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History shows that it does not matter who is in power... those who have not learned to do for themselves and have to depend solely on others never obtain any more rights or privileges in the end than they did in the beginning.
When you control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him not to stand here or go yonder. He will find his 'proper place' and will stay in it. You do not need to send him to the back door. He will go without being told. In fact, if there is no back door, he will cut one for his special benefit. His education makes it necessary.
Chapter 1 “The Seat Of The Trouble” in this chapter Dr. Carter Woodson explains how African Americans can feel out of place as they are subjected to despise themselves within the given educational system. He identifies how African Americans are often influenced to become a “good negro” in order to become successful, and this ideology urges them to downplay their “blackness” to advance in the social ladder, but being educated and moving up the social ladder does not eliminate one's blackness. This problem could possibly be avoided if African Americans had equal opportunity to learn about their culture and black history.
Chapter 2 “How We Missed The Mark” in this chapter Woodson explains how the educational system failed to support African Americans because of how their schools were unable to properly teach them, when compared to predominantly white schools that were fully furnished and had the means to give their students the right education. Woodson believed that African Americans should experience different means of education to develop and show their individual skills rather than to be educated practically.
Chapter 3 “How We Drifted Away From The Truth” In this chapter Woodson discusses how African Americans are separated from the truth of their actual contributions to history due to it being “white-washed.” He analyzed many cases in which this makes white people believe they are superior by taking away the important contributions from black people. He also shows how black teachers are often no help in fixing the problem as they continue to teach white-washed versions of history to the future generations of students.
Chapter 4 “Education Under Outside Control” in this chapter Woodson speaks on how African Americans are given educationally less valuable opportunities despite whether the institution is historically black or predominately white. Woodson believes that equal education opportunities have an effect on individuals and the life that they create for themselves. He also encourages African Americans to create better opportunities in many aspects for themselves so they can live better lives. “The program for the uplift of the negro in this country must be based upon a scientific study of the negro from within to develop in him the power to do for himself what his oppressors will never do for him.”
“The Failure to Make a Living” highlights a lot of the problems that black people who attend college face when presented with how to apply that knowledge to the working world, or more specifically owning and operating a business. One of the main problems that Woodson introduces is the lack of support systems that many black Americans don’t have, especially when compared to those of a similar standing who happen to be white.
“The Educated Negro Leaves the Masses” discusses the estrangement that many educated black people have from the black church and the lack of support the black church receives from the educated as a result. According to Woodson, some of the things educated black people are doing instead of supporting the black church are switching to predominantly white denominations, or not attending church altogether. Woodson emphasizes the importance of the black church as “the only institution that the race controls.”
In “Dissension and Weakness,” Woodson discusses the lack of tolerance those in rural areas have for dissension and differences in denomination around them. Woodson, once again, refers back to the lack of guidance and presence educated black people have in the black church and the effects of it; which includes children becoming more involved with gambling, drinking, and smoking.
“Professional Education Discouraged” discusses the discouragement many black Americans face in academic settings. Some of the prime examples Woodson brings to light are how black Americans are told there will be no job opportunities in particular fields should they choose to study them, being told they are not fit for certain fields, and being discredited or ignored despite being well educated in a particular field.
The next chapter, “Political Education Neglected,” begins with some examples as to how African Americans have been previously kept from learning about American politics, one example being when a bill that would print the Constitution of the United States in all schools was turned down because “it would never do to have Negroes study the Constitution of the United States." Woodson also lays out a brief history of other times when African Americans were kept from learning about laws that govern their everyday life and the policies that were keeping them subservient.
“The Loss of Vision” describes how Woodson feels the black population of America has lost sight of a common goal. In this chapter he brings up how in what he calls “our so-called democracy, we are accustomed to give the majority what they want rather than educate them to understand what is best for them. We do not show the Negro to overcome segregation, but we teach them how to accept it as final and just." Woodson expresses the need for African Americans to overcome segregation by proving that they are just as good as an asset to society as white Americans.
