This week's open threads will highlight the works of black romance novelists and their struggle to get published. Beverly Jenkins (born 1951, Detroit) is an American author of historical and contemporary romance novels with a particular focus on 19th century African-American life. Jenkins was a 2013 NAACP Image Award nominee and, in 1999, was voted one of the … [Read more...] about Monday Open Thread: Black Romance Authors
Arts and Culture
Saturday Open Thread: More African-American Firsts
Morris Nolton Turner (December 11, 1923 – January 25, 2014) was an American cartoonist, creator of the strip Wee Pals, the first American syndicated strip with an integrated cast of characters. Turner was raised in Oakland, California, the youngest child of a Pullman porter father and a homemaker and nurse mother. He attended Cole Elementary School and McClymonds High … [Read more...] about Saturday Open Thread: More African-American Firsts
Tuesday Open Thread: More African-American Firsts
Jupiter Hammon (October 17, 1711 – before 1806) was a black poet who in 1761 became the first African-American writer to be published in the present-day United States. Additional poems and sermons were also published. Born into slavery, Hammon was never emancipated. He was living in 1790 at the age of 79, and died by 1806. A devout Christian, he is considered one of the … [Read more...] about Tuesday Open Thread: More African-American Firsts
Sunday Open Thread: Larry Graham
Larry Graham Jr. (born August 14, 1946) is an American bass guitar player, both with the psychedelic soul/funk band Sly and the Family Stone, and as the founder and frontman of Graham Central Station. He is credited with the invention of the slapping technique, which radically expanded the tonal palette of the bass, although he himself refers to the technique as "thumpin' and … [Read more...] about Sunday Open Thread: Larry Graham
Saturday Open Thread: Black LGBT individuals that shaped history
A self-described “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet,” Audre Lorde dedicated both her life and her creative talent to confronting and addressing the injustices of racism, sexism, and homophobia. Her poetry, and “indeed all of her writing,” according to contributor Joan Martin in Black Women Writers (1950-1980): A Critical Evaluation, “rings with passion, sincerity, … [Read more...] about Saturday Open Thread: Black LGBT individuals that shaped history