The Coverage of Authors, Books & Special Topics

Over the years, I've produced round-ups of articles on various authors, books, and special topics. These "coverage" series provide links that I hope are useful to readers interested in getting a sense of different perspectives on an issue.

What follows is a round-up of some of those coverage entries.

2024

• December 9: Coverage of Nikki Giovanni's passing

• March 11: The Coverage of Percival Everett's James

2023

• May 8: On the English major, death of humanities

2021

• December 15: Coverage on the passing of bell hooks

• December 8: Coverage on the passing of Greg Tate

• Jan. 5: Coverage of The Prophets by Robert Jones, Jr.

2020
• December 31: Coverage of the Mellon Foundation, Social Justice, and Elizabeth Alexander

• December 4: Coverage of Nafissa Thompson-Spires's Heads of the Colored People 

• March 14: Coverage of Jay Electronica's A Written Testimony, featuring Jay-Z

2019
• August 6: Coverage of Toni Morrison's passing
• June 27: Coverage of The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
• January 26: Coverage of (new) Native Son film

2018
• February 7: Coverage of American Marriage by Tayari Jones
• July 4: Coverage of Captain America, Ta-Nehisi Coates

• March 3: Early Coverage of Ta-Nehisi Coates as new Captain America writer
• March 30: Coverage of study on black boys and struggles with mobility

2017
• December 20: Coverage of Cornel West and Ta-Nehisi Coates
• October 1: Coverage of Ta-Nehisi Coates's We Were Eight Years in Power
• September 23: Coverage of Ta-Nehisi Coates's "The First White President"
• February 23: Roundup of coverage concerning potential arts and humanities budget cuts 

2016
• August 3: The Coverage of Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad

• May 15: The pre-publication of Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad

• January 18: Coverage of Paul Beatty's The Sellout
• January 4: Coverage of John Keene and Counternarratives 

2015
• October 17: Books on Hip Hop 
• June 26: Coverage of Ta-Nehisi Coates and "Between the World and Me" 
 
2014
• Aug. 12: Coverage of Mike Brown 
• July 21: Coverage of whether poetry matters  
• May 22: Coverage of Ta-Nehisi Coates's "The Case for Reparations"
• May 5: Coverage of Colson Whitehead's Noble Hustle
• April 1: The Coverage of Ta-Nehisi Coates on black men and culture of poverty
• March 9: My Brother's Keeper
• January 10: Coverage on Amiri Baraka's passing 

2013
• July 6: Coverage of the Humanities conversation 
• May 21: Coverage of Barack Obama's Morehouse Speech 
• March 9: The writing for free (exposure) vs. writing for pay debate
• January 26: Coverage of 'the death of poetry'
• January 21: Richard Blanco's poem at Obama's Second Inauguration

2012
• December 25: Coverage of Django Unchained
• December 12: The Rise and coverage of Ayana Mathis
• October 31: Notebook on the blog Entries of Jerry W. Ward, Jr.
• September 14: Coverage on the casting of Zoe Saldana as Nina Simone
• September 9: Profiles & Extended coverage on African Americans
• August 26: The coverage of Ta-Nehisi Coates's "Fear of a Black President" essay
• May 9: Black Studies, Naomi Riley, and the Chronicle
• May 2: Toni Morrison & Home
• April 18:  Tracy K. Smith's Pulitzer-Prize Win
• March 25: The Walking Dead's Michonne
• March 24: Trymaine Lee's coverage of the Trayvon Martin Case
• March 23: Ta-Nehisi Coates's coverage of the Trayvon Martin Case
• March 17: Trayvon Martin: early coverage

Black Studies Readings for AALCI in June

This June at the University of Texas San Antonio, I'll work with fellows in the African American Literatures and Cultures Institute, a program founded and directed by literary scholar and make-it-happen extraordinaire Joycelyn Moody. I handle the day-to-day seminar duties and reading assignments for the institute.

The fellows in the program will spend considerable time preparing professional statements and writing samples, so their time for concentrating on group reading is limited. Still, I've assembled a few works that we'll take some time to look at collectively this summer.

More on the Histories, Shifting Differences among Black Poets

A follow up to Noting differences between black poets, black poets & black poets

An important though under-discussed shift in black poetry began taking place during the mid to late 1970s, as  publishers became less interested in anthologies featuring poetry and Black World magazine, the major national venue for black artistic writing, ceased publication. Anthologies and Black World had -- for better and worse -- created interrelated, centralized sites in black poetry. 

Moving into the 1980s, there were less African American venues and institutions that could support the production of "new black poets." A major moment in the histories of African American poetry occurred in 1987 when Rita Dove won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Dove's poetry signaled that achieving recognition and prestige in the world of poetry might mean producing more overtly formal poems--poems that was less politically charged than say works by Amiri Baraka and Sonia Sanchez. Of course, works by Dove and Yusef Komunyakaa, who won a Pulitzer in 1994, contain all kinds of politics, and there are many formal qualities in works by Baraka and Sanchez.

Noting Differences between Black Poets, Black Poets & Black Poets

Maybe it's a sign about the rich diversity of the field that the phrase "black poetry" can signal so many different kinds of literary artists. When the subject of black poetry comes up among my colleagues and students, poems by people like Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, Paul Laurence Dunbar, and Margaret Walker are discussed. My colleagues will also mention folks such as Robert Hayden and Lucille Clifton, while my students will ask about Nikki Giovanni and Maya Angelou.

A relatively small number of my colleagues and students have read volumes by contemporary black poets like  Elizabeth Alexander, Terrance Hayes, Tracy K. Smith, and Kevin Young. My friends who are contemporary poets themselves, however, are quite familiar with those four poets as well as many others like Cornelius Eady, Marilyn Nelson, Harryette Mullen, and Natasha Trethewey.

Notes on the Differences between Black Students, Black Students & Black Students

The folks in my crew voice some frustration that administrators and white professors at our university fail to recognize the differences between black people and black people. They're frustrated, but there's a sense that they do not expect much. So they let it slide.

They don't give me a pass. 

If I refer to an East St. Louis student as a native of St. Louis, or if I say "you're from East St. Louis, right?" to a  Chicago student, I'll have some serious, extended apologizing to do.  I guess what goes around comes around though, as no one here would offend me by referring to me as anything but a Southerner. Ok, I have to admit St. Louis is growing on me, but note that I do live on the Southside of the city.

Why poets might not write much about where they currently live

What if more major contemporary poets made their home cities as central to their works as novelist Tayari Jones has made Atlanta, as Colson Whitehead has made New York City, or as short story writer Edward P. Jones has made D.C.? What if more poets represented their locales the way Jay-Z reps Brooklyn or how Outkast, Lil Wayne, and T.I. hold down the South?

In the past, a couple of prominent poets became associated with notable locales. Langston Hughes and Harlem. Gwendolyn Brooks and Chicago. These days, it might be harder to link a major poet to distinct places like that for a number of reasons.

