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The Last Poets
The Last Poets 0000000109403584 The Last Poets, formed in 1969, are influential street poets who gained fame with their debut LP in 1970, reaching the U.S. Top 10 album charts. Members include Abiodu...
Laini Mataka
Laini Mataka NONE Laini Mataka is a celebrated poet known for her first musical poetry record, 'Black Ivory' (1971), followed by 'Me and a Friend'. She has authored several publications and her work ...
Prince Justice
Prince Justice NONE Prince Justice, born into a Nigerian ruling house and raised in Africa, is a London-born author who studied in Africa and the US. Living in various Black communities across Americ...
Patricia Spears Jones
Patricia Spears Jones 0000000031494569 Patricia Spears Jones, born in Arkansas, is the 2024 New York State Poet Laureate, a Jackson Poetry Prize laureate, and a cultural activist. An esteemed poet, p...
Fabienne Josaphat
Fabienne Josaphat 0000000001379199 "Fabienne Josaphat, an M.F.A. graduate from Florida International University, is an accomplished writer with works in various journals. 'Dancing in the Baron’s Shad...
Kalamu ya Salaam
Kalamu ya Salaam 0000000067470753 Kalamu ya Salaam is the founder of NOMMO Literary Society and Runagate Press, leader of the WordBand, and a celebrated poet and educator. Born on March 24, 1947, he ...
Kwame Alexander
Kwame Alexander 0000000042691031 “He truly is a renaissance man.”—Nikki Giovanni Kwame Alexander is a bestselling author, poet, and educator, known for his award-winning book “The Cr...
Cornelius Eady
Cornelius Eady 0000000025783225 Cornelius Eady is a renowned poet and author of eight books, including award-winning “Victims of the Latest Dance Craze.” He co-founded the Cave Canem workshop for Afr...
Rachel Eliza Griffiths
Rachel Eliza Griffiths 0000000527846142 Rachel Eliza Griffiths, a poet, photographer, and creative writing teacher, is renowned for her literary portraits, fine art photography, and lyric videos. She...
Jamila Woods, Mahogany L. Browne, and Idrissa Simmonds
Jamila Woods, Mahogany L. Browne, and Idrissa Simmonds MULTIPLE Jamila Woods, a Chicago-based poet influenced by Lucille Clifton and Gwendolyn Brooks, explores themes of blackness and womanhood. Maho...
Abiodun Oyewole and Umar Bin Hassan
Abiodun Oyewole and Umar Bin Hassan MULTIPLE The Last Poets are a group of musicians and poets, known for their African-American-themed performances that blend jazz, rhythm, and spoken words. Their i...
Courtney Faye Taylor
Courtney Faye Taylor NONE Courtney Faye Taylor is a celebrated writer and visual artist, known for winning the Discovery/Boston Review Poetry Prize and the Academy of American Poets Prize. Her work i...
Abiodun Oyewole
Abiodun Oyewole NONE Abiodun Oyewole is a pioneering poet, teacher, and founding member of the influential American music and spoken-word group, The Last Poets. With a rich contribution to Hip-Hop's ...
aja monet
aja monet 0000000370068724 aja monet is a surrealist blues poet, storyteller, and organizer born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. She won the legendary Nuyorican Poets Cafe Grand Slam poetry award title i...
Kyra D. Gaunt
Kyra D. Gaunt 0000000061596283 Kyra D. Gaunt is a college professor, jazz vocalist, author, and songwriter specializing in race, gender, and African American music. With a career in education startin...
Alexandre Dumas
Alexandre Dumas 0000000121012885 “My father was a mulatto, my grandfather was a Negro, and my great-grandfather a monkey. You see, Sir, my family starts where yours ends.” Alexandre Dumas,...
Angle S. Bush
Angle S. Bush NONE Angle S. Bush, an author, poet, and motivational speaker from Michigan, is known for her books “When I Cease to Exist” and “Soul of a Woman” aimed at fostering self-embrace and inn...
Thomas Sankara
Thomas Sankara 0000000109098487 “There is no true social revolution without the liberation of women.” Thomas Sankara, born in 1949, was a central figure in Burkina Faso's democratic revolu...
Richard Jeanty
Richard Jeanty NONE Richard Jeanty is a nationally bestselling author and the founder of RJ Publications, a leading independent publishing house focused on Black literature. As an author, Jeanty has...
