Category Archives: Writing
The Black Chicago Renaissance
In the opening line of her introduction to The Black Chicago Renaissance, Darlene Clark Hine writes that “beginning in the 1930’s and lasting into the 1950’s, black Chicago experienced a cultural renaissance that rivaled and, some argue, exceeded the cultural … Continue reading
Sterling Plumpp: Survival Blues
Born in rural Mississippi in 1940, Sterling Plumpp has for thirty years taught at the University of Illinois, Chicago, and produced a body of poetry giving him considerable claim to be one of the country’s most distinguished blues-jazz poets. Somber … Continue reading
Against Pure Purity – Part 2
This is Part 2 of an essay I gave as a talk at a philosophy & religion conference in Kolkata, India, August 2002. I sought to apply new ideas about Indian novelist Raja Rao to multicultural and political issues then … Continue reading