James Alan McPherson (September 16, 1943 – July 27, 2016) was an American essayist and short-story writer. He was the first African-American writer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and was included among the first group of artists who received a MacArthur Fellowship. At the time of his death, McPherson was a professor emeritus of fiction at the Iowa Writers' Workshop. … [Read more...] about Friday Open Thread: Black History Facts
Pulitzer Prize
Thursday Open Thread: Black Music Composers
George Theophilus Walker (born June 27, 1922) is an African-American composer, the first to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. He received the Pulitzer for his work Lilacs in 1996. … [Read more...] about Thursday Open Thread: Black Music Composers
Wednesday Open Thread: African-American Poets
Happy Hump Day Obots! This week's open thread has focused on African-American poets. Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks was an African-American poet. She was appointed Poet Laureate of Illinois in 1968 and Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1985. Brooks was born on June 7, 1917, in Topeka, Kansas, the first child of David Anderson Brooks and Keziah … [Read more...] about Wednesday Open Thread: African-American Poets