“The Need for Service Rather than Leadership” describes the stifling of African Americans’ ambition and roadblocks that keep them from becoming leaders. Woodson also lays out the reasons as to why this, but mostly shifting the blame to the lack of unity within the African American community; often referring back to points made in “The Educated Negro Leaves the Masses” and how there is too much internal conflict and dissension within the community to allow for upward mobility for the community as a whole.
In “Hirelings in the Places of Public Servants,” Woodson brings up the lack of African Americans in positions of power in the workplace. Woodson brings up many examples of African Americans put in management positions not being given the same respect and attention their white counterparts are given, and why this is.
In “The New Type of Professional Man Required,” Woodson discusses the many hardships black lawyers and doctors encounter in their professional careers. One of the problems he discusses for black lawyers would be how they are often forced to focus on the particular laws that disproportionately affect African Americans. He seems to take issue with many black doctors and their motivations for going into such work: He says, “Too many Negroes go into medicine and dentistry for selfish purposes, hoping thereby to increase their income and spend it on joyous living." He also discusses the exclusion of African Americans from the arts.
“Higher Strivings In The Service Of The Country”. In this chapter, Woodson emphasizes his political views. Woodson believed that African Americans should not just focus on themselves and address only issues that apply to them, but should address issues that apply to everyone
In chapter 18, “The Study of the Negro,” Woodson emphasizes the importance of again knowing the history and the importance of African American culture. He strongly believed that Blacks need to study their history more. Dr. Woodson believed that blacks have come to hate their history due to slavery and being treated unfairly but are strongly taught to learn and respect other cultures’ history.
Many praised Woodson and his work as a glimpse into the problems that plague African Americans' social advancement.
Ron Daniels, with the Michigan City said, “Carter G. Woodson, one of our most distinguished historians, and the founder of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, was convinced that the dilemma of racial consciousness and identity was not an accident. [...] Our history, culture and identity should serve as a basic for a group cohesion, and the collective pursuit of an African-American agenda for moral, social, economic and political advancement.”
Another had to say, “The result was a caustic and uncompromising litany that seemed to go on forever. Negro education, Woodson charged, clung to a defunct “machine method” based on the misguided assumption that “education is merely a process of imparting information.” it failed to inspire black students and “did not bring their minds into harmony with life as they must face it.” theories of Negro inferiority were “drilled” into black pupils in virtually every classroom they entered. And the more education blacks received, the more “estranged from the masses” they became.”
The Journal of Black Studies on Woodson himself said, "Carter G. Woodson believed that education was much more than the transferal of knowledge from teacher to student: He believed that authentic education would not only teach students to think and recite information also allow students to ask difficult epistemological and ontological questions about life, political systems, social and economic inequities, and the very purpose of humankind."
The title of Lauryn Hill's 1998 best-selling album "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" is a reference to the book's naming.
Urban Christian fiction is a subgenre of Christian fiction and urban fiction in which conflicting stories of emotion and vividness mixes God, the urban church, and faith. Violence and sex is not purposely excluded, but are included whenever necessary for the story line. God is the center of the characters' lives in Urban Christian fiction, and these stories usually portray African-American or Latino urban culture. Urban Christian fiction is classified as part of the African-American Christian Market (AACM), where the hot-selling topics are fiction, books for dating, dramatic testimony, and single parenting. Some of the themes and topics considered within "Urban Christian fiction" cross over into theological fiction.
Black Futures is an American anthology of Black art, writing, and other creative work, edited by writer Jenna Wortham and curator Kimberly Drew. Writer Teju Cole, singer Solange Knowles and activist Alicia Garza, who cofounded Black Lives Matter, are among the book's more than 100 contributors. The 544-page collection was published in 2020, receiving strongly favorable reviews.
Beginning their collaboration in 2015, "New York Times" writer Jenna Wortham and curator and activist Kimberly Drew aimed to record the way "communities of Black people [were] interacting and engaging in new ways because of social media ... creating our own signage and language," Wortham said. They originally conceived of creating a zine, but ultimately concluded the accessibility technology available for books would allow more people to engage with the work.
The 544-page collection, designed by Wael Marcos and Jonathan Key, was published on December 1, 2020 by One World, publisher Chris Jackson's imprint at Penguin Random House.
