The other women come and each repeats, "my love is too...delicate/beautiful/sanctified/magic/saturday nite/complicated/music to have thrown back in my face." The ladies begin dancing and chanting together.


The lady in green says that someone has taken all of her "stuff". She feels that she is the only one that knows and can appreciate the value of her stuff. She describes her stuff as the way she sits with her legs open sometimes, her chewed up fingernails, her rhythm, her voice, her talk, her "delicate leg and whimsical kiss". The person who stole her stuff is a man. She made too much room for this man who has run off with her stuff, especially because he doesn't even know that he has it. By the end of the monologue she demands her stuff back from this man.


The ladies start talking about all the apologies they've received from men. Some examples include: he is sorry because he does not know how she got your number, sorry because he was high, sorry because he is only human, and sorry because he thought she could handle it. The lady in blue then declares that she does not need any more apologies. She goes on to say that men should keep their apologies for themselves, because she does not need them to soothe her soul and she cannot use them. Rather than accepting apologies, she is going to do whatever she wants: yell, scream, and break things. And she will not apologize for any of it.


"for colored girls..." was first performed by Shange with four other artists at the Bacchanal, a women's bar, outside Berkeley, California. About six months after performing the work in California, Shange and her collaborator, Paula Moss, decided to move across the country determined to perform it in New York City's downtown alternative spaces. At the age of 27, Shange moved to New York, where, in July 1975, the reworked "for colored girls" was professionally produced in New York City at Studio Rivbea in 1975.


In 1982 "for colored girls..." was adapted for television on WNET-TV, PBS, as part of The American Playhouse series. Although "for colored girls" went from a play production to television one, this production was dubbed a "telefilm" instead of a teleplay as the performance on WNET-TV was seen as a serious departure from the Broadway production.


In 2009 Tyler Perry announced that he would produce Shange's "for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf". The film was the first project for 34th Street Films, Perry's new production company housed in Lionsgate The cast included Loretta Devine, Kimberly Elise, Whoopi Goldberg, Janet Jackson, Phylicia Rashād, Anika Noni Rose, Kerry Washington and Thandie Newton. Originally using the play's full title, the film's title was shortened to "For Colored Girls" in September 2010.


In the fall of 2019, The Public Theater revived the play. The production was directed by Leah C. Gardiner, with choreography by Camille A. Brown and featured a Deaf actress in the role of "Lady in Purple."


In 1982 the play was adapted for television on PBS station WNET-TV, as part of the "American Playhouse". The adaptation, directed by Oz Scott, was seen as a serious departure from the Broadway production. A review by "The New York Times" states: "What Miss Shange prefers to call a "choreopoem" has been expanded into realistic settings that too often resemble the sanitized atmosphere of an episode of "Good Times". The net result has been a considerable reduction in the work's emotional impact." As a result, the televised production is often seen as a diluted version of the original choreopoem.


On March 25, 2009, the film industry magazine "Variety" reported that Nzingha Stewart, a black female director, had acquired the feature film rights to "for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf" from Shange and that Lionsgate had signed Stewart to create a screenplay adaptation and direct the film version of the play.


Stewart, at Lionsgate's direction, approached Tyler Perry about producing the film. However, Perry told Lionsgate that if he produced it, he also wanted to write and direct it. Perry then usurped the project from Stewart and scrapped her script. The shift prompted controversy over whether Perry had the skill and consciousness to properly depict an iconic feminist work. Stewart remained on in the token position of executive producer of the film. Among those critics were Oprah Winfrey, who expressed doubts over whether the book should be made into a film at all. Others had reservations based on Perry's position at the helm of such an important book in African American literature, particularly considering the controversies raised by "", a film he lent his name to.


On September 3, 2009, Lionsgate announced it had acquired the distribution rights to Tyler Perry's 34th Street Films adaptation of the play, with principal photography originally scheduled to take place in Atlanta, Georgia, in November and December 2009. The film, which was retitled "For Colored Girls", was released on November 5, 2010, and was written, directed and produced by Perry. The cast includes Thandie Newton, Loretta Devine, Kimberly Elise, Whoopi Goldberg, Janet Jackson, Phylicia Rashad, Anika Noni Rose, Kerry Washington, Tessa Thompson, Michael Ealy, Macy Gray and Omari Hardwick. Mariah Carey had also been cast, but pulled out in May 2010, citing medical reasons.


When asked if she held reservations about Perry's adaptation of her work, Shange responded: "I had a lot of qualms. I worried about his characterizations of women as plastic." In reference to the film post-production, she stated that "I think he did a very fine job, although I'm not sure I would call it a finished film."


In addition to receiving several accolades, the play has been described as a landmark piece in African American literature and black feminism. It has since become a cornerstone of black feminist writing and 20th-century drama.


The poster for the play and book (as pictured above) are by the New York-based graphic artist, Paul Davis.


Longing to Tell: Black Women Talk About Sexuality And Intimacy is a 2003 book by Tricia Rose. It comprises 20 oral histories by African-American women from different socio-economic backgrounds and ages telling their stories about various aspects of sexuality.


The "New York Times" noted that it is "the first compilation of black women's oral histories about all aspects of sexuality" and that it has been applauded by scholars like Henry Louis Gates Jr., while, in a discussion about her book "The Politics & Passion", Gloria Wekker expressed disappointment with "Longing to Tell".


"Longing to Tell" has also been reviewed by "Booklist", "Publishers Weekly", "Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society", "Women's Review of Books, Library Journal, Multicultural Review, and Essence."


Luster is a 2020 debut novel by Raven Leilani. The book follows a Black woman in her twenties who gets involved with a fortysomething white man in an open marriage. "Luster was" released on August 4, 2020 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. It received mainly positive critical reception and won the 2020 Kirkus Prize for fiction. In December 2020, the book was found in Literary Hub to have made 16 lists of the year's best books.


"Luster" follows Edie, a Black woman in her twenties who lives in New York City and works as an editorial assistant. She meets Eric, a white man in his forties who is in an open marriage. Eric and his wife have a 12-year-old adoptive daughter, Akila, who is also Black. Edie begins a sexual relationship with Eric and moves to New Jersey to live with his family after she gets fired.


Critics noted that the character of Edie is a "flâneur", which is notable as it is typically a literary position occupied by white male characters.


The book was recommended by various outlets prior to its publication.


"Luster" received mostly positive reviews. "Kirkus Reviews" described the book in a starred review as "Sharp, strange, propellant—and a whole lot of fun." Mark Athitakis rated the book 3.5/4 stars and stated in "USA Today", ""Luster" isn’t just a sardonic book, but a powerful one about emotional transformation." "Publishers Weekly" reviewed the book and stated, "Edie’s ability to navigate the complicated relationships with the Walkers exhibits Leilani’s mastery of nuance, and the narration is perceptive, funny, and emotionally charged." Bookpage.com gave "Luster" a starred review and wrote: "Leilani’s writing is cerebral and raw, and this debut novel will establish her as a powerful new voice."


Noting that the novel is a debut, Leah Greenblatt of "EW" wrote, "that newness sometimes shows; after a wildly beguiling start, the novel telescopes inward, often forsaking narrative momentum for mood and color. Sentence by sentence, though, she’s also a phenomenal writer, her dense, dazzling paragraphs shot through with self-effacing wit and psychological insight." Writing for "Virginia Quarterly Review", Kaitlyn Greenidge praised Leilani's "linguistic skill."


Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Who Helped Win the Space Race is a 2016 nonfiction book written by Margot Lee Shetterly. Shetterly started working on the book in 2010. The book takes place from the 1930s through the 1960s when some viewed women as inferior to men. The biographical text follows the lives of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, three mathematicians who worked as computers (then a job description) at NASA, during the space race. They overcame discrimination there, as women and as African Americans. Also featured is Christine Darden, who was the first African-American woman to be promoted into the Senior Executive Service for her work in researching supersonic flight and sonic booms.


The book reached number one on "The New York Times" Non-Fiction Best Sellers list and got the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Nonfiction in 2017. The book was adapted as a film by the same name, released in 2016, that was nominated for three Oscars. It received numerous other awards.


"Hidden Figures" tells the story of three African-American women who worked as computers to solve problems for engineers and others at NASA. For the first years of their careers, the workplace was segregated and women were kept in the background as human computers. Author Margot Lee Shetterly's father was a research scientist at NASA who worked with many of the book's main characters.


The book explains how these three historical women overcame discrimination and racial segregation to become three American achievers in mathematics, scientific and engineering history. The main character, Katherine Johnson, calculated rocket trajectories for the Mercury and Apollo missions. Johnson successfully "took matters into her own hands"; by being assertive with her supervisor; when her mathematical abilities were recognized, Katherine Johnson was allowed into all male meetings at NASA.


The book was adapted as a film of the same name, written by Theodore Melfi and Allison Schroeder, and directed by Melfi. It was released on December 25, 2016 to positive reviews from critics, and received a nomination for Best Picture at the 89th Academy Awards. It received numerous other nominations and awards. Taraji P. Henson starred as mathematician Katherine Johnson, Octavia Spencer played Dorothy Vaughan, an African-American mathematician who worked for NASA in 1949, and Janelle Monáe played Mary Jackson, the first female African-American engineer to work for NASA. The movie made 231.3 million USD (United States Dollars). The budget of the film was 25 million USD.


While the film is based on the book, author Margot Lee Shetterly agrees that there are differences between the two, and she finds that to be understandable.


In 2016 a Young Reader's Edition was released for readers ages 8–12.


A "Hidden Figures" picture book was released in January 2018. The book was co-written by Margot Lee Shetterly for children from four to eight years of age.


The Planet of Junior Brown is a 1971 young adult novel by Virginia Hamilton and illustrator Jerry Pinkney. It is about two boys, Junior Brown and Buddy, who with a school janitor, Mr. Pool, construct a mechanical solar system.


Barbara Bader reviewing "The Planet of Junior Brown" in "Kirkus Reviews" wrote "This is not a story to be judged on grounds of probability, but one which makes its own insistent reality; it endures along with its promise long after the story ends." and revisiting the book in "Horn Book" 40 years later noted that children were not borrowing the book from libraries but wrote "the human drama will prevail and Junior Brown will continue to find susceptible readers, here and there, to whom it will mean a great deal."