A Notebook on the Work of C. Liegh McInnis

When I met him in Mississippi during the mid 1990s, I knew C. Liegh McInnis as a poet. Over the years, I've come to view him as a poet, essayist, short story writer, editor, publisher, and arts organizer.  I've had the chance to write about aspects of his work over the last few years.

2025 

• April 24: Ryan Coogler, C. Liegh McInnis, and Black Convergences

2023

• December 28: From Nikki Giovanni and Amiri Baraka to C. Liegh McInnis and others 

• October 1: A Local Conscious Poet who knows a lot about Prince 

2022

• August 7: Black Writers & Afro-Mississippians & C. Liegh McInnis

2021

• January 23: Background on the Psychedelic Literature Newsletter

• January 23: The Psychedelic Literature Newsletter and uses of "Black" in 2020

2020 

• August 5: C. Liegh McInnis's concentrated cultural catalog on black poetry

• July 27: C. Liegh McInnis on obscure/vague language, references in poetry

• July 27: C. Liegh McInnis on imagery in black poetry

• July 27: Returning to C. Liegh McInnis's critical work on poetry

2019
• January 2: C. Liegh McInnis's rapid pace across "The Bridge"

2016
• August 26: C. Liegh McInnis's books 
• August 26: The Inspiring Productivity of C. Liegh McInnis 
• August 26: Reading Brother Hollis: The Sankofa of a Movement Man

2012
• May 27: C. Liegh McInnis as a Black Urbanist 
• May 26: Poets as Black Urbanists 
• May 22:  A Southern and Malcolm-like Sound: C. Liegh McInnis & Spoken Word

2011
• August 5: C. Liegh McInnis's 1990s Groundwork in Mississippi
• July 4: Keeping Poetry Alive in Mississippi: C. Liegh McInnis

2009
• October 13: Grassroots Arts Organizing: C. Liegh McInnis and Black Magnolias

C. Liegh McInnis as a Black Urbanist

C. Liegh McInnis is definitely a literary artist who comes to mind when I think about poets as black urbanists. He's been actively on the scenes in Jackson, Mississippi, for years now, giving readings at major events, organizing and co-organizing open mic sessions and literature conferences, and offering commentary on political issues in the city.

When I was an undergraduate at Tougaloo College in the late 1990s, C. Liegh, who lived and worked in Jackson, provided me with one of the first models of what a poet could do with a city. Organize open mics at arious spots. Read "conscious" poetry for the citizens.

8 Poems Situated in Urban Spaces

• "Haircut" by Elizabeth Alexander
• "kitchenette building" By Gwendolyn Brooks
• "We Real Cool" By Gwendolyn Brooks
• "Talking Blues" By Calvin Forbes
• "Theme for English B" by Langston Hughes
• "Harlem" by Langston Hughes
• "Sonnet to a Negro in Harlem" By Helene Johnson
• "The Tropics in New York" By Claude McKay

Related:
Poets as Black Urbanists

Poets as Black Urbanists

I was reading a thoughtful piece by Peter Saunders about the lack of black urbanists in all the conversations about cities. Saunders's blong entry had me thinking about representations of cities in African American poetry. There was a time---perhaps many times--when leading black poets wrote frequently about urban spaces.   

Think about Langston Hughes writing about Harlem or Gwendolyn Brooks representing Chicago. Consider that Margaret Walker's well-known poem "For My People" charts black urban spaces across the country. Amiri Baraka made urban spaces, especially New York City and Newark, central to his work. Claude McKay, Helene Johnson, Sterling Plumpp, Eugene B. Redmond, Jayne Cortez, Calvin Forbes, Elizabeth Alexander, Tyehimba Jess, Thomas Sayers Ellis, Patricia Smith, Gary Copeland Lilley, and several others have written about cities in their works.

The Black Women Formerly Known as Non-Poets

Looking back on the past semester, young black women in my various literature courses were among the most engaged readers of poetry. Students in the courses looked forward to hearing some of the sisters read works out loud. Although hardly any of those talented readers and performers considered themselves poets, their abilities lead me to wonder about slightly redefining the term poet to also include those with skills covering poems.

We often refer to singers as singers even if they do not write the songs that they perform. Jazz musicians always include "covers" or tunes composed by others in their repertoire of set pieces. John Coltrane, in fact, became more widely known in part based on his performances of "My Favorite Things."

Black Poetry & White Money

In her book White Money/Black Power: The Surprising History of African American Studies and the Crisis of Race and Higher Education,  Noliwe Rooks, associate director of the African American studies program at Princeton University, charts, among other things, the significant financial contributions that the Ford Foundation provided for funding and thus shaping aspects of black studies programs across the country during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Beyond Rooks's book, there has been relatively little conversation about the extents to which "white money" was involved in the production of "black power."

Rooks's book came to mind as I thought about the financial backing of some contemporary African American poets. Part of my thinking in a recent piece concerning underfunding and spoken word poetry was drawn from my observations about the relatively high levels of institutional support received by some (printed-based) black poets. That institutional support often translates into financial and cultural capital.

Mixed Media Poetry Exhibit in Jackson, TN

Jackson citizens checking out the Mixed Media Exhibit

On April 28, I organized a mixed media poetry exhibit in Jackson, Tennessee, my hometown. I have done several exhibits in various places over the years, so returning home to make a presentation was a special treat.

One of my cousins is a member of a local poetry group in Jackson, and for some time now, she has been inviting me to coordinate a public event related to literature. We finally worked out a date and location, and so there I was.

The event took place at the Jackson Public Library, a venue that I knew well as a youngster. Back then, however, I was hardly interested in poetry, at least not in the study of poetry. Before my presentation, however, I took the time to look through the library's poetry section and was surprised and pleased to discover so many works by canonical and contemporary African American poetry in the collection.

For my presentation, I made it possible for people to read and listen to works by Gwendolyn Brooks, Lucille Clifton, Amiri Baraka, Tracie Morris, Eugene B. Redmond, Sonia Sanchez, and Dometi Pongo. The audience seemed to enjoy the works, and more importantly, they seemed to appreciate the novel process of using the audio devices and display panels to experience poetry.    

Related:
Mixed Media Poetry Exhibits

Authors in the Novel Category Machine

The Novel Category Machine includes 50 novels by 33 writers and 4 artist/illustrators. For a list of the books, click here.

Authors:
Baker, Kyle
Baldwin, James
Beatty, Paul
Butler, Octavia
Cole, Teju
Danticat, Edwidge
Due, Tananarive
Ellison, Ralph
Haley, Alex

Books in the Novel Category Machine

The Novel Category Machine contains only 50 novels by black writers from my personal collection. What follows is a list of the works alphabetized by title. For a list of the authors, click here.

A Mercy
Apex Hides the Hurt
Beloved
Birth of a Nation
Breath, Eyes, Memory
Captain America: Truth
Devil in a Blue Dress
Farming of the Bones
Flight to Canada
Getting Mother’s Body
Go Tell it on the Mountain
Icon: A Hero’s Welcome
Incognegro
Invisible Man
John Henry Days
Jubilee

A Notebook on the Work of Treasure Shields Redmond

I've been following and blogging about the work of poet Treasure Shields Redmond for a couple of years now. Fortunately for me, she's a local artist, so I have had the opportunity to catch her live on a number of occasions as well.