The 544-page anthology, collecting works of more than 100 contributors, includes discussions, like writer Rembert Browne and filmmaker Ezra Edelman on Colin Kaepernick, as well as works, for example artist Yetunde Olagbaju's "I Will Protect Black People" contract. In addition to traditional media such as painting and essays, "Black Futures" includes creative works in the form of recipes, Instagram posts, tweets, street art, and communal gatherings. These are organized by theme, included "Justice", "Power", "Joy", "Black is (Still Beautiful)", "Memory", and "Legacy".
Other contributors include activist Alicia Garza (co-founder of Black Lives Matter), writer Morgan Parker, comedian Ziwe Fumudoh, writer Teju Cole and singer Solange Knowles.
"Black Futures" received enthusiastic reviews, beginning with a starred review in "Kirkus". Writing in "The Root", Maiysha Kai called "Black Futures" "a weighty and gorgeously bound compendium of Black creativity".
For Koul, who is not Black, the cumulative experience creates a call to action—"a question any non-Black person inevitably comes back to again and again throughout the book: If you know the fight, will you join it?" "Publishers Weekly" also emphasized this effect, "This unique and imaginative work issues a powerful call for justice, equality, and inclusion". But Koul also noted that struggle was not the only Black experience documented, and as a non-Black reader she felt grateful "to be let in on [the book's] moments of joyous intimacy. You feel thankful for being offered entry".
The Langston Hughes Medal has been awarded annually by the Langston Hughes Festival of the City College of New York since 1978. The medal "is awarded to highly distinguished writers from throughout the African American diaspora for their impressive works of poetry, fiction, drama, autobiography and critical essays that help to celebrate the memory and tradition of Langston Hughes. Each year, the LHF’s Advisory Committee reviews the work of major black writers from Africa to America whose work is accessed as likely having a lasting impact on world literature.".
Recipients of the Langston Hughes medallion are:
Urban fiction, also known as street lit or street fiction, is a literary genre set in a city landscape; however, the genre is as much defined by the socio-economic realities and culture of its characters as the urban setting. The tone for urban fiction is usually dark, focusing on the underside of city living. Profanity, sex, and violence are usually explicit, with the writer not shying away from or watering-down the material. Most authors of this genre draw upon their past experiences to depict their storylines.
Contemporary urban fiction was (and largely still is) a genre written by African Americans. In his famous essay "The Souls of Black Folk", W. E. B. Du Bois discussed how a veil separated the African American community from the outside world. By extension, fiction written by people outside the African American culture could not (at least with any degree of verisimilitude) depict the people, settings, and events experienced by people in that culture. Try as some might, those who grew up outside the veil (i.e., outside the urban culture) may find it difficult to write fiction grounded in inner-city and African American life.
City novels of yesteryear that depict the low-income survivalist realities of city living can also be considered urban fiction or street lit. In her book, "The Readers' Advisory Guide to Street Literature" (2011), Vanessa Irvin Morris points out that titles considered canonical or "classic" today, could be considered the urban fiction or "street lit" of its day.
Titles that depict historical inner-city realities include Stephen Crane's "" (1893), Charles Dickens's "Oliver Twist" (1838), Paul Laurence Dunbar's "The Sport of the Gods" (1902) and Langston Hughes's “The Ballad of the Landlord” (1940). In this vein, urban fiction is not just an African American or Latino phenomenon, but, rather, the genre exists along a historical continuum that includes stories from diverse cultural and ethnic experiences.
In the 1970s, during the culmination of the Black Power movement, a jailed Black man named Robert Beck took the pen name Iceberg Slim and wrote "Pimp", a dark, gritty tale of life in the inner-city underworld. While the book contained elements of the Black Power agenda, it was most notable for its unsparing depiction of street life.
Iceberg Slim wrote many other novels and attained an international following. Some of the terminology he used in his books crossed over into the lexicon of Black English. Other writers included Donald Goines and, notably, Claude Brown's "Manchild in the Promised Land", which was published in 1965. Also published that year was "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Haley"." Because Haley's non-fictional read captured the realistic nature of African American urban life for coming-of-age young men, the book has consistently served as a standard for reading among African American teenaged boys.
Hip hop lit: hip hop music as an urban ballad.