"The Planet of Junior Brown" has also been reviewed by "African American Review", and Literature Arts Medicine Database.


In 1997 a film of the same name, adapted from the novel was released.


The Inheritance Trilogy is a fantasy trilogy written by American author N. K. Jemisin and published by Orbit Books. The trilogy consists of "The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms" that won the Locus Award for Best First Novel and was nominated for the World Fantasy Award; followed by "The Broken Kingdoms" and "The Kingdom of Gods".


Yeine is half-Arameri and half-Darr. She is small with curly hair, and can sometimes be taken for a boy. She's the chieftain, or "ennu", of the Darre, which is a matriarchal society of warriors (reminiscent of the Amazons), until she is made a potential heir to the Arameri throne and put in charge of three other countries, all of which are bigger than Darre. Because of her bluntness and Darre manners, she is called a barbarian by the Arameri.


Yeine is a resilient, independent woman. She's learned to mask her emotions from the Darre people, but cannot fake friendliness and affection for those she does not like. She loathes the Arameri family, but will use Arameri tactics to protect those she loves. She treats the Enefadeh with respect unlike most of her kinsmen.


Because Enefa's soul is within her body, she can hear the goddess' voice and see visions. Even though everyone, including Nahadoth, expects Enefa's soul to overtake her own, her soul defeats Enefa's and she replaces the goddess with Enefa's blessing.


N.K. Jemisin's character study names her as impulsive and irrational (she obsesses over her mother's murder even when she has other things to worry about), and not above hurting herself to get what she needs.


Nahadoth is the Nightlord, otherwise known as the god of night, chaos, and change. He was the first of the gods to exist. When Itempas murdered Enefa, he led his children in revolt against him, and was forced into a mortal body as a punishment. By day, he is "Naha," a tortured human. By night, however, he is free to become something close to what he once was. Nahadoth is shaped by the thoughts and expectations of those around him.


He is the father of Sieh, and loves Enefa, Itempas and later Yeine.


The god of law, order, light, and rules, Bright Itempas came after Nahadoth and though at first they fought, they later became lovers. He kills Enefa and imprisons Nahadoth and his children, but offers the Nightlord a chance to be free and serve him every time a new Arameri ruler is chosen.


He is worshipped as the Skyfather by the Arameri people, who imposed him on all the peoples they conquered and declared all who remembered Nahadoth and the others as heretics.


The goddess of twilight, dawn, balance, life, and death, she came third of the Three. She was the one who created life. Sieh was her firstborn. From the beginning, Nahadoth delighted in her creations, but Itempas didn't because he disliked change. She loves both Nahadoth and Bright Itempas, and Sieh obviously longs for her to love him like a mother. She seemingly has no choice but to love her children, but is also feared by them. When she is murdered, Itempas keeps a part of her soul, trapped in the Stone, and the rest is gathered and placed into Yeine by the Enefadeh.


The Trickster god, he is the firstborn of Nahadoth and Enefa. A perpetual child, with a child's cleverness and a child's cruelty, he has bright green eyes and a falsely innocent demeanor. Sieh has chosen the path of a child, and therefore despite his age he can't stop loving and longing for a mother. Yeine notices at one point that when he is intent on something, he doesn't blink. In Sky, the Arameri palace, he possesses a room full of multi-colored orbs that are actually a sun and planets stolen from various other solar systems.


The goddess of wisdom, she betrays the Enefadeh's plan to Itempas. She is described as very beautiful, with gold and silver wings, though she takes the form of a plump, old librarian when she first appears to Yeine. Yeine kills her after she replaces Enefa.


The goddess of war and battle, she is huge, and described as taller kneeling than Sieh standing. Like Kurue and Sieh, she is another of Nahadoth's children, and the one to mark Yeine so that she'll be free from Arameri control. Yeine earns her respect after she kills Kurue.


The ruler of the Arameri and Yeine's grandfather, he offered his wife to transfer the Stone to him, which killed her and alienated his daughter, Kinneth. Despite this he continues to love his daughter, and always hoped for her return. In N.K. Jemisin's character study, she reveals that Dekarta blames Yeine for taking Kinneth from him.


One of the potential heirs and a cousin once-removed from Yeine, Scimina is a cruel, half-mad woman with no conscience whatsoever. She sets Nahadoth on Yeine the first time she meets her and threatens to destroy Darre if she isn't named as heir. She sits at Dekarta's right hand at the Council, and is described as “a reedy Amn beauty of sable hair, patrician features, and regal grace.”


Scimina's younger twin brother and the other potential heir, Relad surrounds himself with his vices. He knows if he aligns with Yeine his sister will kill him.


A half-blood like Yeine, he is the palace steward and a good man who takes care of the servants and cares for Yeine. He was part Amn and part Ken, and gets his red-colored hair from his Ken side. His Amn father was also Relad and Scimina's older brother. T'vril is said to be just as smart as Scimina or Relad. Yeine orders Dekarta to name him heir after she takes Enefa's place.


The palace Scrivener—or scholar of the gods—he claims to have been Kinneth's friend and offers to befriend Yeine. Yeine doesn't trust him, and later figures out that he was her mother's lover and that she used him to learn the truth about her mother's death.


A matriarchal society, Darre is made of tribes and ruled by the "ennu", which happens to be Yeine. Darre publicly rescinded their faith in Nahadoth and the Enefadeh when they were conquered by the Arameri, but still worship them in secret. The men in Darre are trophies, and used basically to sire children, though many couples, such as Kinneth and Yeine's father, are deeply in love.


The Darre have a brutal coming-of-age ceremony, in which the young woman has to survive in the forest for a month, and then return home to fight publicly with a man her sponsor has chosen. She will either win and control the sex that follows, or be brutally raped.


Usually, the sponsor chooses a weak man, but because the Darre people don't trust Yeine's Amn blood, her grandmother chooses the strongest warrior. Yeine fights as best she can, fulfills the ceremony, and then kills her rapist with a rock afterwards, effectively claiming her right to rule.


The Darre people are said to have dark skin, straight hair, and lush curves.


The city of Sky is sprawled over a small mountain and completely white. The Palace, which is also called Sky and where the majority of the story takes place, was built by the gods and sits above the earth, floating in the sky. In Sky (the city), there is the Salon, a white-walled building where the Consortium (world council) meets to pretend that they aren't all just obeying the Arameri.


A park built around Sky and the World Tree's base.


Official name for the palace of the Arameri and the city beneath it.


The "Middle City" of sky in shadow, situated atop the World Trees roots. Includes, servants, suppliers, and crafters, and the mansions they serve (which encircle the Tree's trunk) by means of a network of steam-driven escalators.


Capital of the largest province of the Teman Protectorate.


The most populous and powerful race, ruled by the Arameri, who indirectly rule the Senmite races by "advising" the Nobles Consortium, (world council), and the Order of Itempas (Itempas priests). Though they possess many armies and are a powerful nation in their own right, the reason the Amn people rose to power was largely due to the priestess, Shahar Arameri, who helped Itempas kill Enefa and whose offspring were therefore granted the Enefadeh as weapons.


The Amn people are said to be tall with sable hair.


To the east of Senm, a volcanic archipelago. Easternmost portions of the archipelago were close to the Maroland, and the people of those islands have a markedly different culture, darker skin, and curlier hair than those of the western islands.


Lost continent, once to the southeast of High North. Smallest continent. Climate was subtropical-to-temperate. A place of great beauty and biodiversity; the first humans evolved here, then spread westward. The first Arameri home city was here, before the continent was destroyed by Nahadoth. For several centuries afterward the area where the Maroland had been was prone to underwater earthquakes/tsunami that made sea travel treacherous. Colloquially called “Maro”.


The origin of all things. The Maelstrom is the force, or entity, that gave birth to the Three. It has never communicated with any of its children, and not even the gods fully understand its nature. Yeine perceives it during her lovemaking with Nahadoth in The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms as “a sound: a titanic, awful roar.” The gods describe it as a churning storm, not just of energy or matter but of concepts as well. Most godlings, demons, or mortals who approach too closely are torn apart by its raging power.


The creator entities of the Inheritance Trilogy. Gods are equally at home as corporeal or incorporeal beings, are able to travel virtually anywhere in creation, and have complete power over all material and metaphysical objects and concepts. Only three gods exist at the beginning of the trilogy: Nahadoth, Itempas, and Enefa. Enefa was murdered by Itempas, and eventually replaced by Yeine. Individually the gods are extremely powerful, but not omnipotent or omniscient. Only the Three acting in concert have absolute power, rivaled only by the Maelstrom.


Godlings are immortal children of either the Three or other godlings, or some combination thereof. Each has an affinity and antithesis, and all possess the ability to travel anywhere and manipulate matter, including their own bodies. Beyond this, their powers vary widely per individual. Godlings exist in three rankings: niwwah, mnasat, and elontid. In The Kingdom of Gods, Sieh defines the demons as a fourth ranking, but notes that they are all (to his knowledge) dead.


Elontid: The second ranking of godling. The Imbalancers, born of the inequality between gods and godlings or the instability of Nahadoth and Itempas.Sometimes as powerful as gods, sometimes weaker than godlings.


Mnasat: The third ranking of godlings; godlings born of godlings. Generally weaker than godlings born of the Three.


Niwwah: The first ranking of godlings, born of the Three; the Balancers. More stable but sometimes less powerful than the elontid.


Or more specifically, human races. There are many sentient species in the universe, though only one matters for the Inheritance Trilogy. Below are the relevant subgroups of humankind:


Demons, in the world of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, are the offspring of a mating between gods and humans. They are mortal, like humans, and for the most part resemble humans, though there are some cases of demons bearing visible “deformities” as a marker of their inhuman heritage. (An example is Oree Shoth's eyes, which are specialized to see magic but incapable of seeing anything else.) Since nearly all mortal humans have gods somewhere in their lineage, the designation of “demon” refers to degree of godly heritage — generally only those who are 1/8th god or greater. Some mortals with more distant godly heritage are also deemed demons if they are throwbacks in some way. They must possess the three traits which mark a demon:


The discovery of this last trait, the demons’ deadly blood, caused their downfall as the gods then turned on them and hunted them to near extinction. Only a few demon lineages now survive, in secret and sometimes unknown even to themselves. The only known demons at the time of the Inheritance Trilogy include Oree Shoth, her father (deceased), her daughter Glee Shoth, Itempan priest and scrivener Dateh Lorillalia, Shahar Arameri the younger, Dekarta Arameri the younger, and Remath Arameri. Sieh and Itempas also remember Shinda Arameri, Itempas’ first demon child (deceased).