2015
• September 10: The serendipity of poetry releases by Tara Betts & Treasure Redmond

2014
• December 19: The Redmonds as gateways to poets

2013 
• April 21: Treasure Redmond hosts poetry reading in St. Louis 
• April 21: The poet as organizer: Treasure Redmond

2012
• October 4: Treasure Redmond & the Poet as Connector  
• May 22: Geography, Multiple Voices & the Distinct Sound of Treasure Shields Redmond 


2011
• June 30: Tyehimba Jess & Treasure Redmond on Anti-Black Racism as Ugly Envy
• June 30: The Folk Consciousness of Tyehimba Jess & Treasure Redmond
• May 17: From Rapper to Poet to Hip Hop Head: The Sagas of Treasure Williams
• March 5: Treasure Williams and the Arkansippi Effect  
• Feb. 15: Treasure Williams Channels Fannie Lou Hamer in STL  
• Jan. 29: Treasure Williams on Fannie Lou Hamer on Facebook 
  
2010 
• April 22: Treasure Williams & Sonic Possibilities 

Geography, Multiple Voices & the Distinct Sound of Treasure Redmond

Since I've been talking poets, spoken word, and geography, I'm inclined to say just a little about Treasure Redmond, who I've blogged about before. I consider her a friend, but I also view her as one of the most talented readers of poetry that I've witnessed in the region since I moved to St. Louis back in 2003. That Treasure is southern--Mississippi through and through--and now a somewhat recent transplant to St. Louis connects to some of my thoughts about how migrations matter to the sound of spoken word poetry at particular moments.

Few, if any, poets have a musical and performance background like Treasure. She was part of a rap duo that opened for M.C. Hammer back in the day. (I'm really, really going to have to catch her at some point for an extended interview on her life as a rapper and writer). What is, I wonder, the shape of artistic knowledge for a rapper-turned-poet? Among other issues, I imagine she brings a wealth of experience to the practice of reading and performing her words.

A Southern and Malcolm-like Sound: C. Liegh McInnis & Spoken Word

When I consider the sounds of spoken word poetry that have remained in my head for over a decade, I think about the work of Mississippi poet, publisher, and organizer C. Liegh McInnis. For the record, he probably defines himself as a "poet" more so than a "a spoken word artist." I'm mainly saying spoken word at the moment as I'm trying to think through a certain line of history with the sound and performance of poetry. So, ummm, bear with me.  

I first heard C. Liegh reading at various sets in Jackson, Mississippi, when I was an undergrad at Tougaloo College during the mid 1990s. I didn't recognize the Southern-ness of his sound at the time because I had not yet spent much time outside of the region nor had I been exposed to large numbers of non-Southern poets. What I recognized as notable, though, was the Malcolm-like cadences of his style of delivery.

Ever Considered how Underfunded Spoken Word Poetry Is?

It's likely true that the average print-based poets, rappers, and spoken word poets are all struggling artists. Little pay for their talents and hard work. Always on the grind.

But when we look to the leaders of the respective fields and the overall structures and institutional support available to these genres of "poets," it stands out how underfunded spoken word poetry is in relation to rap and literary poetry.

Many talented literary poets who came of age during the mid to late 1990s, for example, went on to secure academic appointments at some major universities, allowing them to earn a living and have a stable place to write. From the mid 1990s onward, there has been an increase in literary awards and a growing number of black poets have been the recipients of prizes and fellowships. Certainly not all or a majority yet still several print-based African American poets have received substantial institutional support, which has translated into financial and cultural capital over an extended period of time.

Geography & Distinct Sounds in Spoken Word Poetry

After reading my piece on 3 trends in contemporary African American poetry, the poet and literary scholar Tony Bolden was rightly nudging me to say something about spoken word poetry. A challenge for writing regularly about spoken word relates to the fact that words on the page stand still in ways that words out in the world at the open mic sets and such don't. But more on that challenge later. For now, here are the solid questions that Bolden raised: "How do we expand critical concepts to include variations of spoken word? And how do we create new spaces for such discussions?

I'm not yet sure about the critical concepts, but after listening to key works by a few talented poets--Tyehimba Jess, Saul Williams, Tracie Morris, Patricia Smith, and jessica Care moore--for several years now, I've started to identify some preliminary positions. For now, just a few comments on geography and spoken word.

3 Notable Trends in Contemporary African American Poetry

There are many trends that have taken place in the publication of African American poetry over the last 10 or so years. For now, I'll start with three trends that have caught my attention and identify seven or so volumes that correspond to  each of the trends. 

A focus on history -- Large numbers of poets concentrate on history in their works. They produce poems that highlight notable moments of the page or experiences of key historical figures.

Examples: Marilyn Nelson's Carver (2001), Frank X. Walker's Buffalo Dance: The Journey of York (2004),  Elizabeth Alexander's American Sublime (2005), Tyehimba Jess's leadbelly (2005), Natasha Trethewey's Native Guard (2006), Rita Dove's Sonata Mulattica (2009), Camille T. Dungy's Suck on the Marrow (2010),  and Kevin Young's Ardency (2011).

African Burial Ground: Blending Scholarship with New York City History

Images from African Burial Ground image © Danielle Hall

By Danielle Hall 

This year on the Black Studies NYC trip, I had the opportunity to visit the African Burial Ground – which I found to be a sacred space where I could pay my respects to my ancestors, reflect, and put some historical insight to good use.

One of the greatest misconceptions about slavery is the notion that it was specific only to the South. So during our visit at the African Burial Ground, I was able to share with some of our group what I learned in one of my graduate history courses. Last fall (2011), I took a class entitled "The Black Urban Experience" Professor Bryan Jack, a professor of History, and one of the required texts for the course was Leslie M. Harris’s In the Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626-1863.

Otis Moss III and Historical, Rhetorical Knowledge

Trinity United Church of Christ pastor Otis Moss III's delivery of his "letter to a brother" on May 13, was yet another reminder of how some black church practices are vital sources of historical and rhetorical knowledge. Moss's counterargument was to an anonymous (and thus any) black clergyman who erroneously placed  the world's problems on gay and lesbian couples and Barack Obama's support of marriage equality.  "The institution of marriage, my brother, is not under attack because of the President's words," notes Moss. "Marriage was under attack years ago when men viewed women as property and children as trophies of their sexual prowess."  

In the process of making his argument, Moss takes the time to reference key moments in black history, and at the same time, he draws on the full force of African American rhetorical practices to enhance the delivery of his message. On the one hand, he alludes to the U.S. Constitution, black community, sexism, racism, slavery and struggles for liberation, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Obama's election, and more. On the other hand, he utilizes alliteration, repetition, signifying, African American communal terms, persona-speech, and spirit channeling as he delivers his message.       

