Coverage of the Mellon Foundation, Social Justice, and Elizabeth Alexander

In June, I began reading and charting coverage of the Mellon Foundation that focused on the organization's commitment to social justice--a commitment that has become more pronounced in part because of the leadership of Elizabeth Alexander, the president of the organization. 

Of course, Alexander had been doing social justice projects long before June 2020. However, I was fascinated to see her making moves in this new role. What follows are links to articles citing the work of the Foundation and Alexander's comments in interviews.

• Dec. 30: Foundation President of the Year: Elizabeth Alexander, Mellon Foundation - Inside Philanthropy

• Dec. 2: Mellon Dedicated a Quarter-Billion Dollars to Monuments in the U.S. - Philip Rojc - Inside Philanthropy

• Nov. 13: Stand for Equity Seminar with Alexander - Duke University Sanford School of Public Policy

• Oct. 8: Mellon Foundation Pledges $250 Million To Reimagine Monuments In U.S. - NPR

• Oct. 5: Mellon Foundation to Spend $250M to Reimagine Monuments - Jennifer Schuessler - New York Times 

• Oct. 5: Mellon foundation pledges $250m to 'reimagine' US monuments - BBC

• Oct. 5: Elizabeth Alexander on philanthropy for social justice - Washington Post (YouTube)

• Oct. 5: Race in America: The Arts (feat. Elizabeth Alexander) - Jonathan Capehart - Washington Post 

• Oct. 5: Mellon launches $250M project to remake American monuments - Rebecca Santana - AP

• Oct. 5: Mellon Foundation to Spend $250 Million to Reimagine Monuments - Mellon

• Sept. 24: With Mellon Foundation Grant, A New Institute for Racial Justice - Jonathan Holloway - Rutgers

• Sept. 15: Literary Arts Emergency Fund Awards More than $3.5 Million to 282 Orgs, Mag., - Mellon

• Aug. 13: CUNY Receives $10 Million to Expand Pandemic and Racial Justice Initiatives - Mellon

• Aug. 13: Elizabeth Alexander's Fierce Vision of Social Justice - Lane Florsheim - Wall Street Journal

• Aug. 10: Elizabeth Alexander on the intersections of Identities - Yale Historical Review

• July 6: Alexander on the Mellon Foundation’s New Direction - Len Gutkin - Chronicle

• July 2: Why America’s Biggest Funder of Culture Is Shifting to Social Justice - Sarah Cascone - Artnet News

• July 2: Alexander Outlines Mellon Shift to Social-Justice Grant Making  - Alex Daniels - Chronicle

• July 1: Mellon to focus grantmaking on social justice - Philanthropy News Digest

• June 30: With Books and New Focus, Mellon Foundation to Foster Social Equity - Julia Jacobs - New York Times

• June 30: Mellon Foundation Transforms Direction, New Focus on Social Justice - Mellon Foundation 

• June 10: Leading Foundations Pledge to Give More - James B. Stewart and Nicholas Kulish - New York Times

• June 10: Leading Foundations Pledge to Give More, Hoping to Upend Philanthropy - Mellon

Related:

• Coverage of books, authors & special topics

Barack Obama's memoir by the numbers (so far)

I've been reading reviews and commentary on Barack Obama's A Promised Land (2020) here and there, and since I do some work on contemporary African American book history, I wanted to note a few things.

In 2017, Michelle and Barack Obama sold the rights to publish their memoirs with Penguin Random House for more than $65 million. That's more than any other presidential memoir in history.

Michelle Obama's memoir Becoming (2018) was released to considerable fanfare and earned tremendous sales. Her book was 448 pages. Barack Obama's memoir is 768 pages. A Promised Land is part one of a two-part project. Commentators, including reportedly Barack Obama,  note that Michelle Obama had the assistance of a ghostwriter, while Barack apparently wrote his book by himself.

Since its publication, Michelle Obama's book has sold over 14 million copies. For the first run, Penguin Random House printed approximately 5.9 million copies of A Promised Land. A month after publication, Obama's book sold over 3 million copies. 

