Prize for history, said that while he was deciding to become a historian, he learned that Franklin, his mentor, had been named departmental chairman at Brooklyn College. Now that certainly is a distinction. It had never happened before that a person of color had chaired a major history department. That meant a lot to me. If I had doubt about (the) viability of a career in history, that example certainly helped put to rest such concerns. In researching his prize-winning biography of W. E. B. Du Bois, Lewis said he became aware of Franklin's courage during that period in the 1950s when Du Bois became an un-person, when many progressives were tarred and feathered with the brush of subversion. John Hope Franklin was a rock; he was loyal to his friends. In the case of W. E. B. Du Bois, Franklin spoke out in his defense, not (about) Du Bois's communism, but of the right of an intellectual to express ideas that were not popular. I find that admirable. It was a high risk to take and we may be heading again into a period when the free concourse of ideas in the academy will have a price put upon it. In the final years of an active teaching career, I will have John Hope Franklin's example of high scholarship, great courage and civic activism. From 1964 through 1968, Franklin was a professor of history at the University of Chicago, and chair of the department from 1967 to 1970. He was named to the endowed position of John Matthews Manly Distinguished Service Professor, which he held from 1969 to 1982. He was appointed to the Fulbright Board of Foreign Scholarships, 1962–1969, and was its chair from 1966 to 1969. In 1976, the National Endowment for the Humanities selected Franklin for the Jefferson Lecture, the U.S. federal government's highest honor for achievement in the humanities. Franklin's three-part lecture became the basis for his book "Racial Equality in America." Franklin was appointed to the U.S. Delegation to the UNESCO General Conference, Belgrade (1980). In 1983, Franklin was appointed as the James B. Duke Professor of History at Duke University. In 1985, he took emeritus status from this position. During this same year, he helped to establish the Durham Literacy Center and served on its Board until his death in 2009. Franklin was also Professor of Legal History at the Duke University Law School from 1985 to 1992. "Racial Equality in America". "Racial Equality in America" is the published lecture series that Franklin presented in 1976 for the Jefferson Lecture sponsored by the National Endowment for Humanities. The book is composed of three lectures, given in three different cities, in which Franklin chronicled the history of race in the United States from revolutionary times to 1976. These lectures explore the differences between some of the beliefs related to race with the reality documented in various historical and government texts, as well as data gathered from census, property, and literary sources. The first lecture is titled "The Dream Deferred" and discusses the period from the Revolution to 1820. The second lecture is titled "The Old Order Changeth Not" and discusses the rest of the 19th century. The third lecture is titled "Equality Indivisible" and discusses the 20th century. Later life and death. In 2005, at the age of 90, Franklin published and lectured on his new autobiography, "Mirror to America: The Autobiography of John Hope Franklin". In 2006, "Mirror to America" received the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights Book Award, which is given annually to honor authors "whose writing, in illuminating past or present injustice, acts as a beacon towards a more just society." In 2006, he also received the John W. Kluge Prize and as the recipient lectured on the successes and failures of race relations in America in "Where do We Go from Here?" In 2008, Franklin endorsed presidential candidate Barack Obama. Franklin died at Duke University Medical Center on the morning of March 25, 2009. Honors. In 1991, Franklin's students honored him with a festschrift "The Facts of Reconstruction: Essays in Honor of John Hope Franklin" (edited by Eric Anderson & Alfred A. Moss, Jr. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, c1991). Franklin served as president of the American Historical Association (1979), the American Studies Association (1967), the Southern Historical Association (1970), and the Organization of American Historians (1975). He was a member of the board of trustees at Fisk University, the Chicago Public Library, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association. Franklin was elected as a foundation member of Fisk's new chapter of Phi Beta Kappa in 1953, when Fisk became the first historically black college to have a chapter of the honor society. In 1973–1976, he served as President of the United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa. Additionally, Franklin was appointed to serve on national commissions, including the National Council on the Humanities, the President's Advisory Commission on Ambassadorial Appointments, and One America: The President's Initiative on Race. Franklin was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. He was an early beneficiary of the fraternity's Foundation Publishers, which provides financial support and fellowship for writers addressing African-American issues. In 1962, honored as an outstanding historian, Franklin became the first black member of the exclusive Cosmos Club in Washington, D.C. The John Hope Franklin Research Center for African and African American History and Culture resides at Duke University's David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library and contains his personal and professional papers. The archive is one of three academic units named after Franklin at Duke. The others are the John Hope Franklin Center for Interdisciplinary and International Studies, which opened in February 2001 and the Franklin Humanities Institute. Franklin had previously rejected Duke's offer to name a center for African-American Studies after him, saying that he was a historian of America and the world, too. In 1975, he was awarded the St. Louis Literary Award from the Saint Louis University Library Associates. In 1975, Franklin was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) degree from Whittier College. In 1978, he was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. In 1994, the Society of American Historians (founded by Allan Nevins and other historians to encourage literary distinction in the writing of history) awarded Franklin its Bruce Catton Prize for Lifetime Achievement. In 1995, he was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP. In 1995, President Clinton awarded Franklin the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. The President's remarks upon presentation of the medal cited Franklin's lifelong work as a teacher and a student of history, seeking to bring about better understanding regarding relations between whites and blacks in modern times. In 1995, he received the Chicago History Museum "Making History Award" for Distinction in Historical Scholarship. In 1996, Franklin received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. In 1997, Franklin was selected to receive the Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award, a career literary award given annually by the Tulsa Library Trust. Franklin was the first (and so far only) native Oklahoman to receive the award. During his visit to Tulsa to accept the award, Franklin made several appearances to speak about his childhood experiences with racial segregation, as well as his father's experiences as a lawyer in the aftermath of the 1921 Tulsa race riot. In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante included Franklin on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans. Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry presented the Governor's Arts Award to Dr. Franklin in 2004. In 2005, Franklin received the North Caroliniana Society Award for "long and distinguished service in the encouragement, production, enhancement, promotion, and preservation of North Caroliniana." On May 20, 2006, Franklin was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters at Lafayette College's 171st Commencement Exercises. On November 15, 2006, John Hope Franklin was announced as the third recipient of the John W. Kluge Prize for lifetime achievement in the study of humanity. He shared the prize with Yu Ying-shih. On October 27, 2010, the City of Tulsa renamed Reconciliation Park, established to commemorate the victims of the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, as John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park in his honor. It includes a 27-foot bronze entitled "Tower of Reconciliation" by sculptor Ed Dwight, expressing the long history of Africans in Oklahoma. On November 2, 2019, Franklin was recognized as a Main Honoree by the Sesquicentennial Honors Commission at the Durham 150 Closing Ceremony in Durham, NC on November 2, 2019. The posthumous recognition was bestowed upon 29 individuals "whose dedication, accomplishments and passion have helped shape Durham in important ways. Marriage and family. Franklin married Aurelia Whittington on June 11, 1940. She was a librarian. Their only child, John Whittington Franklin, was born August 24, 1952. Their marriage lasted 59 years, until January 27, 1999, when Aurelia succumbed to a long illness. Partial bibliography. . Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1963; 2nd edn. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 1993. References. Specific references: General references:

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Michael Arceneaux Michael Arceneaux (born April 12, 1984) is an American writer. He is the author of the 2018 essay collection "I Can't Date Jesus", a "New York Times" bestselling book. His second book is entitled "I Don't Want to Die Poor" (2020). Early life. Michael Joseph Arceneaux was born April 12, 1984, in Houston, Texas, to a working-class Black family from Louisiana. His mother, a registered nurse, was a devout Catholic and Arceneaux was raised in the church, even briefly considering the priesthood. Arceneaux, from the Hiram Clarke community, attended Madison High School in Houston, then, on a combination of scholarships and student loans, enrolled at Howard University, where he majored in broadcast journalism and wrote for campus newspaper "The Hilltop". He graduated in 2007, becoming the first man in his family to graduate from college. Career. After college, Arceneaux moved to Los Angeles where he began his writing career. He has written for "The Guardian", "New York" magazine, "Essence", "Rolling Stone", "Teen Vogue", "BuzzFeed", Vulture", The Washington Post," "The New York Times" and "XOJane", as well as writing an advice column, called "Dearly Beloved", at "Into". Books. "I Can't Date Jesus". Arceneaux's first book, a collection of 17 humorous personal essays entitled "I Can't Date Jesus: Love, Sex, Family, Race, and Other Reasons I’ve Put My Faith in Beyoncé", was published on July 24, 2018 from Atria Books. The book debuted at number 14 on "The New York Times" best-seller list for paperback nonfiction. It focuses on his early life as a young Black gay man growing up in a religious household in the southern United States. The book's title arises in response to Arceneaux's Catholic upbringing and its implications for him as a gay man, particularly the idea that even if being gay was not a choice, he should not act on it; finding that theological debates on the subject did not tend to prove fruitful, Arceneaux decided, "Easier to just clarify, 'I plan to have sex, so I can’t date Jesus.'" Arceneaux completed the manuscript in 2011, but the search for an agent delayed the book's publication. Ultimately he signed with Jim McCarthy, who had originally declined his query but Arceneaux persisted, sending him more essays to read and McCarthy changed his mind. Reviewers have compared Arceneaux's essay collection to the work of Roxane Gay, David Sedaris, and Samantha Irby. In "Vogue", Chloe Schama and Bridget Read noted Arceneaux's "hysterically funny, vulnerable" style, calling the collection "a triumph of self-exploration, tinged with but not overburdened by his reckoning with our current political moment...The result is a piece of personal and cultural storytelling that is as fun as it is illuminating." "I Don't Want to Die Poor". Arceneaux's second book, "I Don't Want to Die Poor" (2020), expands on his essay for "The New York Times" describing his private student loan debt.

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Herb Boyd Herb Boyd (born November 1, 1938) is an American journalist, educator, author, and activist. His articles appear regularly in the "New York Amsterdam News". He teaches black studies at the City College of New York and the College of New Rochelle. Biography. Boyd was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and grew up in Detroit, Michigan. He met Malcolm X in 1958 and credits him as an inspiration: "[Malcolm] set me on the path to become the writer-activist I am, to try to live up to the very ennobling things that he represented." Boyd attended Wayne State University. During the late 1960s, he helped establish the first black studies classes there and went on to teach at the university for 12 years. He also co-developed and instructed the initial curriculum in jazz studies at the Oberlin Conservatory. In addition to the "Amsterdam News", Boyd's work has been published in "The Black Scholar", "The City Sun", "Down Beat", "Emerge", and "Essence". He has been recognized with awards from the National Association of Black Journalists and the New York Association of Black Journalists. In 2014, the National Association of Black Journalists inducted Boyd into its Hall of Fame. "Brotherman", which Boyd co-edited with Robert L. Allen, was given the 1995 American Book Award. His biography "Baldwin's Harlem" was nominated for an NAACP Image Award in 2009. Boyd was managing editor of The Black World Today, a now-defunct online news service.

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Marimba Ani Marimba Ani (born Dona Richards) is an anthropologist and African Studies scholar best known for her work "Yurugu", a comprehensive critique of European thought and culture, and her coining of the term "Maafa" for the African holocaust. Life and work. Marimba Ani completed her BA degree at the University of Chicago, and holds MA and Ph.D. degrees in anthropology from the Graduate Faculty of the New School University. In 1964, during Freedom Summer, she served as an SNCC field secretary, and married civil-rights activist Bob Moses; they divorced in 1966. She has taught as a Professor of African Studies in the Department of Black and Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College in New York City, and is credited with introducing the term Maafa to describe the African holocaust. "Yurugu". Ani's 1994 work, "Yurugu: An Afrikan-Centered Critique of European Cultural Thought and Behavior", examined the influence of European culture on the formation of modern institutional frameworks, through colonialism and imperialism, from an African perspective. Described by the author as an "intentionally aggressive polemic", the book derives its title from a Dogon legend of an incomplete and destructive being rejected by its creator. Examining the causes of global white supremacy, Ani argued that European thought implicitly believes in its own superiority, stating: "European culture is unique in the assertion of political interest". In "Yurugu", Ani proposed a tripartite conceptualization of culture, based on the concepts of The terms Ani uses in this framework are based on Swahili. "Asili" is a common Swahili word meaning "origin" or "essence"; "utamawazo" and "utamaroho" are neologisms created by Ani, based on the Swahili words "utamaduni" ("civilisation"), "wazo" ("thought") and "roho" ("spirit life"). The "utamawazo" and "utamaroho" are not viewed as separate from the "asili", but as its manifestations, which are "born out of the "asili" and, in turn, affirm it." Ani characterised the "asili" of European culture as dominated by the concepts of separation and control, with separation establishing dichotomies like "man" and "nature", "the European" and "the other", "thought" and "emotion" – separations that in effect end up negating the existence of "the other", who or which becomes subservient to the needs of (European) man. Control is disguised in universalism as in reality "the use of abstract 'universal' formulations in the European experience has been to control people, to impress them, and to intimidate them." According to Ani's model, the "utamawazo" of European culture "is structured by ideology and bio-cultural experience", and its "utamaroho" or vital force is domination, reflected in all European-based structures and the imposition of Western values and civilisation on peoples around the world, destroying cultures and languages in the name of progress. The book also addresses the use of the term Maafa, based on a Swahili word meaning "great disaster", to describe slavery. African-centered thinkers have subsequently popularized and expanded on Ani's conceptualization. Citing both the centuries-long history of slavery and more recent examples like the Tuskegee study, Ani argued that Europeans and white "Americans" have an "enormous capacity for the perpetration of physical violence against other cultures" that had resulted in "antihuman, genocidal" treatment of blacks. Critical reception. Philip Higgs, in "African Voices in Education", describes "Yurugu" as an "excellent delineation of the ethics of harmonious coexistence between human beings", but cites the book's "overlooking of structures of social inequality and conflict that one finds in all societies, including indigenous ones," as a weakness. Molefi Kete Asante describes "Yurugu" as an "elegant work". Stephen Howe accuses Ani of having little interest in actual Africa (beyond romance) and challenges her critique of "Eurocentric" logic since she invests heavily in its usage in the book.

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Kandia Crazy Horse Kandia Crazy Horse is an American country musician, rock critic and writer. She has written for "The Village Voice", is the editor of "Rip It Up: The Black Experience in Rock 'n' Roll," and also writes for "Creative Loafing," and "The Guardian". Her country music debut, "Stampede", was released in 2013. Crazy Horse is based in New York. Career. When Crazy Horse began as a music journalist, she states that she was considered a "novelty" because "a black, young female wasn't the picture of a rock critic." Her work as a rock critic is feminist in tone and often focuses on Southern rock. She has also emphasized black contributions to rock music. Crazy Horse edited "Rip It Up: The Black Experience in Rock 'n' Roll" (2004)"." The collection of essays analyzed black figures in rock in order to bring to light the "black experience in rock 'n' roll." "Rip It Up" describes how black rock isn't considered part of the black music scene and therefore its "impact has been minimized." She received an Anschutz Distinguished Fellowship in American Studies from Princeton University during 2008 and 2009. While she was a fellow at Princeton, she taught the course "Roll Over Beethoven: Black Rock and Cultural Revolt." Crazy Horse's debut album, "Stampede", contains original songs by Crazy Horse and cover songs. The style of music on the record is traditional country music. "Acoustic Guitar" called her album "stunning" and a "powerful musical debut." "Blurt" called her voice "sweet and soulful" and praised her writing that revitalizes familiar country music sounds.