During the 1980s and early 1990s, urban fiction in print experienced a decline. However, one could make a cogent argument that urban tales simply moved from print to music, as hip hop music exploded in popularity. Of course, for every emcee who signed a recording contract and made the airwaves, ten more amateurs plied the streets and local clubs, much like urban bards, griots or troubadours telling urban fiction in an informal, oral manner rather than in a neat, written form.
One of the most famous emcees, Tupac Shakur, is sometimes called a ghetto prophet and an author of urban fiction in lyrical form. Shakur's early poetry was posthumously compiled into a volume entitled "The Rose That Grew from Concrete" in 1999.
Modern hip-hop literature in print form is a thriving and popular genre. Many non-fiction publications from figures in the hip-hop realm such as Russell Simmons, Kevin Liles, LL Cool J, and FUBU founder Daymond John feature prominently in this genre. Karrine Steffans and shock jock Wendy Williams have written blockbuster books for this audience. Both Steffans and emcee 50 Cent have had such success with their books that they were given their own imprints to usher in similar authors, such as for 50 Cent's G-Unit Books.
Contemporary street lit: The new wave of urban fiction.
Toward the end of the 1990s, urban fiction experienced a revival, as demand for novels authentically conveying the urban experience increased, and new business models enabled fledgling writers to more easily bring a manuscript to market and to libraries. The first writer in this new cycle of urban fiction was Omar Tyree, who published the novel "Flyy Girl" in 1996, which was reissued as a reprint in 1999.
The genre gained significant momentum in 1999 with Sister Souljah's bestseller "The Coldest Winter Ever". Teri Woods's "True to the Game" was also published in 1999, and became the standard from which the entrepreneurial publishing and distribution of contemporary urban fiction took note. The simultaneous publishing of these three novels created a momentum of readership for urban fiction and carried that wave for years. Thus "The Coldest Winter Ever", "True to the Game", and "Flyy Girl" are considered classics in the renaissance of the genre.
Sister Souljah describes the untapped market for urban fiction and the stereotypes that held it back in its early years:
In less than a decade, urban fiction has experienced a renaissance that boasts thousands of titles. The newest wave of street fiction is urban Latino fiction novels such as "Devil's Mambo" by Jerry Rodriguez, Chained by Deborah Cardona (a.k.a. Sexy) and Jeff Rivera's "Forever My Lady".
Major writers of contemporary urban fiction include Wahida Clark, Vickie Stringer, Nikki Turner, K'wan Foye, Toy Styles, Roy Glenn, Kwame Teague, who many believed penned Teri Woods' "Dutch", and the writing duo Meesha Mink & De'Nesha Diamond.
There is also an unexpected literary wave of hip-hop fiction and street lit, which was sparked by Sister Souljah. Authors with a book or books in this offering include Saul Williams, Abiola Abrams, and Felicia Pride. These are hip hop lit or street lit books that take a more literary approach using metaphor, signifying and other literary devices. These books may also be used in socially redeeming or classroom capacities, while maintaining love and positivity for the music and hip hop culture.
With this new wave of renaissance, "street lit" was breaking new ground when it came to promotion and exposure. Aside from hand-to-hand sales, which seems to work best in a genre where word-of-mouth has proven to be worth more than any large ad campaign, the Internet has increased the authors' and publishers' ability to reach out to the genre's readers.
With Internet savvy, many self-published authors who once had no shot of recognition are now household names, such as author Rasheed Clark, who went from relatively unknown, to being honored with fourteen Infini Literary Award nominations for his first two novels, "Stories I Wouldn't Tell Nobody But God" and "Cold Summer Afternoon", both of which became instant bestsellers and proved that Clark was a fresh voice in African American fiction, and a leading African-American writer.
Authors in this genre such as K'wan Foye, Nikki Turner, and Toy Styles are known for bringing street teams and other musical promotion efforts to the book scene. In recent years, some of these authors have joined with hip hop artists such as 50 Cent to further promote the genre by penning the musicians' real-life stories.
In 2010, the hip hop music label Cash Money Records established a publishing branch, Cash Money Content. However, Cash Money Content's last book, "Animal 3", was published in November 2014.
