AALBC.com eNewsletter - March 3rd, 2002

Celebrating Our Literary Legacy!

Read our eNewsetter Archives

MORE POETRY!/LESS JAM! 
by Tara Betts
http://aalbc.com/authors/def_poetry_jam_story.htm

Despite the rush of some artists to get on the show, some poets feel that the popularization of poetry via Def Poetry Jam might destroy the integrity of poetry by people of color, and poets in general. Read the rest of this article at AALBC.com.

AMERICAN BOOK AWARD WINNER -  ELIZABETH NUNEZ

Elizabeth Nunez
http://www.aalbc.com/authors/elizabet.htm

Elizabeth Nunez is presently a CUNY Distinguished Professor of English at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York. She received her Ph.D. and Masters degrees in English from New York University, and her B.A. degree in English from Marian College in Wisconsin. She is the author of four novels: Discretion, published this year; Bruised Hibiscus, which won an American Book Award in 2001; Beyond the Limbo Silence, which won a 1999 IPPY Award�Independent Publishers Book Award in the multicultural fiction category; and When Rocks Dance.  Nunez is the director of the National Black Writers Conference sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities since 1986.

AWARD WINNING AUTHOR OF CHILDREN'S LITERATURE, VIRGINIA HAMILTON, PASSES

AALBC.com mourns the passing of Virginia Hamilton who made transition at 12:25 AM Tuesday morning, February 19, 2002
http://www.aalbc.com/authors/virginia.htm

Growing up on a small farm near Yellow Springs, Ohio, in the 1940s, Virginia Hamilton was embraced by the sights, sounds, and smells of rural America and by a large extended family, all of which would come into play in the children�s stories Hamilton would spin as an adult. Virginia Hamilton has won nearly every major award in her field, including the 1992 Hans Christian Andersen Medal, the most prestigious international award in children's literature. She has also won the Newbery Medal, three, and two Coretta Scott King Awards.

BEST SELLING AUTHOR - COLLIN CHANNER

A Conversation with Colin Channer
http://authors.aalbc.com/colin.htm

Colin Channer is the author of two novels, a novella, and many short stories. His first novel, Waiting in Vain, was selected as a 1998 Critic�s Choice by the Washington Post. His novella, I�m Still Waiting, was published in the best selling volume Got to Be Real. Mr. Channer is founder and artistic director of the Calabash International Literary Festival, the only annual literary festival in the English-speaking Caribbean. A naturalized American, he was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and lives with his family in New York. He has taught fiction writing in London and New York and is the bass player for the reggae band Pipecock Jaxxon.  Visit http://authors.aalbc.com/colin.htm to read an in depth conversation with Colin Channer.

TRAILBLAZING PUBLISHER, GLENN THOMPSON PASSES

Glenn Thompson, a leading African American publisher who began publishing first in England and later the United States, died on September 7, 2001. He was 61.

Born in Harlem and raised in Brooklyn, Thompson became a leading activist for socioeconomic and political causes, founding Centerprise, a nonprofit British organization that remains devoted to community improvement and social uplift. He later established, with others, the Writers and Readers Publishing Cooperative (WRPC) he was joined in this idealistic publish venture by leading writers of the day. Under Thompson�s leadership, WRPC published a number of international bestsellers including the For Beginners cartoon documentary series. This series began with Castro for Beginners, illustrated by the noted Mexican artist Ruiz. Thompson later expanded the series to include over one hundred Beginners titles on topics ranging from Karl Marx, DNA, and JFK to Black women and Malcolm X.

Internal strains led to the break up of the WRPC, but Thompson retained control of its publishing program and moved back to New York in the early 80's to establish Writers and Readers, Inc. as a U.S. company.  Adding new titles and republishing the successful Beginners books in the U.S., Thompson built an impressive list of titles. Influenced by the Black book publishing movement then at its height, he further expanded his list by publishing now-popular authors Iyanla Vanzant and Kevin Powell for the first time.  Additionally, he established two imprints that focus specifically on Black-interest titles in diverse genres: Harlem River Press and Black Butterfly children�s books. Along with Haki Madhubuti of Third World Press, the oldest Black publishing house in the U.S., Thompson helped to organize the National Association of Book Publishers to promote literacy and Black book publishing. 

excerpted from a obituary written W. Paul Coates with the assistance of Kamili Anderson 9/19/2001

RECENT ARTICLES AND REVIEWS
AALBC.com publishes scores of articles, books reviews, chats and author profiles each month.  Below is sampling of the most recently added content.