Little is known of the age before the Demon War — that period in which they lived and walked freely among the realms. There were possibly thousands of them at the height of this age.


In many cultures demons were hailed as mortal gods due to their great magical abilities. They were generally regarded as more approachable than “pure” gods. In The Broken Kingdoms Appendix 2, Nemue Sarfith Enulai speaks of Yiho of the Shoth Clan — a daughter of Enefa, and likely an ancestor of Oree Shoth — who created salmonlike river fish to feed her countrymen during a famine. As a result of this and other boons provided by the demons, many mortals helped to hide their local demons when the gods turned on them. In the Maroland, demons became a special class of bodyguard-historians called enulai, who helped to guard and guide the royal family of the various Maro peoples until the Maroland's destruction.


Most demons were the descendants of Nahadoth via hundreds of mortal men and women, though godlings parented many as well. The goddess Enefa bore comparatively few demon children, as carrying these children made her unwell (a warning of their deadly blood). The god Itempas is known to have fathered only two demons: Shinda Arameri, son of Shahar Arameri; and Glee Shoth, daughter of Oree Shoth.


As of 2019 Paramount Pictures acquired the film rights to the book trilogy and plans on making 3 live action movies.


They Were Her Property: White Women as Slave Owners in the American South is a nonfiction history book by Stephanie Jones-Rogers. "They Were Her Property" is "the first extensive study of the role of Southern white women in the plantation economy and slave-market system" and disputes conventional wisdom that white women played a passive or minimal role in slaveholding. It was published by Yale University Press and released on February 19, 2019. For the book Jones-Rogers received the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the Merle Curti Social History Award from the Organization of American Historians.


"They Were Her Property" disputes the idea that white women did not play a significant role in slaveholding in the American south. Jones-Rogers uses primary source documents to illustrate the scope and conduct of white women slaveholders, including testimonials of formerly enslaved people archived by the Federal Writers' Project, and bills of sales for enslaved people bought and sold by white women. The author stated that around 40% of bills of sales from South Carolina in the 18th century included either a female buyer or seller.


Jones-Rogers argues that white women were groomed to become plantation mistresses from girlhood through various social norms and often exacted cruelty and sexual violence onto enslaved people. The book addresses the widely-held belief that white women were gentler to enslaved people than white men, and dispels the notion of the "Jealous Mistress" who is angry that her husband has sex with enslaved women.


Jones-Rogers contends that slaveholding was a key mechanism for white women to build wealth and maintain financial independence from their future husbands, and they skirted losing enslaved people to their husbands through various legal tools.


spell #7, or "spell #7: geechee jibara quik magic trance manual for technologically stressed third world people", is a choreopoem written for the stage by Ntozake Shange and first performed in 1979.


After the New York run, "spell #7" went on to be performed by other companies. Some productions include one in 1982 at Clark College, another in 1982 during the Philadelphia Black Theater Festival, one in 1986 from the Avante Theater Company in Philadelphia, a 1991 performance at the Studio Theatre (Washington, D.C.), and a 1996 production at Spelman College.


The choreopoem was published in 1981 in "Three Pieces", a collection of Shange's theater works. In addition to "spell #7", the book contains "a photograph: lovers in motion" and "boogie woogie landscapes", and a foreword written by Shange. "spell #7" was also printed in the 1986 anthology "9 Plays by Black Women," alongside works by Beah Richards, Lorraine Hansberry, and Alice Childress, among others. Both of these versions restore the natalie monologue that was cut from the Anspacher performance.


In order of appearance, the characters are:


Ntozake Shange Papers, 1966-2016; Barnard Archives and Special Collections, Barnard Library, Barnard College.


Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America's Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing (PTSS) is a 2005 theoretical work by Dr. Joy DeGruy (née Leary).


The book describes the multi-generational trauma experienced by African Americans that leads to undiagnosed and untreated posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in enslaved Africans and their descendants. The book was first published by Uptone Press in 2005, with later re-release by the author in 2017.


DeGruy states that Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome is not a disorder that can simply be treated and remedied clinically but rather requires profound social change in individuals, as well as in institutions, that continue to reify inequality and injustice toward the descendants of enslaved Africans. DeGruy spent 12 years developing the quantitative and qualitative research for this book. The theory has been generative of subsequent academic work in clinical psychology and black studies.


In addition to forming the basis of public lectures and workshops offered by DeGruy and her contemporaries, the research described in "Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome" inspired an eponymous play, which was staged at the Henry Street Settlement Experimental Theater, New York, in 2001.


From Black Power to Hip-Hop: Racism, Nationalism, and Feminism is a 2006 book by Patricia Hill Collins. Published by Temple University Press, the book is centered around Patricia Hill and her experiences with racism in America. The book also includes experiences from other Black men and women and their responses to it. In the end she offers her take on Black youth and how its changing along with how Black nationalism works today.


In a review written by Publisher's Weekly, they write "sociologist Collins (Black Feminist Thought; Black Sexual Politics) turns her eye toward young African American women who have chosen to explore feminism through pop culture instead of academia in this sometimes rousing, sometimes plodding anthology of six essays".


Afrikanlibrary.net says "Using the experiences of African American women and men as a touchstone for analysis, Patricia Hill Collins examines new forms of racism as well as political responses to it.In this incisive and stimulating book, renowned social theorist Patricia Hill Collins investigates how nationalism has operated and re-emerged in the wake of contemporary globalization and offers an interpretation of how black nationalism works today in the wake of changing black youth identity."


Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush is a 1982 children's novel by Virginia Hamilton. The novel deals with the paranormal, poverty, single motherhood, childhood illness, and child abuse. The novel, like many of Hamilton's works, is set in Ohio.


Hamilton wrote the novel in two locations — in Ohio during winter and spring, and on an island in the Caribbean.


Hamilton included the metabolic disorder porphyria in the novel because a close friend suffered from it; the author noted that she had wanted to work the disorder into a novel for two decades before using it in "Sweet Whispers".


Hamilton's opening paragraph format was inspired in part by Truman Capote's short story "Children on their Birthdays."


"Sweet Whispers" contains magical realism elements — the ghost character of Brother Rush appears in an otherwise realistic setting. M'Vy tells Tree that she can see ghosts because of the family's African heritage.


Hamilton explores questions of identity, the supernatural, the need to belong within a family, and encounters with death through a Black American point of view.


The character of M'Vy showcases a complicated motherhood, as she is often away from the apartment (and engaged in abuse of Dab when he was younger.) "Hamilton has not created a traditional, stereotypic, idealized mother," wrote one critic.


Hamilton included the ghost of Brother Rush as a literary device to represent the idea that people carry their pasts with them.


"Kirkus Reviews", in reviewing "Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush", called it "One of Hamilton's deeply felt family stories" and wrote "like other Hamilton novels this has its rough edges, but they are outweighed here by the blazing scenes, the intensity of Tree's feelings, the glimpses of Dab through her eyes, and the rounded characterization of Vy."


Author Katherine Paterson, reviewing the novel in "The New York Times", noted "the last time a first paragraph chilled my spine like this one, I was 16 years old, hunched over a copy of "Rebecca"."


In the "Interracial Books for Children Bulletin", Geraldine Wilson wrote that the novel "is like a thoughtfully designed African American quilt. It is finely stitched, tightly constructed and rooted in cultural authenticity."


"Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush" has also been reviewed by the "English Journal", and the "School Library Journal".


"Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush" won the 1983 Coretta Scott King Author Award and the 1983 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award.


The novel was a finalist for the 1983 National Book Award for Young People's Literature and was also a Newberry honor winner.


Movement In Black is a collection of poetry by Black lesbian feminist Pat Parker.


The collection was originally published by Diana Press in 1978. When Diana Press closed in 1979, "Movement In Black" went out of print. In 1983, Crossing Press issued a facsimile edition of the collection, though the title was once again unavailable by 1987. Shortly after Parker's death in 1989, Firebrand Books published its first edition of the collection, which included a foreword by Audre Lorde and an introduction by Judy Grahn. Ten years later, Firebrand released "An Expanded Edition of Movement In Black", which includes a new section of previously-unpublished work, an introduction by Cheryl Clarke, and "Celebrations, Remembrances, Tributes" by ten Black writers including Lorde, Angela Y. Davis, Pamela Sneed, and Barbara Smith.


According to Amy Washburn, "Movement In Black" "emblematizes intersectionality and simultaneity as forms of revolution in struggles of self and society." Focusing on "themes of time and space, marginalization and movement, difference and power, visibility and invisibility, and history and memory," Parker used autobiographical writing "to fuse personal and political sites of resistance." Jewelle Gomez states that throughout "Movement In Black", as Parker "was always doing", she used "plain language and ritual to valorize the ordinary life experiences of Black women. In doing so she gave others a glimmer of possibility for growth and change."


Justice and Her Brothers is a 1978 science fiction novel for young adults by award-winning author Virginia Hamilton. The novel, like many by Hamilton, is set in Yellow Springs, Ohio — the author's birthplace. It is the first novel of The Justice Trilogy and is followed by "Dustland" (1980) and "The Gathering" (1981).


In an article for "The Horn Book Magazine", Hamilton explained that Blackness in her works is sometimes significant and sometimes not. In "Justice and Her Brothers," Hamilton noted:"race has nothing whatever to do with plot and the outcome for the characters. The powers of extrasensory perception, telepathy, and telekinesis the children have are not meant to be peculiarities. They represent a majestic change in the human race."


The story is told over one week during a hot summer in Ohio. Protagonist Justice Douglass is dealing with the fact that her mother is attending college and has to spend time away from the home, leaving Justice to the care of her twin older brothers, Thomas and Levi. Levi clearly cares for Justice, both with domestic tasks and emotionally, while Thomas is antagonistic toward Justice.


