This summer, I worked with a group of students* in the African American Literatures and Cultures Institute on various activities, including a glossary for Eve L. Ewing's Electric Arches.
For the glossary, the students and I identified key terms that we thought future, younger students might want defined as they encountered the book. We then provided short links and descriptions.
[Related: An Index for Eve L. Ewing's Electric Arches]
Page number / term
Cover design by Brett Neimann.
Cover artwork, Garden of Lost Things, by Brianna McCarthy
5: Assata Shakur - a former member of the Black Liberation Army.
5 NASA - an independent agency of the United States Government that oversees the civilian space program.
6: Missy Elliott - a legendary rapper, record producer and dancer.
6: Kool cigarettes - manufactured by Imperial Tobacco Company in the United States. They were fiercely marketed towards African Americans in the 1970's.
6: Sam Cooke - a soul singer from Chicago that influenced many artists.
6: Hennessy - cognac liquor made in Cognac, France. It is mentioned in many hip-hop songs.
8: Jesse Jackson - a civil rights activist and politician.
8: Fletcher St. - between Roscoe Village and West Lakeview in Downtown Chicago.
9: George Washington Carver - known for his noteworthy work with peanuts.
9: Silicon Valley - region in southern bay area of San Francisco that is a global center for high technology.
12: “Lift Every Voice and Sing” - known as the Black National Anthem.
15: CPD - the Chicago Police Department is one of the oldest modern police forces in the world.
16: Winged Victory (of Samothrace) - a marbe statue of the goddess of victory Nike. It is housed at the Louvre in Paris, France.
18: Koko Taylor - a Chicago blue singer sometimes referred to as “The Queen of Blues.”
18: John Henry - the protagonist of an African American folktale who hammers steel drills into rocks, making blast sites for dynamite. Henry wins a hammering race against a steam-powered hammer, dying after his victory.
18: Illinois Central Railroad sometimes called the “Main Line of Mid-America,” was a railroad in the central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama.
18: Beatles - a famous British group from the 1960’s.
20: Harvard Square - the plaza at the intersection of Massachusetts Ave, rattle St, and John F. Kennedy St, near the center of Cambridge, MA.
20: Brattle St, located in Cambridge, has several homes of historic interest, including one owned by President George Washington.
21: Portage Path - a behavioral and mental health clinic located in various places across the country.
23: Metta World Peace, formerly known as Ron Artest, is a former player for the Chicago Bulls and other teams.
23: Queensbridge - public housing development in New York City, where Nas, Metta World Peace, and others grew up.
28: The Mississippi Delta - a region in between the Mississippi and Yazoo River.
28: Shea Butter - the fat extracted from the nut of an African shea tree. It is a quite popular for African American skincare.
29: Erykah Badu - the neo-soul singer. On and on./
29: Baduizm - Erykah Badu’s first album.
30: Sisyphus - the king of Ephyra. He was punished for his self-aggrandizing craftiness and deceitfulness.
32: Moses - a well-known hero from the bible.
35: Tart - pastry baked dish with filling.
36: Stacey Lauretta of the Bronx - referring to the well-known Stacey Dash.
37: Speakeasy - a term used to describe retro style birds
38: Parabens - preservatives in cosmetic products.
38: Yazoo City - a town in Mississippi.
38: Anagram - a word formed by rearranging the letters of another word
39: Tilt-A-Whirl - an amusement park ride.
40: pockmark - an acne scar
41: Carson Pirie Scott - a department store chain.
41: Damask - a patterned fabric made from weaving
41: Tinkerer - a fictional character with a special gift at engineering
42: White Castle - a fast-food restaurant.
42: Northern Lights (also known as Aurora) - a natural display in Earth’s sky seen at high altitude locations.
44: Newbury Street - an avenue in Boston, Massachusetts.
44: Intelligentsia - a class of educated people.
45: Chinese Checkers - a strategy-style board game.
49: Morris Day - an American musician known for his role in the band “The Time.”
51: Chaka Khan: - legendary and Grammy Award-winning singer.
51: Greyhound bus station - an intercity bus common carrier serving over 3,000 destinations across North America.
54: Blue line - train services that operate between O’hare and Forest Park via Downtown Chicago.
55: Pilsen - a neighborhood made up of residential sections of the Lower West Side Chicago.
57: Kubrick - an American film director who adapted short stories and novels into films.
58: Betrothed - engaged to be married
59: Allegheny Mountains - part of the Appalachian Mountain Range in eastern United States and Canada.
59: Flowers of Algernon - a science fiction short story and subsequent novel written by Daniel Keyes
59: "Ignition" (Remix) - a song written and produced by R&B singer R. Kelly.
65: Marilyn Mosby - an African American woman who serves as the State’s Attorney for Baltimore.
65: Dorchester - a historic neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.
65: Shawmut Peninsula - the foreland which Boston, Massachusetts was built.
72: Messiah - a savior or liberator of a group of people. Originated in Judaism and the Hebrew Bible.
72: Moses - a prophet who eventually became the leader of the Israelites.
72: Hallelujah - an exhortation, to praise.
79: Fullerton Ave - Fullerton Avenue, known as Fullerton Parkway, intersects with Halsted Street and Lincoln Avenue.
79: Fireside bowl - an original family-owned Chicago bowling alley established in the 1940’s.
79: Motion city Soundtrack - an American rock band.
80: Cicero - a western suburb of Chicago, close to Oak Park and Berwyn.
80: Tony’s finer foods - Historical and popular grocery store, established in 1979.
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*Special thanks to Gaige Davila, Isaac Ray, Raegan Johnson, Ashley Hamilton, and Kynedi Price.
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