Go There To Know There

The term "speculative fiction" appears to be another one of those "semantically unstable" formulations that has been disputed by authorities within the genre, and within its parent genre of science fiction. For our purposes, let it suffice to refer to "speculative" novels as those that imagine alternate realities, invert convention, and experiment with gender and racial roles. Some authors of this variety of fiction engage elements of Magical Realism: a literary mode that utilizes the fantastic, the paranormal, the incredible, to cast a critical eye on one's own reality. Few Africana authors have been drawn to this variety of fiction; however, in 1931, journalist George Schuyler introduced the first speculative fiction written by an African American novelist, Black No More : a novel that featured elements of the Detective Novel. This novel introduced the character of Dr. Crookman, a scientist who develops a process that will turn black people white. ...

photo from wikipedia.com 'Let a new earth rise. Let another world be born. Let a bloody peace be written in the sky. Let a second generation full of courage issue forth; let a people loving freedom come to growth.'' (From "For My People" qtd. here ) American poet Margaret Walker (1915-1998) was initially an important part of the Chicago Black Renaissance, which emerged following the demise of the Harlem Renaissance in the 1930s. Stemming from Chicago's South Side, the Renaissance brought together a notable cadre of well-known writers including Richard Wright, Lorraine Hansberry, Arna Bontemps, and Gwendolyn Brooks. Perhaps not as nationally heralded as the Harlem Renaissance, the Chicago Renaissance did not have the same backing by white patrons, and struggled due to the geographic distance from New York City's publishing houses ( 1 ). Nonetheless, the Renaissance brought forth a new generation of inspiring writers, fresh talent, and new foc...

No other human rights activist is more recognizable, more lionized, or more revered for his work toward achieving social equality than Martin Luther King, Jr. King rose to recognition Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955. In what became historically known as the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Parks' and King's actions would herald the dawn of a new age in America in which African Americans would take a collective stand against the oppression of the Jim Crow South and set into motion an unprecedented series of events that would culminate in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. However, to appreciate fully the courage this man expressed, one must first understand the climate of the social stage he was entering at the time.  Just one year before Rosa Parks defied Jim Crow law that segregated whites from blacks on public transportation, progress was being made in education. In 1954, Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas was successful i...

"Our union must know no clime, boundary, or nationality… let us hold together under all climes and in every country." (Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr. 1887-1940). Born in St. Ann's Bay, Jamaica, Garvey's father was a mason; his mother a farmer. Of the many siblings Garvey had, only his sister survived to adulthood. When Garvey reached 16, he had cultivated his passion for reading, having benefited from the extensive libraries his father and uncle kept. Throughout his young adulthood, Garvey kept varied jobs as a master printer and foreman for a printing house; then as a printer for a Government publication. He later commenced his own newspaper, The Watchman , but it lasted only a short time. Garvey traveled from Jamaica to Costa Rica, where he worked as a timekeeper on a banana plantation. His travels throughout the Caribbean and Latin America convinced Garvey that to unite the Africana population was the only way to advance the diaspora beyond its current socio-econ...

The Reconstruction 'decade' as it was called, lasted from approximately 1865 until 1877: the 'official' end of this period was marked by the removal of Union troops from the South. The Reconstruction Act of 1867 created the Freedman's Bureau, which opened schools and set up cooperatives to help newly freed African Americans make a successful adjustment to freedom and citizenship This era saw the rise of the first Historically Black Colleges such as Fisk, Howard, Talladega, Tuskegee, Morehouse, Atlanta, and Hampton (544). Three important laws were passed in the early years of Reconstruction. The 13th Amendment made slavery illegal; the Fourteenth Amendment extended the government's protection to African Americans; the Fifteenth Amendment extended the vote to black men. The latter, as our text points out, caused a rift among progressive organizers, particularly feminists. Government preferred to give the vote to black men only (and usually only those who owne...

"Commenting on the literally hundreds of slave narratives published during the antislavery crusade, Ephraim Peabody, a contemporary writer, noted that they were 'calculated to exert a very wide influence on public opinion' because they contained 'the victim's account of the workings of this great institution.' Among the autobiographies  by former slaves, a few were especially effective in presenting a clear picture of the nature and operation of that 'peculiar institution.' The most famous were Frederick Douglass'   Narrative , published in 1845, William W. Brown's   Narrative , published in 1853. Northup's account is considered one of the most authentic descriptions of slavery from the viewpoint of the slave himself. Ulrich B. Phillips, who doubted the value and authenticity of many of the slave autobiographies wrote of Northup's book: '...this one has a tone which engages confidence. Its pictures of plantation life and labor a...

New York City-based writer, Colson Whitehead, has experienced a phenomenal success in the last year, with his New York Times number one best seller, Underground Railroad receiving not only the Pulitzer Prize, but also the Carnegie Medal for Fiction, and the National Book Award. His writing career began after graduating from Harvard, when he worked for the Village Voice as a reviewer of 'music, books, and television' ( 1 ). He was born and raised--and currently resides--in Manhattan. Underground Railroad is the featured novel in the program Memphis Reads. It is Whitehead's sixth book; the preceding six were all recipients of awards.  They are:  The Intuitionist John Henry Days Apex Hides the Hurt Sag Harbor Zone One Colson Whitehead will be speaking in Memphis during the month of September at Christian Brothers University (9/5) and Rhodes College (9/5).