Thomas has established the Great Snake Race, a competition for the boys in the neighborhood, and Justice prepares by seeking out the snake that is both the largest and the fastest. Concurrently, Justice notices that Thomas seems to be able to mentally control his twin brother Levi. Fear of Thomas brings Justice to the home of Mrs. Leona Jefferson and her son Dorian Jefferson, mother and child. Mrs. Leona Jefferson teaches Justice about her own psychic abilities, both to protect Levi and to practice her own power.


Justice learns that the object of the Great Snake Race is not to actually race snakes but to catch the most. Justice, thinking she will lose, ends up winning over Thomas, as her snake was pregnant and had offspring. After the Race, Thomas probes Justice's mind and tries to control her. Justice and neighbor Dorian battle against Thomas, defeating him. The children then link minds and Justice transports them to the future, briefly, where they learn that as a group, they are the "first unit," a new kind of human.


The novel deals with ideas of loneliness in childhood, the family unit and its affect on children, and identity.


In a review in "The New York Times", Jean Fritz wrote that "the book is like an expertly crafted, highly original painting over which a surrealistic film has been tacked." "School Library Journal" praised Hamilton's descriptions, noting "many rich details... are skillfully woven into a complex plot all the more chilling for being so firmly grounded in reality." In "The Junior Bookshelf", M. Hobbs noted "[Hamilton] is a Black novelist using racial characteristics in a new, altogether fascinating way."


One critic debated the appropriate age of the novel's audience, due to the its complexity. In "The Christian Science Monitor", Clive Lawrence wrote "Is it suitable for 12-year-olds? I have to say no. The average child will find it boringly serious."


At the time of its publishing, "Justice and Her Brothers" was one of few science-fiction young adult novels featuring Black characters.


The novel was a Coretta Scott King Award honor book in 1979.


Bad Feminist: Essays is a 2014 collection of essays by cultural critic, novelist and professor Roxane Gay. "Bad Feminist" explores being a feminist while loving things that could seem at odds with feminist ideology. Gay's essays engage pop culture and her personal experiences, covering topics such as the "Sweet Valley High" series, "Django Unchained", and Gay's own upbringing as a Haitian-American.


"Bad Feminist" was one of two books published by Gay in 2014, the other being her novel "An Untamed State".


The essays in "Bad Feminist" address a wide variety of topics, both cultural and personal. The collection of essays is broken into five sections: Me; Gender & Sexuality; Race & Entertainment; Politics, Gender & Race; and Back to Me. In a 2014 interview with "Time", Gay explained her role as a feminist and how it has influenced her writing: "In each of these essays, I’m very much trying to show how feminism influences my life for better or worse. It just shows what it’s like to move through the world as a woman. It’s not even about feminism per se, it’s about humanity and empathy."


The book was noted for its popularity in feminist circles, with the satirical site "Reductress" publishing a story about how someone was a bad feminist because they hadn't yet read "Bad Feminist". A group of feminist scholars and activists analyzed Gay's "Bad Feminist" for "Short Takes: Provocations on Public Feminism," an initiative of the feminist journal "Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society".


Children of Blood and Bone is a 2018 young adult fantasy novel by Nigerian-American novelist Tomi Adeyemi. The book, Adeyemi's debut novel and the first book in a planned trilogy, follows heroine Zélie Adebola as she attempts to restore magic to the kingdom of Orïsha, following the ruling class kosidáns' brutal suppression of the class of magic practitioners Zélie belongs to, the maji.


Adeyemi drew inspiration from Yoruba culture and Western fantasy fiction like "Harry Potter" and "" and from both West African mythology and the Black Lives Matter movement. She has also cited the books "Shadowshaper" and "An Ember in the Ashes" as primary inspirations. Finally, Adeyemi was also affected by the backlash against the black characters in the film "The Hunger Games": she wanted to write a story so good even racists would want to read it.


As in the J.K. Rowlings' "Harry Potter" series, Adeyemi wanted to build a complete world, though she did not like when she was called the "black J.K. Rowling", preferring instead phrases like "the new J.K. Rowling". She worked hard to map the distances between cities and the time it would take a horse and lion to travel between them, as well as reasoning through the logical implications of her creative choices, such as having characters ride big cats. She also had to figure out parallels in her imagined world to issues like skin bleaching, which would not exist in a world without white people. She got help from her Nigerian mother at times for things like naming the spells that involved use of the Yoruba language.


Adeyemi entered Pitch Wars, a competition that matches emerging writers with mentor editors and authors to revise their work before submitting them to literary agents. She came to be represented by Alexandra Machinist and Hillary Jacobson of ICM Partners. In 2017, publishing rights to "The Children of Blood and Bone" sold as a trilogy to include two more books, and rights to the film adaptation sold to Fox 2000. Reportedly these deals came to seven figures, with "Deadline" describing it as "one of the biggest YA debut novel publishing deals ever." Adeyemi was 23 at the time.


"Children of Blood and Bone" was published on March 6, 2018, by Henry Holt Books for Young Readers after being called "the biggest fantasy debut novel of 2018" and one of the most anticipated books of the year. A sequel, "Children of Virtue and Vengeance," was published in December 2019.


The trio finds themselves in Ibeji, where the sunstone is used as a prize for deadly aquatic arena games. They agree to compete and Zélie uses her powers to win the sunstone. Now in possession of all three artifacts, the group continues on their way until Inan catches up to them. In the chaos that follows, Tzain and Amari are captured in the forest by an unknown group. Inan agrees to help Zélie rescue their siblings. During the rescue, they learn that the group is really a settlement of divîners, some of whom have had their powers reawakened when they were exposed to the scroll before it was taken by the King's forces.


Unable to repair the scroll, Zélie uses blood magic and an incantation of her own devising to complete the ritual, which apparently kills her in the process. Zélie is then able to speak with her mother, speaking on behalf of the gods in the afterlife, who praises her and sends her back. The book concludes as Zélie learns that Amari now has magic.


The novel also tells a more intimate story as children struggle to win their parents' approval. Inan wants to fulfill his duty to his father and kingdom in order to be a good prince, but is also a maji himself and has a personal connection to other maji through Zélie. The complexity of teenagers who are eager to jump into the adult world and adult problems is also present in the novel as adolescents attempt to discover themselves. While they struggle with the weight of these obligations, the point-of-view characters in the book are able to demonstrate wisdom, courage and compassion beyond that of the adults they are seeking to please.


Ultimately, it's the female characters who survive trauma and show the way forward. While Zélie initially mistakes Amari as weak, it becomes clear Amari has learned other coping strategies while surviving under her abusive father. There is a great deal of loss in the book, with several characters, including Inan, dying, but Zélie and Amari continue in their efforts.


In 2018, the viewers of "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" selected "Children of Blood and Bone" as the first ever "Tonight Show Summer Read". Adeyemi later appeared as a guest on the "Tonight Show" on July 24, 2018 to discuss the book.


The Stars and the Blackness Between Them


The Stars and the Blackness Between Them is an American young adult fiction book by Junauda Petrus. It was released on September 17, 2019 by Dutton Books, and tells the story of two teenage girls who build a relationship, as one acclimates to life in Minneapolis after moving from Trinidad, and the other battles an illness. "The Stars and the Blackness Between Them" received a Coretta Scott King Honor Award.


In February 2021, Junauda Petrus announced that a film adaptation is in development.


16-year-old Audre lives in Port of Spain, Trinidad. At the urging of her mother, she attends church, but forms a romantic relationship with the pastor's granddaughter, Neri. After they are caught engaging in sexual activity, Audre is sent to live with her father in Minneapolis, where she meets Mabel. Mabel is questioning her own sexuality, and the two become friends. As they prepare for the upcoming school year, Mabel finds out she has a life-threatening illness. Audre supports Mabel as she undergoes treatment, both emotionally and through healing practices she has learned from her grandmother.


2019, United States, Dutton Books, , 17 September 2019, Hardback.


Kimani Press was formed by Harlequin Enterprises, Ltd. in December 2005, with the purchase of the Arabesque, Sepia, and New Spirit Imprints from BET Books. Arabesque was the first line of original African-American romance novels from a major publishing house, and published two single-titles each month until it ceased publication in February 2015. The Sepia imprint featured commercial women’s fiction, and New Spirit served the growing African-American inspirational marketplace with both fiction and non-fiction releases.


In July 2006, Harlequin launched Kimani Romance, the only African-American series imprint in the marketplace today, with four new releases each month. In May 2017, it was announced that Harlequin was no longer acquiring titles for the Kimani Romance imprint, with the final titles due to be released in 2018.


In February 2007, Kimani TRU was launched targeting a young-adult, multi-cultural audience with one new release each month. This line ceased publication in October 2014.


Since 2005, Kimani Press novels have been available in eBook format, a portable downloaded alternative to the standard paperback.


The name 'KIMANI' is of Kikuyu Origin.


Arabesque: The leading line of African-American romances. An-award-winning imprint of traditional and contemporary romance novels written by African-American authors. The last title was released in February 2015.


Kimani Romance: Series romance. The last title will be released in 2018.


Kimani Tru: Young-adult fiction featuring African-American youth. The last title was released in October 2014.


Kimani Press Special Releases : Special Releases from favorite Kimani Press authors. The last title was released in January 2015.


Show Way is a 2005 children's picture book by American author Jacqueline Woodson with illustrations by Hudson Talbott. The book was made into a film in 2012 by Weston Woods Studios, Inc., narrated by the author. It recounts the stories of seven generations of African-Americans and is based on the author's own family history. "Show Way" was a John Newbery Medal Honor Book in 2006.


Woodson has received numerous awards for her middle-grade and young adult books, which include being a National Book Award Finalist and winning the Coretta Scott King Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Miracle's Boys.


Critics have many good things to say about "Show Way". Barbara Z Kiefer and Dennis Price say that ""Show Way" is an exquisite patchwork of words and images." "Publishers Weekly" stated that "Show Way" is "Both historical and deeply personal." "Black Issues Book Review" said that "Show Way" was, "Beautifully written and a treat for the eyes." Mary N. Oluonye of "School Library Journal" stated that "Show Way" is "An outstanding tribute, perfectly executed in terms of text, design, and illustration." "Kirkus Reviews" says that "Show Way" "Takes a difficult subject and makes it accessible to young readers. One of the most remarkable books of the year."