Vickie Stringer is an urban lit author, as well as founder and CEO of her own publishing company, Triple Crown Publications, a publisher of 45 novels and 35 writers as of 2008.
Forums like AALBC are often used to keep track of the progressive urban fiction genre as it grows tremendously daily.
Early criticism of street lit was that books were badly edited due to lack of copy editing by independent publishers. However, in recent years the mainstream publishing industry recognized the genre's potential and signed many street lit authors to contracts, thus producing better packaged product. One such author was Treasure E. Blue, according to Kirkus Reviews Magazine, a self-published sensation—it has reportedly sold 65,000 copies before getting signed to a major six-figure deal with Random House Publishing.
The reach of urban fiction into a large youth readership is undeniable today. Researchers have turned their attention to its influence on urban literacy, particularly among adolescent girls. Despite misgivings about editing quality issues, secondary school teachers in suburban settings have included urban literature in curricula, referring to it as "multicultural young adult literature" to expose students to "authentic" voices representing urban life.
Because this genre is very popular with urban teenagers, the following reading lists should prove to be helpful for teachers and librarians.
Reconstructing Womanhood: The Emergence of the Afro-American Woman Novelist (), published in 1987, is a book by Hazel Carby which centers on slave narratives by women.
Carby received her Ph.D. in 1984 from Birmingham University. Her doctoral dissertation later became the foundation for the book. "Reconstructing Womanhood" analyzes writings from black women in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as well as examines the social, political, and historical landscapes in which these works were produced. Carby wrote the book with four major aims:
Your Silence Will Not Protect You is a 2017 posthumous collection of essays, speeches, and poems by African American author and poet Audre Lorde. It is the first time a British publisher collected Lorde's work into one volume. The collection focuses on key themes such as: shifting language into action, silence as a form of violence, and the importance of history. Lorde describes herself as a "Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet", and addresses the difficulties in communication between Black and white women.
The collection is made up of five sections. A preface by Reni Eddo-Lodge, an introduction by Sara Ahmed, 13 essays, and 17 poems, and a Note on the Text. As the Note on the Text states, many of the essays in the collection were given as papers at conferences across the U.S. Further, Lorde often revised early poems and re-published them, so many of the poems in this collection are the latest versions of Lorde's work.
"Your Silence Will Not Protect You" was published posthumously in order to bring together Lorde's essential poetry, speeches, and essays, into one volume for the first time. As Silver Press states, "Her extraordinary belief in the power of language – of speaking – to articulate selfhood, confront injustice and bring about change in the world remains as transformative today as it was then, and no less urgent".
"Your Silence Will Not Protect You" is a quote from the first essay to appear in the collection, "The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action". She states, "My silences had not protected me. Your silences will not protect you". This references her belief in speaking for oneself and taking language into action.
In "The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action", Lorde discussed various themes that recur throughout the book, including silence as a form of violence, shifting language into action, and the splintering of the feminist movement. She argued that using her voice to speak and connect with other women during her treatment gave her strength, "I am not a casualty, I am also a warrior".
"Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power" discussed how each person has both used and unused types of power. She speaks to the dichotomy of sexuality, and in particular how women have been suppressed from utilizing its power. "We have been taught to suspect this resource, vilified, abused, and devalued within western society". She also argued that erotic connection can be used as a form of exploration for self-expression, "In touch with the erotic, I become less willing to accept powerlessness...such as resignation, despair, self-effacement, depression, self-denial".
"A Conversation between Audre Lorde and Adrienne Rich" discussed different periods in Lorde's life, and her struggles with family, writing, and teaching. At one point, she discusses how Black women were sexually assaulted and harmed during times of revolution. She recalls, "And while we’d be trying to speak to them as women, all we’d hear is, "The revolution is here, right?'. Seeing how Black women were being used and abused was painful”. She also highlights the differences in protecting one's communities, "And this is what happens between Black men and women because we have perfected certain kinds of weapons that white women and men have not shared".
In "For Each Of You" Lorde reinforced the idea of being proud and speaking your mind, especially for the Black community. She tells people to "be proud of who you are and who you will be", and "speak proudly to your children wherever you may find them". According to a series of interviews conducted with Lorde, this poem "urges women, Black women specifically, to break through their silence because it is the only way to break through to each other".