Vijay Iyer's Covers of Michael Jackson's "Human Nature"

I've been giving thought lately to how musicians' covers of particular popular tunes constitute modes of "signifying," which can be defined as artful and playful takes on well-known narratives and interactions with audiences and the artist-composers of the original pieces. For years, I've listened to Coltrane's different versions of "My Favorite Things" and Miles Davis's take on Monk's "'Round Midnight." Trane and Miles weren't just playing songs; they were also signifying on originals.    

Recently, I've spent time listening to Vijay Iyer's takes on Michael Jackson's "Human Nature." Iyer covers the song on his album Solo (2010) and with his trio on his album Accelerando (2012). Both versions showcase Iyer playing and playing with the tune in ways that recalls Jackson singing, but the covers also move us somewhere else.

Covering Dometi Pongo's Ex-Slave at MIZZOU

Wednesday, April 25, at my mixed media poetry exhibit at the University of Missouri Columbia (Mizzou), I included Dometi Pongo's piece "Ex-Slave" from the Malcolm X Mixtape in the line-up of poems. At the end of the presentation, a 10-year-old girl named Alyssa who attended the event with her father asked questions and offered a suggestion.

Her suggestion was that maybe our future exhibits could include different versions of pieces in the exhibit. We might present rappers performing poems, and poets performing raps. What she was suggesting could be viewed as how jazz artists, for instance, cover popular tunes.

Since I had one of my recorders, I asked Alyssa if she wanted to put what she was suggesting into practice. She did. We selected Pongo's piece "Ex-Slave" as our test case. Pongo performs the work as a rap, so Alyssa read it as a poem.

Here's an excerpt of Pongo's "Ex-Slave":

Spent my whole life livin on this plantation
All I know is devastation and pain from the lacerations
Papa died when I was five, committed suicide,
Say if he couldn't be free no point in bein alive
So I took his advice tried to run 3 times
But I swear this time y’all, it ain't gon be the same
Word round here is they got an underground railroad
And Ima be the first one up on the train
Harriet Tubman picked me up round 8
And I was surprised cuz honestly I thought Moses was a dude
But anyway, before I leave tell my people goodbye
And ask the house slaves to poison massa food

Here's Alyssa reading:

Ex-Slave Alyssa by blackstudies

Here's Pongo's performance:
Ex-Slave Prophecy by blackstudies


Related:
The Transformative Possibilities of Black Poetry

A Timeline of African American Poetry, 1854 - 2013

Notes on the timeline

1854: Frances Ellen Watkins Harper's volume of poetry Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects is published. 
1864: Frances E. W. Harper's poem "Bury Me in a Free Land" is published in Liberator, January 14.
1893: Paul Laurence Dunbar's first collection of poems Oak and Ivy is published.
1895: Alice Moore's Violets and other tales is published.
1896: Dunbar's Lyrics of Lowly Life are published.
1900: "Lift Every Voice and Sing," written by James Weldon Johnson, is performed for Booker T. Washington.
1905: John Johnson, brother of James Weldon Johnson, sets "Lift Every Voice and Sing" to music.
1913: Fenton Johnson's first volume A Little Dreaming is published.
1918: Georgia Douglas Johnson's The Heart of a Woman is published. "The Heart of a Woman."
1919: The NAACP adopts "Lift Every Voice and Sing" as "The Negro National Anthem."
1919: Claude McKay's "If We Must Die" is published in the July issue of Liberator. 
1921: Langston Hughes's "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" is published in the June issue of The Crisis magazine.
1922: The Book of American Negro Poetry, edited by James Weldon Johnson, is published.
1923: Jean Toomer's Cane is published.
1925: The New Negro, edited by Alain Locke, is published.
1925: Countee Cullen's first volume Color is published.
1926: Langston Hughes's first volume The Weary Blues is published by Knopf.
1926: Langston Hughes's "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain" appears in the June issue of The Nation. 
1932: Sterling A. Brown's Southern Road is published.
1937: Margaret Walker's "For My People" is published in the November 1937 issue of Poetry magazine.
1942: Margaret Walker's For My People,  recipient of the Yale Series of Younger Poets award, is published.
1945: Gwendolyn Brooks's A Street in Bronzeville is published by Harper & Row. 
1945: A version of Robert Hayden’s “Middle Passage” is published in the journal Phylon (Vol. 6, No. 3 3rd Qtr., 1945).
1945: Another version of Hayden’s “Middle Passage” is published in Cross Section 1945.
1947: Melvin B. Tolson named poet laureate of Liberia.
1950: Gwendolyn Brooks is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for her volume Annie Allen (1949). 
1959: Gwendolyn Brooks's "We Real Cool" is published in the September issue of Poetry magazine.
1962: Third published version of Hayden’s “Middle Passage” is published in his volume A Ballad of Remembrance.
1963: Blues People: Negro Music in White America by Amiri Baraka (then LeRoi Jones) is published.
1965: Malcolm X is assassinated in Harlem on February 21. Poet and essayist Larry Neal witnesses the murder. 
1965: The Black Arts Repertory Theatre/School opens in Harlem in April. 
1965: Broadside Press is created by Dudley Randall in Detroit, Michigan.   
1965: "A Poem For Black Hearts" (a tribute poem for Malcolm X) by Amiri Baraka published in Negro Digest.
1965: "Black Art" composed, performed by Amiri Baraka in November on Sonny Murray's album Sonny's Time Now.
1966: A fourth published version of Hayden’s “Middle Passage” appears in his Selected Poems.
1966:  "Black Art" by Amiri Baraka is published in the January issue of Liberator.
1966: John Oliver Killens organizes a major black writers conference at Fisk University in Nashville in April.
1967: John Coltrane dies July 17, and quickly becomes a major subject of tribute for black poets.
1967: Third World Press is created by Haki Madhubuti in Chicago, Illinois.
1968: Poet Henry Dumas is killed May 23, New York City Transit Authority police officer.
1968: Black Fire: An Anthology of Afro-American Writing edited by Baraka and Neal is published.
1969: Nikki Giovanni has a book party promoting Black Judgement; receives coverage in the Times. 
1969: Carolyn Rodgers's essay "Black Poetry--Where It's At" appears in Negro Digest in September.
1973: Understanding the New Black Poetry, edited by Stephen Henderson, is published. 
1976: Black World magazine, a major venue for the publication of black poetry, ceases publication. 
1976: Eugene B. Redmond publishes Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry, A Critical Study.
1976: Robert Hayden appointed Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress.
1984: Eroding Witness (1985) by Nathaniel Mackey, selected by M. Harper as a National Poetry Series Winner.
1985: Gwendolyn Brooks appointed the Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress.
1985: Robert Hayden: Collected Poems, edited by Frederick Glaysher, is published.
1987: Rita Dove awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for Thomas and Beulah.
1987: The Dark Room Collective is founded by Thomas Sayers Ellis and Sharan Strange.
1988: Good Woman and Next: New Poems (1987), both by Lucille Clifton, finalists for the Pulitzer Prize.
1988: Dien Cai Dau by Yusef Komunyakaa is published.
1989: Gwendolyn Brooks is awarded the Robert Frost Medal. 
1990: Elizabeth Alexander's The Venus Hottentot is published.
1990: Rainbow Remnants in Rock Bottom Ghetto Sky (1991) by Thylias Moss, National Poetry Series Winner.
1992: Derek Walcott receives Nobel Prize for Literature.
1992: In the Tradition: An Anthology of Young Black Writers, edited by Kevin Powell & Ras Baraka, published.
1993: Maya Angelou reads poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at inauguration of Bill Clinton.
1993: Rita Dove appointed Poet Laureate of U.S.
1993: Kevin Young's Most Way Home (1995) is selected by Lucille Clifton as a National Poetry Series Winner.
1994: The Furious Flower Poetry conference, organized by Joanne Gabbin, takes place September 29 - October 1.
1994: Yusef Komunyakaa wins Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.
1996: Cave Canem, retreat for African American poets, is founded by Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady.
1996: The Norton Anthology of African American Literature eds. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Nellie Y. McKay.
1997: The Collected Poems of Audre Lorde is published.
1999: Natasha Trethewey's Domestic Work (2000), selected by Rita Dove for the inaugural Cave Canem prize
1999: Ai wins the National Book Award for Poetry for Vice: New and Selected Poems.
2000: Lucille Clifton wins the National Book Award for Poetry for her volume Blessing the Boats.
2001: Yusef Komunyakaa awarded the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize.
2001: Terrance Hayes's Hip Logic (2002) is selected by Cornelius Eady as a National Poetry Series Winner.
2001: Sonia Sanchez is awarded the Robert Frost Medal.
2001: Brutal Imagination by Cornelius Eady is published. 
2002: Langston Hughes symposium, organized by Maryemma Graham, takes place.
2002: A. Baraka appointed Poet Laureate of New Jersey in July.
2002: Tracy K. Smith's volume The Body's Question selected by Kevin Young for Cave Canem Prize for poetry.
2004: Tyehimba Jess's Leadbelly: poems (2005), selected by Brigit P. Kelly as a National Poetry Series Winner.
2004: Second Furious Flower Poetry conference, organized by Joanne Gabbin, takes place September 22 - 25.
2005: Patricia Smith's Teahouse of the Almighty (2006) is a National Poetry Series Winner.
2006: Nathaniel Mackey wins the National Book Award for Poetry for his volume Splay Anthem.
2007: Lucille Clifton awarded the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize.
2007: Elizabeth Alexander becomes first-ever recipient of Poets & Writers’ Jackson Poetry Prize.
2007: Natasha Trethewey wins the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for her volume Native Guard (2006).
2007: Nikki Giovanni reads poem on April 17, commemorating the April 16 Virginia Tech massacre.
2008: Michael S. Harper is awarded the Robert Frost Medal.
2008: Douglas Kearney's The Black Automaton (2009) selected as a National Poetry Series Winner.
2008: Adrian Matejka's Mixology (2009) is selected by Kevin Young as a National Poetry Series Winner.
2009: Elizabeth Alexander reads "Praise Song for the Day" at inauguration of Barack Obama.
2009: Praise Song For The Day by E. Alexander and Bicycles by Nikki Giovanni are top best selling volumes. 
2010: Terrance Hayes wins National Book Award for Poetry for his volume Lighthead.  
2010: Lucille Clifton is awarded the Robert Frost Medal.
2010: "73 Poems for 73 Years: Celebrating the Life of Lucille Clifton" held on September 21.  
2010: Harryette Mullen wins the Jackson Poetry Prize.
2011: Nikky Finney wins National Book Award for Poetry for her volume Head Off & Split.
2011: Sonia Sanchez appointed Poet Laureate of Philadelphia.
2011: The Penguin Anthology of Twentieth-Century American Poetry, edited by Rita Dove, is published.
2012: Elizabeth Alexander begins her "twitter poem project."
2012: Marilyn Nelson is awarded the Robert Frost Medal.
2012: Tracy K. Smith wins the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for her volume Life on Mars.
2012: N. Giovanni, M. Angelou & Joanne Gabbin organize a celebration for Toni Morrison on October 16.
2012: The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton 1965-2010 is published by BOA Editions Ltd
2012: Natasha Trethewey is appointed Mississippi's Poet Laureate.
2012: Natasha Trethewey is announced as the new U.S. Poet Laureate.
2012: Kevin Young's book The Grey Album: On the Blackness of Blackness is published by Graywolf Press.
2013: Natasha Trethewey is reappointed as the U.S. Poet Laureate.

