#African American Authors

[uchicagoscrc]

James Baldwin at 100: Archival Encounters at UChicago’s SCRC

Born August 2, 1924, in Harlem, New York, James Arthur Baldwin rose from the harsh conditions there to become a major figure in American literary arts, a key voice for African American civil rights and social justice, and a tireless witness and advocate for humanity. His life, ideas, and works have had a significant impact on many. His fiction and essays made real the human condition and shamed those who failed the test of time and love, critical themes found at the heart of most of his work. Today marks the 100th anniversary of his birth.

An interesting history of events found in the  Student Government Records, with James Baldwin at the heart of it. A single folder concerning a little-known incident with Baldwin’s novel, Another Country. Students organized to intervene in the dispute over the removal of the novel from a required reading list at Wright Junior College.

Interestingly, in the end, the novel remained on the list, an option was made for students who did not want to read the book, a new instructor was assigned to the course for the next term, and the previous instructor who assigned the book was given a two-month vacation. There was also mention in the news reports that depending on how this issue was resolved, the college could have lost its accreditation.

Other collections at SCRC that contain archival materials created by or composed about James Baldwin: Campus Publications, Chicago Review Records, David Ray Papers, International Association for Cultural Freedom Records, Layle Silbert Papers, and Robert W. Spike Papers.

[originalbydondria]

It is a weird this

This purgatory between grateful and lamenting

Waking up in the morning

Preparing and wondering why

Moving forward and wishing for stillness

Because decisions made were wrong

Decisions unmake-able are weights

And there is no body of water to fall in and end it

And the ankles in a cruel joke will not break

Nor does the persistence of days

Grateful in the glow

Lamenting under its rays

D. Ondria

01152025

[dreamy-conceit]

There are years that ask questions, and years that answer.

— Zora Neale Hurston

[thegoblinpit]

this was SO MUCH FUN. "If you are silent about your pain they'll kill you and say you enjoyed it." -Zora Neale Hurston This project is available on my redbubble! https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/150622215?asc=u

[creepykuroneko]

I want to read Octavia E. Butler's Parable of the Sower. The problem is it's the first book in the Earthseed Trilogy and she died before she could write the Third book. I don't want a fucken cliffhanger. Does anyone have any advice?

[rachel-sylvan-author]

"The Reaper: Autobiography of One of the Deadliest Special Ops Snipers" by Gary Brozek and Nicholas Irving

Thank you @britniisbooks for the rec! ❤️

[southernmermaidsgrotto]

Hoodoo, Rootwork and Conjure sources by Black Authors

Because you should only ever be learning your ancestral ways from kinfolk. Here's a compilation of some books, videos and podcast episodes I recommend reading and listening to, on customs, traditions, folk tales, songs, spirits and history. As always, use your own critical thinking and spiritual discernment when approaching these sources as with any others.

Hoodoo in America by Zora Neale Hurston (1931)

Mules and Men by Zora Neale Hurston (1936)

Tell my horse by Zora Neale Hurston (1938)

Let Nobody Turn Us Around: An African American Anthology by Manning Marable and Leith Mullings, editors (2003)

Black Magic: Religion and the African American Conjuring Tradition by Yvonne P. Chireau (2006)

African American Folk Healing by Stephanie Mitchem (2007)

Hoodoo Medicine: Gullah Herbal Remedies by Faith Mitchell (2011)

Mojo Workin': The Old African American Hoodoo System by Katrina Hazzard-Donald (2012)

Rootwork: Using the Folk Magick of Black America for Love, Money and Success by Tayannah Lee McQuillar (2012)

Talking to the Dead: Religion, Music, and Lived Memory among Gullah/Geechee Women by LeRhonda S. Manigault-Bryant (2014)

Working the Roots: Over 400 Years Of Traditional African American Healing by Michele Elizabeth Lee (2017)

Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" by Zora Neale Hurston (2018)

Jambalaya: The Natural Woman's Book of Personal Charms and Practical Rituals by Luisa Teish (2021)

African American Herbalism: A Practical Guide to Healing Plants and Folk Traditions by Lucretia VanDyke (2022)

These are just some suggestions but there's many many more!! This is by no means a complete list.