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Angela Davis Angela Yvonne Davis (born January 26, 1944) is an American political activist, philosopher, academic and author. She is a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. A Marxist, Davis was a longtime member of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) and is a founding member of the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism (CCDS). She is the author of over ten books on class, feminism, race, and the US prison system. Born to an African-American family in Birmingham, Alabama, Davis studied French at Brandeis University and philosophy at the University of Frankfurt in West Germany. Studying under the philosopher Herbert Marcuse, a prominent figure in the Frankfurt School, Davis became increasingly engaged in far-left politics. Returning to the United States, she studied at the University of California, San Diego, before moving to East Germany, where she completed a doctorate at the Humboldt University of Berlin. After returning to the United States, she joined the Communist Party and became involved in numerous causes, including the second-wave feminist movement and the campaign against the Vietnam War. In 1969 she was hired as an acting assistant professor of philosophy at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). UCLA's governing Board of Regents soon fired her due to her Communist Party membership; after a court ruled this illegal, the university fired her again, this time for her use of inflammatory language. In 1970, guns belonging to Davis were used in an armed takeover of a courtroom in Marin County, California, in which four people were killed. Prosecuted for three capital felonies, including conspiracy to murder, she was held in jail for over a year before being acquitted of all charges in 1972. She visited Eastern Bloc countries in the 1970s and during the 1980s was twice the Communist Party's candidate for Vice President; at the time, she also held the position of professor of ethnic studies at San Francisco State University. Much of her work focused on the abolition of prisons and in 1997 she co-founded Critical Resistance, an organization working to abolish the prison–industrial complex. In 1991, amid the dissolution of the Soviet Union, she was part of a faction in the Communist Party that broke away to establish the CPUSA. Also in 1991, she joined the feminist studies department at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she became department director before retiring in 2008. Since then she has continued to write and remained active in movements such as Occupy and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign. Davis has received various awards, including the Soviet Union's Lenin Peace Prize. Accused of supporting political violence, she has sustained criticism from the highest levels of the US government. She has also been criticized for supporting the Soviet Union and its satellites. Davis has been inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. In 2020 she was listed as the 1971 "Woman of the Year" in "Time" magazine's "100 Women of the Year" edition, which covered the 100 years that began with women's suffrage in 1920. Davis is included in "Time" 100 Most Influential People of 2020. Early life. Angela Davis was born on January 26, 1944, in Birmingham, Alabama. Her family lived in the "Dynamite Hill" neighborhood, which was marked in the 1950s by the bombings of houses in an attempt to intimidate and drive out middle-class black people who had moved there. Davis occasionally spent time on her uncle's farm and with friends in New York City. Her siblings include two brothers, Ben and Reginald, and a sister, Fania. Ben played defensive back for the Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Davis attended Carrie A. Tuggle School, a segregated black elementary school, and later, Parker Annex, a middle-school branch of Parker High School in Birmingham. During this time, Davis's mother, Sallye Bell Davis, was a national officer and leading organizer of the Southern Negro Youth Congress, an organization influenced by the Communist Party aimed at building alliances among African Americans in the South. Davis grew up surrounded by communist organizers and thinkers, who significantly influenced her intellectual development. Davis was involved in her church youth group as a child, and attended Sunday school regularly. She attributes much of her political involvement to her involvement with the Girl Scouts of the United States of America. She also participated in the Girl Scouts 1959 national roundup in Colorado. As a Girl Scout, she marched and picketed to protest racial segregation in Birmingham. By her junior year of high school, Davis had been accepted by an American Friends Service Committee (Quaker) program that placed black students from the South in integrated schools in the North. She chose Elisabeth Irwin High School in Greenwich Village. There she was recruited by a Communist youth group, Advance. Education. Brandeis University. Davis was awarded a scholarship to Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, where she was one of three black students in her class. She encountered the Frankfurt School philosopher Herbert Marcuse at a rally during the Cuban Missile Crisis and became his student. In a 2007 television interview, Davis said, "Herbert Marcuse taught me that it was possible to be an academic, an activist, a scholar, and a revolutionary." She worked part-time to earn enough money to travel to France and Switzerland and attended the eighth World Festival of Youth and Students in Helsinki. She returned home in 1963 to a Federal Bureau of Investigation interview about her attendance at the Communist-sponsored festival. During her second year at Brandeis, Davis decided to major in French and continued her intensive study of philosopher and writer Jean-Paul Sartre. She was accepted by the Hamilton College Junior Year in France Program. Classes were initially at Biarritz and later at the Sorbonne. In Paris, she and other students lived with a French family. She was in Biarritz when she learned of the 1963 Birmingham church bombing, committed by members of the Ku Klux Klan, in which four black girls were killed. She grieved deeply as she was personally acquainted with the victims. While completing her degree in French, Davis realized that her primary area of interest was philosophy. She was particularly interested in Marcuse's ideas. On returning to Brandeis, she sat in on his course. She wrote in her autobiography that Marcuse was approachable and helpful. She began making plans to attend the University of Frankfurt for graduate work in philosophy. In 1965, she graduated "magna cum laude", a member of Phi Beta Kappa. University of Frankfurt. In Germany, with a monthly stipend of $100, she lived first with a German family and later with a group of students in a loft in an old factory. After visiting East Berlin during the annual May Day celebration, she felt that the East German government was dealing better with the residual effects of fascism than were the West Germans. Many of her roommates were active in the radical Socialist German Student Union (SDS), and Davis participated in some SDS actions. Events in the United States, including the formation of the Black Panther Party and the transformation of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to an all-black organization, drew her interest upon her return. Postgraduate work. Marcuse had moved to a position at the University of California, San Diego, and Davis followed him there after her two years in Frankfurt. Davis traveled to London to attend a conference on "The Dialectics of Liberation". The black contingent at the conference included the Trinidadian-American Stokely Carmichael and the British Michael X. Although moved by Carmichael's rhetoric, Davis was reportedly disappointed by her colleagues' black nationalist sentiments and their rejection of communism as a "white man's thing." She joined the Che-Lumumba Club, an all-black branch of the Communist Party USA named for international Communist sympathizers and leaders Che Guevara and Patrice Lumumba, of Cuba and the Congo, respectively. Davis earned a master's degree from the University of California, San Diego, in 1968. She earned a doctorate in philosophy at the Humboldt University in East Berlin. Professor at University of California, Los Angeles, 1969–70. Beginning in 1969, Davis was an acting assistant professor in the philosophy department at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Although both Princeton and Swarthmore had tried to recruit her, she opted for UCLA because of its urban location. At that time she was known as a radical feminist and activist, a member of the Communist Party USA, and an affiliate of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Black Panther Party. In 1969, the University of California initiated a policy against hiring Communists. At their September 19, 1969, meeting, the Board of Regents fired Davis from her $10,000-a-year post because of her membership in the Communist Party, urged on by California Governor Ronald Reagan. Judge Jerry Pacht ruled the Regents could not fire Davis solely because of her affiliation with the Communist Party, and she resumed her post. The Regents fired Davis again on June 20, 1970, for the "inflammatory language" she had used in four different speeches. The report stated, "We deem particularly offensive such utterances as her statement that the regents 'killed, brutalized (and) murdered' the , and her repeated characterizations of the police as 'pigs'".<ref name="Regents/UCLA"></ref> The American Association of University Professors censured the Board for this action. Arrest and trial. Davis was a supporter of the Soledad Brothers, three inmates who were convicted of killing a prison guard at Soledad Prison. On August 7, 1970, heavily armed 17-year-old African-American high-school student Jonathan Jackson, whose brother was George Jackson, one of the three Soledad Brothers, gained control of a courtroom in Marin County, California. He armed the black defendants and took Judge Harold Haley, the prosecutor, and three female jurors as hostages. As Jackson transported the hostages and two black defendants away from the courtroom, one of the defendants, James McClain, shot at the police. The police returned fire. The judge and the three black men were killed in the melee; one of the jurors and the prosecutor were injured. Although the judge was shot in the head with a blast from a shotgun, he also suffered a chest wound from a bullet that may have been fired from outside the van. Evidence during the trial showed that either could have been fatal. Davis had purchased several of the firearms Jackson used in the attack, including the shotgun used to shoot Haley, which she bought at a San Francisco pawn shop two days before the incident. She was also found to have been corresponding with one of the inmates involved. As California considers "all persons concerned in the commission of a crime, […] whether they directly commit the act constituting the offense, or aid and abet in its commission, […] are principals in any crime so committed", Davis was charged with "aggravated kidnapping and first degree murder in the death of Judge Harold Haley", and Marin County Superior Court Judge Peter Allen Smith issued a warrant for her arrest. Hours after the judge issued the warrant on August 14, 1970, a massive attempt to find and arrest Davis began. On August 18, four days after the warrant was issued, the FBI director J. Edgar Hoover listed Davis on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitive List; she was the third woman and the 309th person to be listed. Soon after, Davis became a fugitive and fled California. According to her autobiography, during this time she hid in friends' homes and moved at night. On October 13, 1970, FBI agents found her at a Howard Johnson Motor Lodge in New York City. President Richard M. Nixon congratulated the FBI on its "capture of the dangerous terrorist Angela Davis." On January 5, 1971, Davis appeared at Marin County Superior Court and declared her innocence before the court and nation: "I now declare publicly before the court, before the people of this country that I am innocent of all charges which have been leveled against me by the state of California." John Abt, general counsel of the Communist Party USA, was one of the first attorneys to represent Davis for her alleged involvement in the shootings. While being held in the Women's Detention Center, Davis was initially segregated from other prisoners, in solitary confinement. With the help of her legal team, she obtained a federal court order to get out of the segregated area. Across the nation, thousands of people began organizing a movement to gain her release. In New York City, black writers formed a committee called the Black People in Defense of Angela Davis. By February 1971 more than 200 local committees in the United States, and 67 in foreign countries, worked to free Davis from prison. John Lennon and Yoko Ono contributed to this campaign with the song "Angela". In 1972, after a 16-month incarceration, the state allowed her release on bail from county jail. On February 23, 1972, Rodger McAfee, a dairy farmer from Fresno, California, paid her $100,000 bail with the help of Steve Sparacino, a wealthy business owner. The United Presbyterian Church paid some of her legal defense expenses. A defense motion for a change of venue was granted, and the trial was moved to Santa Clara County. On June 4, 1972, after 13 hours of deliberations, the all-white jury returned a verdict of not guilty. The fact that she owned the guns used in the crime was judged insufficient to establish her role in the plot. She was represented by Leo Branton Jr., who hired psychologists to help the defense determine who in the jury pool might favor their arguments, a technique that has since become more common. He also hired experts to discredit the reliability of eyewitness accounts. Other activities in the 1970s. Cuba. After her acquittal, Davis went on an international speaking tour in 1972 and the tour included Cuba, where she had previously been received by Fidel Castro in 1969 as a member of a Communist Party delegation. Robert F. Williams, Huey Newton, Stokely Carmichael had also visited Cuba, and Assata Shakur later moved there after escaping from a US prison. Her reception by Afro-Cubans at a mass rally was so enthusiastic that she was reportedly barely able to speak. Davis perceived Cuba as a racism-free country, which led her to believe that "only under socialism could the fight against racism be successfully executed." When she returned to the United States, her socialist leanings increasingly influenced her understanding of race struggles. In 1974, she attended the Second Congress of the Federation of Cuban Women. Soviet Union. In 1971 the CIA estimated that five percent of Soviet propaganda efforts were directed towards the Angela Davis campaign. In August 1972, Davis visited the USSR at the invitation of the Central Committee, and received an honorary doctorate from Moscow State University. On May 1, 1979, she was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize from the Soviet Union. She visited Moscow later that month to accept the prize, where she praised "the glorious name" of Lenin and the "great October Revolution". East Germany. The East German government organized an extensive campaign on behalf of Davis. In September 1972, Davis visited East Germany, where she met the state's leader Erich Honecker, received an honorary degree from the University of Leipzig and the Star of People's Friendship from Walter Ulbricht. On September 11 in East Berlin she delivered a speech, "Not Only My Victory", praising the GDR and USSR and denouncing American racism, and visited the Berlin Wall, where she laid flowers at the memorial for Reinhold Huhn (an East German guard who had been killed by a man who was trying to escape with his family across the border in 1962). Davis said "We mourn the deaths of the border guards who sacrificed their lives for the protection of their socialist homeland" and "When we return to the USA, we shall undertake to tell our people the truth about the true function of this border." In 1973 she returned to East Berlin leading the US delegation to the 10th World Festival of Youth and Students. Jonestown and Peoples Temple. In the mid-1970s, Jim Jones, who developed the cult Peoples Temple, initiated friendships with progressive leaders in the San Francisco area including Dennis Banks of the American Indian Movement AIM and Davis. On September 10, 1977, 14 months before the Temple's mass murder-suicide, Davis spoke via amateur radio telephone "patch" to members of his Peoples Temple living in Jonestown in Guyana. In her statement during the "Six Day Siege", she expressed support for the People's Temple anti-racism efforts and told members there was a conspiracy against them. She said, "When you are attacked, it is because of your progressive stand, and we feel that it is directly an attack against us as well." Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and political prisoners in socialist countries. In 1975, Russian dissident and Nobel Laureate Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn argued in a speech before an AFL-CIO meeting in New York City that Davis was derelict in having failed to support prisoners in various socialist countries around the world, given her strong opposition to the US prison system. He said a group of Czech prisoners had appealed to Davis for support, which Solzhenitsyn said she had declined. In 1972, Jiří Pelikán had written an open letter asking her to support Czech prisoners, which Davis had refused, believing that the Czech prisoners were undermining the Husák government and that Pelikán, in exile in Italy, was attacking his own country. According to Solzhenitsyn, in response to concerns about Czech prisoners being "persecuted by the state", Davis had responded that "They deserve what they get. Let them remain in prison." Alan Dershowitz, who also asked Davis for support for imprisoned refuseniks in the USSR, said that a "secretary" of Davis told him, "they are all Zionist fascists and opponents of socialism." Later academic career. Davis was a lecturer at the Claremont Black Studies Center at the Claremont Colleges in 1975. Attendance at the course she taught was limited to 26 students out of the more than 5,000 on campus, and she was forced to teach in secret because alumni benefactors didn't want her to indoctrinate the general student population with Communist thought. College trustees made arrangements to minimize her appearance on campus, limiting her seminars to Friday evenings and Saturdays, "when campus activity is low." Her classes moved from one classroom to another and the students were sworn to secrecy. Much of this secrecy continued throughout Davis's brief time teaching at the colleges. In 2020 it was announced that Davis would be the Ena H. Thompson Distinguished Lecturer for Pomona College's History Department, welcoming her back after 45 years. Davis taught a women's studies course at the San Francisco Art Institute in 1978, and was a Professor of Ethnic Studies at the San Francisco State University from at least 1980 to 1984. She was a professor in the History of Consciousness and the Feminist Studies Departments at the University of California, Santa Cruz and Rutgers University from 1991 to 2008. Since then, she has been Distinguished Professor Emerita. Davis was a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Syracuse University in Spring 1992 and October 2010, and was the Randolph Visiting Distinguished Professor of philosophy at Vassar College in 1995. In 2014, Davis returned to UCLA as a Regents' Lecturer. She delivered a public lecture on May 8 in Royce Hall, where she had given her first lecture 45 years earlier. In 2016, Davis was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters in Healing and Social Justice from the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco during its 48th annual commencement ceremony. Political activism and speeches. Davis accepted the Communist Party USA's nomination for vice president, as Gus Hall's running mate, in 1980 and in 1984. They received less than 0.02% of the vote in 1980. She left the party in 1991, founding the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism. Her group broke from the Communist Party USA because of the latter's support of the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt after the fall of the Soviet Union and tearing down of the Berlin Wall. Davis said that she and others who had "circulated a petition about the need for democratization of the structures of governance of the party" were not allowed to run for national office and thus "in a sense [...] invited to leave". In 2014, she said she continues to have a relationship with the CPUSA but has not rejoined. In the 21st century, Davis has supported the Democratic Party in presidential elections, endorsing Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden. Davis is a major figure in the prison abolition movement. She has called the United States prison system the "prison–industrial complex" and was one of the founders of Critical Resistance, a national grassroots organization dedicated to building a movement to abolish the prison system. In recent works, she has argued that the US prison system resembles a new form of slavery, pointing to the disproportionate share of the African-American population who were incarcerated. Davis advocates focusing social efforts on education and building "engaged communities" to solve various social problems now handled through state punishment. As early as 1969, Davis began public speaking engagements. She expressed her opposition to the Vietnam War, racism, sexism, and the prison–industrial complex, and her support of gay rights and other social justice movements. In 1969, she blamed imperialism for the troubles oppressed populations suffer: We are facing a common enemy and that enemy is Yankee Imperialism, which is killing us both here and abroad. Now I think anyone who would try to separate those struggles, anyone who would say that in order to consolidate an anti-war movement, we have to leave all of these other outlying issues out of the picture, is playing right into the hands of the enemy, she declared. She has continued lecturing throughout her career, including at numerous universities. In 2001 she publicly spoke against the war on terror following the 9/11 attacks, continued to criticize the prison–industrial complex, and discussed the broken immigration system. She said that to solve social justice issues, people must "hone their critical skills, develop them and implement them." Later, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, she declared that the "horrendous situation in New Orleans" was due to the country's structural racism, capitalism, and imperialism. Davis opposed the 1995 Million Man March, arguing that the exclusion of women from this event promoted male chauvinism. She said that Louis Farrakhan and other organizers appeared to prefer that women take subordinate roles in society. Together with Kimberlé Crenshaw and others, she formed the African American Agenda 2000, an alliance of black feminists. Davis has continued to oppose the death penalty. In 2003, she lectured at Agnes Scott College, a liberal arts women's college in Atlanta, Georgia, on prison reform, minority issues, and the ills of the criminal justice system. On October 31, 2011, Davis spoke at the Philadelphia and Washington Square Occupy Wall Street assemblies. Due to restrictions on electronic amplification, her words were human microphoned. In 2012 Davis was awarded the 2011 Blue Planet Award, an award given for contributions to humanity and the planet. At the 27th Empowering Women of Color Conference in 2012, Davis said she was a vegan. She has called for the release of Rasmea Odeh, associate director at the Arab American Action Network, who was convicted of immigration fraud in relation to her hiding of a previous murder conviction. Davis supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel. Davis was an honorary co-chair of the January 21, 2017, Women's March on Washington, which occurred the day after President Donald Trump's inauguration. The organizers' decision to make her a featured speaker was criticized from the right by Humberto Fontova and "National Review". Libertarian journalist Cathy Young wrote that Davis's "long record of support for political violence in the United States and the worst of human rights abusers abroad" undermined the march. On October 16, 2018, Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, presented Davis with an honorary degree during the inaugural Viola Desmond Legacy Lecture, as part of the institution's bicentennial celebration year. On January 7, 2019, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (BCRI) rescinded Davis's Fred Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award, saying she "does not meet all of the criteria". Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin and others cited criticism of Davis's vocal support for Palestinian rights and the movement to boycott Israel. Davis said her loss of the award was "not primarily an attack against me but rather against the very spirit of the indivisibility of justice." On January 25, the BCRI reversed its decision and issued a public apology, stating that there should have been more public consultation. In November 2019, along with other public figures, Davis signed a letter supporting Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn describing him as "a beacon of hope in the struggle against emergent far-right nationalism, xenophobia and racism in much of the democratic world", and endorsed him in the 2019 UK general election. On January 20, 2020, Davis gave the Memorial Keynote Address at the University of Michigan's MLK Symposium. Davis was elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2021. Personal life. From 1980 to 1983 Davis was married to Hilton Braithwaite. In 1997, she came out as a lesbian in an interview with "Out" magazine. As of 2020, Davis was living with her life partner Gina Dent, a fellow humanities scholar and intersectional feminist researcher at UC Santa Cruz, who together with Davis advocates for Black liberation, Palestinian solidarity, and the abolition of police and prisons. Representation in other media. References in other venues. On January 28, 1972, Garrett Brock Trapnell hijacked TWA Flight 2. One of his demands was Davis's release. In Renato Guttuso's painting "The Funerals of Togliatti" (1972), Davis is depicted, among other figures of communism, in the left framework, near the author's self-portrait, Elio Vittorini, and Jean-Paul Sartre. In 1971, black playwright Elvie Moore wrote the play "Angela is Happening", depicting Davis on trial with figures such as Frederick Douglass, Malcolm X, and H. Rap Brown as eyewitnesses proclaiming her innocence. The play was performed at the Inner City Cultural Center and at UCLA, with Pat Ballard as Davis. The documentary "Angela Davis: Portrait of a Revolutionary" (1972) was directed by UCLA Film School student Yolande du Luart. It follows Davis from 1969 to 1970, documenting her dismissal from UCLA. The film wrapped shooting before the Marin County incident. In the movie "Network" (1976), Marlene Warfield's character Laureen Hobbs appears to be modeled on Davis. Also in 2018, a cotton T-shirt with Davis's face on it was featured in Prada's 2018 collection. A mural featuring Davis was painted by Italian street artist Jorit Agoch in the Scampia neighborhood of Naples in 2019. Biopic. In 2019, Julie Dash, who is credited as the first black female director to have a theatrical release of a film ("Daughters of the Dust") in the US, announced that she would be directing a film based on Davis's life. Further reading. Popular media Books Primary Sources External links.

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Rovenia M. Brock Dr. Rovenia M. Brock, also known as Dr. Ro, is an American nutritionist, lecturer, health reporter, entrepreneur, and author. Career. Brock made her television debut as host of BET's "Heart and Soul". She worked as a nutrition coach on "The View," helping co-host Sherri Shepherd lose 41 pounds.She is currently a nutritional adviser on "The Dr. Oz Show". Brock partnered with McDonald's in 2005, to promote physical activity. Radio and podcast work. Brock is nutrition contributor to National Public Radio (NPR). She launched a podcast, "Dr. Ro on Demand", in 2019. Home video. Brock was executive producer, creator and host of "Dr. Ro's Fit Kidz", a health and fitness children's DVD series.l

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Gene Demby Gene Demby is an American journalist. He is lead blogger on NPR’s race, ethnicity and culture team Code Switch and cohost of the podcast by the same title. He's also the founder of the blog PostBourgie and its accompanying podcast. Early life. Demby grew up in South Philadelphia, and attended Hofstra University. Career. Prior to joining NPR, Demby worked for "The New York Times" and then as managing editor for "Huffington Post's" BlackVoices vertical. NPR Code Switch. Demby debuted the NPR project Code Switch on April 7, 2013 with an introductory essay that met with immediate acclaim; writing at "Complex", Jason Parham said that if the essay "'How Code-Switching Explains The World' is any indication of the content to come, we couldn't be more excited." In 2016, Demby and cohost Shereen Marisol Meraji debuted what Harvard's Neiman Lab called "the long-awaited podcast" from Code Switch. PostBourgie blog. Demby began blogging in 2004. Speaking to "Colorlines" in 2012, Demby said he'd been motivated by frustration with media conversations about race, mentioning in particular an occasion a CNN reporter approached him on a basketball court to ask for comment on Bill Cosby's Pound Cake speech at the 2004 NAACP Image Awards. Demby recalled, "I pushed back on him pretty hard...There are people who think black people's condition in the world would be better if we just looked better. 'Pull up your pants.' It seemed so petty that we were having these conversations." In search of an alternative, in 2007 Demby founded a collective blog on race, culture, politics and media called PostBourgie, inviting friends to collaborate who shared his desire "to have conversations that assumed that black people were human beings who were complicated and imperfect, a space that wasn't super didactic." Speaking to "New York Magazine", Jamil Smith cited PostBourgie as one of the blogs that "really set the bar for...spaces that were made available to [African-Americans and other people of color]. Even if you were working for traditional media, you didn’t have the opportunity to offer your perspective, to tell the unvarnished version of the truth that you see every day...it really hearkens back to the tradition of the black press." In "The Washington Post", Alyssa Rosenberg praised PostBourgie's accomplishments in "building a ladder for all its participants. The blog gave the people who wrote there a chance to workshop their voices and refine their ideas for a smart audience, even when they didn’t have paying assignments for an idea. When one PostBourgie writer got a new job, he or she encouraged others to freelance for that new outlet and to apply for fellowships and jobs there." PostBourgie alums have included Shani O. Hilton, now executive editor of news for BuzzFeed, and BuzzFeed writers Joel Anderson and Tracy Clayton. Demby hosts an accompanying podcast also called PostBourgie. Awards. In 2009, Demby's PostBourgie won a Black Weblog Award for Best News/Politics Site. In 2013 and again in 2014, Demby was named to The Root 100's list of the 100 most important black influencers. In 2014, Demby and the Code Switch team won the Online News Association's award for Best Online Commentary. Personal life. Demby is married to fellow journalist Kainaz Amaria, a Zoroastrian American who is currently a visuals editor for Vox Media. The couple live in Washington.

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Gordon B. Hancock Gordon Blaine Hancock (June 23, 1884 – July 24, 1970) was a professor at Virginia Union University and a leading spokesman for African American equality in the generation before the civil rights movement. Hancock was a nationally syndicated columnist for the Norfolk Journal and Guide whose columns were published in 114 black newspapers. He was one of the organizers of the 1942 Southern Conference on Race Relations and gave the opening keynote address. This conference led to the publication of "A Basis for Inter-Racial Cooperation and Development in the South: A Statement by Southern Negroes," known as the Durham Manifesto, which asserted that the group was "fundamentally opposed to the principle and practice of segregation," including staunch opposition to Jim Crow. Hancock joined the faculty at Virginia Union University in 1921. He became the chairman of the department of Economics and Sociology as well as the Director of the Francis J. Torrance School of Race Relations at Virginia Union University. He linked education to activism, requiring students to perform community service, and encouraged black people to patronize black-owned businesses, calling this the "Double Duty Dollar." Early and personal life. Hancock was born in Ninety Six, South Carolina to Robert and Anna Hancock who had been formerly enslaved. He earned degrees from Benedict College and Colgate University, and received a master's degree in sociology from Harvard University. He was married to Florence Marie Dickson. He was the pastor of Moore Street Baptist church in Richmond from 1925 until he retired in 1963. Inspiration. As introduced in Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois’ book, "In Battle for Peace: The Story of My 83rd Birthday", Hancock wrote in the "Associated Negro press" in December 1951. “There is a shout in the heart of Negroes everywhere, for Du Bois has long been our symbol of manhood and integrity. He has shown in a thousand ways that he is the ablest champion of the Negroes’ yet unrealized full citizenship. It was a shame that Dr. Du Bois, the Negro champion, almost had to bear his cross alone. Negroes who might have helped and held up his hands followed afar off. This writer was humbled to see in a list of Negroes petitioning President Truman for executive help so few influential Negroes. In other words, the important Negroes of this country, the headliners, the highly positioned, the degreed Negroes stayed off the petition by droves. Negroes who claim to be race champions and crusaders and fighters and leaders and uncompromisers to the last ditch actually deserted Dr. Du Bois in the hour of his greatest trial". Community engagement. Hancock became a member of Gamma chapter of Omega Psi Phi while attending Harvard and working towards his master's degree in sociology. The Urban League of Greater Richmond was co-founded by Dr. Gordon B. Hancock, and became affiliated with the National Urban League on December 1, 1923; which covers the areas of the Chester, Chesterfield, Henrico, Petersburg, and the City of Richmond, VA. This chapter of the Urban League's mission is:"To assist under-served citizens in the achievement of social and economic equality through advocacy, collaboration direct services and research."The Urban League of Greater Richmond also provides programs and services to help members seek and acquire jobs, healthcare, and support educational endeavors. In October of the year 1925, Gordon B. Hancock became the pastor of Moore Street Baptist Church. After nearly forty years of serving the community as a Pastor, Hancock retires in 1963. Virginia Union, articles, papers and essays. Clergyman, journalist, educator, and civil rights spokesman, which also includes five series: Correspondence; Southern Regional Council; Clippings/Writings; Miscellany; and Photographs. These papers are the writings by Gordon Blaine Hancock, over the span of 1928-1970. The collection relates primarily to Hancock's efforts to increase opportunities for Blacks. Among those efforts was a course he organized on race relations at Virginia Union University in 1922, which is believed to have been the first course of its kind in America. As chair of Virginia Union's Department of History and Sociology, he linked education to activism, requiring students, for example, to perform community service. The “races vie in a fierce struggle for existence,” he taught, and African Americans must face the reality of segregation by building their institutions and resources and winning allies among whites. “Segregation means death to form of elimination that must be terminated if the Negro is to survive.” In the 1930s and 1940s, Hancock became an outspoken leader in the struggle for racial equality, speaking at over 40 black and white colleges and universities. In 1942, with P. B. Young, editor of the Norfolk Journal and Guide and black historian Luther P. Jackson of Virginia State College, he helped organize the Southern Conference on Race Relations. The conference brought together black leaders from across the South. As a result of the conference, the group issued the "Durham Manifesto" in which they set forth the "articles of cooperation." The articles stated what blacks wanted and expected from the post war South and from the nation in the areas of political and civil rights, employment, education, agriculture, military service, and social welfare and health. Social and political solutions. Hancock proposed a spending plan called "Double Duty Dollar", that encouraged black people to hold fast to their jobs, land and money while spending money within the African-American community. He believed that unemployment was the number one problem for African-American people. He also welcomed white philanthropists and teachers who supported African-Americans in their struggle for a quality education. Hancock came to Virginia Union as a professor to organize and lead a sociology and economics department. Hancock taught students that the black race was not inferior to white nor prone to criminal activity. Hancock believed that with better income opportunities, black people could break the bonds of cyclical poverty. His course in race relation at Virginia Union was believed to be the first in the country. Death. Hancock's article he wrote titled, "Interracial Hypertension", stimulated a reform of the CIC during World War II. It also stimulated the release of the "Durham Manifesto". It was an effect of the 1942 conference Hancock planned. "It asserted that the group was "fundamentally" opposed to the principle and practice of segregation". Hancock wrote a speech that stated his position to take a stand against segregation. They then started the Southern Regional Council in 1944. The purpose was to "attain through research and action programs the ideals and practices of equal opportunity." They stated their side in opposing segregation in 1951 because of the board members and Hancock pushing them to do so. Hancock became a professor at Virginia Union in 1952. He still continued to conduct his pastoral duties, until his retirement in 1963. IN 1963 he received his honorary doctorate from Virginia Union University. He died at his home on July 24, 1970. Legacy. Hancock, the pastor, the educator, lived a life trying to educate the black race and help with self identity. He had the first course of race relations at Virginia Union, and some of his teachings to his students were of that they were not inferior to whites, or prone to criminal activity. He inspired his people, and his workings were described by his students as “progressing race relations forward.” Hancock proposed spending plans such as “Double Duty Dollar, attempting to break the barriers of cyclical poverty, and held campaigns helping inspire negros to fight their biggest problem to him, which was unemployment. In his church he helped erase $35,000 in debt, and increase their center so more of the youth and other members of the community could have a place to go, and be  inspired. Hancock lived his life fighting segregation and social injustice upon the black race, and trying to educate blacks in their economical standing, and how to rise above and become educated and powerful through his lessons, sermons, and writings.