Notes on a Timeline of African American Poetry

On Wednesday, May 9, I was at the Brooklyn Museum and came across a panel that identified "Important Dates and Dynasties in Islamic History." The panel led me to wonder what a similar listing of dates related to African American poetry might look like. By the time I left the museum, I had sketched out 10 dates between 1965 - 1976, which are dates associated with the black arts era, and I published the post on Thursday.

[A Timeline of African American Poetry]

Over the course of the next few days, I posted entries pinpointing dates in literary history related to black poetry. 20 moments here, 15 moments there, 12 here, and so forth. I had a good time running my mind along various events and key publication dates in the history or histories of poetry. I also enjoyed the feeling today of assembling a full timeline (still a work in progress) of poetry, 1854 - 2012.

Locating the Initial Publication Date of Robert Hayden's "Middle Passage"

My friend, the literary scholar Joycelyn Moody as well as the scholar who runs The Public Archive will get a kick out of this one, especially since they both follow aspects of African American publishing history as much as I do.

This morning, I was preparing to publish the latest installment in my series concerning "moments of importance in African American poetry." I wrote the entry last night concentrating on publications and events from the 1940s and 1950s. Among the entries, I included the 4 publication dates of Robert Hayden's well-known poem "Middle Passage;" he made various revisions. 

Initially, the dates I had discovered were 1941, 1945, 1962, and 1966. Right before pressing the "send" button this morning though, something seemed off about the "1941" initial publication. Thus, I did simple online fact-checks just to be sure. Although all the sources confirmed that Hayden's poem initially appeared in the African American journal Phylon, there was no agreement on when. Some sources noted 1941; some noted 1943; and some noted 1944.

NYC: A “Bookstore” State of Mind

By Danielle Hall

One of the things I value about the opportunity to travel to NYC with Black Studies annually is our visit to bookstores like Hue-Man Bookstore in Harlem and the Strand Bookstore in the Village. You never really know what you will find, but chances are you will find a book that interests you and at a reasonable price.

[Related: Harlem & Hue-Man Bookstore]

Hue-Man is black-owned and has a considerable collection of new and used black book titles while the Strand has about every genre you could think of, including a very generous Black Studies section. In total, these independent bookstores are spaces that have a “feel” to them that you don’t get from shopping retailers like Barnes & Noble or even online (including shipping fees).

This year, I was able to purchase lightly used copies of two seminal texts in American/African American historiography from Hue-Man: Been In the Storm So Long by Leon F. Litwack and Kenneth Stampp’s The Era of Reconstruction, 1865-1877 – both for under five dollars.

