May Irwin reigned as America’s queen of comedy and song from the 1880s through the 1920s. A genuine pop culture phenomenon, Irwin conquered the legitimate stage, composed song lyrics, and […]
Category: African American Studies
Separating families for enslavement
Excerpted from Slavery at Sea: Terror, Sex, and Sickness in the Middle Passage, by Sowande’ M. Mustakeem The nature of slavery inflicted permanent scars as traders moved purchased captives off […]
Guest post: “Making America great again with Octavia Butler,” by Gerry Canavan
Today’s post is by Gerry Canavan, author of the new UIP book Octavia E. Butler. Canavan is an assistant professor of twentieth- and twenty-first-century literature at Marquette University, specializing in science […]
Octavia Butler and a new direction
Octavia Butler accomplished many near-impossibles. She succeeded as a woman in science fiction. She succeeded as an African American woman in science fiction. She also broke out of the genre’s […]
Awards: Daisy Turner’s Kin
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 […]
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 […]