Black Literature - KOLUMN Magazine

Celebrating The Lives of People of Color

School decides to read book on Black astronaut to all students after parent complains about it | KMOX Radio

September 5, 2020September 5, 2020Black Literature

Instead of giving in to the complaint by a parent in the Rockwood School District, the book will now be read to the entire elementary school. — Brian Kelly, KMOX Radio WILDWOOD, Mo. (KMOX) – The Rockwood School District is responding to a parent’s complaint about a book that was read to a second-grade class, by […]

How Tayari Jones discovered an ‘undersung American masterpiece’ | PBS, Arts Canvas

May 15, 2020May 15, 2020African American Literature, Black Literature

When writer Tayari Jones first discovered Ann Petry’s “The Street” as a college student, the sober cover art seemed to suggest it was an “Important Book with Serious Themes,” she recalls. But then she saw that her friend had a different copy, promising “sex and violence on the mean streets of Harlem.” “My friend’s copy […]

Cheryl A. Wall, 71, Dies; Champion of Black Literary Women | The New York Times

May 4, 2020May 4, 2020African American Literature, Black Literature

An author and longtime professor at Rutgers, she pressed for the inclusion of black authors in curriculums and was an expert on Zora Neale Hurston. Cheryl A. Wall, an author and longtime Rutgers University professor who helped elevate Zora Neale Hurston and other black women into English literature curriculums, died on April 4 at her home in […]

NK Jemisin: ‘It’s easier to get a book set in black Africa published if you’re white’ | The Guardian

May 3, 2020May 3, 2020African American Author, African American Literature ...

The three-time Hugo award winner is one of the biggest names in modern scifi. She talks about overcoming racism to rewrite the future In 2018, NK Jemisin became the first writer ever to win three consecutive Hugo best novel awards for science fiction and fantasy. Her first award had been in 2016, for her novel The […]

Who Gave You the Right to Tell That Story? | Vulture

October 31, 2019March 20, 2020African American Literature, Black Literature ...

Ten authors on the most divisive question in fiction, and the times they wrote outside their own identities.

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. […]

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 […]