African American Literature - KOLUMN Magazine

Celebrating The Lives of People of Color

Biography of Gwendolyn Brooks, the People’s Poet | ThoughtCo

September 26, 2019September 26, 2019African American Author, African American Literature ...

Jeffrey Somers, ThoughtCo Gwendolynn Brooks. Bettmann / Getty Images. Featured Image [dropcap]I[/dropcap]n many ways, Gwendolyn Brooks embodies the black American experience of the 20th century. Born into a family that moved to Chicago as part of the Great Migration of blacks to the north of the country, she made her way through school during the […]

Ta-Nehisi Coates On Magic, Memory And The Underground Railroad | NPR

September 26, 2019December 10, 2019African American Author, African American Literature ...

Growing up in Maryland, author Ta-Nehisi Coates was enthralled by stories of Harriet Tubman, the 19th century abolitionist who operated the Underground Railroad on the state’s Eastern Shore. He read about Tubman’s efforts to lead enslaved people to freedom, and was struck by the surreal qualities of her story. [mc4wp_form id=”6042″] “It just seemed wild,” […]

BANNED: The Bluest Eye| PBS

September 19, 2019August 3, 2020African American Intellectual, African American Literature ...

By From The Collection” The Library, PBS [dropcap]C[/dropcap]The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison’s first novel, was published in 1970. Set in Lorain, Ohio — where Morrison herself was born — the book tells the story of Pecola Breedlove, an eleven-year-old African American girl who is convinced that she is ugly, and yearns to have lighter skin and […]

Beloved St. Louis stage veteran Linda Kennedy passes at 68 | The St. Louis American

August 22, 2019August 22, 2019African American Author, African American Literature ...

Kenya Vaughn, The St. Louis American A snapshot of mid-century South Philly. Featured Image [dropcap]Linda[/dropcap] Alton Randall Kennedy, a staple of the St. Louis theater scene for more than four decades, passed away this morning (Friday, August 16) after a battle with cancer. [mc4wp_form id=”6042″] Her son Terell Randall Sr. confirmed her passing via Facebook. […]

Whatever happened to author Dorothy West? | The Guardian

August 21, 2019August 21, 2019African American Author, African American Literature ...

Writing alongside Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes, West was the last surviving member of the Harlem Renaissance. Diana Evans asks: why were her books overlooked for so long?

Will we read Toni Morrison in troubled times? Yes, we will read Toni Morrison on troubled times | Scroll.in

August 19, 2019September 2, 2020African American Author, African American Intellectual ...

The works of the Nobel Laureate who died on August 5, 2019 are a navigational compass through our own treacherous landscapes.

Statement on the Passing of Toni Morrison | National Museum of African American History & Culture

August 9, 2019August 9, 2019African American Author, African American Literature ...

Thinker, Writer, Literary Activist, Nobel Laureate

The 9 Most Essential Toni Morrison Works | Rolling Stone

August 7, 2019September 5, 2020African American Author, African American Literature ...

The celebrated author and Nobel Prize winner died this week at the age of 88

The Beautiful Power of Ta-Nehisi Coates | Vanity Fair

August 7, 2019August 12, 2020African American Author, African American Literature ...

With his groundbreaking nonfiction works, Ta-Nehisi Coates emerged as our most vital public intellectual. Now, his debut novel, The Water Dancer, takes him to uncharted depths.

For The ‘Nickel Boys,’ Life Isn’t Worth 5 Cents | NPR

July 19, 2019July 19, 2019African American Literature, Black Author ...

Michael Schaub, NPR [dropcap]The[/dropcap] long string of horrors that took place at the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys wasn’t a secret, but it might as well have been. Former students of the Florida reform school had spoken out for years about the brutal beatings that they endured at the hands of sadistic employees, but […]