This week, we received word that Jane C. Beck’s acclaimed book Daisy Turner’s Kin: An African American Family Saga, won two awards: the 2016 Chicago Folklore Prize and the 2016 Wayland […]
Category: African American Studies
Release Party: Slavery at Sea
The new UIP release Slavery at Sea examines the infamous Middle Passage in a new light. Sowande’ Mustakeem reveals for the first time how slavery took critical shape at sea. Expanding the gaze […]
Four Quotes: from Spacializing Blackness, by Rashad Shabazz
A geographic study of race and gender, Spatializing Blackness casts light upon the ubiquitous—and ordinary—ways carceral power functions in places where African Americans live. Moving from the kitchenette to the […]
Return of the Word Warrior
This past Sunday, Washington, D.C. radio station WAMU-FM went into the vaults to find a classic 1949 radio documentary on Ida B. Wells. Part of the classic Destination Freedom series, the […]
Release Party: Black Girlhood in the Nineteenth Century
From the new UIP release Black Girlhood in the Nineteenth Century, by Nazera Sadiq Wright. African American educator and activist Fannie Barrier Williams highlighted what could happen when black girls in […]
Q&A with Blue Rhythm Fantasy author John Wriggle
John Wriggle is a musicologist, composer, arranger, and trombonist who has taught for the City University of New York, Rutgers University, and Boston University. He answered some questions about his […]
Fannie Barrier Williams celebrated
Progressive Era activist and reformer Fannie Barrier Williams was one of the most prominent educated African American women of her generation. A new effort to honor the woman who was a prominent spokesperson […]
The Word Warrior and the Greatest
Richard Durham’s varied career reflected his work ethic and tireless dedication to the many causes that drew him in. Putting aside his community and labor organizing, Durham’s writing included stints […]
An often overlooked observance
In 2015, the State of Illinois designated May 19 as Malcolm X Day. It doesn’t always show up on the list of official state holidays, interestingly enough, perhaps due to […]
Honoring a Pioneer
On Monday, April 25, The College at Brockport, State University of New York, honored alum Fannie Barrier Williams, its first African American female graduate. The institution dedicated a plaque to […]
Funk the Erotic up for Lambda Award
Funk the Erotic: Transaesthetics and Black Sexual Cultures by L. H. Stallings is a finalist in the 28th Annual Lambda Literary Awards in the LGBT Studies category. The Lambda Literary […]
Throwbacklist Thursday: Furry’s People
“Virtuosity in playing blues licks is like virtuosity in celebrating the Mass, it is empty, it means nothing. Skill—competence—is a necessity, but a true blues player’s virtue lies in his […]