Tag Archives: literature

Happy Birthday Octavia Butler!

Posted on June 22, 2019 by

Happy birthday Octavia Butler!! The genius writer Octavia Butler would have been 72 years today! An interview with Ms. Butler on “Transcending Boundaries” An NPR interview with Ms. Butler and an essay by her. She was the recipient of several … Continue reading →

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Review of N.K. Jemisin’s How Long ‘Til Black History Month

Posted on April 30, 2019 by

How Long ‘Til Black Future Month? (2018) by science/speculative fiction writer extraordinaire N.K Jemisin is another title that showed up in my Amazon recommendations this past December. The title itself had me hooked; it amazes me that the title had … Continue reading →

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Review of Charles Johnson’s Taming the Ox

Posted on April 2, 2019 by

I am an admirer of the African American Buddhist writer cartoonist extraordinaire Charles Johnson. Johnson is the recipient of several awards including the coveted MacArthur “Genius Award” as well as Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships. I was … Continue reading →

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Review of Nafissa Thomas-Spires’ Heads of the Colored People

Posted on March 19, 2019 by

Nafissa Thompson-Spires’ short story collection Heads of the Colored People (2018) is incredibly SMART!! All of the stories are amazing—expertly crafted and honed works of literary genius. Some of them are very clearly connected by the individuals who are their subjects … Continue reading →

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Bonus! Review of Well-Read Black Girl and If Beale Street Could Talk

Posted on February 19, 2019 by

I’ve been thinking a lot about service lately; more specifically, I’ve been thinking about how people serve their communities in ways that ring true to them and are impactful. While there are things that we do that we can easily … Continue reading →

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Review of Washington Black

Posted on February 5, 2019 by

The simply named Washington Black (2018) by Canadian Esi Edugyan , though expansive in its reach, takes place over a mere four-year period. In that short period of time young Washington, or Wash as he is called by Christopher (Titch) … Continue reading →

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Review of Blackass by A. Igoni Barrett

Posted on June 15, 2016 by

Blackass by A. Igoni Barrett, 256 pp.Graywolf Press, 2016, $9.52 paperback On a most basic level, Blackass by A. Igoni Barrett is about identity and its fluidity. But it’s also about how slavery, colonialism, and one of my favorite misnomers, … Continue reading →

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