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Amy Jacques Garvey Amy Euphemia Jacques Garvey (31 December 1895 – 25 July 1973) was the Jamaican-born second wife of Marcus Garvey, and a journalist and activist in her own right. She was one of the pioneering female Black journalists and publishers of the 20th century. Early life. Amy Euphemia Jacques was born on 31 December 1895 in Kingston, Jamaica. As the eldest child of George Samuel and Charlotte Henrietta ("née" South) Jacques, she was raised in a middle-class home. Yvette Taylor, in her account of the life of Amy Jacques Garvey, refers to her as being "mulatta". Charlotte Henrietta was half-white, and George Samuel was a dark-skinned black. Taylor goes on to explain that her mixed race heavily influenced her upbringing. At a young age, Garvey was taught to play the piano and took courses in music appreciation because music and music appreciation were believed to be considered the "cultural finishing to a girl's education". Garvey was a part of a small minority of Jamaican youth to attend high school. She attended Wolmer's Schools. AJ Garvey was urged by her father to read periodicals and newspapers to "enhance" her knowledge of the world. Upon graduating school and receiving some of the highest honours of the time, Garvey was recruited to work at a law firm. Her father initially said no, refusing to allow his daughter to work in an environment with males. George Samuel died that year, and the lawyer proceeding over his estate urged Charlotte Henrietta to allow Garvey to work in the clerical office so that she could control the estate. Charlotte agreed, and Garvey worked there for four years, where she ultimately gained knowledge of the legal system. After four years of working for this company, Garvey migrated to the United States in 1917. She promised her employer and mother that she would return in three months if conditions in the U.S. were not suitable to her; however, Garvey did not return. Karen Adler, in her article chronicling Garvey's life, argues that she did not return because she was enthralled by Garveyism. Adler says that Amy attended a conference being held by Marcus Garvey and was moved by his words, soon afterwards assuming the role of his private secretary and working alongside him and the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). She also became involved with the publishing of the "Negro World" newspaper in Harlem from its inception in August 1918. Marriage to Marcus Garvey. On July 27, 1922, several months after his previous marriage was severed, Marcus and Amy were married in Baltimore. Jacques was said to have been Amy Ashwood's (Marcus Garvey's previous wife) chief bridesmaid in her wedding to Garvey. Ashwood attempted to have the second marriage annulled and failed, leaving Amy Jacques as Garvey's legitimate wife. Garvey had two children in her marriage, Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr. and Julius Winston Garvey born in 1930 and 1933 respectively. Leadership of UNIA. Garvey was said to have been an excellent speaker, having toured the country with and without her husband. After making a return from their western tour, Marcus was scheduled to speak in New York and Amy was not a part of the program. Even though she was not scheduled to speak at the event she was allowed to because of the mass outcry by the crowd Adler believes that Marcus Garvey failed to show any appreciation for his wife despite her growing fame in the public forum. Amy, however, did not pose an initial threat to Garvey. Given her strong beliefs in her position as his wife, and the structure of the organization, Amy took a back seat, as did other women in the UNIA . The grievances were made public at UNIA's national convention in 1922. Sexism found a means to thrive even in spite of UNIA's commitment to sexual equality. This being the case, women such as Amy Jacques Garvey found a way to become invaluable to the organization. In light of unforeseen circumstances, Garvey was forced to assume a lead role in UNIA after Marcus was convicted of mail fraud on 21 June 1922, less than a year after their marriage. It is at this time that Garvey assumed interim leadership of UNIA. In addition to speaking all over the country to raise money for Garvey's defence fund, she edited and published volume 2 of the "Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey", two volumes of his poetry, "The Tragedy of White Injustice" and "Selections from the Poetic Meditations of Marcus Garvey". While doing this she worked tirelessly with lawyers to get her husband out of jail, and kept UNIA moving forward by delivering speeches and meeting with the leadership of the group occasionally. Despite the effort that Garvey put into keeping Marcus's dream alive, Marcus rarely showed appreciation toward her. Garvey never assumed official leadership of the organization because Marcus would not allow it. Life after UNIA. After her husband was deported in 1927, Garvey went with him to Jamaica. They had two sons: Marcus Mosiah Garvey III (b. 1930) and Julius Winston Garvey (b. 1933). She remained with their children in Jamaica when Garvey moved to England in 1934. After Garvey's death in 1940, Jacques continued the struggle for black nationalism and African independence. In 1944 she wrote "A Memorandum Correlative of Africa, West Indies and the Americas", which she used to convince U.N. representatives to adopt an African Freedom Charter. In November 1963, Garvey visited Nigeria as a guest of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, who was being installed as that nation's first Governor-General. She published her own book, "Garvey and Garveyism", in 1963, as well as a booklet, "Black Power in America: The Power of the Human Spirit", in 1968. She also assisted John Henrik Clarke in editing "Marcus Garvey and the Vision of Africa" (1974). Her final work was the "Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey volume III", written in conjunction with E. U. Essien-Udom. She was awarded the Musgrave Medal in 1971. Works. Garvey was an ardent writer on behalf of the UNIA movement and her husband, Marcus Garvey. Death. Garvey died aged 77 on 25 July 1973, in her native Kingston, Jamaica, and was interred in the churchyard of Saint Andrew's Parish Church.

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Jeannette Caines Jeannette Caines was an American author of children's books, most notably "Abby", "Chilly Stomach" and "Just Us Women", a "Reading Rainbow" book. She was born and raised in Harlem, New York and worked as a Manuscript Coordinator. In 1989, Jeannette retired and relocated to Charlottesville, VA. She was the recipient of the National Black Child Developmental Institute's Certificate of Merit and Appreciation and the Charlottesville Lifetime Achievement Award (2004). In addition to this, Jeannette was the owner/operator of a small book store located in Charlottesville named THE PURPLE ALLIGATOR. Later in 2004, she was diagnosed with cancer and died on July 11. She had two children Alexander (deceased 2015) and Abby who still resides in New York.

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The Fire This Time (book) The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race is an essay and poetry collection edited by American author Jesmyn Ward and published by Scribner in 2016. The title, "The Fire This Time" alludes to James Baldwin's seminal 1963 text, "The Fire Next Time". Publication history. The book was published by Scribner on August 2, 2016. Content. "The Fire This Time" is an anthology of 18 writers contributing essays and poetry to three movements entitled "Legacy", "Reckoning" and "Jubilee". The writers include, Carol Anderson, Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah, Jericho Brown, Edwidge Danticat, Kevin Young, Claudia Rankine, and Honoree Jeffers. Reviewing the collection for "The New York Times", Jamil Smith described the anthology as, "deal[ing] with everything from the Charleston church shooting to OutKast’s influence to Rachel Dolezal’s chicanery, all through a black lens that is still too rare in literature and elsewhere. The pain of black life (and death) often inspires flowery verse, but every poem and essay in Ward’s volume remains grounded in a harsh reality that our nation, at large, refuses fully to confront. In the spirit of Baldwin’s centering of black experiences, they force everyone to see things our way." Reception. Writing for the "San Francisco Chronicle", Imani Perry described Ward's collection as, "a composition made by someone who is as careful a reader as she is a writer. Ward is attuned to the spirit of this moment and she is its conductor, gifting insight to us all." Dwight Garner particularly praised contributions by Ward, Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah, Carol Anderson, Kevin Young, and Garnette Cadogan, saying their works are "[e]ach...so alive with purpose, conviction and intellect that, upon finishing their contributions, you feel you must put this volume down and go walk around for a while."

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The Mis-Education of the Negro The Mis-Education of the Negro is a book originally published in 1933 by Dr. Carter G. Woodson. The thesis of Dr. Woodson's book is that Blacks of his day were being culturally indoctrinated, rather than taught, in American schools. This conditioning, he claims, causes blacks to become dependent and to seek out inferior places in the greater society of which they are a part. He challenges his readers to become autodidacts and to "do for themselves", regardless of what they were taught: History shows that it does not matter who is in power... those who have not learned to do for themselves and have to depend solely on others never obtain any more rights or privileges in the end than they did in the beginning. Woodson elaborated further: When you control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him not to stand here or go yonder. He will find his 'proper place' and will stay in it. You do not need to send him to the back door. He will go without being told. In fact, if there is no back door, he will cut one for his special benefit. His education makes it necessary. Chapters. Chapter 1 “The Seat Of The Trouble” in this chapter Dr. Carter Woodson explains how African Americans can feel out of place as they are subjected to despise themselves within the given educational system. He identifies how African Americans are often influenced to become a “good negro” in order to become successful, and this ideology urges them to downplay their “blackness” to advance in the social ladder, but being educated and moving up the social ladder does not eliminate one's blackness. This problem could possibly be avoided if African Americans had equal opportunity to learn about their culture and black history. Chapter 2 “How We Missed The Mark” in this chapter Woodson explains how the educational system failed to support African Americans because of how their schools were unable to properly teach them, when compared to predominantly white schools that were fully furnished and had the means to give their students the right education. Woodson believed that African Americans should experience different means of education to develop and show their individual skills rather than to be educated practically.   Chapter 3 “How We Drifted Away From The Truth” In this chapter Woodson discusses how African Americans are separated from the truth of their actual contributions to history due to it being “white-washed.”  He analyzed many cases in which this makes white people believe they are superior by taking away the important contributions from black people. He also shows how black teachers are often no help in fixing the problem as they continue to teach white-washed versions of history to the future generations of students. Chapter 4 “Education Under Outside Control” in this chapter Woodson speaks on how African Americans are given educationally less valuable opportunities despite whether the institution is historically black or predominately white. Woodson believes that equal education opportunities have an effect on individuals and the life that they create for themselves. He also encourages African Americans to create better opportunities in many aspects for themselves so they can live better lives. “The program for the uplift of the negro in this country must be based upon a scientific study of the negro from within to develop in him the power to do for himself what his oppressors will never do for him.” “The Failure to Make a Living” highlights a lot of the problems that black people who attend college face when presented with how to apply that knowledge to the working world, or more specifically owning and operating a business. One of the main problems that Woodson introduces is the lack of support systems that many black Americans don’t have, especially when compared to those of a similar standing who happen to be white.   “The Educated Negro Leaves the Masses” discusses the estrangement that many educated black people have from the black church and the lack of support the black church receives from the educated as a result. According to Woodson, some of the things educated black people are doing instead of supporting the black church are switching to predominantly white denominations, or not attending church altogether. Woodson emphasizes the importance of the black church as “the only institution that the race controls.” In “Dissension and Weakness,” Woodson discusses the lack of tolerance those in rural areas have for dissension and differences in denomination around them. Woodson, once again, refers back to the lack of guidance and presence educated black people have in the black church and the effects of it; which includes children becoming more involved with gambling, drinking, and smoking. “Professional Education Discouraged” discusses the discouragement many black Americans face in academic settings. Some of the prime examples Woodson brings to light are how black Americans are told there will be no job opportunities in particular fields should they choose to study them, being told they are not fit for certain fields, and being discredited or ignored despite being well educated in a particular field. The next chapter, “Political Education Neglected,” begins with some examples as to how African Americans have been previously kept from learning about American politics, one example being when a bill that would print the Constitution of the United States in all schools was turned down because “it would never do to have Negroes study the Constitution of the United States." Woodson also lays out a brief history of other times when African Americans were kept from learning about laws that govern their everyday life and the policies that were keeping them subservient. “The Loss of Vision” describes how Woodson feels the black population of America has lost sight of a common goal. In this chapter he brings up how in what he calls “our so-called democracy, we are accustomed to give the majority what they want rather than educate them to understand what is best for them. We do not show the Negro to overcome segregation, but we teach them how to accept it as final and just." Woodson expresses the need for African Americans to overcome segregation by proving that they are just as good as an asset to society as white Americans. “The Need for Service Rather than Leadership” describes the stifling of African Americans’ ambition and roadblocks that keep them from becoming leaders. Woodson also lays out the reasons as to why this, but mostly shifting the blame to the lack of unity within the African American community; often referring back to points made in “The Educated Negro Leaves the Masses” and how there is too much internal conflict and dissension within the community to allow for upward mobility for the community as a whole. In “Hirelings in the Places of Public Servants,” Woodson brings up the lack of African Americans in positions of power in the workplace. Woodson brings up many examples of African Americans put in management positions not being given the same respect and attention their white counterparts are given, and why this is. In the chapters “Understanding the Negro,” “The New Program,” and “Vocational Guidance” there were multiple themes that Woodson covered throughout this section. He talks about lack of negro presence throughout the school system and how that not only affects black students but white students as well.  A good portion of that comes from black people not being mentioned at all in the school's curriculum. The only time they are mentioned is to be demonized or if  something that is negative; because of the false information black students are given about their people they seem to try to assimilate with the white population, then in turn continue to circulate these negative views on their own people. Woodson actually conducted an interview  with a professor of a black college whose exact words were when asked how does he plan to teach black students about their people his response was  "We do not offer here any course in Negro history, Negro literature, or race relations. "We study the Negro along with other people." When Woodson questions him on his answer he then goes on to say  "Why do you emphasize the special study of the Negro?" "Why is it necessary to give the race special attention in the press, on the rostrum, or in the schoolroom?” This is the mindset that most teachers he came across or looked over had towards black studies and how it should be taught to black children.   In “The New Type of Professional Man Required,” Woodson discusses the many hardships black lawyers and doctors encounter in their professional careers. One of the problems he discusses for black lawyers would be how they are often forced to focus on the particular laws that disproportionately affect African Americans. He seems to take issue with many black doctors and their motivations for going into such work: He says, “Too many Negroes go into medicine and dentistry for selfish purposes, hoping thereby to increase their income and spend it on joyous living." He also discusses the exclusion of African Americans from the arts. “Higher Strivings In The Service Of The Country”. In this chapter, Woodson emphasizes his political views. Woodson believed that African Americans should not just focus on themselves and address only issues that apply to them, but should address issues that apply to everyone “Reward the dead for some distant favors from the past”  Woodson, in this chapter, is trying to inform African Americans that because their ancestors were influenced by—and died—for certain rights in the past does not mean they should always be followed. Woodson strongly enforced that African Americans should not enforce a particular political party because of this. He strongly felt like this because of some African Americans siding with Republicans only because of Abraham Lincoln. Not only was he strong about politics but he was also strong about having African Americans participating more in the United States economy, because he believed that African Americans playing a role in the US economy would improve their social life and makes others want to contribute to the advancement of society. Woodson stated that African Americans should pursue economic and social change. In chapter 18, “The Study of the Negro,” Woodson emphasizes the importance of again knowing the history and the importance of African American culture. He strongly believed that Blacks need to study their history more. Dr. Woodson believed that blacks have come to hate their history due to slavery and being treated unfairly but are strongly taught to learn and respect other cultures’ history. Reception. Many praised Woodson and his work as a glimpse into the problems that plague African Americans' social advancement. Ron Daniels, with the Michigan City said, “Carter G. Woodson, one of our most distinguished historians, and the founder of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, was convinced that the dilemma of racial consciousness and identity was not an accident. [...] Our history, culture and identity should serve as a basic for a group cohesion, and the collective pursuit of an African-American agenda for moral, social, economic and political advancement.” Another had to say, “The result was a caustic and uncompromising litany that seemed to go on forever. Negro education, Woodson charged, clung to a defunct “machine method” based on the misguided assumption that “education is merely a process of imparting information.” it failed to inspire black students and “did not bring their minds into harmony with life as they must face it.” theories of Negro inferiority were “drilled” into black pupils in virtually every classroom they entered. And the more education blacks received, the more “estranged from the masses” they became.” The Journal of Black Studies on Woodson himself said, "Carter G. Woodson believed that education was much more than the transferal of knowledge from teacher to student: He believed that authentic education would not only teach students to think and recite information also allow students to ask difficult epistemological and ontological questions about life, political systems, social and economic inequities, and the very purpose of humankind." The title of Lauryn Hill's 1998 best-selling album "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" is a reference to the book's naming.