Additionally, I was able to purchase Haiti, History, and the Gods by Joan Dayan. This book stood out to me because it is one that I think will be valuable in my present and future research on Katherine Dunham. I am not certain what information I am seeking, but I hope that by exploring a comparative history of 18th and 19th century Haiti and Haiti as Dunham saw and experienced it in the 20th century, I too may be able to draw some conclusions and perhaps posit some new ideas about her life.


Related: Black Studies, NYC, 2012

Danielle Hall is a program coordinator and contributing writer for Black Studies @ SIUE.   

10 Moments of Importance in African American Poetry, 1945-1966

1945 – A version of Robert Hayden’s “Middle Passage” is published in the journal Phylon (Vol. 6, No. 3 3rd Qtr., 1945).

1945 – Another version of Hayden’s “Middle Passage” is published in Cross Section 1945: A collection of New American Writing.

1947 - Melvin B. Tolson named poet laureate of Liberia.

1947 – Présence Africaine is founded by Alioune Diop, along with various writers, including Aimé Césaire, Léopold Sédar Senghor, Richard Wright, and Albert Camus.

1953 – Langston Hughes renounces his Communist sympathies in a testimony before the U.S. Senate’s Committee on Government Operations and the Subcommittee on Investigations chaired by Joseph McCarthy.

Transcript of Otis Moss III's Letter to Black Clergy in Support of Full Civil Rights for Gays

Sunday, May 13, Trinity United Church of Christ pastor Otis Moss III read a letter that he had written to a black clergyman about the need for African Americans and church leaders to reconsider some of their views about Obama's support of gays and lesbians. The video is here. The transcript of Moss's letter is below.

[Related: Otis Moss III and Historical, Rhetorical Knowledge]  

To My Brother:

Tell your brethren to live their faith, and not try to legislate their faith; to recognize that the Constitution protects us all. We must learn to be more than a one-issue community, and seek the Beloved Community where all may not agree, but we all recognize that we have the fingerprint of the Divine upon our spirits.

There is no doubt that there are people who are same-gender-loving occupying prominent places in the Church, but for the clergy to hide with a quick dismissive claim of poor biblical scholarship is as sinful as unthoughtful acceptance. When we make Biblical claims without sound interpretation, we adopt doctrinal positions devoid of the love ethic. Deep faith may resonate in our position, but the ethic of love will always force you to re-examine and prayerfully reconsider your position.

10 Moments of Importance in African American Poetry, 1854-1919

1854 - Frances Ellen Watkins Harper's volume of poetry Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects is published.  The volume contains Harper's well-known poems "The Slave Mother" and "The Slave Auction."

1859  - Frances E. W. Harper has letter smuggled to soon-to-be-executed John Brown, which reads in part, "I thank you that you have been brave enough to reach out your hands to the crushed and blighted of my race."  

1864 - Frances E. W. Harper's poem "Bury Me in a Free Land" is published in Liberator, January 14.

1893 - Paul Laurence Dunbar's first collection of poems Oak and Ivy is published.

1895 - Alice Moore's Violets and other tales is published. Moore later became Alice Moore Dunbar after marrying poet Paul Laurence Dunbar in 1898; they separated in 1902. And later, in 1916, when she married Robert J. Nelson, she became Alice Moore Dunbar-Nelson. 

Black Studies, Harlem & Hue-Man Bookstore

Jazmine Sanders selecting books at Hue-Man bookstore, 2012

The last two years, Hue-Man Bookstore in Harlem has been a key destination for my crew on our visits to New York City. Harlem appears frequently in the discourse on black studies, and the neighborhood holds a special, if not mythical, place in the cultural imaginations of many of our African American students. They begin hearing stories about the Harlem Renaissance and Langston Hughes, the Cotton Club and the Apollo Theater at early ages, and so when presented with an opportunity to visit New York, ideas about Harlem quickly emerge.

But a bookstore right next to a Magic Johnson theater? A bookstore with new and used books? A bookstore called Hue-Man? In Harlem? That's something unexpected and intriguing for my students.

20 Moments of Importance in African American Poetry, 2002-2012

2002 - Tracy K. Smith's volume The Body's Question was selected by Kevin Young as the recipient of the Cave Canem Prize for a first book of poetry.

2004 - Tyehimba Jess's Leadbelly: poems (2005) is selected by Brigit Pegeen Kelly as a National Poetry Series Winner.

2004 - The Second Furious Flower Poetry conference, a large gathering of poets and literary scholars organized by Joanne Gabbin, takes place at James Madison University in Virgina from September 22 - September 25.

2005 - Patricia Smith's Teahouse of the Almighty (2006) is selected by Edward Sanders as a National Poetry Series Winner.

2006 - Nathaniel Mackey wins the National Book Award for Poetry for his volume Splay Anthem.

2007 - Lucille Clifton awarded the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize.

2007 - Elizabeth Alexander becomes first-ever recipient of Poets & Writers’ Jackson Poetry Prize.

2007 - Natasha Trethewey wins the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for her volume Native Guard (2006).

Smartphones, Black Studies, and NYC

CeAira Simmons & Anika Maddox, on the subway platform, using phones to plot their next moves, 2012

The idea of coordinating trips to New York City for groups of 10 or so young people 10 maybe 20 years ago may have been a more daunting challenge if it was less possible to figure out where various folks were. But ah, all this newfangled technology changes some things. My crew is always a text message away from me.

A couple of years ago, I would text everyone in the group to check-in. But now, I tend to only make text contact with one or two of our lead travelers, who are responsible for keeping track of the entire group. They use texts and group messaging services.

Sighting Du Bois in Brooklyn

Sunshine making a Du Bois sighting in Brooklyn

At the Brooklyn Museum, our traveler Bernice "Sunshine" Farlow was excited to sight a familiar quotation from W. E. B. Du Bois's The Souls of Black Folk (1903). Sunshine and I have discussed Du Bois's concept of "double consciousness" in at least two of the classes that she took with me. So as we walked through the museum and Sunshine spotted Du Bois's words, she immediately walked closer and then turned to hip a few of our others travelers of the presence of the well-known concept on the wall.

The Du Bois quotation was part of a larger temporary exhibit that concentrated on black men. A few other quotations were displayed on walls of the exhibit space as well. The Du Bois quotation, however, seemed to stand out the most since some of our travelers so many prior encounters with the resonating words.

Related: Black Studies, NYC, 2012

Notes on Blogging a Chronology of African American Poetry

Last week while visiting the Brooklyn Museum, I happened to come across a map and display entitled "Important Dates and Dynasties in Islamic History." Looking across the chronology prompted me to wonder what a similar list of important dates would look like concerning African American poetry. When I returned home, I began charting out a few different lists.

I initially chose a couple of decades and identified 10 or so dates. I figured at the time that I would eventually produce a series of entries that total 100 points for the chronology. Now, as I get closer to that total, I'm starting to remember important events that I left out and additions that I could make. So the total might extend to 125, 150, or who knows?

