#Black American Literature

[attallahblog]

Can’t nothing heal without pain.

[sivavakkiyar]

Chapter title and entirety of Chapter 15 from Vincent O. Carter’s The Bern Book

[sableacademy]

🌟 Celebrating Nikki Giovanni! 🌟

Celebrating the powerful words of Nikki Giovanni, one of the key figures of the Black Arts Movement. In this poem "Woman," Giovanni explores themes of identity, self-empowerment, independence, and unfulfilled relationships. The poem captures a woman seeking to define herself on her own terms and yearning for mutual understanding and support in her relationship. However, when the man in her life fails to reciprocate, she ultimately embraces her individuality and self-reliance. Her evocative language and poignant insights make this poem a must-read for poetry lovers and fans of her work.

[mysharona1987]

[theoptia]

Ta-Nehisi Coates, from Between the World and Me

Text ID: The pursuit of knowing was freedom to me, the right to declare your own curiosities and follow them through all manner of books. I was made for the library, not the classroom. The classroom was a jail of other people's interests. The library was open, unending, free.

[readersmagnet]

American't: The Corporate Plantation by King Bell

King Bell’s powerful book, “American’t,” delves deep into the challenges of six Black men in The Corporate Plantation. Through their eyes, you will gain a unique perspective on the struggles of being Black in a country that seems to be against you. This novel will make you question your American citizenship in a way that is both funny and moving.

Learn about what it’s like to be Black in America. Grab a copy at www.americant.theauthorkingbell.com.

[justcallme1anangel]

Call it. No. I ain't gonna call it

[sbrown82]

“I remember an incident from my own childhood, when a very close friend of mine and I, we were walking down the street. We were discussing whether God existed. And she said he did not. And I said he did. But then she said she had proof. She said, ‘I had been praying for two years for blue eyes, and he never gave me any.’ So, I just remember turning around and looking at her. She was very, very Black. And she was very, very, very, very beautiful. How painful. Can you imagine that kind of pain? About that, about color? So, I wanted to say you know, this kind of racism hurts. This is not lynchings, and murders, and drownings. This is interior pain. So deep. For an 11 year-old girl to believe that if she only had some characteristic of the white world, she would be okay. [Black girls] surrendered completely to the master narrative. I mean the whole notion of what is ugliness, what is worthlessness. She got it from her family, she got it from school, she got it from the movies — she got it everywhere; it’s white male life. The master narrative is whatever ideological script that is being imposed by the people in authority on everybody else. The master fiction, history, it has a certain point of view. So, when these little girls see that the most prized gift that they can get at Christmastime is this little white doll, that’s the master narrative speaking: “This is beautiful. This is lovely, and you’re not it.”

Toni Morrison on what inspired her to write her first novel, The Bluest Eye.

[afriblaq]

Florida has required public schools to teach African American history for 30 years. Yet, according to the Associated Press, many students receive lessons that are incomplete or inadequate.

In response to growing distrust in the state’s education system, community organizations, churches and cultural institutions are stepping in to fill the gaps.

In Delray Beach, Charlene Farrington leads Saturday morning classes at the Spady Cultural Heritage Museum to teach teenagers the history that schools often omit.“You need to know how it happened before so you can decide how you want it to happen again,” Farrington told her students.

Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, has spearheaded efforts to limit discussions of race, history and discrimination in classrooms. His administration has banned certain Advanced Placement African American Studies courses, citing alleged legal violations and historical inaccuracies.

Community-driven initiatives are gaining traction, with churches and advocacy groups taking the lead in educating students. Since launching its Black History toolkit last year, the nonprofit Faith in Florida has enlisted over 400 congregations to incorporate the resource into their programs.

Read more about this initiatives at ESSENCE.com.

[attallahblog]

Me and you we got more yesterday than anybody. We need some kind of tomorrow.

[cleopatragirlie]

❀ 𝐉𝐨𝐚𝐧 𝐃𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐨𝐧 ❀

[thefugitivesaint]

Dorothy Lake Gregory (1893-1975), ''Early Candlelight Stories'' by Stella C. Shetter, 1922 Source

[mimi-0007]