Category Archives: slavery

Now What?: Beyond Juneteenth

Saturday was Juneteenth, the 156th anniversary of Union soldiers making their way to Galveston, Texas and Major General Gordon Granger informing thousands of enslaved people that they were finally freed from their bondage.  Two and a half years earlier, on … Continue reading

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Review of D. Watkins We Speak for Ourselves

Always on the look out for writing that will get my students excited about reading I picked up a copy of journalist and social commentator extraordinaire, D. Watkins’ We Speak for Ourselves: A Word from Forgotten Black America (2019) for … Continue reading

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Toni Morrison Resting in Power 1931-2019

  Rest in your power, Toni Morrison Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am documentary interview Morrison on what motivated her to write The Bluest Eye  News of her life and transition: Nobel Prize-Winning Author Dies at 88  Toni Morrison: Nobel … Continue reading

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Wondering: Has Peele read Butler?

Let me state up front, just so we’re clear, I loooove Octavia Butler. She seems to make her way into my consciousness at least once a day, whether it’s through what I’m reading or a podcast I’m listening to, or just … Continue reading

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Review of Washington Black

The simply named Washington Black (2018) by Canadian Esi Edugyan , though expansive in its reach, takes place over a mere four-year period. In that short period of time young Washington, or Wash as he is called by Christopher (Titch) … Continue reading

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Reflections on MLK Day 2019

Yesterday was the great Civil Rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s, birthday. I am fortunate that I get to spend my days in an institution of higher learning where the man’s life and his message is meaningfully celebrated—many places … Continue reading

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Jamaica Calls for Britain to Pay Billions of Pounds in Reparations for Slavery

This week, Jamaica, led by historian Sir Hilary Beckles, chair of the Caricom Reparations Commission, called upon Britain to pay reparations for slavery.  Additionally, The Journal of African American History, The Black Scholar, The Journal of Black Psychology, Souls: A Critical Review of … Continue reading

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