Freedom's Daughters: The Unsung Heroines of the Civil Rights Movement from 1830 to 1970 by Lynne Olson �  Book Review by Paige Turner http://www.aalbc.com/reviews/freedomsdaughters.htm "Author Lynne Olsen not only enlarges the scope of the civil rights story, but puts events into correct context by correcting myths and misperceptions. Contrary to the frequently told version, Rosa Parks ignited the movement not because her feet were tired, but because she had been trained for a decade as an activist and she recognized that the right moment had come for her to take a stand."

At the Hands of Persons Unknown : The Lynching of Black America by Philip Dray �  Book Review by Thumper http://www.aalbc.com/reviews/at_the_hands_of_persons_unknown.htm "At The Hands of Persons Unknown provides an unbiased, unflinching, all encompassing view of the basis of lynching and how strongly, intricately the roots of lynching is sewn into the fabric of America's being. Through testimonies, investigative reports, laws passed by the various sessions of Congress, and Supreme Courts ruling; no stones are left undisturbed as Dray studies lynching in all its glory."

Miracle at St. Anna by James McBride � Book Review by Thumper http://reviews.aalbc.com/miracle.htm "McBride struck that fine balance of incorporating hard facts with human emotions and the depth, consequences and motivation of those emotions composing an incredibly touching, heart-aching, soul lifting story. Miracle at St. Anna is an awesome book."

Shackling Water by Adam Mansbach �  Book Review by Thumper http://reviews.aalbc.com/shackling_water.htm "Shackling Water emerged as a brilliantly written, risk-taking novel that landed gracefully on its feet. The novel approaches genius."

Between Brothers by C. Kelly Robinson �  Book Review by Walter Benefield http://reviews.aalbc.com/between_brothers.htm "C. Kelly Robinson has combined the elements of a successful television drama, violence, suspense, and relationships in his novel, "Between Brothers" with an equally entertaining result. "Between Brothers" is a suspenseful story about four young black brothers coming of age in an urban community."

Black Silk: A Collection of African American Erotica �  AALBC.com Book Review by Thumper http://reviews.aalbc.com/blacksilk.htm "Bernice McFadden�s One Night Stand further confirms her emerging status as one of our distinguish authors as she brings fresh air to a tale that we are all familiar with... The Warm and Quiet Storm by Andrew Oyefesobi was a good one as well as Camika Spencer�s Me Between My Own, and Breena Clark�s Fucking The Fat Man. Jacqueline Woodson�s Kiwi is wonderful."

Thumper Unveiled? Not Quite Yet � by Leah Mullen http://www.aalbc.com/reviews/thumper.htm "People don't realize that Troy and I are two different people," Thumper said from his home in Indianapolis. He ended the sentence with a hearty laugh making it quite obvious that he's having fun with all of the intrigue that his anonymity has created.  Okay, so if Thumper isn't Troy Johnson who is this mysterious character who has become a sought after book reviewer as well as an authority on the still burgeoning Black book industry? Read the rest of this article and learn more about Thumper.

AALBC.com BEST SELLING BOOKS JANUARY & FEBRUARY 2002
http://books.aalbc.com/bestsellers.htm

AALBC.com bestsellers are compiled from AALBC.com direct sales and sales generated via Amazon's and Barnesandnoble.com's affiliate programs.  AALBC.com best sellers are not broken out by category. 

#1 - Addicted by Zane 
Addicted is the story of Zoe, an African-American female arts dealer. It traces her life from the time she first meets her husband, Jason, in the fifth grade, falls in love with him over a game of Twister in the eighth grade, loses her virginity to him in high school and eventually marries him. Everything seems perfect in Zoe�s life to her friends and family as she secretly deals with serious problems in her marriage.