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Niggerati The Niggerati was the name used, with deliberate irony, by Wallace Thurman for the group of young African-American artists and intellectuals of the Harlem Renaissance. "Niggerati" is a portmanteau of "nigger" and "literati". The rooming house where he lived, and where that group often met, was similarly christened Niggerati Manor. The group included Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, and several of the people behind Thurman's journal "FIRE!!" (which lasted for one issue in 1926), such as Richard Bruce Nugent (the associate editor of the journal), Jonathan Davis, Gwendolyn Bennett, and Aaron Douglas. The African-American bourgeoisie tried to distance itself from the slavery of the past and sought social equality and racial integration. The Niggerati themselves appeared to be relatively comfortable with their diversity of gender, skin color, and background. After producing "FIRE!!", which failed because of a lack of funding, Thurman persuaded the Niggerati to produce another magazine, "Harlem". This, too, lasted only a single issue. Origin. In his autobiographical novel, "Infants of the Spring", Thurman referred to the Harlem literati, whose pretensions he often considered to be spurious and whose achievements he often considered to be second-rate, as the Niggerati. (In the novel, Sweetie May Carr, a character modelled on the real-life Hurston, christens the Harlem rooming house where Dr Parkes, modelled on the real life Alain Locke, establishes a salon of artists, Niggerati Manor, just as Thurman's own rooming house was in real life.) Thurman himself was infamous amongst that literati, although popular amongst the younger, bohemian, crowd. Thurman rejected what he called "society Negroes". He himself, as many others of the literati did, would hold parties on Saturday nights, which Langston Hughes described in "The Big Sea" by observing that "at Wallace Thurman's you met the bohemians of both Harlem and the Village." Recalling the days of Niggerati Manor, Theophilus Lewis wrote: All three of Hughes, Hurston, and Thurman enjoyed the shock value of referring to themselves as the Niggerati. Hurston's biographer Valerie Boyd described it as "an inspired moniker that was simultaneously self-mocking and self-glorifying, and sure to shock the stuffy black bourgeoisie". Hurston was actually the coiner of the name. The quickest wit in what was a very witty group, which encompassed Helene Johnson, Countee Cullen, Augusta Savage, Dorothy West (then a teacher), Harold Jackman, and John P. Davis (a law student at the time), as well as hangers-on, friends, and acquaintances, Hurston dubbed herself the "Queen of the Niggerati". In addition to Niggerati Manor, the rooming house at 267 West 136th Street where both Thurman and Hughes lived, Niggerati meetings were held at Hurston's apartment, with a pot on the stove, into which attendees were expected to contribute ingredients for stew. She also cooked okra, or fried Florida eel. Whilst Hughes, Hurston, and Thurman were comfortable with the appellation, others were less so. Cullen, for example, found Carl Van Vechten's novel "Nigger Heaven" so offensive that he refused to talk to him for 14 years. Hurston, though, had no trouble with language that challenged the sensibilities of others. She dubbed the well-heeled white liberals who were involved in the Harlem Renaissance "Negrotarians" (c.f. rotarian). "FIRE!!". "FIRE!!" itself represented the aesthetic frustrations of the Niggerati. Its single issue was published in November 1926, a year after the publication of Alain Locke's "The New Negro". Whilst "The New Negro" was viewed by the Niggerati as subtle propaganda, appropriating their talents for racial propagandist purposes, "FIRE!!" was intended to be "devoted to the younger Negro artists", and was edited, paid for, and published by the Niggerati themselves, with the intention both of being purely aesthetic and of causing outrage amongst black literary critics. The journal's title came from a poem that Hughes had written, which was a sinner's lament in the fashion of a Negro spiritual. In a letter written to Locke, Hurston stated that there needed to be "more outlets for Negro fire", and the Niggerati distanced themselves even from Locke, declining his offer of patronage for the journal. Organization. In addition to Nugent; Bennett, Douglas, Thurman, Hurston, and Hughes formed the journal's editorial board, with Thurman at the head. Davis was the business manager. Each editor was supposed to contribute 50 dollars towards the publication costs, although only three (not including Hurston) actually did. Thurman signed an I.O.U. for the printer, making him personally liable for the bill of nearly $1,000. He borrowed $150 from the Harlem Community Church, and another $150 from the Mutual League, only to be mugged on a street corner in Harlem, losing both all of the money and his clothing. For the next four years, Thurman's pay was attached in order to pay the debt. Hurston solicited subscriptions on a folklore-collecting trip to the South in 1927, in order to help, and both she and Hughes submitted essays to "World Tomorrow", which had loaned money to "FIRE!", to repay that loan. This shaky financial foundation was symptomatic of the troubles that beset the journal, one of the most major of which was that none of the Niggerati had time to work on it. By the Autumn of 1926, Hurston had begun a course at Barnard, Hughes had returned to college in Pennsylvania, Davis was at Harvard and occupied with editing "Crisis", Bennett was at Howard and occupied with her column for "Opportunity", and even Thurman had taken a new job editing "World Tomorrow" magazine. Nugent and Douglas were artists, not editors. One of Nugent's stories, submitted for publication, was destroyed accidentally whilst stored at Hurston's apartment, and he had to rewrite it. He did so on a roll of toilet paper, which he gave to Thurman. Nugent himself stated that the most amazing thing about "FIRE!!" was that it was ever published at all. In a final irony, the printer gave the entire print run of the magazine to the Niggerati, in the hope that they would sell better in quantity, only for several hundred copies to be lost in a fire in the basement in which they were stored. Hurston later commented "I suppose that 'Fire' has gone to ashes quite, but I still think the idea is good.". Content. The one issue of "FIRE!!" to be published contained stories by several of the Niggerati, most of which had transgressions of moral and aesthetic boundaries as their themes. Thurman's story "Cordelia the Crude" was a story about a sixteen-year-old black girl becoming a prostitute — an image that would have outraged black critics of the time, whose view of black female sexuality was that images of it should be moral. Nugent's story was "Smoke, Lilies and Jade", an overtly homoerotic story with black and Latino protagonists, and the first such story published by an African American. Hurston submitted two stories, one of which, her play "Color Struck" (a reworked version of what she had won the 1925 "'Opportunity" contest with), Thurman had considered printing under a nom de plume, in order to prevent the issue being too "Zoraish". Like the other stories, "Color Struck" condemned the bourgeois attitude of envying whites, on biological and intellectual grounds, its subject being that of a woman who was so conscious of the colour of her skin that she missed out on the love of a good man. Her other submission was a short story entitled "Sweat", which Hemenway praises as being "a remarkable work, her best fiction of the period", and observes that such stories could have led to the magazine's eventual success, had it not suffered from the other problems. Reception. The Niggerati sought to challenge borgeoise attitudes with "FIRE!!", and intended it (in Thurman's own words from his solicitation letters) to be "provocative ... to provide the shocks necessary to encourage new types of artistic interest and new types of artistic energy". However, their efforts failed. They were not taken very seriously. Most of the negative reactions were little stronger than slaps on the wrist. Locke criticized their "effete echoes of contemporary decadence" and yet praised their anti-Puritanism. The NAACP even handled some of the journal's prepublication publicity. Du Bois, editor of "Crisis", simply ignored them. The way in which the Niggerati "thought" that "FIRE!!" was received reveals much about their intent in publishing it. Hughes wrote in "The Big Sea" that "None of the older Negro intellectuals would have anything to do with "FIRE". Dr. Du Bois in "Crisis" roasted it.". In fact, Du Bois did no such thing. The only mention that "FIRE!!" received was a brief announcement in the January 1927 issue, calling it "a beautiful piece of printing" that was "strikingly illustrated by Aaron Douglas" and concluding "We bespeak for it wide support.". Hughes "thought" that Du Bois panned "FIRE!!" because he "expected" him to pan it, that being the reaction that he and the other Niggerati had intended to elicit. Nugent reported that once all initial submissions had been made, Thurman had asked the group for something that would get the journal banned in Boston, which led to the inclusion of "Cordelia the Crude" and "Smoke, Lilies and Jade". "Harlem". The Niggerati's next magazine, "Harlem", published in November 1928, was subtly different in tone to "FIRE!!". Whilst still choosing themes that critics considered inappropriate and shocking, the magazine was more politically oriented, was more commercially viable, and had a wider variety of articles, stories, advertisements, and other contents. It also had a different look, and lacked the inter-generational rhetoric of "FIRE!!". Thurman himself described it as a "wholly new type of magazine", with a new outlook, celebrating "a new day in the history of the American Negro". Thurman aimed the magazine squarely at the New Negroes envisioned by Locke and others. Unlike "FIRE!!", "Harlem" was not intended solely a vehicle for the Niggerati themselves, but was intended to accept articles from anyone, as long as the authors had skill. Organization. Most of the editors of "FIRE!!" also contributed to "Harlem". They also approached other writers. One such was Nella Larsen, a friend of Peterson. Peterson had wanted no part in another magazine published by Thurman, and had been approached by Nugent and Scholley Alexander, to write a monthly theatrical column, under the pretext that Alexander was the editor. Upon receiving a thank-you letter with Thurman's name as editor on the letterhead, she withdrew, despite pleas from Alexander acknowledging Thurman's "selfish treatment of those who have helped him gain a place in the literary world" and stating that he would not let Thurman run amok. Alexander asked Peterson to ask her friends "to forbear — to "with-hold their criticism until they have the first issue at hand to criticize"" (original emphasis and underlining). Larsen also declined, on the grounds that she was not going to be paid for her submissions, confessing that her ultimate goal in writing was "money". "I write so slowly and with such great reluctance that it seems a waste of time.", she also observed. Content. The first issue of "Harlem" contained essays by Lewis, Locke, Nugent, and Walter Francis White; poems by Helene Johnson, Georgia Douglas Johnson, Alice Dunbar Nelson, and Effie Newsom; stories by Roy de Coverly and George Little; and illustrations. Although intended to be more moderate than "FIRE!!", Thurman abandoned this stance in later pages of the issue. His review of Larsen's "Quicksand" gave closer attention to the review of the novel given by Du Bois than it did to the novel itself, saying that Larsen "no doubt pleases Dr. Du Bois for she stays in her own sphere and writes about the sort of people one can invite to one's home without losing one's social prestige. She doesn't give white people the impression that all Negroes are gin drinkers, cabaret hounds and of the half world. Her Negroes are all of the upper class. And how!". Reception. Like "FIRE!!", "Harlem" also failed, with the readership responding unfavourably. Nugent wrote to Peterson after the publication of the first issue, expressing his disappointment and blaming the failure on "Wally's" editorship. According to Nugent, neither Alexander nor Douglas had been able, nor had had the strength, to counteract Thurman. Nugent himself had been on tour, with the cast of "Porgy", whilst the issue was being edited. Nugent distanced himself from the magazine, and wanted it made clear to Van Vechten that he had not been "in any way responsible for the perpetration of "Harlem"". In December 1928, Thurman resigned from the magazine's editorial board.

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Urban Christian fiction Urban Christian fiction is a subgenre of Christian fiction and urban fiction in which conflicting stories of emotion and vividness mixes God, the urban church, and faith. Violence and sex is not purposely excluded, but are included whenever necessary for the story line. God is the center of the characters' lives in Urban Christian fiction, and these stories usually portray African-American or Latino urban culture. Urban Christian fiction is classified as part of the African-American Christian Market (AACM), where the hot-selling topics are fiction, books for dating, dramatic testimony, and single parenting. Some of the themes and topics considered within "Urban Christian fiction" cross over into theological fiction.

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Black Futures Black Futures is an American anthology of Black art, writing, and other creative work, edited by writer Jenna Wortham and curator Kimberly Drew. Writer Teju Cole, singer Solange Knowles and activist Alicia Garza, who cofounded Black Lives Matter, are among the book's more than 100 contributors. The 544-page collection was published in 2020, receiving strongly favorable reviews. Development and publication. Beginning their collaboration in 2015, "New York Times" writer Jenna Wortham and curator and activist Kimberly Drew aimed to record the way "communities of Black people [were] interacting and engaging in new ways because of social media ... creating our own signage and language," Wortham said. They originally conceived of creating a zine, but ultimately concluded the accessibility technology available for books would allow more people to engage with the work. The 544-page collection, designed by Wael Marcos and Jonathan Key, was published on December 1, 2020 by One World, publisher Chris Jackson's imprint at Penguin Random House. Content. The 544-page anthology, collecting works of more than 100 contributors, includes discussions, like writer Rembert Browne and filmmaker Ezra Edelman on Colin Kaepernick, as well as works, for example artist Yetunde Olagbaju's "I Will Protect Black People" contract. In addition to traditional media such as painting and essays, "Black Futures" includes creative works in the form of recipes, Instagram posts, tweets, street art, and communal gatherings. These are organized by theme, included "Justice", "Power", "Joy", "Black is (Still Beautiful)", "Memory", and "Legacy". Other contributors include activist Alicia Garza (co-founder of Black Lives Matter), writer Morgan Parker, comedian Ziwe Fumudoh, writer Teju Cole and singer Solange Knowles. Reception. "Black Futures" received enthusiastic reviews, beginning with a starred review in "Kirkus". Writing in "The Root", Maiysha Kai called "Black Futures" "a weighty and gorgeously bound compendium of Black creativity". Reviews emphasized the scope of the collection. In "Interview", "Black Futures" was compared to Toni Morrison's 1974 work "The Black Book", which covered Black American life from 1619 (the year the first enslaved Africans were brought to territory now part of the United States) to Morrison's writing in the mid-20th century: "it filled such a gap in the library that an entire wing should have been built just to hold it". Beyond sheer breadth, critics emphasized the book's expansive quality of "Black Futures" structure and aesthetic sensibility. In "The New York Times", Scaachi Koul found the book "a literary experience unlike any I've had in recent memory", distinguished by the way "you can enter and exit the project on whatever pages you choose...once you start reading 'Black Futures,' you are somehow endlessly reading it". Koul notes that Wortham and Drew recommend reading with an internet-connected device at hand, to follow threads the book offers out into the world. The book's "brief chapters reach in seemingly infinite directions, each one a portal into what could be an entire book on its own". Writing in the "Chicago Review of Books", Mandana Chaffa agreed "Black Futures" is "a jumping off point for discussion, rather than a static destination", something to be used as a "divinatory tool": "open anywhere [...] and see where it leads [...] like the best of parties, in which you come across those familiar to you, and through them, new, thought-provoking voices". For Koul, who is not Black, the cumulative experience creates a call to action—"a question any non-Black person inevitably comes back to again and again throughout the book: If you know the fight, will you join it?" "Publishers Weekly" also emphasized this effect, "This unique and imaginative work issues a powerful call for justice, equality, and inclusion". But Koul also noted that struggle was not the only Black experience documented, and as a non-Black reader she felt grateful "to be let in on [the book's] moments of joyous intimacy. You feel thankful for being offered entry".

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Langston Hughes Medal The Langston Hughes Medal has been awarded annually by the Langston Hughes Festival of the City College of New York since 1978. The medal "is awarded to highly distinguished writers from throughout the African American diaspora for their impressive works of poetry, fiction, drama, autobiography and critical essays that help to celebrate the memory and tradition of Langston Hughes. Each year, the LHF’s Advisory Committee reviews the work of major black writers from Africa to America whose work is accessed as likely having a lasting impact on world literature.". Recipients. Recipients of the Langston Hughes medallion are:

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Afrocentricity (book)

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Urban fiction Urban fiction, also known as street lit or street fiction, is a literary genre set in a city landscape; however, the genre is as much defined by the socio-economic realities and culture of its characters as the urban setting. The tone for urban fiction is usually dark, focusing on the underside of city living. Profanity, sex, and violence are usually explicit, with the writer not shying away from or watering-down the material. Most authors of this genre draw upon their past experiences to depict their storylines. Genesis and historical forces. Contemporary urban fiction was (and largely still is) a genre written by African Americans. In his famous essay "The Souls of Black Folk", W. E. B. Du Bois discussed how a veil separated the African American community from the outside world. By extension, fiction written by people outside the African American culture could not (at least with any degree of verisimilitude) depict the people, settings, and events experienced by people in that culture. Try as some might, those who grew up outside the veil (i.e., outside the urban culture) may find it difficult to write fiction grounded in inner-city and African American life. City novels of yesteryear that depict the low-income survivalist realities of city living can also be considered urban fiction or street lit. In her book, "The Readers' Advisory Guide to Street Literature" (2011), Vanessa Irvin Morris points out that titles considered canonical or "classic" today, could be considered the urban fiction or "street lit" of its day. Titles that depict historical inner-city realities include Stephen Crane's "" (1893), Charles Dickens's "Oliver Twist" (1838), Paul Laurence Dunbar's "The Sport of the Gods" (1902) and Langston Hughes's “The Ballad of the Landlord” (1940). In this vein, urban fiction is not just an African American or Latino phenomenon, but, rather, the genre exists along a historical continuum that includes stories from diverse cultural and ethnic experiences. Emergence of contemporary urban fiction. In the 1970s, during the culmination of the Black Power movement, a jailed Black man named Robert Beck took the pen name Iceberg Slim and wrote "Pimp", a dark, gritty tale of life in the inner-city underworld. While the book contained elements of the Black Power agenda, it was most notable for its unsparing depiction of street life. Iceberg Slim wrote many other novels and attained an international following. Some of the terminology he used in his books crossed over into the lexicon of Black English. Other writers included Donald Goines and, notably, Claude Brown's "Manchild in the Promised Land", which was published in 1965. Also published that year was "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Haley"." Because Haley's non-fictional read captured the realistic nature of African American urban life for coming-of-age young men, the book has consistently served as a standard for reading among African American teenaged boys. Hip hop lit: hip hop music as an urban ballad. During the 1980s and early 1990s, urban fiction in print experienced a decline. However, one could make a cogent argument that urban tales simply moved from print to music, as hip hop music exploded in popularity. Of course, for every emcee who signed a recording contract and made the airwaves, ten more amateurs plied the streets and local clubs, much like urban bards, griots or troubadours telling urban fiction in an informal, oral manner rather than in a neat, written form. One of the most famous emcees, Tupac Shakur, is sometimes called a ghetto prophet and an author of urban fiction in lyrical form. Shakur's early poetry was posthumously compiled into a volume entitled "The Rose That Grew from Concrete" in 1999. Modern hip-hop literature in print form is a thriving and popular genre. Many non-fiction publications from figures in the hip-hop realm such as Russell Simmons, Kevin Liles, LL Cool J, and FUBU founder Daymond John feature prominently in this genre. Karrine Steffans and shock jock Wendy Williams have written blockbuster books for this audience. Both Steffans and emcee 50 Cent have had such success with their books that they were given their own imprints to usher in similar authors, such as for 50 Cent's G-Unit Books. Contemporary street lit: The new wave of urban fiction. 1990s. Toward the end of the 1990s, urban fiction experienced a revival, as demand for novels authentically conveying the urban experience increased, and new business models enabled fledgling writers to more easily bring a manuscript to market and to libraries. The first writer in this new cycle of urban fiction was Omar Tyree, who published the novel "Flyy Girl" in 1996, which was reissued as a reprint in 1999. The genre gained significant momentum in 1999 with Sister Souljah's bestseller "The Coldest Winter Ever". Teri Woods's "True to the Game" was also published in 1999, and became the standard from which the entrepreneurial publishing and distribution of contemporary urban fiction took note. The simultaneous publishing of these three novels created a momentum of readership for urban fiction and carried that wave for years. Thus "The Coldest Winter Ever", "True to the Game", and "Flyy Girl" are considered classics in the renaissance of the genre. Sister Souljah describes the untapped market for urban fiction and the stereotypes that held it back in its early years: 2000–present. In less than a decade, urban fiction has experienced a renaissance that boasts thousands of titles. The newest wave of street fiction is urban Latino fiction novels such as "Devil's Mambo" by Jerry Rodriguez, Chained by Deborah Cardona (a.k.a. Sexy) and Jeff Rivera's "Forever My Lady". Major writers of contemporary urban fiction include Wahida Clark, Vickie Stringer, Nikki Turner, K'wan Foye, Toy Styles, Roy Glenn, Kwame Teague, who many believed penned Teri Woods' "Dutch", and the writing duo Meesha Mink & De'Nesha Diamond. There is also an unexpected literary wave of hip-hop fiction and street lit, which was sparked by Sister Souljah. Authors with a book or books in this offering include Saul Williams, Abiola Abrams, and Felicia Pride. These are hip hop lit or street lit books that take a more literary approach using metaphor, signifying and other literary devices. These books may also be used in socially redeeming or classroom capacities, while maintaining love and positivity for the music and hip hop culture. With this new wave of renaissance, "street lit" was breaking new ground when it came to promotion and exposure. Aside from hand-to-hand sales, which seems to work best in a genre where word-of-mouth has proven to be worth more than any large ad campaign, the Internet has increased the authors' and publishers' ability to reach out to the genre's readers. With Internet savvy, many self-published authors who once had no shot of recognition are now household names, such as author Rasheed Clark, who went from relatively unknown, to being honored with fourteen Infini Literary Award nominations for his first two novels, "Stories I Wouldn't Tell Nobody But God" and "Cold Summer Afternoon", both of which became instant bestsellers and proved that Clark was a fresh voice in African American fiction, and a leading African-American writer. Authors in this genre such as K'wan Foye, Nikki Turner, and Toy Styles are known for bringing street teams and other musical promotion efforts to the book scene. In recent years, some of these authors have joined with hip hop artists such as 50 Cent to further promote the genre by penning the musicians' real-life stories. In 2010, the hip hop music label Cash Money Records established a publishing branch, Cash Money Content. However, Cash Money Content's last book, "Animal 3", was published in November 2014. Vickie Stringer is an urban lit author, as well as founder and CEO of her own publishing company, Triple Crown Publications, a publisher of 45 novels and 35 writers as of 2008. Forums like AALBC are often used to keep track of the progressive urban fiction genre as it grows tremendously daily. Criticism. Early criticism of street lit was that books were badly edited due to lack of copy editing by independent publishers. However, in recent years the mainstream publishing industry recognized the genre's potential and signed many street lit authors to contracts, thus producing better packaged product. One such author was Treasure E. Blue, according to Kirkus Reviews Magazine, a self-published sensation—it has reportedly sold 65,000 copies before getting signed to a major six-figure deal with Random House Publishing. The reach of urban fiction into a large youth readership is undeniable today. Researchers have turned their attention to its influence on urban literacy, particularly among adolescent girls. Despite misgivings about editing quality issues, secondary school teachers in suburban settings have included urban literature in curricula, referring to it as "multicultural young adult literature" to expose students to "authentic" voices representing urban life. External links. Reading lists. Because this genre is very popular with urban teenagers, the following reading lists should prove to be helpful for teachers and librarians.

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Black Sexual Politics Black Sexual Politics: African Americans, Gender and the New Racism by Patricia Hill Collins is a work of critical theory that discusses the way that race, class and gender intersect to affect the lives of African American men and women in many different ways, but with similar results. The book explores the way that new forms of racism can work to oppress black people, while filling them with messages of liberation. "Black Sexual Politics" also examines the way a narrow sexual politics based on American ideas/ideals of masculinity, femininity and the appropriate expression of sexuality work to repress gay and hetero, male and female. Collins' work also proposes a liberatory politics for black Americans, centered on honest dialogue about the way stereotypical imagery and limiting racist and sexist ideology have harmed African Americans in the past, and how African Americans might progress beyond these ideas and their manifestations to become active change agents in their own communities. Summary. The book starts from the premise that in order to achieve a more progressive black political agenda, African Americans need to look critically at the way race, class and gender intersect in their lives to create different responses. Looking at the black community as a monolith may prevent us from seeing that African American women are the targets of specific social welfare policies or that African American men are being disproportionately incarcerated. Both of these results stem from racism, but take on a gendered approach. In "Black Sexual Politics", Hill Collins proposes several ideas for black liberation, though the book is focused on getting individuals to find creative ways to challenge racism, sexism and homophobia as it manifests itself in their own communities. One idea that Hill Collins purports is that African Americans need to create and support avenues of self-expression that allow them to tell their own stories about the effects of racism/sexism/homophobia, and to share their emotional and sexual experiences as African American persons. This work is being done, but is largely in its infancy. Hill Collins also argues that it is critical for African Americans to define new visions of success that resist traditional Western/American views. She argues that equating masculinity with wealth and femininity with submissiveness and financial dependence is harmful to all groups, but especially for African Americans, who have been traditionally locked out of the economic opportunity structure. In a society where black men face threats to their economic well being, and disproportionately are incarcerated and lack access to quality education, any vision of masculinity that suggests that to be a man is to be financially successful puts a great number of black males at odds. Collins argues for a new, more holistic version of success, that includes visions of the importance of personal character apart from economic achievement. Hill Collins argues that there needs to be a culture of honesty in the black community, whereby black persons can express their ideas and identities in a whole way. If we do not create the space for black people to express their sexual perspectives freely, then we create a space where the silence and deceptiveness that leads to the spread of HIV/AIDS to continue. When we can discuss sexuality from multiple perspectives, we allow people the space to talk about sex and sexuality and feel more comfortable engaging their partners in dialogues about their own sexual history, sexual feelings, and lead to STD testing and full appreciation and connection of one another. LGBT. In "Black Sexual Politics" Collins expresses the view that the black community will not reach its progressive political agenda, nor will it be able to successfully address social issues such as the HIV/AIDS crisis affecting the black community, if it does not allow marginalized voices like women and LGBT persons to express their perspectives and lifestyles. Collins believes that a group cannot be truly revolutionary or progressive if it works to oppress others. She also believes that a view of the black community that values some identities and expressions over others limits the connectedness that others in that community feel, and prevents issues disproportionately affecting them to be discussed in meaningful ways. She argues that a narrow black sexual politics that places extreme value on limiting views of the role of the male and the role of the female, and also on the role of appropriate and socially acceptable sexual behavior works to deny LGBT people their agency, and prevents honest dialogue about different types of sexual lifestyles. This can work to the oppression of LGBT people, but also of heterosexual women and men, oppressed by views of sexuality which limit their sexual expression, and thus limit the space for them to talk about their lifestyles in a way that breeds honesty, self-affirmation and prevents the spread of disease.