The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales is a 1985 collection of twenty-four folktales retold by Virginia Hamilton and illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon. They encompass animal tales (including tricksters), fairy tales, supernatural tales,and tales of the enslaved Africans (including slave narratives).


A review by the "School Library Journal", stated: "The well-known author here retells 24 black American folk tales in sure storytelling voice. ... All are beautifully readable." and concluded "With the added attraction of 40 bordered full- and half-page illustrations by the Dillons wonderfully expressive paintings reproduced in black and white this collection should be snapped up."


"The New York Times" review by Ishmael Reed called "The People Could Fly" "extraordinary and wonderful", commended Hamilton for writing "these tales in the Black English of the slave storytellers" and found it "Handsomely illustrated".


"The People Could Fly" has also been reviewed by "Publishers Weekly", "Booklist", Common Sense Media,


"The People Could Fly" has received a number of awards including:


The Middle-Atlantic Writers Association (MAWA) is a non-profit organization made up of creative writers, scholars, critics, and literature enthusiasts. Founded in 1982, MAWA aims to preserve, perpetuate and study the literary traditions of the Middle-Atlantic region, with a specific focus on the literature of African Americans, the Black Diaspora, women and the multicultural, global community. MAWA aims (1) to provide a forum and publishing outlet for blossoming and established writers from the region and (2) to generate scholarship about writers and subjects from the region, as well as other neglected aspects of literature.


Drama High is an ongoing series of young adult fiction novels written by the American author L. Divine. The series comprises 19 novels and follows the main character, Jayd Jackson through her life in Los Angeles, California as she struggles to balance school, friendships, family, and all the drama that comes with them. The novels contain an element of speculative fiction as the main character comes from a long line of voodoo priestesses and is a priestess in training. The first fourteen books were published through Dafina, an imprint of Kensington Books. Starting in 2012 Divine began self-publishing the series under Ebb & Flow Publications/L. Divine Inc.


Black Silent Majority: The Rockefeller Drug Laws and the Politics of Punishment is a non-fiction book written by Michael Javen Fortner.


A look into the role of how America's drug policies impact African Americans and crime in their own neighborhoods.


"The New York Times" said in a review of the book, "The history of black people’s ability to express and to act on their punitiveness — to be tough on crime — is at the heart of a fascinating though severely flawed new book by Michael Javen Fortner."


Aaron Freeman (born June 8, 1956) is an American journalist, stand-up comedian, author, cartoonist, and blogger.


During the 1990s, Freeman was host of the weekly informational radio program "Metropolis" which was broadcast in the Midwest. He is also a commentator on NPR's flagship news program, "All Things Considered". Freeman co-wrote and directed the stage comedy "The Arab/Israeli Comedy Hour". As a stand up comedian, he is a member of the quartet the Israeli/Palestinian Comedy Tour. Freeman has performed with The Second City and performs with the Second City Theater.


Along with long-time friend and collaborator Rob Kolson, he created the long-running political and financial comedy "Do the White Thing" and its sequel "Gentlemen Prefer Bonds".


In 1983, Freeman created and performed the satire "Council Wars", which was based on the Chicago City Council when Harold Washington was mayor. For ten years, he hosted the television talk show "Talking with Aaron Freeman". He later hosted and was chief science correspondent for Chicago Public Television's science and technology program "Chicago Tomorrow".


Freeman performs his one-man shows "News Today/Comedy Tonight" and "Kosher Chitterlings" for business groups, Jewish groups, colleges, and associations throughout the United States.


Freeman was born in Kankakee, Illinois, and is a longtime resident of the Chicago area. He is a convert to Judaism from Roman Catholicism. He is married to artist Sharon Rosenzweig, with whom he collaborates on projects including the comic strip "The Comic Torah". He has twin daughters, Artemis and Diana, who were featured with Aaron on "This American Life" episode 17 "Name Change / No Theme", recorded during a trip to Chicago's Navy Pier.


Tritobia Hayes Benjamin (October 22, 1944 – June 21, 2014) was an American art historian and educator. She began teaching in 1970 as professor of Art History at Howard University, College of Fine Arts, specializing in African-American art History and American art. Benjamin became the Associate Dean of the Division of Fine Arts in the College of Arts and Sciences at Howard University, and had served as Gallery Director.


She was born on October 22, 1944, in Brinkley, Arkansas, to mother Addie (née Murph) and father Wesley E. Hayes, Sr. She attended secondary school at Horace Mann High School, where she graduated with honors. She went on to attend Howard University, where she met her husband, Donald S. Benjamin, a graphic artist and community activist.


Benjamin wrote the book "The Life and Art of Lois Mailou Jones", published by Pomegranate Artbooks, and had published over 20 articles and exhibition catalog essays including "Profiles of Eleven African-American Artists" and "The Image of Women in the Work of Charles White", "Three Generations of African American Women Sculptors: A Study in Paradox", an exhibition she also co-curated.


Benjamin received honors and awards for her scholarship including the Women's Caucus for Art Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010; the National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship-in-Residence award; and also from the National Endowment for the Humanities, a fellowship for Faculty of Historical Black Colleges.


Alma Jean Billingslea (born 1946) is an American scholar and teacher, and a veteran of the civil rights movement.


Billingslea was born in Albany, Georgia, but grew up in Orange, New Jersey, where she was one of the first African American students to desegregate the Orange public school system. From 1967 to 1971, she worked as a field staff member for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the organization founded by Martin Luther King, Jr. She is professor emerita and co-founder of the program in African Diaspora Studies at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. She received the A.B. degree from Rutgers University, the M.A. degree from Atlanta University, and the PhD from the University of Texas at Dallas.


Billingslea is the author of "Crossing Borders through Folklore: African American Women's Fiction and Art" (University of Missouri Press, 1999).


Tracy Clayton (born c. 1982/1983) is an American writer known as the co-host of the BuzzFeed podcast "Another Round", which has been on hiatus since 2017. Her work has been recognized by "Fast Company", "Ebony", and "The Root," who described her as "a superstar at BuzzFeed, the millennial-driven media powerhouse where she writes big, funny things." Clayton was laid off from BuzzFeed in September 2018 amid company-wide downsizing. She hosts the Netflix podcast "Strong Black Legends", for which she interviews African Americans in the entertainment industry.


Clayton was raised in Louisville, Kentucky and received her bachelor's degree from Transylvania University in Lexington.


Before joining BuzzFeed full-time in 2014, Clayton wrote for "Madame Noire", "Uptown Magazine", "The Urban Daily", "PostBourgie" and "The Root". She developed the popular Tumblr, "Little Known Black History Facts", now a feature on "Another Round".


She was named the Ida B. Wells Media Expert-in-Residence at Wake Forest University's Anna Julia Cooper Center from 2016–2017.


Clayton and her co-worker Heben Nigatu launched the first episode of "Another Round", produced by BuzzFeed, on March 25, 2015. The show received positive critical acclaim. "The A.V. Club" described Clayton and Nigatu as "passionate and sharp in their distinct points of view." It was named to "Best of 2015" lists by iTunes, "Slate", "Vulture", and "The Atlantic".


Clayton announced she had been laid off by BuzzFeed on September 19, 2018, along with most of the other staffers who had worked on BuzzFeed's original podcasts.


On February 11, 2019, Netflix's Strong Black Lead initiative announced it was launching a new podcast featuring interviews with legendary Black members of Hollywood, called "Strong Black Legends", to be hosted by Clayton. The first podcast premiered on February 12, 2019 and Lynn Whitfield was the guest.


Clayton also hosts the interview podcast "Going Through It" launched by Mailchimp in July 2020, featuring 14 prominent Black women.


In August 2020, "Back Issue" debuted, a podcast hosted by Clayton and Josh Gwynn. "Back Issue" is produced by Pineapple Street Studios and looks back at formative moments in pop culture. Clayton and Gwynn formerly worked together on the Netflix podcast, "Strong Black Legends".


As of at least March 2017, Clayton lives in Brooklyn.


Marquetta L. Goodwine is an author, preservationist, and performance artist who serves as Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation.


Goodwine is a native of St. Helena Island, South Carolina. She attended Fordham College at Lincoln Center and double majored in computer science and mathematics. In 1996 she left Fordham and the founded of the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition. In 1999 she became the first Gullah to speak before the United Nations, giving testimony at an April 1 hearing of the Commission on Human Rights in Switzerland. She participated in the United Nations Forum on Minority Rights which was first established in 2008. At the forum, Queen Quet recorded the human rights struggle of the Gullah/Geechee people for archival by the United Nations.


On 2 July 2002 Goodwine was elected and enstooled as "Queen Quet, chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation." Goodwine also serves as the Chair of the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor General Management Plan and Expert Commissioner for South Carolina. She is a member of the 15-person commission established by the United States Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Act which was passed by the United States Congress.


Goodwine is a public advocate for the Gullah/Geechee Sea Islands in the face of increasing storm damage resulting from the climate crisis as well as ongoing flooding due to over-development and poor infrastructure maintenance. Her work includes advocating and the preservation of Gullah/Geechee cultural traditions and resources that are threatened due to gentrification and climate change.


Goodwine served as a consultant for the 2000 Mel Gibson film "The Patriot", which featured scenes set on the South Carolina coast of the Gullah/Geechee Nation. She has been an advisor to several historic documentaries, including "This Far by Faith: The African American Religious Experience", "The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow", "Slavery and the Making of America", "Reconstruction: The Second Civil War", and "The Will to Survive: The Story of the Gullah/Geechee Nation". She also lectures throughout the world.


She is the founder of a historic presentation troupe "De Gullah Cunneckshun," which has recorded several CDs and been featured on films and film soundtracks.


Marvelyn Brown (born May 7, 1984) is an African-American author and AIDS activist. She is the founder of Marvelous Connections, an HIV/AIDS organization founded in 2006. She wrote the autobiography "The Naked Truth: Young, Beautiful and (HIV) Positive", which tells her story as a young heterosexual woman living with HIV. She has delivered public speeches and made public appearances in the United States, Bermuda, Canada, Jamaica, Mexico, the Virgin Islands, South Africa, Tanzania, and Rwanda.


