Even before controversy erupted over the novel Nigger Heaven (published in 1926), white writers such as Eugene O’Neill and Julia Peterkin were staking their fortunes on representing blacks. Peterkin, for example, whose “rich” life on a former slave plantation in South Carolina had given her “plenty of material,” spoke for numerous white writers when she declared that “Negro” … [Read more...] about Wednesday Open Thread: The Harlem Renaissance – The Niggerati and the Negrotarians
Literature
Thursday Open Thread: COINTELPRO and The War On Black America
Good Morning POU! While many believe the surveillance of black leaders began with the modern Civil Rights Movement and culminated with the Black Panther Party, the truth is, the FBI kept surveillance on black writers and academics beginning in the 1920s. The literature and music of the Harlem Renaissance, and its devotion to authentic black thought was enough to warrant … [Read more...] about Thursday Open Thread: COINTELPRO and The War On Black America
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
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
Thursday Open Thread: African American Ghost Stories III
GOOD MORNING P.O.U.! "I Know Moonrise" … [Read more...] about Thursday Open Thread: African American Ghost Stories III