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Home Girls Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology (1983) is a collection of Black lesbian and Black feminist writings, edited by Barbara Smith. The anthology includes different accounts from 32 black feminist women who come from a variety of different areas, culture, and classes. This collection of writings is intended to join black women together and encourage them to celebrate similarities that have often gone unnoticed. In the introduction, Smith states her belief that "Black feminism is, on every level, organic to Black experience". Writings within "Home Girls" support this belief through a series writings that exemplify black women's struggles within their race, gender, sexual orientation, culture, and home life. Topics and stories discussed in the writings often touch on subjects that in the past have been deemed taboo, provocative, and profound. History. The book grew out of "Conditions" magazine's November 1979 issue, "Conditions 5: the Black Women's Issue", originally edited by Barbara Smith and Lorraine Bethel. "Conditions 5" was "the first widely distributed collection of Black feminist writing in the U.S." The anthology was first published in 1983 by , and was reissued by Rutgers University Press in 2000. Where necessary, the 2000 issue contained updates of the contributor's biographies as well as a new preface. The current preface evaluates how the lives of black women have changed since the original book was released. Smith's main concern was in regards to how black women were positively contributing to black feminism. Upon its initial release, "Home Girls" "has become an essential text on Black women's lives and writings". Topics discussed. Black feminism stems from the idea that women's experiences are intersectional and a reflection of race, sexism, gender oppression, and class. Within the anthology, black women authors take many different approaches to address the issues that arise from their identities and express their support for black feminist organizations. Since its original release there have been numerous events and organizations that work towards building black feminism. Sexuality is another topic brought up in many of the pieces throughout "Home Girls". Black women share their discoveries as well as stories about what it means to be a part of the LGBTQ+ community and how that has shaped them. In the preface, Smith acknowledges black lesbians and their activity within The Ad Hoc Committee "for an open process, the grass-roots groups that have successfully questioned the undemocratic... tactics of the proposed gay millennium march in Washington D.C in 2000". Many of the organizations and marches that came to be before and after the publication of "Home Girls" are centralized around issues of racial inequality and gender oppression. The struggle black women face with sexual orientation is suggested in many of the contributor's pieces. Things such as physical appearance, clothes, mannerisms, and makeup affected the way these women were perceived and sexualized throughout their lives. In"Home Girls" many of the women reveal their personal stories and accounts of sexual abuse and the continuous sexualization they received. Audre Lorde addresses this and mentions "Clothes were often the most important way of broadcasting one's chosen sexual role". In relation to sexual orientation many of the writings in "Home Girls" contain personal stories about their LBGT experiences and reactions from community members and reactions from the LGBT community. Cheryl Clarke is one of the black feministolor Pre contributors to addresses homophobia within the black community. In her writing, she shares the struggles of LGBT in black communities and the fear they often have to live with. Together, the topics presented in this anthology exemplify intersectionality, the idea that multiple oppressions can be suffered together and mold a person's idea of their oppression. A feminist goal is to expand its diversity and inclusiveness. In order to achieve this goal, many activists suggest becoming more knowledgeable about intersectional feminism and its effects on how black women experience oppression and discrimination. Audience response. Critical reception for "Home Girls" has been mostly positive. One reviewer for the Black American Literature Forum praises the book for its sense of unity and black feminist perspective. As the article states: "While many of the book's poems strike me as self-indulgent and forced, the majority of the selections are both finely honed and provocative. Herein lies the strength of "Home Girls". It consciously broaches issues which have heretofore been given only a faint hearing and thus challenges the reader to rethink not only the past and present but also the future."

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All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave (1982) is a landmark feminist anthology in Black Women's Studies printed in numerous editions, co-edited by Akasha Gloria Hull, Patricia Bell-Scott, and Barbara Smith. Awards. Hull received the National Institute's Women of Color Award for her contribution to this book. Her contribution to this "landmark scholarship directed attention to the lives of Black women and, combined with the numerous articles she wrote thereafter, helped remedy the emphasis within Feminist Studies on white women and within Black studies on Black men". Context. The interest in black feminism was on the rise in the 1970s, through the writings of Mary Helen Washington, Audre Lorde, Alice Walker, and others. In 1981, the anthology "This Bridge Called My Back", edited by Cherríe Moraga and Gloria E. Anzaldúa, was published and "But Some of Us Are Brave" was published the following year. In both anthologies, the emphasis was placed on the intersection between race and gender. The contributors argued that previous waves of feminism had focused on issues related to white women. They wanted to negotiate a large space for women of color. According to Teresa de Lauretis, "This Bridge Called My Back" and "But Some Women Are Brave" revealed "the feelings, the analyses, and the political positions of feminists of color, and their critiques of white or mainstream feminism" and created a "shift in feminist consciousness." Impact. In the 2000 reprint of their anthology, editors Hull, Bell-Scott, and Smith described how in 1992 black feminists mobilized "a remarkable national response" - "African American Women in Defense of Ourselves" - to the controversy surrounding the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court of the United States against the backdrop of allegations by law professor Anita Hill, about sexual harassment that became part of Thomas' confirmation hearings. Legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw cited "But Some of Us Are Brave", at the beginning of her seminal 1989 paper, "Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics" in which she introduced the concept of Intersectionality. Crenshaw is known for introducing and developing intersectional theory to feminism. Crenshaw noted that it was one of the "very few Black women's studies books". She used the title "All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us are Brave", as her "point of departure" to "develop a Black feminist criticism". Barbara Y. Welke published her article entitled "When All the Women Were White, and All the Blacks Were Men: Gender, Class, Race, and the Road to Plessy, 1855–1914", in reference to Hull et al., in 1995 in the "Law and History Review." Welke wrote how Crenshaw, referring to "But Some of Us Are Brave", said that the title "sets forth a problematic consequence of the tendency to treat race and gender as mutually exclusive categories of experience and analysis.

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Black Feminist Thought Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness and the Politics of Empowerment is a 1990 book by Patricia Hill Collins. Defining Black Feminist Thought. Black feminist thought is a field of knowledge that is focused on the perspectives and experiences of Black women. There are several arguments in support of this definition. First, Berger and Luckmann (1966) and Mannheim (1936) similarly argue that the definition implies that the overall content of the thought and the historical and factual circumstances of Black women are inseparable. Proposition is that other groups in the field act as merely transcribers, whereas Black women are the actual authors. Second, the definition assumes that Black women possess a unique standpoint on, or perspective of, their experiences and that there will be certain commonalities of perception shared by Black women as a group. Third, while living life as Black women may produce certain commonalities of outlook, the diversity of class, region, age, and sexual orientation shaping individual Black women's lives has resulted in different expressions of these common themes. Thus, universal themes included in the Black women's standpoint may be experienced and expressed differently by distinct groups of Afro-American women. Finally, the definition assumes that, while a Black women's standpoint exists, its contours may not be clear to Black women themselves. Therefore, one role for Black female intellectuals is to produce facts and theories about the Black female experience that will clarify a Black woman's standpoint for Black women. In other words, Black feminist thought contains observations and interpretations about Afro-American womanhood that describe and explain different expressions of common themes. Black women's insistence on self-definition, self-valuation, and the necessity for a Black female-centered analysis is significant for two reasons. First, defining and valuing one's consciousness of one's own self-defined standpoint in the face of images that foster a self-definition as the objectified "other" is an important way of resisting the dehumanization essential to systems of domination. The status of being the "other" implies being "other than" or different from the assumed norm of white male behavior. In this model, powerful white males define themselves as subjects, the true actors, and classify people of color and white women in terms of their position vis-a-vis this white male hub. Since Black women have been denied the authority to challenge these definitions, this model consists of images that define Black women as a negative other, the virtual antithesis of positive white male images. Moreover, as Britain and Maynard (1984:199) point out, "domination always involves the objectification of the dominated; all forms of oppression imply the devaluation of the subjectivity of the oppressed." Book description. In spite of the double burden of racial and gender discrimination, African-American women have developed a rich intellectual tradition that is not widely known. In "Black Feminist Thought", originally published in 1990, Patricia Hill Collins set out to explore the words and ideas of Black feminist intellectuals and writers, both within the academy and without. Here Collins provides an interpretive framework for the work of such prominent Black feminist thinkers as Angela Davis, bell hooks, Alice Walker, and Audre Lorde. Drawing from fiction, poetry, music, and oral history, the result is a book that provided the first synthetic overview of Black feminist thought and its canon. Key concepts. Outsider-within. Patricia Hill Collins coins the term "outsider-within" in a former essay and redefines the term in her book to describe the experience of black women. In the book, she historically situates the term to describe the social location of black women in domestic work pre-World War II. While the domestic work gave black women an opportunity "to see White elites, both actual and aspiring, from perspectives largely obscured from Black men and from these groups themselves," they were still economically exploited by their white employers. Collins asserts that black women cannot fully be a member of feminist thought nor black social thought because the former assumes whiteness while the latter assumes maleness. The makeup of their identity and consequently their experiences as black women maintain their position as outsiders within spaces of oppression. However, as Collins notes, the black woman's position as an outsider-within provides her with a unique perspective on social, political, intellectual, and economic realities. Therefore, although black women are marginalized they can bring a more nuanced outlook to feminist and social thought. Intellectual activism. Collins pinpoints intellectual activism as a key process in developing black feminist thought. She articulates the reclaiming of "black feminist intellectual traditions" as one of the most important pillars of intellectual activism. Since the intellectual work of black women has been suppressed for so long, reclaiming and centering these works not only preserves the intellectual traditions of past black women but also encourages continued contributions to black feminist thought. Collins also notes the importance in "discovering, reinterpreting, and analyzing the ideas of subgroups within the larger collectivity of U.S. Black women who have been silenced" meaning that we must also give equal attention to the groups of black women who have been especially marginalized, such as black lesbians. Collins describes the relationship between past and present intellectual traditions, suggesting that we use black feminists' theoretical frameworks of today, such as, race, class, and gender, to interpret the intellectual traditions of previously silenced black women. Collins' focus goes beyond black female academics; she argues that all forms of works be considered as black women's social thought which questions the definition of "intellectual" and allows for poetry, music, etc. to be considered as valid forms of social thought. Balancing of Intellectual Activism. Black women's work within the academy faces a double meaning of exclusion. The exclusion of the work of Black Feminist Thought or the exclusion of their own selves from Black women academicians, all for the sake of visibility and acceptance within the academy. Through academic frameworks built around a White, male viewpoint, the work in having Black Feminist Thought recognized as legitimate is listed against varying frames of knowledge, one in particular, Positivist. The Positivist methodology would require the exclusion of self from Black women academics with the requirements of distancing one's self and their emotions from their work along with hostile confrontations with superiors. The implied separation of the personal and professional goes against the inherent value systems within Black communities that included varying areas of community, familial and religion. The intermeshing of these ideas also includes views that scholars view as feminist, with Black women having experiences pulling from their racial community and gender identity, their intellectual experiences, even through differences, still showcase similarities. Matrix of domination. The matrix of domination refers to how intersections of oppression are structurally organized. It explains the way "structural, disciplinary, hegemonic, and interpersonal domains of power reappear across quite different forms of oppression". The matrix of domination is made up of varying combinations of intersecting oppression such as race, gender, socioeconomic status, age, and sexuality. Collins' matrix of domination works in four different domains: the structural domain, the disciplinary domain, the hegemonic domain, and the interpersonal domain. The structural domain functions to organize power and oppression, the disciplinary manages oppression in attempts to sustain it, the hegemonic functions to legitimize oppression, and the interpersonal domain controls the interactions and consciousness of individuals. Although all black women are within the matrix of domination, the differences in the intersections of oppression make the experiences and the perspectives of black women differ. Controlling images. Collins' discussion of controlling images focuses on the negative stereotypical representations and images of black women. These representations continue to oppress black women as they continue to perpetuate the dominant subject's definition of the object i.e. the black woman. The images' pervasive nature aid in sustaining intersecting oppression because they "[reflect] the dominant group's interest in maintaining Black women's subordination. These images are used to make black women's oppression seem natural and normal. Collins' critique on controlling images includes an analysis of the mammy, the welfare mother, and the jezebel. She explains that the images constitute different oppressions simultaneous: the mammy works to make the defeminized black women and all oppressive factors against her seem natural, the welfare mother works to make the economically unfit black women and all oppressive factors against her seem natural, and the jezebel works to make the hypersexual black women and all oppressive factors against her seem natural. Power of Images on Black girls. For young Black girls, the manipulation of images is also an influence. From a 2016 study by University of Pennsylvania associate professor, Charlotte E. Jacobs, utilizing Black Feminist Thought as an educational work for Black girls in media depictions. Coupled with the inherent knowledge and experiences of Black girls, Jacobs explained how it is able to provide an "opportunity to develop critical media literacy skills." Knowing this frameworks aids in their own viewpoints and stances to media representations in understanding and deciphering the images and meaning behind such imagery. Moving beyond the surface images and using this framework as a means of combatting against the prevalent, normalized view of characters and ideals within the media that are shown as representations of and for young Black girls. Self-definition. Self-definition is "the power to name one's own reality" Collins articulates black women's resistance against controlling images as an important step for practicing self-definition. The rejection of the dominant group's definition of black women and black women's imposition of their own self-definition indicates a "collective Black women's consciousness". The expression of the black women's consciousness and standpoint is an integral part of developing Black feminist thought. Collins notes the importance of safe spaces for black women, where self-definition is not clouded by further objectification or silencing. Affirmation is also an important part of Collins' call for self-definition, which can take place in the individual friendships and familial relationships of black women. Collins describes the process of self-definition as a "journey form internalized oppression to the 'free mind'" in order to emphasize its significance in the formation of the collective consciousness of black women. Reception. Media reception. With the success of "Black Feminist Thought", Collins gained more recognition as a "social theorist, drawing from many intellectual traditions." Collins' work has now been published and used in many different fields including philosophy, history, psychology and sociology. The University of Cincinnati named Collins The Charles Phelps Taft Professor of Sociology in 1996, making her the first ever African-American, and only the second woman, to hold this position. She received Emeritus status in the Spring of 2005, and became a professor of sociology at the University of Maryland, College Park. The University of Maryland named Collins a Distinguished University Professor in 2006." "Black Feminist Thought" is used in various university African American and Women Studies courses. Literary significance and reviews. Black feminism remains important because U.S. Black women constitute an oppressed group. As a collectivity, U.S. Black women participate in a dialectical relationship linking African American women's oppression and activism. Dialectical relationships of this sort mean that two parties are opposed and opposite. As long as Black women's subordination within intersecting oppressions of race, class, gender, sexuality, and nation persists, Black feminism as an activist response to that oppression will remain needed. Editorial reviews. "With the publication of Black Feminist Thought, black feminism has moved to a new level. Her work sets a standard for the discussion of black women's lives, experiences, and thought that demands rigorous attention to the complexity of these experiences and an exploration of a multiplicity of responses." Black Feminist Thought provides a synthesis of a body of knowledge that is crucial to putting in perspective the situation of Black Women and their place in the overall struggle to reduce and eliminate gender, race, and class inequalities. The book provides an analysis of the ideas of Black Women, particularly those ideas that reflect a consciousness in opposition to oppression. Awards. "Black Feminist Thought" won the Jessie Bernard Award of the American Sociological Association (ASA) in 1993 and the C. Wright Mills Award of The Society for the Study of Social Problems in 1990. According to the American Sociological Association, "The Jessie Bernard Award is given in recognition of scholarly work that has enlarged the horizons of sociology to encompass fully the role of women in society. The contribution may be in empirical research, theory, or methodology. It is presented for significant cumulative work done throughout a professional career." The Society for the Study of Social Problems "annually gives its C. Wright Mills Award to the author of what the committee considers to be the most outstanding book written in the tradition of C. Wright Mills and his dedication to a search for a sophisticated understanding of the individual and society."

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Reconstructing Womanhood Reconstructing Womanhood: The Emergence of the Afro-American Woman Novelist (), published in 1987, is a book by Hazel Carby which centers on slave narratives by women. Carby received her Ph.D. in 1984 from Birmingham University. Her doctoral dissertation later became the foundation for the book. "Reconstructing Womanhood" analyzes writings from black women in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as well as examines the social, political, and historical landscapes in which these works were produced. Carby wrote the book with four major aims:

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Your Silence Will Not Protect You Your Silence Will Not Protect You is a 2017 posthumous collection of essays, speeches, and poems by African American author and poet Audre Lorde. It is the first time a British publisher collected Lorde's work into one volume. The collection focuses on key themes such as: shifting language into action, silence as a form of violence, and the importance of history. Lorde describes herself as a "Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet", and addresses the difficulties in communication between Black and white women. The collection is made up of five sections. A preface by Reni Eddo-Lodge, an introduction by Sara Ahmed, 13 essays, and 17 poems, and a Note on the Text. As the Note on the Text states, many of the essays in the collection were given as papers at conferences across the U.S. Further, Lorde often revised early poems and re-published them, so many of the poems in this collection are the latest versions of Lorde's work. Background. "Your Silence Will Not Protect You" was published posthumously in order to bring together Lorde's essential poetry, speeches, and essays, into one volume for the first time. As Silver Press states, "Her extraordinary belief in the power of language – of speaking – to articulate selfhood, confront injustice and bring about change in the world remains as transformative today as it was then, and no less urgent". Title. "Your Silence Will Not Protect You" is a quote from the first essay to appear in the collection, "The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action". She states, "My silences had not protected me. Your silences will not protect you". This references her belief in speaking for oneself and taking language into action. Summary. Essays. In "The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action", Lorde discussed various themes that recur throughout the book, including silence as a form of violence, shifting language into action, and the splintering of the feminist movement. She argued that using her voice to speak and connect with other women during her treatment gave her strength, "I am not a casualty, I am also a warrior". "Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power" discussed how each person has both used and unused types of power. She speaks to the dichotomy of sexuality, and in particular how women have been suppressed from utilizing its power. "We have been taught to suspect this resource, vilified, abused, and devalued within western society". She also argued that erotic connection can be used as a form of exploration for self-expression, "In touch with the erotic, I become less willing to accept powerlessness...such as resignation, despair, self-effacement, depression, self-denial". "A Conversation between Audre Lorde and Adrienne Rich" discussed different periods in Lorde's life, and her struggles with family, writing, and teaching. At one point, she discusses how Black women were sexually assaulted and harmed during times of revolution. She recalls, "And while we’d be trying to speak to them as women, all we’d hear is, "The revolution is here, right?'. Seeing how Black women were being used and abused was painful”. She also highlights the differences in protecting one's communities, "And this is what happens between Black men and women because we have perfected certain kinds of weapons that white women and men have not shared". "The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House" is a commentary on a speech Lorde gave at "The Second Sex Conference" at New York University in 1978. She criticizes the lack of representation for "poor women, Black women, Third World Women, and lesbians", having been asked to speak at 'The Personal and the Political' panel. She argued that those who are poor, Black, older, lesbians, and the different intersections of these groups, have been made to stand alone and unpopular. She states, ""For the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house." They may allow us temporarily to beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change". Lorde called for recognition and representation of the differences between women, in an effort to fight inequality and survival. Poems. In "Equinox" Lorde describes events in history which coincide with events in her life. She describes that the year her daughter was born was the same year W. E. B. Du Bois died, and the same year she marched into Washington. The same year John F. Kennedy fell off a roof, she describes how her house burnt down with no one in it, and the next day Malcolm X was shot dead. She reflects on how her children talk about "spring and peace" and she wonders if they'll ever fully understand the fighting that activists and Black communities have to do in order to survive. In "A Conversation between Audre Lorde and Adrienne Rich" Lorde states, "That this was the most we could do, while we constructed some saner future. But that we were in that kind of peril. And here it was reality, in fact. Some of the poems-'Equinox' is one of them-come from then". In "For Each Of You" Lorde reinforced the idea of being proud and speaking your mind, especially for the Black community. She tells people to "be proud of who you are and who you will be", and "speak proudly to your children wherever you may find them". According to a series of interviews conducted with Lorde, this poem "urges women, Black women specifically, to break through their silence because it is the only way to break through to each other". In "A Poem For Women in Rage", Lorde imagines a Black woman intending to kill a white woman waiting for her lesbian lover. Through fury and rage, Lorde confronts the issues between white and Black women and how, "I am weeping to learn the name of those streets my feet have worn thin with running and why they will never serve me". As a Black, lesbian, feminist, Lorde dealt with inequalities between how white and Black lesbians were treated in public spaces. She takes out this rage on this hypothetical person in the poem to exhibit her anger over such inequalities. "Sister Outsider" is a poem that also happens to be a book by the same name by Lorde. Lorde compares how, "We were born poor in a time never touching each other's hunger" but that now, children are raised to respect themselves and each other. She argues that while accepting and acknowledging the best parts of oneself are important, it is equally important to recognize the dark parts as well. Contents. This collection contains 13 essays and 17 poems, with the essays also including various speeches Lorde made. Essays Poems

