Daniel Omotosho Black is a native of Kansas City, Missouri, yet spent the majority of his childhood years in Blackwell, Arkansas. He was granted a full scholarship to Clark College in Atlanta, Georgia, where he majored in English. He was awarded the Oxford Modern British Studies Scholarship and studied abroad at Oxford University, Oxford, England. Upon graduation from Clark College (magna cum laude in 1988), he was granted a full graduate fellowship to Temple University in pursuit of a Ph.D. in African-American Studies.
Omotosho, as he prefers to be called, is the founder of the Nzinga-Ndugu rites of passage (or initiation) society -- a group whose focus is instilling principle and character in the lives of African-American youth. He is currently working on his next novel.
Twelve Gates to the City
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Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Press; First Edition edition (December 6, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312582684
ISBN-13: 978-0312582685
Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
A novel of self-discovery, family bonds and the healing of one small
southern town
Twelve Gates to the City is the much-anticipated sequel to Black’s acclaimed
debut, They Tell Me of a Home. In this novel, Sister assumes the voice of
the narrator, speaking from the spirit realm, telling her brother TL things
he could have never known about their family. She constructs the story as a
series of spiritual revelations, exposing to readers both who she was in the
years of TL’s absence and how every event in his life was an orchestration
for his return.
TL in the meantime is back in Swamp Creek, to stay this time, but he’s still
haunted by his sister’s death. His decision to become the Schoolmaster is
the only thing he’s sure about, and his impact upon the students becomes
palpable. But he still doesn’t know what happened to Sister. As he searches
for ultimate truth, he discovers the secrets and beauty of Swamp Creek.
Twelve Gates to the City is a novel about spiritual revelation, and communal
healing, ushered in by one who finally realizes that his gifts were bestowed
upon him, not for his own glory, but for the transformation of his people.
Perfect Peace
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Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Press;
First Edition edition (March 16, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312582676
ISBN-13: 978-0312582678
Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
The heartbreaking portrait of a large, rural southern family’s attempt to
grapple with their mother’s desperate decision to make her newborn son into
the daughter she will never have
When the seventh child of the Peace family, named Perfect, turns eight, her
mother Emma Jean tells her bewildered daughter, “You was born a boy. I made
you a girl. But that ain’t what you was supposed to be. So, from now on, you
gon’ be a boy. It’ll be a little strange at first, but you’ll get used to
it, and this’ll be over after while.” From this point forward, his life
becomes a bizarre kaleidoscope of events. Meanwhile, the Peace family is
forced to question everything they thought they knew about gender,
sexuality, unconditional love, and fulfillment.
The Sacred Place
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Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Press; First Edition edition (February 6, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312359713
ISBN-13: 978-0312359713
Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
In the summer of 1955, fourteen-year-old Clement enters a general store in
Money, Mississippi to purchase a soda. Unaware of the consequences of
flouting the rules governing black-white relations in the South, this
Chicago native defies tradition, by laying a dime on the counter and turns
to depart. Miss Cuthbert, the store attendant, demands that he place the
money in her hand, but he refuses, declaring, "I ain't no slave!" and exits
with a sense of entitlement unknown to black people at the time. His
behavior results in his brutal murder. This event sparks a war in Money,
forcing the black community to galvanize its strength in pursuit of
equality.
They
Tell Me of a HomePaperback: 352 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (November 28, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312362838
ISBN-13: 978-0312362836
Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
Twenty-eight-year-old protagonist Tommy Lee Tyson steps off the Greyhound
bus in his hometown of Swamp Creek, Arkansas--a place he left when he was
eighteen, vowing never to return. Yet fate and a Ph.D. in black studies
force him back to his rural origins as he seeks to understand himself and
the black community that produced him. A cold, nonchalant father and an
emotionally indifferent mother make his return, after a ten-year hiatus,
practically unbearable, and the discovery of his baby sister's death and her
burial in the backyard almost consumes him.
His mother watches his agony when he discovers his sister's tombstone, but
neither she nor other family members is willing to disclose the secret of
her death. Only after being prodded incessantly does his older brother,
Willie James, relent and provide Tommy Lee with enough knowledge to figure
out exactly what happened and why. Meanwhile, Tommy's seventy-year-old
teacher--lying on her deathbed--asks him to remain in Swamp Creek and assume
her position as the headmaster of the one-room schoolhouse. He refuses
vehemently and she dies having bequeathed him her five thousand-book
collection in the hopes that he will change his mind. Over the course of a
one-week visit, riddled with tension, heartache, and revelation, Tommy Lee
Tyson discovers truths about his family, his community, and his undeniable
connection to rural Southern black folk and their ways.
Related Links
Daniel Black Official Website
http://www.danielblack.org/