 Running my mind back across important moments in the history -- the histories -- of African American poetry has been enjoyable and stimulating for me. Fact-checking my dates has required me to look through books that I had not consulted for a while, run checks on WorldCat, and utilize various other sources. At some point soon, I'll reach out to various poetry folks I'm acquainted with an ask them about glaring omissions or additions that I might make.   

This project, similar to my Novel Category Machine, will eventually serve the educational interests of the black studies contributors that I work with as well as students in my literature classes. In the meantime, I'll construct the smaller entries that will contribute to the larger total of 100 moments.


*******
Dates of importance in African American Poetry
• 20 Moments, 2002 - 2012
• 15 Moments, 1993 - 2002
• 12 Moments, 1976 - 1992
• 10 Moments, 1965 - 1976
• 8 Moments, 1959 - 1968
• 10 Moments, 1945 - 1966
• 15 Moments, 1918 - 1950
• 10 Moments, 1854-1919

15 Moments of Importance in African American Poetry, 1993-2002

1993 - Maya Angelou reads poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at inauguration of Bill Clinton.

1993 - Rita Dove appointed Poet Laureate of U.S.

1993 - Kevin Young's Most Way Home (1995) is selected by Lucille Clifton as a National Poetry Series Winner.

1994  - The Furious Flower Poetry conference, a large gathering of poets and literary scholars organized by Joanne Gabbin, takes place at James Madison University in Virgina from September 29 - October 1.

1994 - Yusef Komunyakaa wins Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.

1996 - Cave Canem, a poetry retreat and workshop for African American poets, is founded by Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady.

1996 - The Norton Anthology of African American Literature edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Nellie Y. McKay.

1997  - The Collected Poems of Audre Lorde is published.

The Geographic Implications of Teju Cole's "Small Fates"

Like quite a few folks, I follow Teju Cole, a novelist and photographer who's also known for his series of tweets referred to as "small fates." The write-ups are short summaries of troubling and often deathly incidents. Cole describes the "small fates" as "an event, usually of a grim nature, animated sometimes, but not always, by a certain irony."

A few examples of Cole's "small fates":

Dec 31: The day before his wedding Anas Nasiha, of Sokoto, went to bed nervous and excited. A 3 am fire burned him to a crisp.

Jan. 4: Salmat, 27, of Abuja, returned with four of her pals and gave a serious beating to her ex-husband Olatunde, who had underestimated her.

Jan. 12: To get a pay raise, Al-Kazeem, a gateman in Effurun, set himself alight and embraced his boss, Justice Keujubola. But she wriggled free.

Cole began composing and tweeting the "small fates" while working on a book about Lagos, Nigeria, where he was raised. Several of the short narratives, Cole has acknowledged, are especially designed with Nigerian audiences in mind who are quite familiar with the names, locales, and cultural references embedded in the writings.

8 Moments of Importance in African American Poetry, 1959-1968

1959 - Gwendolyn Brooks's "We Real Cool" is published in the September issue of Poetry magazine.

1965 - Broadside Press is created by Dudley Randall in Detroit, Michigan.  

1965  - "A Poem For Black Hearts" (a tribute poem for Malcolm X) by Amiri Baraka is published in the September issue of Negro Digest.

1965 - "Black Art" composed and performed by Amiri Baraka in November on Sonny Murray's album Sonny's Time Now.

1966  - "Black Art" by Amiri Baraka is published in the January issue of Liberator.

1967 - Third World Press is created by Haki Madhubuti in Chicago, Illinois.

1968 - Negro Digest's January issue publishes the results of a survey of several black writers that concentrates on their opinions of major writers and their views of a "black aesthetic." The survey was organized by the magazine's editor Hoyt Fuller.

1968 - Poet Henry Dumas is killed May 23, New York City Transit Authority police officer. 

*******
Related:
• 15 Moments, 1918 - 1950
• 10 Moments, 1965 - 1976
• 12 Moments, 1976 - 1992

Fear, Exploratory Confidence, and Black Women Travelers

"So often, we face challenges with a spirit of intimidation, or we're uncomfortable with the novelty of a situation. Those feelings were present when I first traveled to NYC with the Black Studies Program in 2011. After having the opportunity to explore the city again, I found myself more engaged in the culture, equipped with an exploratory confidence." --Kacee Aldridge

Black Studies travelers waiting for subway

During our many extended conversations with our travelers in New York City, a recurring theme related to fears and insecurities concerning safety seemed to emerge, as the young sisters discussed why they had not traveled and explored more prior to this trip. Some of the fears had been inherited from older family members and friends, and then some of their fears were based on what they had witnessed growing up in sometimes tough environments.

Our Black Studies trip hardly erases all worries, but our movements in and to the city did seem to serve as a special opportunity for groups of our contributors to reconsider their places and mobility in the world. They covered considerable ground in New York City, walking and utilizing public transportation to visit museums, bookstores, parks, and a variety of areas, including Harlem, Chinatown, Greenwich Village, and Brooklyn. With every several steps they took, the travelers challenged aspects of long-held insecurities concerning movement and reconfigured the boundaries of their personal maps.        

As Midwesterners, our travelers are typically unaccustomed to taking the kinds of multiple public transportation trips and long walks around so many different peoples that they took in New York. Also, the place of NYC in the cultural imaginations of our participants motivates them to cover a range of different locales and areas in a relatively small amount of time.

Multiple trips to NYC might also contribute to how our travelers confront fears and insecurities concerning mobility. Our long-time contributor Kacee Aldridge traveled with us to the city last year and this year. She noted that making more than one trip had assisted her in building "exploratory confidence," which prompted her to see and do even more.    
  
Related: Black Studies, NYC, 2012

12 Moments of Importance in African American Poetry, 1976-1992

1976 - Robert Hayden appointed Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, a position now known as U.S. Poet Laureate.

1984 - Eroding Witness (1985) by Nathaniel McKay was selected by Michael S. Harper as a National Poetry Series Winner.

1985 - Gwendolyn Brooks appointed the Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress.

1985 - Robert Hayden: Collected Poems, edited by Frederick Glaysher, is published.

1987 - Rita Dove awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for Thomas and Beulah.

Love's Exquisite Freedom by Maya Angelou & Edward Burne-Jones

A few days ago when I visited the Strand Bookstore with my black studies travelers, I did not expect to buy any books. I was mainly going to peruse the books. After visiting the "black studies" section, I made my way to the Poetry section, that's where I discovered a work by Maya Angelou that was unfamiliar to me.

Love's Exquisite Freedom (2011) combines work by Angelou and Edward Burne-Jones (1833--1898). The book presents lines from Angelou's poem "love's exquisite freedom" as an accompaniment to art by Burne-Jones who was a leading British artist of the Pre-Raphaelite movement.  

Daring Moments in NYC, 2009 & 2012

In 2009, on our program's first trip to New York City, our contributor Adrienne Smith kept busy doing film work. At one point while we were in the Village, she went out into the street to catch a shot of people on the sidewalk. I managed to photograph her right before she stepped out into traffic. That daring moment of a black studies traveler deeply immersed in her project was quite memorable.

