Literature - AAIHS

Stokely Carmichael, Charlie Cobb, George Greene at protest in Atlanta, December 1963. Photo: SUNY Geneseo.

Civil Rights Activist, Poet, Bookseller: An Interview with Charlie Cobb

February 27, 2017March 1, 2017 Joshua Clark Davis Activism, civil rights, Civil Rights Movement

This is an edited excerpt of an interview I conducted with Charlie Cobb in October 2015. Perhaps best known as

The Love Between Langston Hughes and Gwendolyn Brooks

February 13, 2017February 17, 2017 Betsy Schlabach Chicago

In 1986, African American poet Gwendolyn Brooks wrote of her life-long friend Langston Hughes: “‘WHAT was Langston Hughes? An overwhelmer.

Image source: CBS Boston. Photo: KENA BETANCUR/AFP/Getty Images.

Resisting Racism and Islamophobia: Lessons from Muslim Slave Narratives

February 9, 2017February 13, 2017 Annette Joseph-Gabriel Haiti, marronage, racism, religion, slavery

The highly contested executive order that sought to deny citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries entry into the United States has

Transcending Time: Centering Literature at Festac 77

January 17, 2017May 30, 2017 Suzanne Enzerink black intellectual history, black internationalism, Pan-Africanism, West Africa

In January 1977, a month-long celebration of African diasporic culture brought participants from fifty-five countries to Lagos, Nigeria, including several

Audre Lorde standing in front of board reading "Women are powerful and dangerous." Source: The Guardian.

Black Queer Writers and the Transformative Possibilities of Queer Sensuality

January 17, 2017January 19, 2017 J. T. Roane black intellectual history, Black Queers, sexuality

Black Queer writers of the 1980s hoped to precipitate a seismic transformation in the political culture of the United States.