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This Bridge Called My Back This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color is a feminist anthology edited by Cherríe Moraga and Gloria E. Anzaldúa. First published in 1981 by Persephone Press. The second edition was published in 1983 by . The book's third edition was published by Third Woman Press until 2008, when it went out of print. In 2015, the fourth edition was published by State University of New York Press, Albany. The book centers on the experiences of women of color and emphasizes the points of what is now called intersectionality within their multiple identities, challenging white feminists who made claims to solidarity based on sisterhood. Writings in the anthology, along with works by other prominent feminists of color, call for a greater prominence within feminism for race-related subjectivities, and ultimately laid the foundation for third wave feminism. It has become "one of "the most" cited books in feminist theorizing" (emphasis in original). Impact. Though other published writings by women of color existed at the time of "This Bridge"'s printing, many scholars and contributors to "This Bridge" agree that the bringing together of writing by women of color from diverse backgrounds in one anthology made "This Bridge" unique and influential. Barbara Smith, a contributor, wrote that Black, Native American, Asian American, and Latina women "were involved in autonomous organization at the same time that we [were] beginning to find each other. Certainly "This Bridge Called My Back" […] has been a document of and a catalyst for these coalitions." In addition to providing the framework for new activist-based coalitions, "This Bridge" has had a considerable impact upon the world of academia for its linking of feminism, race, class, and sexuality. It also brought "an intellectual framework" of identities based on race and ethnicity to lesbian and gay studies. In "this bridge we call home", the anthology published in 2002 to examine the impacts of "This Bridge" twenty years later, Australian anthropologist Helen Johnson details "This Bridge"'s effects on institutional teaching environments. She describes how the anthology "has allowed her to offer global perspectives on issues of race, gender, ethnicity, and power against the now antiquated white feminists' utopian ideal of universal sisterhood." "This Bridge" has been hailed for providing an "easily accessible discourse, plain speaking, a return to Third World storytelling, voicing a difference in the flesh, not a disembodied subjectivity but a subject location, a political and personal positioning." Though "This Bridge" is referenced in many essays and books regarding the development of Third World feminism, one of the most widely recognized explorations is Norma Alarcón's essay entitled "The Theoretical Subject(s) of "This Bridge Called My Back" and Anglo-American Feminism." In her essay, Alarcón discusses the importance of looking at relationships not just between gender groups but within gender groups, as highlighted in "This Bridge". Through questioning the existence of objective "truth" as separate from human construction, and through an analysis of language that acknowledges deep contextual and historical meanings, she highlights the intentions of "This Bridge" to challenge the forces that put all feminists into one category, as well as the oppositional thinking that makes differences hierarchical instead of inter-related and interdependent. Barbara Smith believed that these messages are made clear within the pages of "This Bridge", asserting that "more than any other single work, "This Bridge" has made the vision of Third World feminism real." However, even with these aforementioned impacts, many individuals contend that women of color feminisms still remain marginal within women's studies in the United States. Chela Sandoval, in her essay on third-world feminism, writes: "The publication of "This Bridge Called My Back" in 1981 made the presence of U.S. third world feminism impossible to ignore on the same terms as it had been throughout the 1970s. But soon the writings and theoretical challenges of U.S. third world feminists were marginalized into the category of what Allison Jaggar characterized in 1983 as mere 'description.'" "This Bridge" "offered a rich and diverse account of the experience and analyses of women of color; with its collective ethos, its politics of rage and regeneration, and its mix of poetry, critique, fiction and testimony, it challenged the boundaries of feminist and academic discourse." Anthologists Moraga and Anzaldúa stated in the preface that they expected the book to act as a catalyst, "not as a definitive statement on Third World Feminism" in the United States. They also expressed a desire to "express to all women, especially white, middle class women, the experiences which divide us as feminists ...we want to create a definition that expands what 'feminist' means." Teresa de Lauretis noted that "This Bridge" and "All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave: Black Women's Studies" (1982) created a "shift in feminist consciousness" by making "available to all feminists the feelings, the analyses, and the political positions of feminists of color, and their critiques of white or mainstream feminism." Cherríe Moraga, Ana Castillo, and Norma Alarcón adapted this anthology into the Spanish-language "Esta puente, mi espalda: Voces de mujeres tercermundistas en los Estados Unidos". Moraga and Castillo served as editors, and Castillo and Alarcón translated the text. In 2002, AnaLouise Keating and Gloria Anzaldúa edited an anthology ("this bridge we call home: radical visions for transformation") that examined the impact of "This Bridge" twenty years later while trying to continue the discussion started by Anzaldúa and Moraga in 1981.

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Daughters of Africa Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent from the Ancient Egyptian to the Present is a compilation of orature and literature by more than 200 women from Africa and the African diaspora, edited and introduced by Margaret Busby, who compared the process of assembling the volume to "trying to catch a flowing river in a calabash". First published in 1992, in London by Jonathan Cape (having been commissioned by Candida Lacey, now publisher of Myriad Editions), and in New York by Pantheon Books, "Daughters of Africa" is regarded as a pioneering work, covering a variety of genres — including fiction, essays, poetry, drama, memoirs and children's writing — and more than 1000 pages in extent. Arranged chronologically, beginning with traditional oral poetry, it includes work translated from African languages as well as from Dutch, French, German, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. The anthology's title derives from an 1831 declaration by Maria W. Stewart (1803–1880), the first African-American woman to give public lectures, in which she said: "O, ye daughters of Africa, awake! awake! arise! no longer sleep nor slumber, but distinguish yourselves. Show forth to the world that ye are endowed with noble and exalted faculties." A companion volume entitled New Daughters of Africa, featuring a further 200-plus contributors, was published in 2019. As described by Bernardine Evaristo in "The Guardian" in June 2020: "Bringing together fiction, poetry, memoir and essays, both books are an incredible introduction to black women’s writing from around the world, and feature every established name you can imagine, as well those who deserve to be better known." Associated with the anthology is the Margaret Busby "New Daughters of Africa" Award for a woman student from Africa. Reception. "Daughters of Africa" was widely praised on publication. Reviewing the anthology for Black British newspaper "The Weekly Journal", Evie Arup wrote: ""Daughters of Africa" is a literary first. Never before has the work of women of African descent world-wide been gathered together in one volume. The breadth of this collection is startling... This book should be required reading for any student of literature, and a standard reference book in school libraries, and, to paraphrase that well known slogan, 'every home should have one. A reviewer from "The Independent" observed: "This book may seem to be about literature but in the end it is as much a testament to language: its power to create attitudes as well as its potency as a means of expression." Described by "The Observer" as a "glorious fat anthology that makes a history out of a selection, and puts an unsung group of people on the map", according to "Library Journal", it is "an invaluable text for courses on women writers and writers of African descent", and Keneth Kinnamon in "Callaloo" saw it as "impressive", noting: "Brief headnotes and long bibliographies enhance the value of this important volume." Lorna Sage in the "Independent on Sunday" concluded that ""Daughters of Africa" has a paradoxical universality", while "The Washington Post Book World" called it: "A magnificent starting place for any reader interested in becoming part of the collective enterprise of discovering and uncovering the silent, forgotten, and underrated voices of black women." The reviewer for "Black Enterprise" wrote: "It is a landmark anthology... Busby's first-of-a-kind anthology is a poignant reminder of how vast and varied the body of black women's writing is." It has also been called "groundbreaking in its presentation and exposure of the work of female African writers", "one of the most significant assemblages of writers across the diaspora" and "the ultimate reference guide to the writing of 'daughters of Africa. The "Times Literary Supplement" review by Maya Jaggi stated: "With rare exceptions, anthologies of black writing and of women's writing have given the impression that there was very little literary endeavour by black women before the 1980s. Margaret Busby's impressive and imaginative selection of 'words and writings', "Daughters of Africa", finally destroys that misconception, while tracing continuities within a tradition of women's writing, deriving from Africa yet stretching across continents and centuries." Jaggi goes on to say: "Some writings (such as those by ancient Egyptian or Ethiopian queens) have been selected primarily for their historical significance, or to celebrate little-known landmarks of achievement. Most, however, have been chosen for their literary qualities, making the anthology a source of continual pleasure and surprise. (...) The cumulative power of this monumental and absorbing anthology stems from the clarity and vibrancy of the voices it assembles. While effectively dismissing the equation of oppression with 'voicelessness', it restores marginalized or isolated writers to the centre of their own rich, resilient and truly international tradition." The anthology was included in "Sacred Fire: "QBR" 100 Essential Black Books", which said: ""Daughters of Africa" is a monumental achievement because it is the most comprehensive international anthology of oral and written literature by women of African descent ever attempted. (...) The success of the collection is that it clearly illustrates why all women of African descent are connected by showing how closely related are the obstacles, the chasms of cultural indifference, and the disheartening racial and sexual dilemmas they faced. In so doing, the collection captures the range of their singular and combined accomplishments. "Daughters of Africa"′s accomplishment lies in its glorious portrayal of the richness and magnitude of the spiritual well from which we've all drawn inspiration and to where we've all gone for sustenance, and as such, it is a stunning literary masterpiece." The anthology was on the Royal African Society's list of "50 Books By African Women That Everyone Should Read", was named by "Ms Afropolitan" as one of "7 non-fiction books African feminists should read", features regularly on many required-reading lists, and in the words of Kinna Likimani: "It remains the ultimate guide to women writers of African descent." Contributors. More than 200 women are featured in "Daughters of Africa", including: Influence and legacy. The anthology inspired Koyo Kouoh to edit a German-language equivalent, "Töchter Afrikas", that was published in 1994. In 2009 "Daughters of Africa" was on "Wasafiri" magazine's list of 25 Most Influential Books from the previous quarter-century. In November 2017, "Wasafiri" included a special feature marking the 25th anniversary of the first publication of "Daughters of Africa", including an interview with the editor by Ellah Wakatama Allfrey, an article by Candida Lacey and contributions from Ayobami Adebayo, Edwige-Renée Dro, Angela Barry, Goretti Kyomuhendo, Nadifa Mohamed, and Phillippa Yaa de Villiers about the influence of the anthology on them. "Importantly, it was a beacon for every young black woman who dreamed of writing. Phillippa Yaa de Villiers told Busby, 'We were behind the bars of apartheid — we South Africans had been cut off from the beauty and majesty of African thought traditions, and "Daughters of Africa" was among those works that replenished our starved minds.'" Listing many of the names included in "Daughters of Africa", Tom Odhiambo of the University of Nairobi stated: "These writers can be described as the matriarchs of African literature. They pioneered 'African' writing, in which they were not simply writing stories about their families, communities and countries, but they were also writing themselves into the African literary history and African historiography. They claimed space for women storytellers in the written form, and in some sense reclaimed the woman’s role as the creator and carrier of many African societies’ narratives, considering that the traditional storytelling session was a women’s domain." "New Daughters of Africa". In December 2017, it was announced that a companion volume, entitled New Daughters of Africa, had been commissioned from Margaret Busby by Myriad Editions. Published on 8 March 2019 and characterised as "a behemoth of thought and reflection, exploring sisterhood, tradition, romance, race and identity – individually, and at large", "New Daughters of Africa: An international anthology of writing by women of African descent" features a further 200 writers: "The new volume expands on and reinforces the assertions of its predecessor. While including texts from the nineteenth century to the present, the book focuses primarily on writers who have come of age in the decades following "Daughters of Africa"s publication." Contributors are arranged according to decade of birth, "to give context to the generational links", as the editor states, and to continue to chart the black feminist literary canon. The anthology contains not only many well-known names but "a host of literary notables of the future". Kevin Le Gendre states in his review in "Echoes" magazine that "this inspiring collection punches above its very considerable weight... The result is great diversity within a supposed minority, a resounding statement of the infinitely rich life experience of the 'sisters' drawn from Africa and the Diaspora. As was the case with the acclaimed first edition there is a commendable balance between those who are known and those who are unknown but nonetheless have illuminating things to say...Busby has grouped the texts by decade, reaching right back to the pre-1900, which results in a clear and vivid sense of evolution in both style and subject matter." Among the contributors to "New Daughters of Africa" are: Adeola Solanke, Adrienne Kennedy, Afua Hirsch, Aida Edemariam, Aja Monet, Akosua Busia, Aminatta Forna, Amma Asante, Anaïs Duplan, Andaiye, Andrea Levy, Andrea Stuart, Angela Barry, Anni Domingo, Arthenia Bates Millican, Ayesha Harruna Attah, Ayeta Anne Wangusa, Ayòbámi Adébáyò, Barbara Chase-Riboud, Barbara Jenkins, Beatrice Lamwaka, Bernardine Evaristo, Beverley Bryan, Bonnie Greer, Bridget Minamore, Camille T. Dungy, Candace Allen, Candice Carty-Williams, Carolyn Cooper, Catherine Johnson, Chibundu Onuzo, Chika Unigwe, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Chinelo Okparanta, Claudia Rankine, Cordelia Ray, Danielle Legros Georges, Delia Jarrett-Macauley, Diana Evans, Diana Ferrus, Diane Abbott, Donika Kelly, Doreen Baingana, Dorothea Smartt, Edwidge Danticat, Edwige-Renée Dro, Effie Waller Smith, Elizabeth Keckley, Elizabeth Nunez, Elizabeth Walcott-Hackshaw, Ellah Wakatama Allfrey, Ellen Banda-Aaku, Esi Edugyan, Eve Ewing, Florida Ruffin Ridley, Gabeba Baderoon, Gabrielle Civil, Glaydah Namukasa, Goretti Kyomuhendo, Hannah Azieb Pool, Harriet Anena, Hawa Jande Golakai, Hilda Twongyeirwe, Imbolo Mbue, Irenosen Okojie, Isabella Matambanadzo, Jackee Budesta Batanda, Jacqueline Bishop, Jay Bernard, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, Jennifer Teege, Jesmyn Ward, Joan Anim-Addo, Joanne C. Hillhouse, Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, Juliana Makuchi Nfah-Abbenyi, Juliane Okot Bitek, Kadija Sesay, Karen Lord, Karen McCarthy Woolf, Ketty Nivyabandi, Kit de Waal, Lebogang Mashile, Leila Aboulela, Leone Ross, Lesley Lokko, Linda Bellos, Lisa Allen-Agostini, Lola Shoneyin, Maaza Mengiste, Makhosazana Xaba, Malika Booker, Malorie Blackman, Margo Jefferson, Marie NDiaye, Marina Salandy-Brown, Marion Bethel, Maxine Beneba Clarke, Meta Davis Cumberbatch, Mildred Barya, Minna Salami, Monica Arac de Nyeko, Nadia Davids, Nadifa Mohamed, Nah Dove, Nalo Hopkinson, Namwali Serpell, Nana-Ama Danquah, Nana Asma'u, Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond, Nana Oforiatta Ayim, Natalia Molebatsi, Natasha Trethewey, Nawal El Saadawi, Nikky Finney, Nnedi Okorafor, Noo Saro-Wiwa, Novuyo Rosa Tshuma, Olúmìdé Pópóọlá, Panashe Chigumadzi, Patience Agbabi, Patrice Lawrence, Patricia Cumper, Phillippa Yaa de Villiers, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, Rashidah Ismaili, Rebecca Walker, Reni Eddo-Lodge, Rosamond S. King, Roxane Gay, Sade Adeniran, Safia Elhillo, Sandra Jackson-Opoku, Sapphire, Sarah Ladipo Manyika, Sarah Parker Remond, Sefi Atta, Simi Bedford, Sisonke Msimang, Stella Dadzie, SuAndi, Sue Woodford-Hollick, Summer Edward, Susan Kiguli, Taiye Selasi, Tanella Boni, Tess Onwueme, Tiphanie Yanique, Trifonia Melibea Obono, Valerie Tagwira, Verene Shepherd, Verna Wilkins, Wangui wa Goro, Wanjiku wa Ngũgĩ, Warsan Shire, Winsome Pinnock, Yaba Badoe, Yassmin Abdel-Magied, Yemisi Aribisala, Yewande Omotoso, Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro, Yrsa Daley-Ward, Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, Yvonne Bailey-Smith, Yvonne Vera, Yvvette Edwards, Zadie Smith, Zandria Robinson, Zita Holbourne, Zoe Adjonyoh, Zukiswa Wanner, and others. "New Daughters of Africa" was launched in London at the South Bank Centre on 9 March 2019 at the WOW Festival, and contributors were subsequently featured at many other festivals and venues in the UK and abroad, including at the Wimbledon BookFest, the NGC Bocas Lit Fest in Trinidad, the Bernie Grant Arts Centre, and Somerset House. Editions of the anthology have also been published in the US by Amistad (HarperCollins) and in South Africa by Jonathan Ball Publishers. Selected review coverage for "New Daughters". The review in the "Irish Times", describing "New Daughters of Africa" as a "vast and nuanced collection", notes that it is "arranged in order of the women's birth decades, a chronological reminder that African women have been creating art for many centuries; the youngest included are still in their twenties. ... a necessary wealth of work – a welcome addition to any book shelf and a compulsory education for anyone unaware of the countless gifted African women journalists, essayists, poets and speakers who should influence how we see the world." John Stevenson concluded his review in "Black History Month" magazine by saying: "Every Black home should own a copy of the book. The literary voices of Black women need to be heard even more urgently now." Imani Perry wrote in the "Financial Times": "Anthologies can read as mere assortment or collection. But their function, particularly when well composed — as is the case with this book — can be much more deliberate. Busby's choice to organise the writers by generation, rather than region or date of publication, has a powerful effect. From the 18th century to the present, the location of black women across borders — yet always in the winds of political, economic and social orders — emerges. Questions of freedom, autonomy, family, race and social transformation present themselves in generational waves. Thus, with more than 200 contributors, this anthology is also a social and cultural world history." The review by in the Kenyan "Daily Nation" said: "It is the kind of literary compendium that many prospective African women writers need to have today..."New Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Writing by Women of African Descent" is a collection that the expert on literature, women studies, gender studies, African history; the feminist reader/scholar; or even the general reader will find refreshing considering the scope of the writing, as well as helpful as a reference source." Paul Burke's review in "NB" magazine, rating the anthology 5/5, stated: "This is a beautiful, challenging and triumphant collection of writing that increases our understanding of humanity and entertains royally. ...I'm just bowled over by the quality and breadth of contributions here but also the way they coalesce. The writing is, depending on each author's style, sharp, funny, romantic, confrontational and politically astute. This book has a heart and a sense of purpose and I think it's fair to say it is important and so relevant for our times. Anyone interested in Africa, gender politics, good storytelling and writing that pushes the boundaries of the form will love this book. ...This is a full on sensory experience, a stimulation for the brain and for the heart and some of the writing here stirs the blood and twists the gut. ...The depth of psychological, political, economic and cultural insight here is awe inspiring." In the opinion of the reviewer for the "New York Journal of Books": "Here is the book so many have been waiting for. The book to make sense of so many others...The topics are just as varied and shine bright lights on the lives of critically underrepresented women of color, and on the contributions of these gifted literary scholars: motherhood, slavery, love, work, immigration, assimilation, friendship, thwarted aspiration, infidelity, racism, marriage, poverty, and on and on. In fact, the only thing that is not varied here is the gloriously even quality of the writing. These are stories for crying and laughing and thinking. They are narratives for understanding, for seeking, for finding, yes, because it is a catalogue of lives that are not shown as much and as consistently as we need them to be. ...It is, perhaps, this bulk, this excess, this non-superfluous surplus, this literal and literary embarrassment of riches that sends the strongest of messages. Yes, there is this much talent and achievement here in the literature of people of color, the roots of these writers in Africa, but their immense contribution extends to every continent. It is this good. It is this great. So, how is it that it continues to be such a low percentage of all that is published, widely distributed, critiqued, discussed, taught, and shared?" Scholarship and awards. Connected with the new anthology, the Margaret Busby "New Daughters of Africa" Award was announced by the publisher, Myriad Editions, in partnership with SOAS, University of London, that will benefit an African woman student, with accommodation provided by International Students House, London. The launch of the award was made possible by the fact that, as well as Margaret Busby and her publisher donating to the fund from the anthology's earnings, all the contributors waived their fees in support of the cause. The first recipient of the award was announced in July 2020 as Idza Luhumyo from Kenya. Also in 2020, Busby and Myriad teamed with community-interest organization The Black Curriculum – founded to address the lack of black British history being taught – to donate 500 copies of "New Daughters of Africa" to schools in the UK. "New Daughters of Africa" was nominated for a 2020 NAACP Image Award in the category of Outstanding Literary Work, alongside books by Petina Gappah, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Jacqueline Woodson, and Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, who was the eventual winner for Fiction.

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From Black Power to Hip Hop From Black Power to Hip-Hop: Racism, Nationalism, and Feminism is a 2006 book by Patricia Hill Collins. Published by Temple University Press, the book is centered around Patricia Hill and her experiences with racism in America. The book also includes experiences from other Black men and women and their responses to it. In the end she offers her take on Black youth and how its changing along with how Black nationalism works today. Reception. In a review written by Publisher's Weekly, they write "sociologist Collins (Black Feminist Thought; Black Sexual Politics) turns her eye toward young African American women who have chosen to explore feminism through pop culture instead of academia in this sometimes rousing, sometimes plodding anthology of six essays". Afrikanlibrary.net says "Using the experiences of African American women and men as a touchstone for analysis, Patricia Hill Collins examines new forms of racism as well as political responses to it.In this incisive and stimulating book, renowned social theorist Patricia Hill Collins investigates how nationalism has operated and re-emerged in the wake of contemporary globalization and offers an interpretation of how black nationalism works today in the wake of changing black youth identity."