Adrienne Smith, NYC, 2009

Cindy Lyles, NYC, 2012

I was reminded of Adrienne's moment a few days ago while moving around Chinatown with some of our travelers. At one point, Cindy Lyles decided that she saw something she had to document, and the only way she could get the shot was by standing on top of an elevated median. I managed to snap a photograph. Here again, I was witnessing this daring moment of a black studies traveler immersed in documentation work.

Related: Black Studies, NYC, 2012

Black Studies in NYC (2012)

Black Studies NYC Travelers, 2012

On May 6 - 9, we made our annual trip to New York City. My colleague Professor Candice L. Jackson and I took a group of 9 lively travelers, all black studies contributors to varying degrees. A few of our folks had traveled with us last year, but the majority of the crew were new.

As a group, we visited bookstores like Hue-Man in Harlem and the Strand in the Village, the Brooklyn Museum, Chinatown, Times Square, and the African Burial Ground. In smaller groups, our travelers visited over a dozen other venues.

Overall, the NYC experience gave our crew opportunities to walk and think in the city; to consider the gendered implications of nagivating a major metropolis; and to build, as our longtime contributor Kacee Aldridge put it, "exploratory confidence."

Entries 
• African Burial Ground: Blending Scholarship with New York City History  
• A Bookstore State of Mind
• Smartphones, Black Studies, and NYC 
• Harlem & Hue-Man Bookstore
• Fear, Exploratory Confidence, and Black Women Travelers
•  Sighting Du Bois in Brooklyn
• Love's Exquisite Freedom by Maya Angelou & Edward Burne-Jones
• Daring Moments in NYC, 2009 & 2012
• Randall Kennedy at Hue-man Bookstore in Harlem

Related: New York City Journeys

15 Moments of Importance in African American Poetry, 1918-1950

1918 - Georgia Douglas Johnson's The Heart of a Woman is published. "The Heart of a Woman"

1919 - Claude McKay's "If We Must Die" is published in the July issue of Liberator. 

1921  - Langston Hughes's "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" is published in the June issue of The Crisis magazine.

1922  - The Book of American Negro Poetry, edited by James Weldon Johnson, is published.

1923 - Jean Toomer's Cane is published.

1925 - The New Negro, edited by Alain Locke, is published.

Catching Randall Kennedy in Harlem

Randall Kennedy preparing remarks before his presentation at Hue-Man Bookstore

On May 8, Tuesday evening, legal scholar Randall Kennedy spoke about his book The Persistence of the Color Line: Racial Politics and the Obama Presidency at Hue-Man bookstore in Harlem. I’ve admired Kennedy’s writings and intellect from afar for some time now. I feel really fortunate to have caught him at such a small venue.

Kennedy’s books make it apparent that he has read and absorbed a broad range of ideas and historical narratives. But seeing him in person revealed to me how measured and animated he can be, how scholarly, humorous, and solemn he can become in a single presentation. I say again that he is an extraordinary writer, but his books had not adequately prepared me for just how engaging he is.

10 Moments of Importance in African American Poetry, 1965 - 1976

1965 - Malcolm X is assassinated in Harlem on February 21. Poet and essayist Larry Neal was in the audience and a witness to the murder.  

1965 - The Black Arts Repertory Theatre/School opens in Harlem in April. Larry Neal, Amiri Baraka, and others participate in a "Black Arts" symposium, parade, and poetry reading in Harlem to announce the opening of the Black Arts Repertory Theatre/School.

1966 - John Oliver Killens organizes a major black writers conference at Fisk University in Nashville in April. The conference receives subsequent widespread attention after the publication of David Llorens's article on the conference "Writers Converge at Fisk University" was published in the June issue of Negro Digest.  

1967 - John Coltrane dies July 17, and quickly becomes a major subject of tribute for black poets.

Coverage of Black Studies, Naomi Riley, and the Chronicle

Over the last few weeks, those of us in the field have followed an uncommon situation where "black studies" has become newsworthy. Conservative writer Naomi Riley wrote a piece on the Chronicle of Higher Education blog diminishing black studies based on a few dissertations that she never read.  Her critique led to counter-critiques on blogs and twitter, and Riley was eventually relieved of her duties.

Riley's firing based on critiques of black studies has, not surprisingly, led to increased commentary and coverage.    

• May 21: Right’s version of politically correct drives attacks on black studies - James Smethurst, The Boston Globe
• May 10: A Chronicle of Journalistic Malfeasance - Eric Alterman, Center for American Progress
• May 10: Bad Faith: Naomi Schaefer Riley and the War on Public Education - BEM, The Anfortas Wound
• May 10: A Scholar Who Thinks Black Studies is Worthless, How Surprising - Boyce Watkins, YourBlackWorld
• May 10: The Chronicle of Mob Rules - Kathryn Jean Lopez, The National Review 
• May 9: The Trouble With Black Studies - Scott McLemee, Inside Higher Ed
• May 9: A Raging Debate About Black Studies - Cord Jefferson, BET
• May 9: Conservatives defend fired writer on race - Ben Wolfgang, The Washington Times 
• May 9: Riley: You Knew What I Was When You Picked Me Up -  Lindsay Beyerstein, In These Times
• May 9: When the Mob Has a Point: The Firing of Naomi Schaefer Riley - Hamilton Nolan, Gawker 
• May 9: Education blogger fired - Rheana Murray, New York Daily News
• May 9: Black studies under fire by conservative blogger - Linda Ocasio, The New Jersey Star-Ledger 
• May 9: Black Studies And 'Intellectual Cowardice' - Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Atlantic      
• May 9: Black Studies And The Chronicle's Cowardice - Andrew Sullivan, The Daily Beast
• May 8: The Cravenness of Higher Education - Wall Street Journal  
• May 8: Chronicle of Higher Education Fires Blogger Over Black Studies Post - Jennifer Schuessler, NY Times    
• May 8: Naomi Schaefer Riley Fired For Calling Black Studies 'Claptrap' - Gene Demby, Huffington Post 
• May 8: The Academic Mob Rules, Naomi Schaefer Riley, Wall Street Journal
• May 7: Black Studies, White Privilege: Why Naomi Riley Should Be Quiet - Kirsten W. Savali, NewsOne
• May 7: A Note to Readers - Liz McMillen, The Chronicle
• May 5: A Black-Studies Critic's Willful Ignorance - Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., The Root
• May 5: Academic rigor, journalistic ethics, and “partisan hackery” - Ted Gideonse, Ted gideonse blog
• May 3: Black Studies, Part 2: A Response to Critics - Naomi Schaefer Riley, The Chronicle 
• May 3: Faculty Respond to Riley Post on African-American Studies - Watkins-Hayes et al., The Chronicle
• May 3: Grad Students Respond to Riley Post on African-American Studies - Taylor, Levy,  Hays, The Chronicle
• May 2: The Inferiority of Blackness as a Subject - Tressie, Tressiemc 
• April 30: The Most Persuasive Case for Eliminating Black Studies? Just Read the Dissertations - Naomi Riley, The Chronicle
• April 12: Black Studies: 'Swaggering Into the Future' - Stacey Patton, The Chronicle of Higher Education