Brown was born on May 7, 1984, in Nashville, Tennessee. She describes in her autobiography that she had regular clashes with her mother, but the two have since reconciled. She has two half-siblings with whom she keeps in contact, but has not actually met them in person due to them living across the country from her.


On October 3, 2008, Brown posted to her blog that she had been accused of glorifying her illness. "I am constantly being accused of glamorizing AIDS. Really? There is nothing glamorous about taking 7 horse pills that still make me gage ["sic"] after 4 1⁄2 years taking them. I contracted a 100% PREVENTABLE disease, people, which that is my message, not how glamorous I look doing it!"


Two days earlier, she elaborated on why she had written "The naked Truth", adding, "I wrote "The Naked Truth" because I wanted people to get the full story and not a sound bite or the one-hour preping speaking engagement. Most people can’t identify with who I am now because I am HIV-Positive but they can identify with who I was before. That is what makes me relate and shows people that I am just like them. This virus is real and just because you are ignorant or uneducated about HIV that does not make you immune. That is why I wrote "The Naked Truth". I can’t be everywhere but my story can."


Brown continues to write and has dedicated her life to HIV/AIDS awareness. She has joked in the past that she will produce a sequel to "The Naked Truth" in the future, titled “The Naked Truth: Wife, Mother, and Still HIV Positive.” She lives in New York City, New York.


Edward Earl Cleveland (March 11, 1921 – August 30, 2009) commonly known as E. E. Cleveland was an author, civil rights advocate and evangelist of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.


E. E. Cleveland was born in Huntsville, Alabama on March 11, 1921 and died at the Huntsville Hospital on August 30, 2009 following an illness. He was married to Celia Marie Abney Cleveland on May 29, 1943 until her death in 2003.


They have one son, Earl Clifford Cleveland.


He preached his first sermon at the age of 6.


At the age of 13 he was the Sabbath School secretary at his local church in Chattanooga, Tennessee.


In the course of his work he traveled extensively, visiting over 67 countries.


E. E. Cleveland served the Seventh-day Adventist Church for over 67 years in active and post-retirement ministry. His positions included:


E. E. Cleveland was a very successful evangelist holding over 60 campaigns in 6 continents and training over 1,000 pastors.


He was a Seventh-day Adventist church pioneer of the concept of evangelism in large cities and held national campaigns before satellite technology become common.


In what has been called one of the most successful evangelistic campaigns in Adventist history Cleveland was the first Seventh-day Adventist to baptize more than 1,000 people in a single campaign.


Held in 1966 in Port of Spain, Trinidad the series was housed in two large tents pitched side by side and opened with 3,300 people in attendance, swelling to 7,000 by the final service.


In his campaigns, Cleveland baptized approximately 16,000 persons, including George Juko, the Crown Prince of Uganda. Many churches have been founded as a result of his campaigns. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rev. Ralph Abernathy and Rosa Parks are said to have attended his services in Montgomery.


E. E. Cleveland was a long-time civil rights activist.


He organized the N.A.A.C.P chapter for students on the campus of Oakwood College.


As a black evangelist, he encountered difficulties related to racism.


In 1954 in Montgomery, Alabama police patrolled his tent meetings after being reported in violation of Alabama ordinances prohibiting whites and blacks to comingle in a public meeting. Cleveland had insisted that these ordinances need not be obeyed.


He participated in the first March on Washington with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and secured an 18-wheel tractor-trailer that served as a supply base for blankets and clothing.


He was a member of the Washington, D.C. branch of the Organizing Committee of the Poor People's Campaign of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference dating back to 1968.


Cleveland was twice the speaker for the South Florida S.C.L.C. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebrations in 1986 and 1987 and was credited by the local Director of the S.C.L.C. with helping the branch get a street named for Dr. King in St. Petersburg, Florida. He has conducted Feed The Hungry programs in over 20 cities in the United States. Cleveland also helped to set up a feeding depot in Washington, D.C. for the relief of the hungry during the civil disturbance that followed the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.


E. E. Cleveland was a co-founder and member of the Human Relations Committee of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. He was a member of the Flying Squad, a special unit of the church to investigate racial injustices and recommend action. In 1968, he became the first black to receive an honorary doctorate from Andrews University, a Seventh-day Adventist institution.


Cleveland was the first African American church leader sent to Asia (excluding India), Europe, South America and Australia. On February 25, 1993, Cleveland was inducted into the Martin Luther King, Jr. collegium of preachers and scholars at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia.


E. E. Cleveland authored 16 published books.


Cleveland was an Associate Editor for "Ministry", a monthly religious journal; contributing editor to "Message" magazine; contributing writer to "Signs", "Adventist Review", "These Times" and was a columnist to "The North American Voice" a monthly religious journal.


Cleveland's life has been the subject of a biography "E. E. Cleveland: Evangelist Extraordinary" by Harold Lee with Monte Sahlin.


His autobiography is titled "Let the Church Roll On".


The Bradford-Cleveland-Brooks (BCB) Leadership Center at Oakwood University which opened in October 2007 is in part named for E. E. Cleveland.


It houses a training center for evangelists and ministers as well as provides additional classroom space for the Department of Religion and Theology. This building is also home to the classes for the first master's degree program for the university (Master of Arts degree in Pastoral Studies).


In November 2007 Cleveland donated his collection of personal manuscripts, sermons and papers to the Center for Adventist Research at Andrews University. This collection of nearly 2000 sermon manuscripts, hundreds of pictures, personal books and audio-visual materials has been termed "priceless" and is available to researchers.


Michael Bernard Beckwith is a New Thought minister, author, and founder of the Agape International Spiritual Center in Beverly Hills, California, a New Thought church with a congregation estimated in excess of 8,000 members. Beckwith was ordained in Religious Science in 1985.


Beckwith is founder of the Agape International Spiritual Center, co-founder of the Association for Global New Thought, and co-chair of the Season for Nonviolence along with Arun Gandhi.


In 1986, he founded the Agape International Spiritual Center, a transdenominational community which today counts a membership of 9,000 individuals who study and practice New Thought–Ancient Wisdom. Agape's outreach programs feed the homeless, serve incarcerated individuals and their families, advocate the preservation of the planet's environmental resources, and globally build and support orphanages whose children have survived the ravages of war and AIDS.


Beckwith was one of the featured teachers in "The Secret" (2006) movie and the bestselling book by the same name that followed the film.


Beckwith teaches meditation, affirmative prayer, and speaks at conferences and seminars. He is the originator of the Life Visioning Process, a technique purporting to offer its practitioners a method for putting a stop to being a passive tourist in one's life. He is author of "Spiritual Liberation", which won the Gold Medal Nautilus Book Award, "Inspirations of the Heart", which was a Nautilus Book Award finalist; "Forty Day Mind Fast Soul Feast"; "A Manifesto of Peace"; and "Living from the Overflow". In 2011, Beckwith released TranscenDance, a collection of remixed lectures set to electronic dance music by Stephen Bray and John Potoker. Beckwith was named to Oprah's "SuperSoul100" list of visionaries and influential leaders in 2016.


Beckwith briefly appears in episode 4 of the UK Channel 4 television series "How to Rob a Bank" with a segment of his stage show and interview, describing how his inspirational talk led former US Marine Cain Dyer to hand himself in after committing 100 bank robberies.


Abdullah H. Abdur-Razzaq (December 20, 1931 – November 21, 2014) was an African-American activist and Muslim known for being one of Malcolm X's most trusted associates. Born James Monroe King Warden, he was known as James 67X when he belonged to the Nation of Islam and James Shabazz in the years after he left the organization.


James Monroe King Warden was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in the impoverished Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. He attended the Bronx High School of Science, from which he graduated with honors. He enrolled in the City College of New York but transferred to Lincoln University in Chester County, Pennsylvania, after a year. He soon left that school as well to join the Army. Following his discharge, he returned to Lincoln and graduated with honors in English in 1958. He received a master's degree from Columbia University.


In 1958, Warden joined the Nation of Islam at Mosque No. 7, on 102 West 116th Street in New York City, under Minister Malcolm X. As was the custom among Nation of Islam members, he abandoned the surname of Warden as a vestige of chattel slavery and became the 67th James in Mosque No. 7.


By 1960, he had been promoted to lieutenant in the Fruit of Islam, subordinate to Captain Joseph X. Gravitt (later known as Yusuf Shah). Subsequently, he was appointed circulation manager for New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut of "Muhammad Speaks", and answered directly to Malcolm X.


After the split between Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X formed Muslim Mosque, Inc. and appointed James, then still known as James 67X, secretary of the organization, as well as captain of the men. Based on Malcolm X's instruction, he took the name James Shabazz.


Brother James, as he was sometimes referred, was also responsible for the formation of the Organization of Afro-American Unity, a secular organization that Malcolm X had also formed, patterned after Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's Organisation of African Unity, and through which Malcolm X intended to charge the United States with violating the human rights of its chattel slave descendants.


Shabazz was a constant and willing aide to Malcolm X, in his capacity as head of Muslim Mosque, Inc. and as head of the Organization of Afro-American Unity. He remained with, and vigorously assisted Malcolm X until the leader's murder on February 21, 1965.


Abdur-Razzaq spent the years following Malcolm X's murder raising a family and co-founding Al-Karim School (which would later become Brooklyn's famed Cush Campus Schools) with Ora Abdur-Razzaq. He later moved to Guyana, where he worked as a farmer. Returning to the U.S. in 1988, he earned a nursing degree, and he worked in as a nurse until his retirement in 2004.


In his later years, Abdur-Razzaq's work as staff consultant for the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture was invaluable in cataloging rare photographs, letters and accounts of Malcolm X's life and times. Furthermore, his expertise was widely solicited by journalists, authors, film makers and educators. In addition to his contributions to a wide array of published works, such as Bruce Perry's "Malcolm X: The Last Speeches", Abdur-Razzaq was featured in several television interviews and films, including "" and Gil Noble's "Like It Is". The DVD version of Jack Baxter's documentary "Brother Minister: The Assassination of Malcolm X" includes an "Exclusive Interview with Abdullah Abdur-Razzaq, Malcolm X's closest associate".