#2 - Sugar by Bernice L. McFadden

#3 - Johnny Buffalo by Dan Smith

#4 - The Sex Chronicles: Shattering the Myth by Zane

#5 - The Return of Simple by Langston Hughes, Akiba Sullivan Harper (Editor), Donna sullivan Harper, Arnold Rampersad (Introduction) 

#6 - Threesome: Where Seduction, Power and Basketball Collide by Brenda L. Thomas 

#7 - Bright Eyes, Brown Skin (A Feeling Good Book) by Cheryl Willis Hudson, Bernette G. Ford (Contributor), George Cephas Ford (Illustrator)

#8 - The African Presence in Early Asia by Ivan Van Sertima (Editor) 

#9 - The African American Writers Handbook: How to Get in Print and Stay in Print by Robert Fleming 

#10 -  Destruction of Black Civilization: Great Issues of a Race from 4500 B.C to 2000 A.D. by Chancellor Williams 

ROLL CALL

Role Call: A Generational Anthology of Social and Political Black Literature and Art
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0883782391/aalbccom-20

Editors Tony Medina, Samiya A. Bashir and Quraysh Ali Lansana

Third World Press, February 2002, Paperback, 500pp.

What is the role of today's emerging young artists in the current struggle for equality and justice? How do the voices of the neXt generation define the issues and politics of today? Role Call is just that. It's a role call of a new generation of Black writers and artists. It is an exploration of our current cultural landscape in poetry, fiction, essays, visual arts and theater-on-the-page. This groundbreaking anthology is the litmus test--and a call to arms--of a generation grown fat on the limited freedoms won by the civil rights struggle. Role Call takes on issues of race, sexuality, education, nationalism, spirituality, AIDS, globalization, hip hop and the rise of the prison industrial complex. Role Call is a journey through the tropics of black rage, black love and black fire.

THE BLACK FEMALE

The Black Female Body: A Photographic History
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1566399289/aalbccom-20

Temple University Press, February  2002, Library Binding, 256pp., 12.36" x 9.18"

In the nineteenth century, black women were rarely subjects for artistic studies but posed before the camera again and again as objects for social scientific investigation and as exotic representatives of faraway lands. South Africans, Nubians, enslaved Abyssinians and Americans, often partially or completely naked and devoid of identity, were displayed for the armchair anthropologist or prurient viewer. Willis and Williams relate these social science photographs and the blatantly pornographic images of this era with those of black women as domestics and as nursemaids for white children in family portraits. As seen through the camera lens, Jezebel and Mammy took the form of real women made available to serve white society.

Visit Carla Williams site http://carlagirl.net/bfbillustrations.html for a complete list of the 185 illustrations contained in this impressive volume

DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE

Don't Believe the Hype : Fighting Cultural Misinformation About African Americans by Farai Chideya
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0452270960/aalbccom-20

Chideya's stereotype-shattering 1995 book, Don't Believe the Hype: Fighting Cultural Misinformation About African-Americans (Plume Penguin), is now in its eighth printing. Using statistics, she systematically undercuts the argument that African-Americans are at the root of problems like crime, welfare and drugs.

Farai Chideya is a multi-media journalist who has worked in print, television, and online. Five years ago she founded PopandPolitics.com, an online journal of news and opinion for a diverse national and international audience. In 1997 Newsweek named her to its "Century Club" of 100 people to watch. She is currently a Knight Fellow at Stanford University. 

ON-LINE GLOSSARY OF PUBLISHING TERMS: 

Do The Write Thing: Seven Steps to Publishing Success
http://www.aalbc.com/writers/publishing_glossary.htm

From Acquisition Editor and Advance to Wholesaler and Word of Mouth, you'll find the definition of scores of publishing terms in this informative text.  Glossary provided courtesy of our friends Kwame Alexander and Nina Foxx

GUYS IN SUITS

Guys in Suits by Van Whitfield
http://www.aalbc.com/authors/VanWhitfield.htm

Readers across the country are discovering the marvelously original voice of Van Whitfield as he champions the romantic trials and tribulations of today�s everyman. In Guys in Suits, a laugh-out-loud expos? of how differently women treat blue-collar guys and white-collar �suitors,� Whitfield shines the spotlight on the desperate bus-driving Simon and his stockbroker best friend Stuart, D.C.�s consummate ladies� man.