In "A Poem For Women in Rage", Lorde imagines a Black woman intending to kill a white woman waiting for her lesbian lover. Through fury and rage, Lorde confronts the issues between white and Black women and how, "I am weeping to learn the name of those streets my feet have worn thin with running and why they will never serve me". As a Black, lesbian, feminist, Lorde dealt with inequalities between how white and Black lesbians were treated in public spaces. She takes out this rage on this hypothetical person in the poem to exhibit her anger over such inequalities.
"Sister Outsider" is a poem that also happens to be a book by the same name by Lorde. Lorde compares how, "We were born poor in a time never touching each other's hunger" but that now, children are raised to respect themselves and each other. She argues that while accepting and acknowledging the best parts of oneself are important, it is equally important to recognize the dark parts as well.
This collection contains 13 essays and 17 poems, with the essays also including various speeches Lorde made.
Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent from the Ancient Egyptian to the Present is a compilation of orature and literature by more than 200 women from Africa and the African diaspora, edited and introduced by Margaret Busby, who compared the process of assembling the volume to "trying to catch a flowing river in a calabash".
First published in 1992, in London by Jonathan Cape (having been commissioned by Candida Lacey, now publisher of Myriad Editions), and in New York by Pantheon Books, "Daughters of Africa" is regarded as a pioneering work, covering a variety of genres — including fiction, essays, poetry, drama, memoirs and children's writing — and more than 1000 pages in extent. Arranged chronologically, beginning with traditional oral poetry, it includes work translated from African languages as well as from Dutch, French, German, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.
The anthology's title derives from an 1831 declaration by Maria W. Stewart (1803–1880), the first African-American woman to give public lectures, in which she said: "O, ye daughters of Africa, awake! awake! arise! no longer sleep nor slumber, but distinguish yourselves. Show forth to the world that ye are endowed with noble and exalted faculties."
A companion volume entitled New Daughters of Africa, featuring a further 200-plus contributors, was published in 2019. As described by Bernardine Evaristo in "The Guardian" in June 2020: "Bringing together fiction, poetry, memoir and essays, both books are an incredible introduction to black women’s writing from around the world, and feature every established name you can imagine, as well those who deserve to be better known." Associated with the anthology is the Margaret Busby "New Daughters of Africa" Award for a woman student from Africa.
"Daughters of Africa" was widely praised on publication. Reviewing the anthology for Black British newspaper "The Weekly Journal", Evie Arup wrote: ""Daughters of Africa" is a literary first. Never before has the work of women of African descent world-wide been gathered together in one volume. The breadth of this collection is startling... This book should be required reading for any student of literature, and a standard reference book in school libraries, and, to paraphrase that well known slogan, 'every home should have one.
A reviewer from "The Independent" observed: "This book may seem to be about literature but in the end it is as much a testament to language: its power to create attitudes as well as its potency as a means of expression." Described by "The Observer" as a "glorious fat anthology that makes a history out of a selection, and puts an unsung group of people on the map", according to "Library Journal", it is "an invaluable text for courses on women writers and writers of African descent", and Keneth Kinnamon in "Callaloo" saw it as "impressive", noting: "Brief headnotes and long bibliographies enhance the value of this important volume."
Lorna Sage in the "Independent on Sunday" concluded that ""Daughters of Africa" has a paradoxical universality", while "The Washington Post Book World" called it: "A magnificent starting place for any reader interested in becoming part of the collective enterprise of discovering and uncovering the silent, forgotten, and underrated voices of black women." The reviewer for "Black Enterprise" wrote: "It is a landmark anthology... Busby's first-of-a-kind anthology is a poignant reminder of how vast and varied the body of black women's writing is." It has also been called "groundbreaking in its presentation and exposure of the work of female African writers", "one of the most significant assemblages of writers across the diaspora" and "the ultimate reference guide to the writing of 'daughters of Africa.
