Category Archives: Black Writers
Lucy Parsons: Increasing the Sum of Human Happiness
Born into slavery in Texas, Lucy Parsons sometimes shunned her African-American identity, claiming her Native and Mexican-American heritage for self-protection instead. However, her marriage to the white Albert Parsons so clearly defied Southern anti-miscegenist society that they were forced to … Continue reading
Fenton Johnson Inducted into the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame
On September 14, 2017, I was asked to be one of the speakers at a ceremony inducting Fenton Johnson into the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame. Also on the program—co-sponsored by the Poetry Foundation and held at its wonderful John-Ronan-designed … Continue reading
Stranger in the Village: Style and Rage
I, like many others, believe that James Baldwin’s “Stranger in the Village” is the greatest essay ever written in English. It’s scope, for one, is titanic. It moves from a story of one black man’s experiences in a Swiss village … Continue reading