Zack Budryk, writing for The Hill, reported that Obama's recent book is "on pace to become the bestselling presidential memoir in modern history, outstripping the first-day sales of wife Michelle Obama's own bestselling memoir." The first-day sales of A Promised Land were nearly 890,000 copies, which includes pre-sales, e-books, and audio. The first-day sales of Becoming were 725,000.  

The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, NPR, and several other outlets have included A Promised Land on their "best books of the year" lists. As a result, it is likely that the book will be a popular Christmas gift. 

In addition to having dozens of publications and news outlets highlight the book, Obama has done high-profile interviews , including on 60 Minutes and with Oprah Winfrey, and he has appeared on late-night talk shows to promote the book. 

Here's something: how will a book like Obama's A Promised Land affect the production, reception, and study of African American literature? Will the widespread success of a book like this lead to increased interest in various other titles by Black writers? And what about memoir and autobiography? To what extents will the popularity of Becoming and A Promised Land influence how, "life writing," as autobiographical narratives are sometimes called, are presented in courses on American and African American literature?  

Related:

• Book History

The year in African American poetry, 2020

Here’s a partial list of publications and news items related to African American poets and poetry that caught my attention this past year. 

• February Tiana Clark wins Kate Tuffs Poetry award. 

• February: Reginal Dwayne Betts wins NAACP award for poetry. 

• March: Morgan Parker wins National Book Critics Circle Award.

• April Janice N. Harrington receives Guggenheim fellowship. 

• May: Jericho Brown wins Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. 

• May: Ed Roberson wins Jackson Poetry Prize. 

• September: Nikky Finney receives Wallace Stevens Award. 

• September: Hanif Abdurraqib wins Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize.  

 

Books 

• Light for the World to See: A Thousand Words on Race and Hope by Kwame Alexander 

• Owed by Joshua Bennett 

• Negotiations by Destiny O. Birdsong

• Fantasia for the Man in Blue by Tommye Blount

• How to Carry Water: Selected Poems by Lucille Clifton 

• “Wicked Enchantment” by Wanda Coleman 

• Cardinal by Tyree Daye 

• Love Child's Hotbed of Occasional Poetry: Poems & Artifacts by Nikky Finney 

• Too Much Midnight by Krista Franklin 

• Be Holding by Ross Gay

• Make Me Rain: Poems & Prose by Nikki Giovanni 

• One Shoe Marching Towards Heaven by Bro. Yao (Hoke S. Glover) 

• Seeing the Body by Rachel Eliza Griffiths 

• Dub: Finding Ceremony by Alexis Pauline Gumbs 

• Jump the Clock: New & Selected Poems by Erica Hunt 

• The Absurd Man by Major Jackson 

• The Age Of Phillis by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers 

• Inheritance by Taylor Johnson

• Finna by Nate Marshall 

• Kontemporary Amerikan Poetry by John Murillo 

• Sometimes I Never Suffered by Shane McCrae 

• Pale Colors in a Tall Field by Carl Phillips 

• Just Us by Claudia Rankine 

• Why the Black Hole Sings the Blues by Ishmael Reed 

• The Malevolent Volume by Justin Phillip Reed 

• Homie by Danez Smith 

 Anthology 

• African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle & Song edited by Kevin Young

Related: 

• Year in African American poetry entries

Coverage of Nafissa Thompson-Spires's 'Heads of the Colored People'

Next semester, I'm covering Nafissa Thompson-Spires's short story collection Heads of the Colored People with a large group of students. In the leadup. I'm writing a few pieces on the collection. I wanted to start with a roundup of articles and interviews focusing on the book and Thompson-Spires.  