In April 2013, Abdur-Razzaq returned to Lincoln University to speak about his memories and experiences working with Malcolm X.


Battling leukemia, Abdur-Razzaq was admitted to Harlem Hospital in late 2014. After several weeks, he was transferred to Bellevue Hospital Center, where he died on November 21, 2014, at the age of 82.


He is survived by children, grandchildren, and a large extended family.


Barbara T. Christian (December 12, 1943 in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands – June 25, 2000 in Berkeley, California) was an American author and professor of African-American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Among several books, and over 100 published articles, Christian was most well known for the 1980 study "Black Women Novelists: The Development of a Tradition".


In April 2000, Christian was awarded the UC Berkeley's highest honor, the Berkeley Citation. She died on June 25, 2000 from complications from lung cancer.


Cathy J. Cohen (born 1962) is an American political scientist, author, feminist, and social activist, whose work has focused on the African-American experience in politics from a perspective which is underlined by intersectionality. She is currently the David and Mary Winton Green Professor in Political Science and the College at the University of Chicago, and is the former Director of the Center for the Study of Race (2002–05).


She received her BA from Miami University, Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1993 and began her academic career at Yale University where she received tenure. Cohen joined the faculty of the University of Chicago in 2002.


Her book "Boundaries of Blackness: AIDS and the Breakdown of Black Politics" explores how issues such as age, gender, sexuality and the growing AIDs epidemic shape the acceptance boundaries within the African-American community.


In "Democracy Remixed: Black Youth and The Future of American Politics," Cohen uses findings from the Black Youth Project to provide a detailed description of what black youth want, how they understand intersecting challenges of opportunity and discrimination, and how we can begin to help transform the lived experiences and future outcomes of African American youth"."


Cohen is one of the founding board members of the Audre Lorde Project, which focuses on providing adequate representation, community wellness, and efficient economic and social justice for the LGBT+ communities they serve. Cohen is active in a number of organizations working on social justice issues; she has moderated the Applied Research Center's 2010 conference "Popularizing Racial Justice", and served as secretary of the American Political Science Association. Cohen has also been member of the Black Radical Congress, African American Women in Defense of Ourselves and the United Coalition Against Racism. She currently serves as a board member of the Arcus Foundation and of the University of Chicago’s four charter schools.


“Punks, Bulldaggers, and Welfare Queens: The Radical Potential of Queer Politics?” (1997).


In “Punks, Bulldaggers, and Welfare Queens: The Radical Potential of Queer Politics”, Cohen brings attention to and problematizes queer theory’s single-oppression framework. She argues that this single-oppression framework reinforces the binary between queer/non-queer, creating a category to identify with instead of strategically challenging heteronormativity. By heteronormativity, Cohen is referring to the practices and institutions that legitimize and privilege heterosexuality and heterosexual relationships presumed to be “natural” in society. Heteronormativity is the normalizing power that is at the focus of queer politics.


Because “queer” is taken up in public discourse as a “deviant sexuality” and is indicative of non-normativity, Cohen argues that queer theory fails to advocate and recognize those who are not queer-identified as sexually marginalized subjects, which in turn, limits the radical potential of queer politics. She suggests that we broaden our understanding of queerness, because as it currently stands, the term “queer” does not encompass all marginalized identities. She urges that we must recognize the intersections of oppression and understand how multiple identities work to limit the privilege granted to those who conform to heteronormativity. This article is a call for action for queer activism to take an intersectional approach towards transformation.


“The Radical Potential of Queer? Twenty Years Later” (2019).


In “The Radical Potential of Queer? Twenty Years Later”, Cohen reflected on her article “Punks, Bulldaggers, and Welfare Queens” saying that it was shaped primarily by three factors: the HIV/AIDS crisis, neoliberal policies and ideologies implemented by Reagan and Clinton that harmed the poor, and hope, which stands in contrast to the first two (she is referring to the emergence of Black feminist and Black gay and lesbians communities between the 70s-90s). The article is primarily focused on hope, as Cohen is afraid of the erasure that happens with re-writing history, especially around Black and gay communities framed as only as response to HIV/AIDS. In fact, she argues that we need to remember that these communities were a radical attack on politics of respectability, and state violence.


She has received a number of awards, including the Robert Wood Johnson Investigator’s Award, and the Robert Wood Johnson Scholars in Health Policy Research Fellowship.


Cohen is the recipient of two research grants from the Ford Foundation for her work as principal investigator of the Black Youth Project and the Mobilization, Change and Political and Civic Engagement Project. Cohen serves on a number of national and local advisory boards and is the co-editor with Frederick Harris of a book series at Oxford University Press entitled "Transgressing Boundaries: Studies in Black Politics and Black Communities".


In 2004, Cohen was awarded the Race, Politics, and Adolescent Health: Understanding the Health Attitudes and Behaviors of African American Youth Award. In 2004, Cohen was also interviewed for the Global Feminisms Project Comparative Case Studies Of Women's Activism and Scholarships, which is an archive of oral histories given by transnational women scholars and activists.


In 2013, Cohen gave the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Lecture, entitled "Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the Age of Obama: Building a New Movement for the 21st Century", at Gustavus Adolphus College.


Rebecca Lee Crumpler, born Rebecca Davis, (February 8, 1831March 9, 1895), was an American physician, nurse and author. After studying at the New England Female Medical College, in 1864 she became the first African-American woman to become a doctor of medicine in the United States. Crumpler was one of the first female physician authors in the nineteenth century. In 1883, she published "A Book of Medical Discourses". The book has two parts that cover the prevention and cure of infantile bowel complaints, and the life and growth of human beings. Dedicated to nurses and mothers, it focuses on maternal and pediatric medical care and was among the first publications written by an African American about medicine.


Crumpler graduated from medical college at a time when very few African Americans were allowed to attend medical college or publish books. Crumpler first practiced medicine in Boston, primarily serving poor women and children. After the American Civil War ended in 1865, she moved to Richmond, Virginia, believing treating women and children was an ideal way to perform missionary work. Crumpler worked for the Freedmen's Bureau to provide medical care for freed slaves.


She was subject to "intense racism" and sexism while practicing medicine. During this time, many men believed that a man's brain was 10 percent bigger than a woman's brain on average, and that a woman's job was to act submissively and be beautiful. Because of this, many male physicians did not respect Rebecca Lee Crumpler, and would not approve her prescriptions for patients or listen to her medical opinions. Still, Rebecca Lee Crumpler persevered and worked passionately.


She later moved back to Boston to continue to treat women and children. The Rebecca Lee Pre-Health Society at Syracuse University and the Rebecca Lee Society, one of the first medical societies for African-American women, were named after her. Her Joy Street house is a stop on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail.


In 1831, Crumpler, was born in Christiana, Delaware to Matilda Webber and Absolum Davis. She was raised in Pennsylvania by her aunt who cared for ill townspeople. Her aunt acted as the doctor in her community and had a huge influence on her. She was inspired by her aunt after seeing that she was the one to go to when people got sick. She moved to Charlestown, Massachusetts, in 1852, where she worked as a nurse before applying and becoming accepted into the New England Female Medical College. Rebecca Lee Crumpler was the only African American woman who attended this school at this time.


From 1855 to 1864, Crumpler was employed as a nurse. She was accepted into the New England Female Medical College in 1860. This school was founded in 1848 by Samuel Gregory. She won a tuition award from the Wade Scholarship Fund, established by a bequest from local businessman John Wade of Woburn.


It was rare for women or black men to be admitted to medical schools during this time. In 1860, due to the heavy demands of medical care for Civil War veterans, there were more opportunities for women physicians and doctors. Due to her talent, Crumpler was given a recommendation to attend the school by her supervising physician when she was a medical apprentice. That year, there were 54,543 physicians in the United States, 300 of whom were women. None of them were African Americans making Rebecca Lee Crumpler the first and only African American physician in her class.


Crumpler graduated from New England Female Medical College in 1864 after having completed three years of coursework, a thesis, and final oral examinations in February 1864. On March 1, 1864, the board of trustees named her a Doctor of Medicine. Married to Wyatt Lee at that time, she was identified as Mrs. Rebecca Lee by the school, where she was the only African American graduate. She was the country's first African-American woman to become a formally-trained physician.


Crumpler first practiced medicine in Boston. She primarily cared for poor African-American women and children. After the end of the American Civil War (1861–1865), she moved to Richmond, Virginia, believing it to be an ideal way to provide missionary service, as well as to gain more experience learning about diseases that affected women and children. She said of that time, "During my stay there nearly every hour was improved in that sphere of labor. The last quarter of the year 1866, I was enabled... to have access each day to a very large number of the indigent, and others of different classes, in a population of over 30,000 colored."


Crumpler worked for the Freedmen's Bureau to provide medical care to freed slaves who were denied care by white physicians. At the Freedmen's Bureau she worked under the assistant commissioner, Orlando Brown. Subject to intense racism by both the administration and other physicians, she had difficulty getting prescriptions filled and was ignored by male physicians. Some people heckled that the M.D. behind her name stood for "Mule Driver".Rebecca knew being the first African American woman in this field would be challenging, but she was resilient and overcame this adversity.


Crumpler moved to 67 Joy Street in Boston, a predominantly African-American community street in Beacon Hill. She practiced medicine and treated children without much concern for the parents' ability to pay. Her house is on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail.


In 1860, bearing letters of recommendation from her physician-employers, Crumpler was accepted into the elite West Newton English and Classical School in Massachusetts, where she was a "special student in mathematics". Crumpler taught in Wilmington beginning in 1874 and in New Castle, Delaware beginning in 1876.


While living in Charlestown, Rebecca Davis married Wyatt Lee, a Virginia native and former slave. They were married on April 19, 1852. This was Wyatt’s second, and her first, marriage. A year later Wyatt’s son, Albert, died at age 7. This tragedy may have motivated Rebecca to begin her study of nursing for the next eight years. Rebecca was still a medical student when her husband died of tuberculosis on April 18, 1863. He is buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in Boston.


The couple were active members of the Twelfth Baptist Church where Arthur was a trustee. They had a home at 20 Garden Street in Boston. Their daughter Lizzie Sinclair Crumpler was born in mid-December 1870.