I recommend to avoid authors who downplay the importance of black history or straight out deny how blackness is central to hoodoo. The magic, power and ashé is in the culture and bloodline. You can't separate it from the people. I also recommend avoiding or at the very least taking with a huge grain of salt authors with ties to known appropriators and marketeers, and anyone who propagates revisionist history or rather denies historical facts and spreads harmful conspiracy theories. Sadly, that includes some black authors, particularly those who learnt from, and even praise, white appropriators undermining hoodoo and other african and african diasporic traditions. Be careful who you get your information from. Keeping things traditional means honoring real history and truth.

Let me also give you a last but very important reminder: the best teachings you'll ever get are going to come from the mouths of your own blood. Not a book or anything on the internet. They may choose to put certain people and things in your path to help you or point you in the right direction, but each lineage is different and you have to honor your own. Talk to your family members, to the Elders in your community, learn your genealogy, divine before moving forwards, talk to your dead, acknowledge your people and they'll acknowledge you and guide you to where you need to be.

May this be of service and may your ancestors and spirits bless you and yours 🕯️💀

[gennsoup]

I am tired Of claiming beauty where There is only truth:

Jericho Brown, The Rabbits

[inmyperfectworld]

A painful past, a history we will never forget. This haiku from the 'Soulful Heritage' section of Soul Sessions reflects the resilience and struggles of our ancestors and family members—those who toiled in the fields, with their hands raw. We honor their strength, their endurance, and their legacy. May we never forget where we come from as we continue to move forward. ✊🏾

[millionsofbooks]

something about the tiktok ban that i haven't really seen people here talking about is the experience of tiktok users not from the usa, which was, as far as i can tell, on the whole, very positive. it was actually really nice to, for a short period of time, be on a major social media network and able to interact with people across the world without usamericans constantly inserting themselves into every conversation.

usamericans kind of take over people's fyp regardless of where you're from. this is partly to do with the fact that the creators fund is only available to usamericans so most of the shitty content farms are from the us. then there's also the cultural aspect of the fact that being a citizen of the most powerful empire in the world is a significant privilege, and also a privilege that 99% of usamericans are seemingly unable to acknowledge, plus the us centrism and exceptionalism, plus the constant need to cast themselves as the underdog, and, well. it's annoying.

so, like. everything of what i've seen (which is not to say that other opinions don't exist, just that i haven't seen them) is that it was really nice when the usamericans were gone, and it kind of sucks that they're back.

[victoriareadsnreviews]

[originalbydondria]

Think imma not blog this year.

It's enough stuff sitting unread / uncommented on. Stuff i didnt promote n whatever. Got other ish to write n figure out.

This yr went from ok to tf real quick on me.

So go read something then say something

Plenty of things here and at

Outwriterandom.wordpress.com

[sbrown82]

Marsha Hunt on the cover of Root Magazine (1983).

[leyllethecreator]

Writing Tip #1: never underestimate the power of ugliness

Never underestimate the power of ugliness.

Uglying up your prose can be just as powerful as prettying it up.

Using words like bleeding, vomiting, to describe basic actions like water running out of a faucet can add a sense of violence or agony to a scene:

"Plunging his hands into the ice cold water vomiting from the sink..."

"Plunging his hands into the ice cold water bleeding from the sink..."

Using very ugly imagery to describe normal things can also work well in tandem with using prettied up (especially when it's exaggeratedly so) imagery for ugly things.

"Plunging his hands into the ice cold water vomiting from the sink, he wipes the last delicate dribbles of golden bile from his lower lip"

[ukdamo]

Today's Flickr photo with the most hits: the Chicago writer's mural: James Baldwin

[rachel-sylvan-author]

"Long Way Down" by Jason Reynolds