2019 

• Sept. 26: Author  leads discussion on racial identity, diversity - Kimberly Monitto - Gettysburg.edu

• Aug. 3: 'more stories about nerdy black people' (interview)- Anita Sethi - The Guardian  

• June 19: Heads of the Colored People - Patrick Lohier - Harvard Review Online

• May 9: Heads of the Colored People (interview) - Michael Silverblatt - KCRW

• April 17: Discussion Guide: Heads of the Colored People - DC Public Library 

• March 19: Heads of the Colored People - Toni - Alligator Woods 

• Feb. 26: Heads of the Colored People - Panama Jackson - Very Smart Brothas

• Feb. 18: Antoinette Nwandu to Adapt “Wash Clean the Bones” for Amazon - Laura Berger - Women and Hollywood

2018

• Dec. 4: English professor's first book tells stories of...black Americans - Jodi Heckel - Illinois.edu

• October 12: Heads of the Colored People - Victoria Adukwei Bulley - The White Review

• Sept. 28: Heads of the Colored People...one size doesn't fit all - Lucy Sholes - Financial Times

• Sept. 27: Heads of the Colored People - Colin Grant - The Guardian

• Aug. 8: Lauded author depicting perils of everyday black life... - Christopher Borrelli - Chicago Tribune

• May 8: Heads of the Colored People - Jennifer Audette - Fiction Writers Review

• April 30: Twenty-First-Century Word Paintings - Gabrielle Bellot - LA Review of Books

• April 25: What If Readers Are Learning the Wrong Lessons From My Writing? - Nafissa Thompson-Spires - Lit Hub

• April 20: Heads of the Colored People - Morgan Jerkins - Oprah 

• April 18: A Heart-Centered Engagement - Allison Noelle Conner - The Rumpus

• April 15: Disarming Humor in ‘Heads of the Colored People’ (interview)  - John Williams - New York Times

• April 11: Heads of the Colored People tells vital stories of black identity - David Canfield - EW

• April 10: Heads of the Colored People Takes on the Pressures Of Being 'The Only One' (interview) - NPR

• April 10: Belles Lettres - Nafissa Thompson-Spires - Poets & Writers

• Feb. 1: Heads of the Colored People - Amanda Winterroth - Booklist

• Jan. 23: Heads of the Colored People - Kirkus Reviews 

• January 1: Heads of the Colored People - Publishers Weekly

Related:

• Coverage of books, authors & special topics

Haley Reading Group: Batman and the Outsiders

[Haley Reading groups Fall 2020]

This semester, we read Batman and the Outsiders written by Bryan Hill and and drawn by Dexter Soy. We've talked about the various characters, the artwork, the storytelling, and more.  

Folks in our group had a wide range of responses to the book. There were more than enough storylines to keep us busy with things to consider and address. 

After reading Batman and the Outsiders, what did you enjoy or find most rewarding about reading the book?

And, what did you view as a challenge about the reading experience?

Haley Reading Group: Black Panther

 [Haley Reading groups Fall 2020]

Ok, we've worked our way through the first trade paperback of Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet Book One written by Ta-Nehisi Coates and drawn by Brian Stelfreeze. In addition to the first four issues of Coates's run on the comic book, it also included the Fantastic Four #52 issue that showed T'Challa's first appearance in the Marvel Universe.  

After reading Black Panther this semester, what did you enjoy or find most rewarding about reading the book?

And, what did you view as a challenge concerning the reading experience?

Haley Reading (Group B) -- American Spy, reflections

[Haley Reading groups Fall 2020] 

We've read about two dozen books over the years as part of our Haley Reading group. But lately, we have not read much fiction. 

This semester, however, we read the novel American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson. 

What did you enjoy or find most rewarding about reading the book? And, what did you view as a challenge concerning the reading experience?

Haley Reading (Group A) -- American Spy, reflections

[Haley Reading groups Fall 2020]

We've read about two dozen books over the years as part of our Haley Reading group. But lately, we have not read much fiction. 

This semester, however, we read the novel American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson. 

What did you enjoy or find most rewarding about reading the book? And, what did you view as a challenge concerning the reading experience?

Reading Batman and the Outsiders with students

Over the last few months, I re-read Batman and the Outsiders: Lesser Gods written by Bryan Hill, and drawn by Dexter Soy with coloring by Veronica Gandini. I had previously read and enjoyed the individual issues of the comic book, and so I wanted to cover the book as part of one of the online reading groups I coordinate each semester. 