WHEN TWILIGHT COMES

When Twilight Comes by Gwynne Forster
http://www.aalbc.com/authors/gwynne.htm

After twelve novels and five novellas in the romance genre, Gwynne Forster's first mainstream, general fiction novel is now in stores. Ms. Forster is quite excited to tell us that When Twilight Comes is receiving excellent reviews

GET FREE BOOKS!

Fill out the Capital One card application, by clicking graphic below, then send an email message to promotions@aalbc.com with the words ENTER CONTEST in the subject.  Include your name and mailing address in the body of the email.  Then simply then simply chose a free copy either:

Step into a World : A Global Anthology of the New Black Literature by Edited by Kevin Powell (Hardcover - 496 pages)
http://www.aalbc.com/authors/step_into_a_world.htm

The best work of hip-hop generation writers captured in a single volume. "Kevin Powell is pushing to bring the voices of his generation: the concerns, the cares, the fears, and the fearlessness." 
�Nikki Giovanni

or

Threesome: Where Seduction, Power and Basketball Collide by Brenda L. Thomas 
(Paperback - 144 pages)
http://reviews.aalbc.com/threesome.htm

Sasha is caught in the middle of the exciting, sexually charged underbelly of professional basketball, the sadness of suicide and constant self-destructive behavior. Follow along as the threads of love, happiness and self-worth are woven together to create the fabric of Threesome

If your email program does not support HTML or you can't click or see the Capital One graphic below, visit the AALBC.com homepage http://aalbc.com and click the graphic at the top of the page.  The free book giveaway will continue while supplies last.  Approval for the Capital One card is not required.  

 

 

AALBC.com March 2002 Contest
http://aalbc.com/fun/contest

Be the first to answer AALBC.com's monthly question and win a copy of;

Bill Clinton and Black America by Dewayne Wickhama World 
http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=0345450329&view=excerpt

It's fitting that after he left the White House, Bill Clinton moved his office to 125th Street in Harlem--the most famous black district in the country--for African Americans have consistently been the most supportive segment of his constituency. Even during his impeachment and other difficult times, blacks stood with him; on better days, Clinton's approval rating among black Americans was often higher than that of Jesse Jackson. � Amazon

LITERARY EVENTS CALENDAR
http://www.aalbc.com/events/

Our events calendar allows visitors to learn about up coming African American literary and cultural events. Visitors may even post their own events and include a link back to their web site. If you don't have a web site AALBC.com can build one for you, for a nominal fee (often for free depending on the timing of the event and our work load). 

Upcoming events include:

Write Now 3! An African American Literary Experience
http://www.sibanye.com/

Friday and Saturday, March 15 & 16, 2002
Coppin State University, 2500 West North Avenue, Baltimore, MD

Ever dream of pulling together all those great ideas and publishing your own book? Or maybe you're a voracious bookworm who can't get enough of the explosion in African-American literature. Ripe Harvest Foundation, Inc., Sibanye, Inc. and Coppin State College have organized a special literary experience with you in mind.

The event will feature authors many authors and industry professionals such as Lucille Clifton, Chris Chambers, S. James Guitard, Vincent Alexandria, Kwame Alexander and industry professionals Earl Cox (writersandpoets.com) and Ron Kavanaugh (Mosaic Literary Magazine) plus many others.

 

Collen Dixon, author of "Simon Says" - Readngs 
http://www.collendixon.com/

Ms. Dixon has readings scheduled every weekend in March in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey and Delaware.  Check out one of her readings.

"Ms. Dixon is a wonderful novelist and this is one of the most professionally put together self-published novels I have ever seen. If you like political thrillers, this is a great one." � Zane, author of Addicted

BUY AALBC.com STUFF
https://www.cafepress.com/cp/store/store.aspx?storeid=aalbc

Show your support for AALBC.com and African American Literature by purchasing AALBC.com branded merchandise.  Your purchases help further our goal of promoting African American literature and authors.  All of the merchandise offers a full money back guarantee and arrives in a few days.

The first 10 people to mail a photo of themselves which clearly shows an AALBC.com product (not including a pen) will be refunded the purchase price of the item (one item only) shown in the photo and a free gift.

Peace, 
Troy Johnson, 
Founder AALBC.com

 

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