Always Another
At times, you have been asked which prior literary scene you would want to visit. Some expect you to say the Harlem Renaissance, a...
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The Language Lane
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KG1
- May 15
- 2 min
Brussels
Back in 1974, May 23 to be exact, I translated Pablo Neruda’s “Bruselas,” or “Brussels.” Of all that I’ve done, of all that I’ve lost, Of...
KG1
- Feb 28
- 3 min
Margaret Walker Biography
If you wait twenty years for something, you figure the payoff should be special. It is indeed if you read Maryemma Graham’s massive...
KG1
- Feb 28
- 1 min
Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) by Mudiwa Pettus
Some of My Favorite CCCC 2023 Moments that Ain’t Got Nothing to Do with the Formal Program 1.) When members of the Black Caucus...
KG1
- Feb 28
- 4 min
“I Am Always Going to Be a Mouth”: A Witness for Black Women’s Organizing Power by Mudiwa Pettus
During the first two years of the pandemic, my partner, Michael, and I were accorded the safety of working from home. Haphazardly, we...
KG1
- Feb 12
- 2 min
Remembering Petry
A while back I received in the mail an envelope containing a short newspaper article about Ann Petry accompanied by a handwritten note....
KG1
- Feb 10
- 6 min
Black Literary Queens
The borough of Queens usually has been an afterthought, if that, in conversations about Black authors and sites of Black literary...
KG1
- Jan 29
- 2 min
Scorpions in Black or Blue
“I have not seen you in a few days, Semple.” “Been holed up at my nephew’s apartment,” replied Semple as he slid into a familiar seat at...
KG1
- Nov 10, 2022
- 3 min
Kristallnacht
On the anniversary of the beginning of Kristallnacht, the anti-Jewish rampage in the Third Reich from November 9-10, 1938, which left...
KG1
- Oct 28, 2022
- 3 min
“Niggers” on Broadway
America’s favorite word echoed throughout the hallowed Ethel Barrymore Theatre this past weekend during the performance of August...
KG1
- Jul 13, 2022
- 2 min
Babbit Award
We are not ones to hold grudges. We have always sided with Antigone on such matters. In that spirit, we inaugurate the Ashli Babbit Award...
KG1
- Jul 11, 2022
- 3 min
South Jamaica’s Emmett Till
Supreme Team, the limited series directed by Nas and Peter Scalettar for Showtime, is mostly a strange effort. Fascination with the...
KG1
- May 19, 2022
- 3 min
Rivera Masterpiece
On the seventy-seventh anniversary of his birth, I recall the stunning epic poem, Jazz in Jail, by Louis Reyes Rivera. Robin Kelley...
KG1
- May 9, 2022
- 4 min
Duende
Over his entire career, poet Quincy Troupe has expressed fascination with the idea of creation and the life cycle. His first volume,...
KG1
- May 4, 2022
- 4 min
Composition Be Deep
I have not agreed with John McWhorter on much, particularly regarding his ignorant remarks about the admission policies of specialized...
KG1
- May 2, 2022
- 4 min
Colson’s Heteronyms
Colson Whitehead’s The Nickel Boys obviously has much to recommend it. A gripping tale about an African American youth trying to come of...
KG1
- Apr 19, 2022
- 3 min
Fred Foss
Fred Foss probably won’t get a birthday tribute on radio as do many other jazz musicians. But he deserves a tribute from us. See, Freddy,...
KG1
- Apr 10, 2022
- 2 min
Language of War
As is frequently noted, one person’s freedom fighter is another person’s terrorist. One’s suicide bomber is another’s homicide bomber....
KG1
- Apr 3, 2022
- 3 min
Black Public Intellectual
After having the privilege of conversing with Haki Madhubuti and Joanne Gabbin this past Wednesday at the 16th National Black Writers...
KG1
- Mar 28, 2022
- 2 min
Forever Standing
Way behind because of personal matters, I wanted to post this last month. These remarks, made when the book first appeared, still ring...
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