In the past, I have covered standard books -- Malcolm Gladwell's The Outsiders, Sarah Lewis's The Rise: Creativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery, Kathryn Schulz's Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error, Isabel Wilkerson's The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration, and several more. This was the first time that I covered comic books. As one group of guys read Batman and the Outsiders, another group read Black Panther written by Ta-Nehisi Coates and drawn by Brian Stelfreeze. 

I covered the Hill's book with about twenty African American students. They would read an issue or chapter in the book, and every other week or so I would pose a general question. The students would produce short responses. 

It's difficult to summarize the responses the guys offered, since there was so much variation. Still, I wanted to take some time to re-present a sample of their responses over the last few months. 

In response to the opening chapter, one of the students, Isaiah, said he was "interested in learning more about Sofia," a key character in the book. Devin explained that "I am most interested in learning about Ishmael. He is clearly powerful and works against the protagonists." J'Kolbe noted that "I am most interested in the team dynamic of the outsiders." 

We were all really fascinated by the dramatic fight scene from chapter 2. In addition to the action, we were impressed by Hill's choreography and Soy's drawing.  "I found the fight sequence to open the chapter was quite stunning," wrote Jalen. "The way the art almost jumps off of the page was impressive, and to me it felt almost cinematic." Tyler commented that "I found the fight with Ishmael to be an excellent example of writer and artist telling a story together." 

With chapter 3, I encouraged the students to pay attention to the dual stories that Hill was telling -- one with Batman and one with Ra's Al Ghul. Noah commented that "I think at first it felt confusing, but I quickly realized why the author chose to do it this way. He was trying to compare the two approaches, almost frame by frame to each other." Noticing that some responders said they were initially confused by the setup, Jalen wrote that "In my opinion, I really enjoyed the switches, but I can see why some people would find it confusing. I thought it was a very clever way to demonstrate a comparison, and it came off as very original. It was also a good way to draw in suspense, or keep the reader interested."

Batman and the Outsiders had a few different storylines and key characters. Students diverged on who they were most interested in. "I am most interested in seeing the growth Black Lightening goes through during the rest of the comic," noted Donovan as we move through chapter 4. According to Justin, "The best part of Chapter 4 was seeing Sofia fall between opposing sides and not knowing where she will land." 

For chapter 5, I asked the students to identify key scenes, and Tyler wrote the following: 

While technically not a panel as much as an out-of-story illustration, the drawing where

Batman is standing next to the broken and beaten gear of the Outsiders was compelling to me. It shows Batman covered in regret and guilt for what has happened to the Outsiders in a different scenario. It shows that he takes responsibility for whatever happens to them. I believe that a scenario like this will eventually happen. One where Batman will have to face the consequences of what he has sent the Outsiders to do.

Lead characters Batman and Black Lightning are not present in chapter 6, and I asked the readers what difference the absence of marquee heroes made for them. "It annoyed me at first,," observed Ishmael, "but I started to appreciate that they were not there so it made the readers be fearful for Duke and Cassandra." J'kolbe noted that "I personally really enjoy having the marquee hero's absent. I feel like the story tends to be more unpredictable and dangerous when the unbeatable hero isn't around."

The guys mostly took note at the conclusion of what they referred to as the "open-ended conclusion." The series Batman and the Outsiders ends with issue #17, but here with the trade paperback they read, the story closes with issue #7. So the guys wanted to know what was next. Describing the closing, Torian noted that the "sequence of events really surprised me, but also intrigued me. It took a second for me understand the bigger picture behind the events but once it settled in I began to get excited."

Related:

• A notebook on comic books

Blogging about poetry in November 2020

[Related content: Blogging about Poetry] 

• November 29: Jericho Brown on the trouble with recommendation writing

• November 25: From 250 Years to 250 Years of African American Poetry

• November 25: African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle & Song
• November 25: Black writers and the Library of America Series

• November 23: Tyehima Jess's Innovative Sonnets

• November 17: Margaret Walker, poetry, and crime writing

• November 11: When John Jennings engages Henry Dumas and Amiri Baraka

• November 1: Blogging about poetry in October 2020