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Movement in Black Movement In Black is a collection of poetry by Black lesbian feminist Pat Parker. Publication history. The collection was originally published by Diana Press in 1978. When Diana Press closed in 1979, "Movement In Black" went out of print. In 1983, Crossing Press issued a facsimile edition of the collection, though the title was once again unavailable by 1987. Shortly after Parker's death in 1989, Firebrand Books published its first edition of the collection, which included a foreword by Audre Lorde and an introduction by Judy Grahn. Ten years later, Firebrand released "An Expanded Edition of Movement In Black", which includes a new section of previously-unpublished work, an introduction by Cheryl Clarke, and "Celebrations, Remembrances, Tributes" by ten Black writers including Lorde, Angela Y. Davis, Pamela Sneed, and Barbara Smith. Summary. The poems featured in the collection center around Parker's experiences as a Black woman, lesbian, feminist, mother, writer, poet, and activist. In its first three pressings, "Movement In Black" had four sections: "Married", "Liberation Fronts", "Being Gay", and "Love Poems"; the expanded edition includes a fifth section, "New Work". As the titles suggest, the poetry in the original four sections explored Parker's two tempestuous marriages and divorces ("Sometimes My Husband Acts Like a Man"; "Exodus (to my husbands, lovers)"), her radical activism ("Don't Let the Fascists Speak", "For the White Person Who Wants to Know How to Be My Friend", "Movement in Black"), her queer identity ("My Lover Is a Woman", "For the Straight Folks Who Don't Mind Gays But Wish They Weren't So BLATANT"), and love ("Sunshine", "On Jealousy"). Critical analysis. According to Amy Washburn, "Movement In Black" "emblematizes intersectionality and simultaneity as forms of revolution in struggles of self and society." Focusing on "themes of time and space, marginalization and movement, difference and power, visibility and invisibility, and history and memory," Parker used autobiographical writing "to fuse personal and political sites of resistance." Jewelle Gomez states that throughout "Movement In Black", as Parker "was always doing", she used "plain language and ritual to valorize the ordinary life experiences of Black women. In doing so she gave others a glimmer of possibility for growth and change."

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Sister Outsider Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches is a collection of essential essays and speeches written by Audre Lorde, a woman who wrote from the particulars of her identity: Black woman, poet, activist, cancer survivor, mother, and feminist writer. This collection, now considered a classic volume, of Lorde's most influential works of non-fiction prose has had a groundbreaking impact in the development of contemporary feminist theories. In fifteen essays and speeches dating from 1976 to 1984, Lorde explores the complexities of intersectional identity, while explicitly drawing from her personal experiences of oppression to include: sexism, heterosexism, racism, homophobia, classism, and ageism. The book examines a broad range of topics, including love, self-love, war, imperialism, police brutality, coalition building, violence against women, Black feminism, and movements towards equality that recognize and embrace differences as a vehicle for change. With meditative conscious reasoning, Lorde explores her misgivings for the widespread marginalization deeply-rooted in the United States' white patriarchal system, all the while, offering messages of hope. The essays in this landmark collection are extensively taught and have become a widespread area of academic analysis. Lorde's philosophical reasoning that recognizes oppressions as complex and interlocking designates her work as a significant contribution to critical social theory. Themes. The paradoxical title of "Sister Outsider" expresses Lorde's commitment to her identity and the multiplicities gathering together to assemble her unique identity – multiplicities that often placed her "on the line", in a space that refused safety of an inside parameter, demonstrating Lorde's ability to embrace difficulty in the path to create change. Lorde informs readers through these essays that the histories of westernized culture have conditioned inhabitants to view "human differences in simplistic opposition to each other" – good/bad, superior/inferior – and to always be suspicious of the latter, instead of as Lorde suggests, using differences as a catalyst for change. Throughout the collection, Lorde also emphasizes the use of poetry as a profound form of knowledge, a powerful tool for diagnosing and challenging power relations within a racist, patriarchal society. In this charged collection, Lorde challenges sexism, racism, ageism, homophobia, and classism with determination. She propounds the recognition of difference as an empowering vehicle for action and creative change and emphasizes the necessity for applying these concepts to the next generation of feminism - a response to the current lacking thereof between women in the mainstream feminist movement. Lorde also explores the fear and suspicion that arises among African American men and women, lesbians, feminists, and white women that ultimately creates an isolating experience for African American women - constructing a social institution that dehumanizes lives. Throughout these essays, Lorde confronts this problem of institutional dehumanization plaguing American culture during the late 1970s and early 1980s, and provides with philosophical reasoning, messages of hope. The Erotic vs. The Pornographic. In "Sister Outsider", Lorde tasks herself with discerning the difference and meaning of the erotic and the pornographic. This is all within the context of sexuality, power dynamics, and queerness. As Lorde says in her text, "the erotic offers a well of replenishing and provocative force to the woman who does not fear its revelation, nor succumb to the belief that sensation is enough". We see here that Lorde draws our attention to the emotional experience of sexuality, and defines the erotic in a way that disconnects the typical male dominated interpretation. She continues to separate the erotic and pornographic by conveying the effect of power between the two. "But pornography is a direct denial of the power of the erotic, for it represents the suppression of true feeling. Pornography emphasizes sensation without feeling". After defining these two terms she relates them to her own identity as a Black lesbian feminist. The erotic in her eyes is not simply a physical experience or drive, it is a show of resilience in the face of a racist, patriarchal, and homophobic society. Publication. Lorde signed a contract with The Crossing Press on November 19, 1982 with a projected publication date of May 31, 1984. She was the first major lesbian author the press was to sign, despite the firm's policy of not taking books represented by agents. Lorde expressed to her agent that she felt rushed into signing the contract that provided an advance against royalties of a mere $100. The book was ultimately a huge financial success for the firm. It was republished in 2007 by The Crossing Press with a new forward provided by scholar and essayist, Cheryl Clarke. Content. The book is composed of essays and talks by Lorde, including the following: Impact. "Sister Outsider" is a groundbreaking essential contribution to Black feminism, Postcolonial feminism, gay and lesbian studies, critical psychology, black queer studies, African American studies, and feminist thought at large. The canonical work has been cited by renowned scholars like Patricia Hill Collins, Donna Haraway, and Sara Ahmed. The publication was met with overall "resounding praise". A reviewer for "Publisher's Weekly" referred to the work as "an eye-opener". American author Barbara Christian called the collection, "another indication of the depth of analysis that black women writers are contributing to feminist thought." From this work, Lorde is said to have created a new critical social theory that understands oppressions as overlapping and interlocking, informed from her position as an outsider. She presented her arguments in an accessible manner that provides readers with the language to articulate difference and the complex nature of oppressions. American professor and theorist Roderick Ferguson cites "Sister Outsider" as a critical influence in his book, "Aberrations in Black" in which he coins the term Queer of Color Critique. "Sister Outsider" received critical reception, as well. The book challenges readers' unacknowledged privileges and complicity in oppression. Negative reviewers tended to focus on how "Sister Outsider" caused them discomfort with confronting their guilt as individuals whose identities occupy dominant positions within the United States, specifically through whiteness, maleness, youth, thinness, heterosexuality, Christianity, and financial security. While some reviewers claimed that the work is hard to identify with if they are not similar to Lorde, others refute this, claiming that Lorde uses a "flexible model of subject positioning" that allows readers of various backgrounds to determine points of similarity and difference, challenging their standard notions of selfhood and subjectivity. In "The Man Question," Kathy Ferguson questions Lorde's employment of what she defines as "Cosmic Feminism", a feminism that relies on a feminine primitivism and values feelings that are more intense and seemingly deep-rooted.

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Black Faces, White Spaces Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors is a 2014 book by cultural geographer Carolyn Finney. The book examines the relationship between African Americans and the environment, particularly challenging the notion of the environment and environmentalism as white spaces. "Black Faces, White Spaces" uses a combination of autoethnographic accounts, discourse analysis of media, interviews, and analysis of artistic forms of expression to contextualize a narrative about environmental policy and race relations in the United States. Finney explores the subject through the lenses of environmental history, feminist and critical race theories. In her discussion of American experiences with the environment, Finney highlights how the legacy of slavery creates disparities in the impact of environmental laws such as the Wilderness Act due to factors such as racial segregation. "Black Faces, White Spaces" challenges assumptions that the environmental movement makes about universal values, individualism, and agency, arguing that they reflect a class-based and racial power structure that denies participation from people of color.

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Callaloo (literary magazine) Callaloo, A Journal of African Diaspora Arts and Letters, is a quarterly literary magazine that was established in 1976 by Charles Rowell, who remains its editor-in-chief. It contains creative writing, visual art, and critical texts about literature and culture of the African diaspora, and is probably the longest continuously running African-American literary magazine.. It has been published by the Johns Hopkins University Press since 1986. In addition to receiving grants of support from agencies such as the Lannan Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, the magazine has garnered a number of honors, including the best special issue of a journal from the Council of Editors of Learned Journals for "The Haitian Issues" in 1992 (volume 15.2 & 3: "Haiti: the Literature and Culture" Parts I & II); an honorable mention for the "Best Special Issue of a Journal" in 2001 from the Professional/Scholarly Publishing Division of the American Association (volume 24.1: "The Confederate Flag Controversy: A Special Section"); and recognition for the Winter 2002 issue from the Council of Editors of Learned Journals as one of the best special issues of that year (volume 25.1: "Jazz Poetics"). Abstracting and indexing. "Callaloo" is abstracted and indexed in the following bibliographic databases: According to Scopus, it has a 2018 CiteScore of 0.04, ranking 479/736 in the category "Literature and Literary Theory".

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Afro-Hispanic Review The Afro-Hispanic Review is an English-Spanish bilingual peer-reviewed academic journal published by Vanderbilt University's Department of Spanish and Portuguese and Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center. The journal focuses on promoting the study of Afro-Latino literature and culture, both in the United States and internationally. Published twice annually, it has been described as the "premier literary journal in Afro-Hispanic studies." Its editor is the Vanderbilt professor William Luis. The journal was founded in January 1982 at Howard University, with Stanley Cyrus as its founding editor. Beginning in 1986, it was published at the University of Missouri, as a collaboration between the departments of Black studies and Romance languages. It was transferred to Vanderbilt and its Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center in 2005.

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Journal of Black Studies Journal of Black Studies is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes papers in the fields of social sciences and ethnic studies concerning African-American culture. The journal's editors-in-chief are Molefi Kete Asante (Temple University) and Ama Mazama (Temple University). The journal was established in 1970 and is currently published by SAGE Publications. Abstracting and indexing. The "Journal of Black Studies" is abstracted and indexed in, among other databases: SCOPUS, and the Social Sciences Citation Index. According to the "Journal Citation Reports", its 2017 impact factor is 0.571, ranking it 70th out of 98 journals in the category "Social Sciences" and 15 out of 16 journals in the category "Ethnic Studies".

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African American Communication African American Communication: Exploring Identity and Culture is a 2003 book by Michael Hecht, Ronald L. Jackson II and Sidney A. Ribeau. Overview. The book seeks to demonstrate why and how communication in interpersonal interactions between African Americans differs from that between European Americans. The authors argue that African-American identity, communicative competence, language style and relationship formation and maintenance are strategies adopted in order to navigate a dominant European power structure than inhibits cultural authenticity and access to power. The authors' intent is to establish a starting point for research into the communication styles of African Americans and other cultural groups. The major questions the authors seek to address involve the differences in communicative experiences that are unique to African Americans, how African Americans self-define culturally, and how African Americans perceive intercultural communication. The book concludes by presenting ideas and recommendations for future scholarship, including the necessity of a non-Eurocentric perspective on African-American identities. Critical reception. Writing in the "Southern Communication Journal", Charlton D. McIlwain criticized the book for failing to engage with disputes over the validity of racial differences in a postmodern world and for failing to explain the motivation behind the work or how it would add to understandings of intercultural communication or African Americans' communicative experiences. However, he also noted that the book "does include some discussion of a fairly vast amount of literature", and that it had the "potential to instigate debate over the ontology of human difference." Lillie M. Fears in "Mass Communication and Society" wrote that "the authors do accomplish their goal of presenting a cultural analysis of African American communication" and that "the book, replete with information from diverse bodies of literature, is really a reader or guide that can be used by researchers seeking to better understand African American culture and communication styles, patterns, and even some basic history of African peoples in the United States." Gloria Greene in "American Speech" recommended the chapter on communicative competence "to anyone seeking better understanding of how to communicate effectively with African Americans and other cultural groups" and the book as a whole to "sociolinguists who are thinking about this or similar particular topics of communication among cultural groups." Writing in the "Journal of Language and Social Psychology", Michael Irvin Arrington praised the authors for their "interpretive, cultural approach", and described the fifth chapter of the second edition, which focuses on intraracial and interracial relationships and friendships, as "impressive" but noted that it failed to address its multiple themes "sufficiently, settling instead for a cursory glance at each topic." Arrington also described the original edition as "groundbreaking in its interactional approach and its subject matter".

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Black Metropolis Black Metropolis: A Study of Negro Life in a Northern City, authored by St. Clair Drake and Horace R. Cayton, Jr., is an anthropological and sociological study of the African-American urban experience in the first half of the 20th century. Published in 1945, later expanded editions added some material relating to the 1950s and 1960s. Relying on massive research conducted in Chicago, primarily as part of a Works Progress Administration program, Drake and Cayton produced, according to the "Encyclopedia of African American History", a "foundational text in African American history, cultural studies, and urban sociology." Synopsis. The original text begins with an introduction by novelist Richard Wright in which he relates some of the research to the themes of his work, particularly the novel, "Native Son." The preface of the book, authored by Drake and Cayton, provides an overview of the Black Metropolis. The first section of the book then sketches the history of African-Americans in Chicago, up to the early years of the Great Migration, when millions of African-Americans left the Southern United States for Northern cities. The book continues with explorations of the forces which created the separate Black Metropolis, and how the community related to the wider city. Chapters include "Breaking the Job Ceiling", "Black Workers and the New Unions", and "Democracy and Political Expediency", in which the power politics of the newly dynamic community over the wider society is explored. The book continues with a detailed portrait on the life of the community in such chapters as "The Power of the Press and the Pulpit", "Negro Business", and separate chapters on the upper, middle and lower classes of the community. The authors identify five overwhelming concerns of the entirety of the community—"staying alive, having a good time, praising God, getting ahead, and advancing the race." The final section of the book is a note by sociology professor W. Lloyd Warner on the book's methodology. Publication history. The book had its origins in a research project conceived by Warner at the University of Chicago with assistance from Cayton. With eventual government and other funding, twenty graduate students between 1935 and 1940, including Drake, worked as primary researchers. As many as 200 were employed as investigators, typists, and copyists of various field reports. Cayton was familiar with the high society of the respectable, and not-so-respectable, black elite, while Drake became intimately familiar with various voluntary organizations and working and lower class elements. After the project was completed, Warner thought it might be turned into a book for the university's academic press, but Cayton thought it would get a wider readership with a commercial publisher. Drake wrote most chapters of the book, while Cayton produced the remainder, and Warner, Cayton, and Drake acted as reviewers and editors. The publisher Harcourt, Brace and Company wanted Wright for the introduction, and Cayton, who knew Wright, was able to get him. The book was expanded by Drake and Cayton in later editions in the 1950s and 1960s. It has been reissued by the University of Chicago Press in 1993 and 2015. Critical reception. In the "American Sociological Review", Samuel Strong wrote, "[t]he style of the volume alternates between systematic analysis, literary excursions, and journalistic protest writing. In spite of any critical observations one may direct against this book, it represents a real contribution to the literature. ..." The reviewer for "The Journal of Politics", Rosalind Lepawsky, noted the breadth of the book but found it confusing, and thought it was missing an emphasis on psychology and would benefit from a more popular treatment. Carter Woodson, writing in "The Journal of Negro History", found the book a creditworthy and commendable effort. Criticism. Aimee Cox, in her 2015 study of a group black girls in Detroit, states that although she was not interested in critiquing "Black Metropolis", she denotes it as beginning a trend in urban sociology of focusing on the success of black men, and excluding black women. She also argues that the ideas of 'success' assumed in "Black Metropolis" for "advancing the race" are primarily economic and class based. According to James N. Gregory, writing in 2007, the book emphasized physical segregation and social disorganization theory, tending to diminish the achievements of the Black community and "introduc(ing) the ghetto story that would guide (perceptions for) the next half century." Gregory also argues there is irony that the very concept of the "Black Metropolis," which had been a "celebratory terminology" among Black journalists, was eroded by the study because, in Gregory's view, the study emphasized the limits of urban Black life, rather than its achievements. Awards. 1946: Anisfield-Wolf Book Award in nonfiction.

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African American Review African American Review (AAR) is a scholarly aggregation of essays on African-American literature, theatre, film, the visual arts, and culture; interviews; poetry; fiction; and book reviews. The journal has featured writers and cultural critics including Trudier Harris, Arnold Rampersad, Hortense Spillers, Amiri Baraka, Cyrus Cassells, Rita Dove, Charles Johnson, Cheryl Wall, and Toni Morrison. It is the official publication of the Modern Language Association's LLC African American. Between 1967 and 1976, the journal appeared under the title Negro American Literature Forum and until 1992 as Black American Literature Forum before obtaining its current title. It is based in St. Louis. "AAR" has received three American Literary Magazine Awards for Editorial Content, and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses.

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Journal of Black Psychology The Journal of Black Psychology is a quarterly psychology journal published by the Association of Black Psychologists. The journal publishes original research from an international array of authors in a variety of areas: History. The journal was founded in 1974 and its editor-in-chief is Beverly Vandiver (Western Michigan University). Abstracting & Indexing. The journal is abstracted and indexed in Social Science Citation Index, Academic Search Premier, ERIC, PubMed, and PyscInfo among others. According to "Journal Citation Reports", the journal has a 2017 impact factor of 1.551 ranking in 54 out of 135 in Psychology, Multidisciplinary.

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Phylon Phylon (subtitle: "the Clark Atlanta University Review of Race and Culture") is a semi-annual peer-reviewed academic journal covering culture in the United States from an African-American perspective. It was established in 1940 by W. E. B. Du Bois, at what was then known as Atlanta University, as a magazine dedicated to race and culture. In 1957, the magazine was renamed "The Phylon Quarterly", and in 1960 it was renamed again, this time to its original title. It resumed publication in 2015 as an online-only journal, as a result of a collaboration between Atlanta University Center and Clark Atlanta University (formerly Atlanta University). The editor-in-chief is Obie Clayton (Clark Atlanta University).

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Afro-Americans in New York Life and History Afro-Americans in New York Life and History is an academic journal organized and distributed by Buffalo, New York's Afro-American Historical Association of the Niagara Frontier. History and background. Founded in 1977, the journal's mission statement informs readers that its purpose is "to publish analytical, historical, and descriptive articles dealing with the life and history of Afro-Americans in New York State." The Articles featured, deal with methodology and trends in local and regional African-American studies, historical and current. Additionally, documents are frequently published that have historical significance to the African-American in the state of New York, specifically. Finally, book reviews are published pertaining to aspects of the life, history, and culture of people of African descent and race relations. At the time of the journal's first publication, the success of Alex Haley's novel "" (1976) had created an immense, new found interest in the African-American community for the discovery, preservation, and presentation of the often-overlooked rich cultural heritage that African Americans had established in the United States. Relevance. The plight of African Americans in the United States in the 20th and 21st centuries can be connected to many different issues. The barriers of racism, economics and politics have greatly contributed to the oppression of people of color. These barriers continue to do so today. Whether purposefully or unknowingly actions in today's world due to these have left scars on society that have yet to heal. "Afro-Americans in New York Life and History" has played an important role in merging academic and community perspectives of African-American history and culture. Editors and Board of Directors. As of July 2013, Seneca Vaught, professor of history and African Studies at Kennesaw State University, is the journal's Editor, aided by Associate Editors Clarence Williams of CUNY, Lillian Williams of SUNY at Buffalo, and Oscar R. Williams of SUNY at Albany. A variety of scholars who are interested in furthering the field of African-American history serve as Contributing Editors. In addition to Editorial supervision, the twenty-three member Board of Directors that oversees the Afro-American Historical Association of the Niagara Frontier also has input into the operation and contents of the journal. Notable issues. The issues concerning this journal are aimed towards African Americans in New York, with prevalent issues brought to light and discussed in the volumes of "Afro-Americans in New York Life and History". In 2005, the New York Historical Society held an exhibition titled "Slavery in New York". An issue regarding "Slavery in Albany, New York" by Oscar Williams, Vol. 34, No. 2 (July 2010) emphasized that slavery was not limited to the south. In 1991, human remains by construction workers in lower Manhattan raised awareness of the African Burial Ground, where slaves in New York City were buried. Slavery was practiced into the 19th century. Most studies on slavery in New York have mentioned other New York cities sparingly. There is a failure on an understanding that slavery was widespread throughout New York. The capital, Albany, houses a special relationship of slavery beginning with the establishment of the Dutch West India Company in 1621. Another issue arose in regards to African-American prisoners as passive citizens. Themis Chronopoulos' article "Political Power and Passive Citizenship: The Implications of Considering African American Prisoners as Residents of Rural New York State Districts" explains how African-American prisoners who used to live in New York City were transferred to a rural prison, which has had critical political implications. This movement of prisoners has allowed more conservative legislators to hold a political office. State law dictates that prisoners have no rights but are still being accounted for in the population. Consequently, these conservative legislators have been generally hostile in regards to African Americans and their interest. If it was not for the urban population of upstate New York, numerous senate districts would have to be redrawn due to a lack of number of residents. The Republican Party would not be able to dominate the New York State Senate and downstate New York would be more politically powerful. Scholarship. The Carter G. Woodson essay contest is a scholarship awarded to students, ranging from grades 4-12, that show significant ability in writing. These essays are themed and students must be a resident from the western New York area. Cash prizes and certificates are presented to the winner. The winners' essays will be published in "Historically Speaking" and read at the African American History Program.