Crumpler spoke at a service for Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner upon his death in 1874. She read a poem that she had written for him, where "she touchingly alluded to his love for the gifted Emerson". By 1880, the Crumplers moved to Hyde Park, Boston.


Although no photographs or other images of Crumpler survive, a "Boston Globe" article described her as "a very pleasant and intellectual woman and an indefatigable church worker. Dr. Crumpler is 59 or 60 years of age, tall and straight, with light brown skin and gray hair." About marriage, she said the secret to a successful marriage "is to continue in the careful routine of the courting days, till it becomes well understood between the two".


Rebecca Crumpler died on March 9, 1895, in Fairview, Massachusetts, while still residing in Hyde Park. She and her husband Arthur are both buried at the nearby Fairview Cemetery. Arthur died in May 1910. She and her husband were buried in unmarked graves for 125 years, until July 16, 2020. Donations were collected through a fundraiser to create gravestones for the couple and a ceremony was held at Fairview Cemetery, as a gravestone finally was installed, marking where she and her husband are buried.


The Rebecca Lee Society, one of the first medical societies for African-American women, was named in her honor. Her home on Joy Street is a stop on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail.


In 2019, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam declared March 30 (National Doctors Day) the Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler Day.


At Syracuse University there is a pre-health club named "The Rebecca Lee Pre-Health Society". This club encourages people of diverse backgrounds to pursue health professions. They offer mentors, workshops, and resources to help members succeed. Rebecca Lee Crumpler and her husband Arthur Crumpler also received new granite headstones to celebrate her achievement of being a pioneer physician who earned her medical degree in Boston.


Demico Boothe is an African-American bestselling author of several books on the plight of African American men in the American prison system. Boothe's book, "Why Are There So Many Black Men in Jail?" addresses the issue of racism in the Crack versus Cocaine Laws and was published in 2007, three years before Michelle Alexander's better-known book that also addresses the subject, "The New Jim Crow," published in 2010. "Why Are There So Many Black Men in Prison?" is on the Black Lives Matter recommended reading list.


Boothe was born in Memphis, Tennessee and grew up partly in his mother’s home in the Castalia Heights Projects in South Memphis, and partly at his father’s home, in a part of Memphis that was originally “residential, crime-free” but that degenerated during Boothe’s teen years when Crip gang members started inducting young neighborhood men into the drug trade.


In addition, Boothe’s father, who had previously made a good living in business, developed a crack cocaine habit and began spending all his money on the drug. Boothe started working two part-time jobs, but his father demanded the earnings so he could buy drugs.


Boothe had always hoped to go to college. By the time he was finishing up high school and determining how he could finance a college degree, his father had entered a drug rehabilitation program but was still in too much debt due to his previous drug habit to help Boothe out financially. In addition, Boothe’s younger brother was making large amounts of money selling cocaine. Boothe then made the decision to engage in cocaine sales in order to make enough money to pay for his college fees.


After six months of selling, at the age of 18, Boothe was arrested (on a first-time charge) and sentenced to ten years in prison for “possession with intent to distribute over 50 grams of crack cocaine.” At that time, crack cocaine sentences were 100 times longer than for selling powder cocaine. A major theme of his book, "Why Are There So Many Black Men in Prison?" is this sentencing disparity, which Boothe blames on racism.


After serving eight years and ten months in various prisons, Boothe was released. He was determined to stay out of prison but, six months after his release, was re-arrested when he unknowingly drove a friend to a rendezvous to buy counterfeit money. The friend promised to testify that Boothe had known nothing about the counterfeit money, but upon being repeatedly warned and pressured by both his counsel and the judge, the friend decided not to testify after all. The friend’s mother did testify to Boothe’s innocence, but the jury still convicted Boothe to another 46 months in prison.


During this second prison stint, Boothe set out to educate himself as part of an overall plan to prepare himself for life outside and to do all he could to make sure he never did time again.


Altogether, Boothe spent nearly 13 years in federal prison and was released in 2003. He wrote his first book, entitled "Why Are So Many Black Men in Prison?", while incarcerated. To date, he has written and published three other books, including: "Getting Out & Staying Out: A Black Man's Guide to Success After Prison" and "The Top 25 Things Black Folks Do That We Need To Stop!!!" The latter was published in January, 2009, and received much critical acclaim within the African-American community.


Boothe is a noted expert on many subjects and issues concerning the African-American community, with an emphasis on the U.S. criminal justice system as it relates to black males.


Besides addressing the issue of anti-black racism in the legal and prison system, Boothe is an advocate for education and lifelong learning. He notes, for example, that the black men he met in prison were very badly educated.


On the back of his book, Why Are "So Many Black Men in Prison?", Boothe states that, while he was incarcerated, he read and studied over 500 books, including the entire Webster's Dictionary, the Bible, the Qur'an, as well as every alphabetical entry in the 1998 Encyclopædia Britannica.


Boothe also advocates taking a pragmatic approach to avoiding the "school to prison pipeline." In his book, "Getting Out and Staying Out: A Black Man's Guide to Success After Prison," he suggests "taking full control and responsibility of yourself and your actions from that point on, despite any injustices or wrongful actions that may have been committed against you by the system." Other suggestions are, as above, embarking on a serious reading program while still in prison, and when out, developing an entrepreneurial work style, and growing, fostering, and maintaining a committed, supportive relationship and permanent family unit.


"Why Are There So Many Black People in Prison?" (2007)


"The Top 25 Things Black Folks Do that We Need to Stop!!!" (2009)


"Getting Out & Staying Out: A Black Man's Guide to Success after Prison" (2012)


"The U.S. Child Support System and the Black Family" (2018)


David Ehrenstein (born February 18, 1947) is an American critic who focuses primarily on LGBTQ issues in cinema.


Ehrenstein was born in New York City. His father was a secular Jew with Polish ancestors, and his mother was half African-American, half Irish. His mother raised him in her religion, Roman Catholicism. He attended the High School of Music and Art (different from the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts) and then Pace College (now Pace University). He now lives in Los Angeles. He is openly gay.


His writing career started in 1965 with an interview with Andy Warhol which was published in "Film Culture" magazine in 1966. Ehrenstein wrote for "Film Culture" until 1983. During the 1960s he also wrote for "December" and the "Village Voice". In 1976 he moved to Los Angeles with his partner Bill Reed and began work as a film critic and entertainment journalist for the "Los Angeles Herald-Examiner" and also wrote for "Film Comment" and "Film Quarterly" during this period.


In 1982 he collaborated with Bill Reed on the book "Rock On Film", while continuing to write for diverse publications, including the "San Francisco Examiner", "Rolling Stone", "Cahiers du Cinéma", "Arts", the "Los Angeles Reader", "Enclitic", and "Wide Angle". From the "Herald-Examiner" he moved to "Daily Variety" and later "The Advocate". He also wrote "Film: The Front Line - 1984", a survey of experimental and independent film work. He has contributed to "Sight and Sound".


In 1987 he served as the film researcher and historian for the "Hollywood and History" costume exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In 1992 he published "The Scorsese Picture: The Art and Life of Martin Scorsese". In 1998 he published "Open Secret: Gay Hollywood 1927-1997". As he documents on his blog and website, lawyers representing Hollywood actor Tom Cruise threatened to take legal action against Ehrenstein because he wrote of how Cruise is appealing to both men and women.


Ehrenstein has appeared often on "The E! True Hollywood Story", specifically for the profiles of Rock Hudson, Sonny Bono, and Bob Guccione. He has also written about the film "Brokeback Mountain" for "LA Weekly". His homepage and blog also contain commentary and satire on various journalists, politicians and figures in the entertainment industry.


Hallie Quinn Brown (March 10, 1849 – September 16, 1949) was an American educator, writer and activist.


Originally of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she moved with her parents while quite young to a farm near Chatham, Canada. Brown was born to parents who had been enslaved. Brown's family moved to Canada in 1864 and then to Ohio in 1870. In 1868, she began a course of study in Wilberforce University, Ohio, from which she graduated in 1873 with the degree of Bachelor of Science.


Brown was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, one of six children.


Her parents, Frances Jane Scroggins and Thomas Arthur Brown, were freed slaves.


Her brother, Jeremiah, became a politician in Ohio.


At a young age, Brown's parents and siblings migrated to Ontario, Canada. She attended Wilberforce University and earned her Bachelor of Science degree in 1873. There were a total of six people in her class. One of her classmates was the wife of Rev. B. F. Lee, D.D., ex-President of Wilberforce.


Her fame as instructor spread and her services were secured as teacher at Yazoo City. On account of the unsettled state of affairs in 1874–5, she was compelled to return North. Thus the South lost one of its most valuable missionaries. Brown then taught in Dayton, Ohio, for four years. Owing to ill health, she gave up teaching. She was persuaded to travel for her alma mater, Wilberforce, and started on a lecturing tour, concluding at Hampton School, Virginia. After taking a course in elocution at this place, she traveled again, having much greater success, and received favorable criticism from the press.


She was dean of Allen University in Columbia, South Carolina, from 1885 to 1887 and principal of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama during 1892–93 under Booker T. Washington. She became a professor at Wilberforce in 1893, and was a frequent lecturer on African American issues and the temperance movement, speaking at the international Woman's Christian Temperance Union conference in London in 1895 and representing the United States at the International Congress of Women in London in 1899. She also performed in front of Queen Victoria in 1897.


In 1896, she held a meeting in Edinburgh and gave an interview with a correspondent of "The Edinburgh Evening News." The correspondent wrote:


For several years she traveled with "The Wilberforce Grand Concert Company", an organization for the benefit of Wilberforce College. She read before hundreds of audiences, and tens of thousands of people. She possessed a magnetic voice, seeming to have perfect control of the muscles of the throat, and could vary her voice as successfully. As a public reader, Brown enthused her audiences. In her humorous selections, she often caused "wave after wave" of laughter; in her pathetic pieces, she often moved her audience to tears.


In 1893, Brown presented a paper at the World's Congress of Representative Women in Chicago. In addition to Brown, four more African American women presented at the conference: Anna Julia Cooper, Fannie Barrier Williams, Fanny Jackson Coppin, and Sarah Jane Woodson Early.