The "Times Literary Supplement" review by Maya Jaggi stated: "With rare exceptions, anthologies of black writing and of women's writing have given the impression that there was very little literary endeavour by black women before the 1980s. Margaret Busby's impressive and imaginative selection of 'words and writings', "Daughters of Africa", finally destroys that misconception, while tracing continuities within a tradition of women's writing, deriving from Africa yet stretching across continents and centuries."
Jaggi goes on to say: "Some writings (such as those by ancient Egyptian or Ethiopian queens) have been selected primarily for their historical significance, or to celebrate little-known landmarks of achievement. Most, however, have been chosen for their literary qualities, making the anthology a source of continual pleasure and surprise. (...) The cumulative power of this monumental and absorbing anthology stems from the clarity and vibrancy of the voices it assembles. While effectively dismissing the equation of oppression with 'voicelessness', it restores marginalized or isolated writers to the centre of their own rich, resilient and truly international tradition."
The anthology was included in "Sacred Fire: "QBR" 100 Essential Black Books", which said: ""Daughters of Africa" is a monumental achievement because it is the most comprehensive international anthology of oral and written literature by women of African descent ever attempted. (...) The success of the collection is that it clearly illustrates why all women of African descent are connected by showing how closely related are the obstacles, the chasms of cultural indifference, and the disheartening racial and sexual dilemmas they faced. In so doing, the collection captures the range of their singular and combined accomplishments.
"Daughters of Africa"′s accomplishment lies in its glorious portrayal of the richness and magnitude of the spiritual well from which we've all drawn inspiration and to where we've all gone for sustenance, and as such, it is a stunning literary masterpiece."
The anthology was on the Royal African Society's list of "50 Books By African Women That Everyone Should Read", was named by "Ms Afropolitan" as one of "7 non-fiction books African feminists should read", features regularly on many required-reading lists, and in the words of Kinna Likimani: "It remains the ultimate guide to women writers of African descent."
More than 200 women are featured in "Daughters of Africa", including:
The anthology inspired Koyo Kouoh to edit a German-language equivalent, "Töchter Afrikas", that was published in 1994.
In 2009 "Daughters of Africa" was on "Wasafiri" magazine's list of 25 Most Influential Books from the previous quarter-century.
In November 2017, "Wasafiri" included a special feature marking the 25th anniversary of the first publication of "Daughters of Africa", including an interview with the editor by Ellah Wakatama Allfrey, an article by Candida Lacey and contributions from Ayobami Adebayo, Edwige-Renée Dro, Angela Barry, Goretti Kyomuhendo, Nadifa Mohamed, and Phillippa Yaa de Villiers about the influence of the anthology on them. "Importantly, it was a beacon for every young black woman who dreamed of writing. Phillippa Yaa de Villiers told Busby, 'We were behind the bars of apartheid — we South Africans had been cut off from the beauty and majesty of African thought traditions, and "Daughters of Africa" was among those works that replenished our starved minds.'"
Listing many of the names included in "Daughters of Africa", Tom Odhiambo of the University of Nairobi stated: "These writers can be described as the matriarchs of African literature. They pioneered 'African' writing, in which they were not simply writing stories about their families, communities and countries, but they were also writing themselves into the African literary history and African historiography. They claimed space for women storytellers in the written form, and in some sense reclaimed the woman’s role as the creator and carrier of many African societies’ narratives, considering that the traditional storytelling session was a women’s domain."
In December 2017, it was announced that a companion volume, entitled New Daughters of Africa, had been commissioned from Margaret Busby by Myriad Editions. Published on 8 March 2019 and characterised as "a behemoth of thought and reflection, exploring sisterhood, tradition, romance, race and identity – individually, and at large", "New Daughters of Africa: An international anthology of writing by women of African descent" features a further 200 writers: "The new volume expands on and reinforces the assertions of its predecessor. While including texts from the nineteenth century to the present, the book focuses primarily on writers who have come of age in the decades following "Daughters of Africa"s publication."
"New Daughters of Africa" was launched in London at the South Bank Centre on 9 March 2019 at the WOW Festival, and contributors were subsequently featured at many other festivals and venues in the UK and abroad, including at the Wimbledon BookFest, the NGC Bocas Lit Fest in Trinidad, the Bernie Grant Arts Centre, and Somerset House. Editions of the anthology have also been published in the US by Amistad (HarperCollins) and in South Africa by Jonathan Ball Publishers.