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Losing the Race Losing the Race: Self-Sabotage in Black America is a 2000 book by American linguist and political commentator John McWhorter in which he argues that it is not external racial prejudice and discrimination but instead elements of black culture that are more responsible for the social problems faced by black Americans several decades after the Civil Rights Movement. Specifically, McWhorter points to anti-intellectualism, separatism, and a self-perpetuated identity of victimhood as factors limiting them as a group. The book was a "New York Times" bestseller and received mixed reactions. McWhorter considers it the work that first made him known to larger audiences and contributed to the perception of him being a conservative commentator.

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The Mis-Education of the Negro The Mis-Education of the Negro is a book originally published in 1933 by Dr. Carter G. Woodson. The thesis of Dr. Woodson's book is that Blacks of his day were being culturally indoctrinated, rather than taught, in American schools. This conditioning, he claims, causes blacks to become dependent and to seek out inferior places in the greater society of which they are a part. He challenges his readers to become autodidacts and to "do for themselves", regardless of what they were taught: History shows that it does not matter who is in power... those who have not learned to do for themselves and have to depend solely on others never obtain any more rights or privileges in the end than they did in the beginning. Woodson elaborated further: When you control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him not to stand here or go yonder. He will find his 'proper place' and will stay in it. You do not need to send him to the back door. He will go without being told. In fact, if there is no back door, he will cut one for his special benefit. His education makes it necessary. Chapters. Chapter 1 “The Seat Of The Trouble” in this chapter Dr. Carter Woodson explains how African Americans can feel out of place as they are subjected to despise themselves within the given educational system. He identifies how African Americans are often influenced to become a “good negro” in order to become successful, and this ideology urges them to downplay their “blackness” to advance in the social ladder, but being educated and moving up the social ladder does not eliminate one's blackness. This problem could possibly be avoided if African Americans had equal opportunity to learn about their culture and black history. Chapter 2 “How We Missed The Mark” in this chapter Woodson explains how the educational system failed to support African Americans because of how their schools were unable to properly teach them, when compared to predominantly white schools that were fully furnished and had the means to give their students the right education. Woodson believed that African Americans should experience different means of education to develop and show their individual skills rather than to be educated practically.   Chapter 3 “How We Drifted Away From The Truth” In this chapter Woodson discusses how African Americans are separated from the truth of their actual contributions to history due to it being “white-washed.”  He analyzed many cases in which this makes white people believe they are superior by taking away the important contributions from black people. He also shows how black teachers are often no help in fixing the problem as they continue to teach white-washed versions of history to the future generations of students. Chapter 4 “Education Under Outside Control” in this chapter Woodson speaks on how African Americans are given educationally less valuable opportunities despite whether the institution is historically black or predominately white. Woodson believes that equal education opportunities have an effect on individuals and the life that they create for themselves. He also encourages African Americans to create better opportunities in many aspects for themselves so they can live better lives. “The program for the uplift of the negro in this country must be based upon a scientific study of the negro from within to develop in him the power to do for himself what his oppressors will never do for him.” “The Failure to Make a Living” highlights a lot of the problems that black people who attend college face when presented with how to apply that knowledge to the working world, or more specifically owning and operating a business. One of the main problems that Woodson introduces is the lack of support systems that many black Americans don’t have, especially when compared to those of a similar standing who happen to be white.   “The Educated Negro Leaves the Masses” discusses the estrangement that many educated black people have from the black church and the lack of support the black church receives from the educated as a result. According to Woodson, some of the things educated black people are doing instead of supporting the black church are switching to predominantly white denominations, or not attending church altogether. Woodson emphasizes the importance of the black church as “the only institution that the race controls.” In “Dissension and Weakness,” Woodson discusses the lack of tolerance those in rural areas have for dissension and differences in denomination around them. Woodson, once again, refers back to the lack of guidance and presence educated black people have in the black church and the effects of it; which includes children becoming more involved with gambling, drinking, and smoking. “Professional Education Discouraged” discusses the discouragement many black Americans face in academic settings. Some of the prime examples Woodson brings to light are how black Americans are told there will be no job opportunities in particular fields should they choose to study them, being told they are not fit for certain fields, and being discredited or ignored despite being well educated in a particular field. The next chapter, “Political Education Neglected,” begins with some examples as to how African Americans have been previously kept from learning about American politics, one example being when a bill that would print the Constitution of the United States in all schools was turned down because “it would never do to have Negroes study the Constitution of the United States." Woodson also lays out a brief history of other times when African Americans were kept from learning about laws that govern their everyday life and the policies that were keeping them subservient. “The Loss of Vision” describes how Woodson feels the black population of America has lost sight of a common goal. In this chapter he brings up how in what he calls “our so-called democracy, we are accustomed to give the majority what they want rather than educate them to understand what is best for them. We do not show the Negro to overcome segregation, but we teach them how to accept it as final and just." Woodson expresses the need for African Americans to overcome segregation by proving that they are just as good as an asset to society as white Americans. “The Need for Service Rather than Leadership” describes the stifling of African Americans’ ambition and roadblocks that keep them from becoming leaders. Woodson also lays out the reasons as to why this, but mostly shifting the blame to the lack of unity within the African American community; often referring back to points made in “The Educated Negro Leaves the Masses” and how there is too much internal conflict and dissension within the community to allow for upward mobility for the community as a whole. In “Hirelings in the Places of Public Servants,” Woodson brings up the lack of African Americans in positions of power in the workplace. Woodson brings up many examples of African Americans put in management positions not being given the same respect and attention their white counterparts are given, and why this is. In the chapters “Understanding the Negro,” “The New Program,” and “Vocational Guidance” there were multiple themes that Woodson covered throughout this section. He talks about lack of negro presence throughout the school system and how that not only affects black students but white students as well.  A good portion of that comes from black people not being mentioned at all in the school's curriculum. The only time they are mentioned is to be demonized or if  something that is negative; because of the false information black students are given about their people they seem to try to assimilate with the white population, then in turn continue to circulate these negative views on their own people. Woodson actually conducted an interview  with a professor of a black college whose exact words were when asked how does he plan to teach black students about their people his response was  "We do not offer here any course in Negro history, Negro literature, or race relations. "We study the Negro along with other people." When Woodson questions him on his answer he then goes on to say  "Why do you emphasize the special study of the Negro?" "Why is it necessary to give the race special attention in the press, on the rostrum, or in the schoolroom?” This is the mindset that most teachers he came across or looked over had towards black studies and how it should be taught to black children.   In “The New Type of Professional Man Required,” Woodson discusses the many hardships black lawyers and doctors encounter in their professional careers. One of the problems he discusses for black lawyers would be how they are often forced to focus on the particular laws that disproportionately affect African Americans. He seems to take issue with many black doctors and their motivations for going into such work: He says, “Too many Negroes go into medicine and dentistry for selfish purposes, hoping thereby to increase their income and spend it on joyous living." He also discusses the exclusion of African Americans from the arts. “Higher Strivings In The Service Of The Country”. In this chapter, Woodson emphasizes his political views. Woodson believed that African Americans should not just focus on themselves and address only issues that apply to them, but should address issues that apply to everyone “Reward the dead for some distant favors from the past”  Woodson, in this chapter, is trying to inform African Americans that because their ancestors were influenced by—and died—for certain rights in the past does not mean they should always be followed. Woodson strongly enforced that African Americans should not enforce a particular political party because of this. He strongly felt like this because of some African Americans siding with Republicans only because of Abraham Lincoln. Not only was he strong about politics but he was also strong about having African Americans participating more in the United States economy, because he believed that African Americans playing a role in the US economy would improve their social life and makes others want to contribute to the advancement of society. Woodson stated that African Americans should pursue economic and social change. In chapter 18, “The Study of the Negro,” Woodson emphasizes the importance of again knowing the history and the importance of African American culture. He strongly believed that Blacks need to study their history more. Dr. Woodson believed that blacks have come to hate their history due to slavery and being treated unfairly but are strongly taught to learn and respect other cultures’ history. Reception. Many praised Woodson and his work as a glimpse into the problems that plague African Americans' social advancement. Ron Daniels, with the Michigan City said, “Carter G. Woodson, one of our most distinguished historians, and the founder of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, was convinced that the dilemma of racial consciousness and identity was not an accident. [...] Our history, culture and identity should serve as a basic for a group cohesion, and the collective pursuit of an African-American agenda for moral, social, economic and political advancement.” Another had to say, “The result was a caustic and uncompromising litany that seemed to go on forever. Negro education, Woodson charged, clung to a defunct “machine method” based on the misguided assumption that “education is merely a process of imparting information.” it failed to inspire black students and “did not bring their minds into harmony with life as they must face it.” theories of Negro inferiority were “drilled” into black pupils in virtually every classroom they entered. And the more education blacks received, the more “estranged from the masses” they became.” The Journal of Black Studies on Woodson himself said, "Carter G. Woodson believed that education was much more than the transferal of knowledge from teacher to student: He believed that authentic education would not only teach students to think and recite information also allow students to ask difficult epistemological and ontological questions about life, political systems, social and economic inequities, and the very purpose of humankind." The title of Lauryn Hill's 1998 best-selling album "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" is a reference to the book's naming.

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The Covenant with Black America The Covenant with Black America is a 2006 political, non-fiction book edited by the American talk-show host and writer Tavis Smiley. Its theme is power relations between Black and White Americans. In 2006, the anthology was listed as The New York Times' number one bestseller. Smiley has stated that this was one of his goals for the book and by placing on the list it would make people discuss the book and its contents, as it would "force everyone to talk about it". The book consists of a collection of ten essays written by scholars and activists who are fighting to balance the scale between White and Black America. They offer a call to action for Black Americans, filled with "practical advice", to close the gap between them and White America. The overall message of the anthology recalls the 1970s campaigns of Jesse Jackson” The anthology's ultimate goal was to help Black America gain social, economic, and political power because without that power, the disparities between Black and White America will continue to grow. Contents. "The Covenant"s ten essays, all focused on different areas of social and political disparities, offer theories to help alleviate these disparities. Listed as "Covenants", the ten essays are as follows: “Securing the Right to Health Care and Wellbeing,” “Establishing a System of Public Education in Which All Children Achieve at High Levels and Reach Their Full Potential,” “Correcting the System of Unequal Justice,” “Fostering Accountable Community-Centered Policing,” “Ensuring Broad Access to Affordable Neighborhoods That Connect to Opportunity,” “Claiming Our Democracy,” “Strengthening Our Rural Roots,” “Accessing Good Jobs, Wealth, and Economic Prosperity,” “Assuring Environmental Justice for All,” and “Closing the Racial Digital Divide.” Cornel West concludes the book with a final call to action. The Ten Covenants. I: "Securing the Right to Health Care and Wellbeing". By David M. Satcher, M.D., PhD. As the sixteenth Surgeon General of the United States, Satcher defines health as reflective of both mind and body. In this essay, he elucidates the needs of Black America to have a culture between healthcare provider and patient; in addition, he focuses on the disproportionate representation of Black America in the healthcare system and justice system. II: "Establishing a System of Public Education in Which All Children Achieve at High Level and Reach Their Full Potential". By Edmund W. Gordon, Ed D. Edmund Gordon illuminates, in this essay, the relationship between educational opportunity with "race, ethnicity, gender, etc." He attributes this the title of the "Black-White achievement gap." III: "Correcting the System of Unequal Justice". By James Bell. As the president (and founder) of the W. Haywood Burns Institute, an institute to help communities (like Black America) reach equality, James Bell advocates for justice within the juvenile system and adult justice system in his essay. He calls for help in liberating the members of the Black community that have been imprisoned by the "flawed justice system." IV: "Fostering Accountable Community-Centered Policing". By Maya Harris. V: "Ensuring Broad Access to Affordable Neighborhoods That Connect to Opportunity". By Angela Glover Blackwell. VI: "Claiming Our Democracy". By Wade Henderson. VII: "Strengthening Our Rural Roots". By Oleta Garrett Fitzgerald & Sarah Bobrow-Williams. VIII: "Accessing Good Jobs, Wealth, and Economic Prosperity". By Marc H. Morial. IX: "Assuring Environmental Justice For All". By Robert D. Bullard. X: "Closing the Racial Digital Divide". By Tyrone D. Taborn.

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Journal of African American Studies The Journal of African American Studies is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes papers in the field of African American studies. The journal is edited by Judson L. Jeffries (The Ohio State University) and published quarterly by Springer. Abstracting and indexing. The journal is abstracted and indexed in the Emerging Sources Citation Index, Scopus, Academic Search Premier, IBZ Online, Social services abstracts, and Sociological abstracts. The journal has a 2019 SCImago Journal Rank of 0.174.

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Longing to Tell Longing to Tell: Black Women Talk About Sexuality And Intimacy is a 2003 book by Tricia Rose. It comprises 20 oral histories by African-American women from different socio-economic backgrounds and ages telling their stories about various aspects of sexuality. Reception. The "New York Times" noted that it is "the first compilation of black women's oral histories about all aspects of sexuality" and that it has been applauded by scholars like Henry Louis Gates Jr., while, in a discussion about her book "The Politics & Passion", Gloria Wekker expressed disappointment with "Longing to Tell". "Longing to Tell" has also been reviewed by "Booklist", "Publishers Weekly", "Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society", "Women's Review of Books, Library Journal, Multicultural Review, and Essence."

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The Journal of African American History The Journal of African American History, formerly The Journal of Negro History (1916–2001), is a quarterly academic journal covering African-American life and history. It was founded in 1916 by Carter G. Woodson. The journal is owned and overseen by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) and was established in 1916 by Woodson and Jesse E. Moorland. The journal publishes original scholarly articles on all aspects of the African-American experience. The journal annually publishes more than sixty (60) reviews of recently published books in the fields of African and African-American life and history. As of 2018, the "Journal" is published by the University of Chicago Press on behalf of the ASALH. History. "The Journal of African American History" (formally the "Journal of Negro History") was one of the first scholarly texts or journals to cover African-American history. It was founded in January 1916 by Carter G. Woodson, an African-American historian and journalist. The journal was and is a publication of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, an organization founded by Woodson. The journal was the dominant source to learn about African American history at the time of its conception, because there were no other such texts. The journal gave black scholars the chance to publish articles examining African-American history and culture while also documenting the current black experience in the United States. While the journal mainly published the work of black authors and encouraged their academic success, it was also an outlet for white scholars who had different views than their counterparts.  Woodson's efforts to cover African-American history at a time where it was unacknowledged has led him to receive the nickname "Father of African American History." Carter G. Woodson. Carter G. Woodson (1875–1950) was a professor and historian at Howard University. He was among the first black scholars, such as other notable figures like W. E. B. Du Bois, to receive a doctoral degree. So, naturally was a pioneer in the field of black history and African American studies. After getting his Ph.D. in history from Harvard University, he joined the faculty at Howard University. During his time of the study, there was really no such thing as black history. Woodson was one of the first black scholars to identify this need and do something about it. On the creation of "The Journal of Negro History", Carol Adams, the CEO of the Chicago Museum of African American History, commented: "He didn’t just see a need, he moved to fill the need,” Adams says. “It wasn’t easy to get your work published if you were an African-American scholar, for example, so he started a journal and then a press." Woodson and the Journal's impact on Black History Month. In 1915, Woodson co-founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH). This organization's name was changed to, much like the "Journal of Negro History"’s rechristening to the Journal of African American history, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (also abbreviated as ASALH). This non-profit organization, founded in Chicago and based in Washington, D.C. This organization, along with Woodson, was responsible for the creation of African American History week in 1926, choosing the week that coincided with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln to bring attention to the importance of black history. African American history week built upon the work of the "Journal of Negro History", as is celebrated the need to examine the history and celebrate African-American culture. The journal is published by the (ASALH) Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Woodson's work establishing the "Journal of Negro History" and African American History week were the early roots of what we now know as Black History Month. Black History Month is every year in February, still covering the week of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln's birthdays that was originally chosen by Woodson. Notable figures. Since its conception in 1926, the "Journal of African American Histor"y has featured and published the work of several notable scholars over the years. These include famous names such as Benjamin Quarles, John Hope Franklin, and W. E. B. Du Bois. To name a few other couple of notable figures who were on record as adding to the history of African Americans, Jesse Moorland is the first to come to mind. Moorland on record was a key contributor along with Woodson himself for beginning black history month. Moorland contributed to what is now known as one of the world's largest libraries on African-American history through considerable donations of personal novels and manuscripts along with activist Arthur Spingarn. Both of whom are remembered through the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at Howard University. To add to the list of notable figures, Joe R. Feagin comes to mind. Joe is currently the president of the American Sociological Association, he completed research on issues with racism in society who contributed as well to the history of African Americans originally started by Carter Woodson, the father of African-American history. The Journal and women of color. "The Journal of African American History" played a vital role for women of color in the 1900s. Before it was commonplace for women to be openly welcomed in the world of academia, the "Journal of African American History" (still known then as "The Journal of Negro History") provided women of color with an outlet to publish their work without the ridicule of others. The first black female historians paved their way using the "Journal of Negro History." Female authors contributed nine percent of the articles published in the "Journal of Negro History", compared to an average of only three percent in other notable journals of the time, such as "Mississippi Valley Historical Review" or the "Journal of Southern History". The "Journal of Negro History" was therefore quite revolutionary in its time by allowing more female authors to contribute to the journal. One of the most notable examples includes Marion Thompson Wright, the first black female to receive a doctoral degree in history. She published her own work on blacks in New Jersey in the "Journal of Negro History." The Journal's publishing institutions. "The Journal of African American History" is owned by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. In 2018, the editor V. P. Franklin, who began working for his alma mater, Harvard University along with Harvard's Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, a well-known historian in African-American studies decided to sign a deal with the University of Chicago Press to have it publish the journal on behalf of the ASLAH. Current editor. Pero. G. Dagbovie is an acclaimed history professor at Michigan State University focused primarily on black history, black women's history, and Black Power. He is also a well known author of countless books including African American History Reconsidered and the biography of Carter G. Woodson, the founder of "The Journal of African American History". Because of Dagbovie's work and his unique background on African-American history, he has been appointed as the next editor of the Journal, replacing V.P Franklin. Impact. As mentioned above, "The Journal of African American History" was essential for starting the effort to document and fill the need for the study of black history. However, it also gave black scholars opportunities to challenge the status quo, fight stereotypes, and attempt to create a more favorable perception of African Americans. It also gave people of color the chance to publish their works and be recognized in the academic field. It really encouraged and fostered the academic success of black Americans, especially black historians.

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Journal of Negro Education The Journal of Negro Education is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by Howard University, established in 1932 by Charles Henry Thompson, who was its editor-in-chief for more than 30 years. The journal's aim is to identify and define the problems that characterize the education of Black people in the United States and elsewhere, to provide a forum for analysis and solutions, and to serve as a vehicle for sharing statistics and research on a national basis. Ivory A. Toldson has served as editor-in-chief since 2008. The journal lists three aims as its mission: first, to stimulate the collection and facilitate the dissemination of facts about the education of Black people; second, to present discussions involving critical appraisals of the proposals and practices relating to the education of Black people; and third, to stimulate and sponsor investigations of issues incident to the education of Black people. Notable contributors in the fields of education, sociology, history, and other disciplines over the years have included Horace Mann Bond, Ralph J. Bunche, Kenneth B. Clark, James P. Comer, W. E. B. Du Bois, E. Franklin Frazier, Edmund W. Gordon, Robert J. Havighurst, Dorothy Height, Dwight O. W. Holmes, Charles S. Johnson, Alain Locke, Thurgood Marshall, Benjamin E. Mays, James Nabrit, Jr., Dorothy B. Porter, and others.

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The Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Folklore The Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Folklore is a three-volume set of books published in December 2005 by Greenwood Press. It contains roughly 700 alphabetically arranged entries by more than 100 contributors. It serves as a comprehensive overview of all aspects of African-American folklore, including folktales, music, foodways, spiritual beliefs, and art. Background. "The Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Folklore" is unique in being the definitive encyclopedia relating to African-American traditions, background, and mores; a comprehensive overview of African-American culture and folklore. It contains alphabetically arranged entries and expert contributors on topics such as folktales, music, art, foodways, spiritual beliefs, proverbs, and many other subjects. Entries cite works for further reading and the encyclopedia concludes with a bibliography of major works. The set of books also gives attention to the Caribbean and African roots of traditional African-American culture. The three volumes are intended to help scholars and students understand the heart of African-American culture and provides a comprehensive context for African-American history, literature, music, and art. Reviews. "The fact that more than 100 entries are devoted to scholars and collectors, among them Imamu Amiri Baraka, Zora Neale Hurston, and Melville J. Herskovits, supports a statement Prahlad makes in the introduction. The encyclopedia seeks 'to provide a significant overview of the current study of African American folklore... [This] first comprehensive general reference work' on African American folklore is highly recommended for academic and public libraries." "The multidisciplinary nature of folklore studies is reflected in the list of 140 or so primarily academic contributors, whose areas of expertise include art, literature, anthropology, religion, and more...(the entries) make fascinating reading on topics as diverse as samba, the Sea Islands, sermons, Tupac Shakur, Stagolee, and the steel pan drum..." "Booklist", Starred Review