The review in the "Irish Times", describing "New Daughters of Africa" as a "vast and nuanced collection", notes that it is "arranged in order of the women's birth decades, a chronological reminder that African women have been creating art for many centuries; the youngest included are still in their twenties. ... a necessary wealth of work – a welcome addition to any book shelf and a compulsory education for anyone unaware of the countless gifted African women journalists, essayists, poets and speakers who should influence how we see the world." John Stevenson concluded his review in "Black History Month" magazine by saying: "Every Black home should own a copy of the book. The literary voices of Black women need to be heard even more urgently now."
Imani Perry wrote in the "Financial Times": "Anthologies can read as mere assortment or collection. But their function, particularly when well composed — as is the case with this book — can be much more deliberate. Busby's choice to organise the writers by generation, rather than region or date of publication, has a powerful effect. From the 18th century to the present, the location of black women across borders — yet always in the winds of political, economic and social orders — emerges. Questions of freedom, autonomy, family, race and social transformation present themselves in generational waves. Thus, with more than 200 contributors, this anthology is also a social and cultural world history."
The review by in the Kenyan "Daily Nation" said: "It is the kind of literary compendium that many prospective African women writers need to have today..."New Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Writing by Women of African Descent" is a collection that the expert on literature, women studies, gender studies, African history; the feminist reader/scholar; or even the general reader will find refreshing considering the scope of the writing, as well as helpful as a reference source."
In the opinion of the reviewer for the "New York Journal of Books": "Here is the book so many have been waiting for. The book to make sense of so many others...The topics are just as varied and shine bright lights on the lives of critically underrepresented women of color, and on the contributions of these gifted literary scholars: motherhood, slavery, love, work, immigration, assimilation, friendship, thwarted aspiration, infidelity, racism, marriage, poverty, and on and on.
In fact, the only thing that is not varied here is the gloriously even quality of the writing. These are stories for crying and laughing and thinking. They are narratives for understanding, for seeking, for finding, yes, because it is a catalogue of lives that are not shown as much and as consistently as we need them to be.
...It is, perhaps, this bulk, this excess, this non-superfluous surplus, this literal and literary embarrassment of riches that sends the strongest of messages. Yes, there is this much talent and achievement here in the literature of people of color, the roots of these writers in Africa, but their immense contribution extends to every continent. It is this good. It is this great. So, how is it that it continues to be such a low percentage of all that is published, widely distributed, critiqued, discussed, taught, and shared?"
Connected with the new anthology, the Margaret Busby "New Daughters of Africa" Award was announced by the publisher, Myriad Editions, in partnership with SOAS, University of London, that will benefit an African woman student, with accommodation provided by International Students House, London. The launch of the award was made possible by the fact that, as well as Margaret Busby and her publisher donating to the fund from the anthology's earnings, all the contributors waived their fees in support of the cause. The first recipient of the award was announced in July 2020 as Idza Luhumyo from Kenya.
Also in 2020, Busby and Myriad teamed with community-interest organization The Black Curriculum – founded to address the lack of black British history being taught – to donate 500 copies of "New Daughters of Africa" to schools in the UK.
"New Daughters of Africa" was nominated for a 2020 NAACP Image Award in the category of Outstanding Literary Work, alongside books by Petina Gappah, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Jacqueline Woodson, and Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, who was the eventual winner for Fiction.
In this charged collection, Lorde challenges sexism, racism, ageism, homophobia, and classism with determination. She propounds the recognition of difference as an empowering vehicle for action and creative change and emphasizes the necessity for applying these concepts to the next generation of feminism - a response to the current lacking thereof between women in the mainstream feminist movement. Lorde also explores the fear and suspicion that arises among African American men and women, lesbians, feminists, and white women that ultimately creates an isolating experience for African American women - constructing a social institution that dehumanizes lives. Throughout these essays, Lorde confronts this problem of institutional dehumanization plaguing American culture during the late 1970s and early 1980s, and provides with philosophical reasoning, messages of hope.

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