Goldie the Poet
Goldie the Poet NONE Goldie the Poet, a Bay-Area native and prominent alumnus of Leimert Park’s World Stage Poets, is a gifted actor and artist. With performances across the U.S. and Europe, his uniq...
Sharrif Simmons
Sharrif Simmons NONE Sharrif Simmons, a poet, musician, writer, and arts educator, has a performance career extending over three decades. Inspired by veteran poet Sonia Sanchez and influenced by vari...
Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady
Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady MULTIPLE Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady are co-founders of the Cave Canem Foundation, established in 1996 to support African American poets and address their unde...
Frank Hercules
Frank Hercules NONE Frank Hercules, born in Trinidad and Tobago (1917), was a renowned author and scholar. Known for his insightful novels on colonial oppression and interracial marriage, and his his...
April Ryan
April Ryan 0000000437119582 April Ryan is a White House correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks since the Clinton era and a CNN political analyst. She has been featured in numerous renowned p...
Zetta Elliott
Zetta Elliott 000000003627950X Zetta Elliott, a Canadian-born Black feminist writer, is known for her poetry, plays, essays, and children's novels. She earned a PhD in American Studies from NYU, taug...
Claudio Saunt
Claudio Saunt 0000000354227174 Claudio Saunt is an American History professor at the University of Georgia, renowned for his award-winning books such as A New Order of Things and West of the Revoluti...
Mary Frances Berry
Mary Frances Berry 0000000081621140 Mary Frances Berry, Professor of American Social Thought and History at the University of Pennsylvania, is a renowned author of nine books. With 33 honorary degree...
Sister Souljah
Sister Souljah 0000000083868534 Sister Souljah, born Lisa Williamson in 1964, is a multidimensional woman renowned as a community activist, radio and TV personality, hip-hop artist, and bestselling a...
Christopher M. Rutledge
Christopher M. Rutledge NONE Chris M. Rutledge is a versatile writer and indie filmmaker, best known for his crime dramas and suspense thrillers. With a career spanning from 1997, he made his authori...
Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray MULTIPLE Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray are renowned authors known for their compelling narratives. Benedict's works delve into historic...
Toi Derricotte
Toi Derricotte 0000000083980729 “My skin causes certain problems continuously, problems that open the issue of racism over and over like a wound.” Toi Derricotte is an award-winning poet a...
Ras Baraka
Ras Baraka NONE "Ras Baraka, son of famed poets and father of three, is a published author. His latest work, 'Black Girls Learn Love Hard', is a tribute to his late sister, Shani Baraka.” Ras Baraka ...
Marcia Wilson
Marcia Wilson NONE Marcia E. Wilson, a British-born photographer, has extensively documented poets, writers, and literary events of the African Diaspora since 1995. Her work, featured in major print ...
Reginald Harris
Reginald Harris 0000000022558452 Reginald Harris, a noted poet and IT Director at Poets House, NYC, is a winner of the 2012 Cave Canem/Northwestern University Press Poetry Prize. He's received multip...
Deborah Wiles
Deborah Wiles 0000000058444035 Deborah Wiles is an award-winning author known for acclaimed books like 'Each Little Bird that Sings' & 'Revolution'. Her accolades include National Book Award nominati...
Nega Mezlekia
Nega Mezlekia 000000010946810X Nega Mezlekia, born in Ethiopia, initially supported the revolution but later criticized the regime. He abandoned his family to join rebel groups and left Ethiopia in 1...
Charles Euchner
Charles Euchner NONE Euchner, a renowned author and speaker, explores the Civil Rights Revolution in his work, drawing lessons for today's world from the movement's “everyday heroism.” A Vanderbilt a...
Ahdaf Soueif
Ahdaf Soueif 0000000118857078 Ahdaf Soueif is an Egyptian author and commentator, known for her novels “In the Eye of the Sun” and “The Map of Love,” the latter shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. ...
Ric Murphy
Ric Murphy NONE Ric Murphy, an award-winning author and historian from Boston, specializes in genealogical research and African American history. With a family lineage dating back to early colonial A...
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Quiara Alegría Hudes, and Jeremy McCarter
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Quiara Alegría Hudes, and Jeremy McCarter MULTIPLE Lin-Manuel Miranda, Quiara AlegrÃa Hudes, and Jeremy McCarter are renowned figures in the arts. Miranda, a multi-award-winning ...
Zoe Sivak
Zoe Sivak NONE Zoe Sivak is a historical fiction author and advocate for diversity, often exploring famous male figures from the perspective of overlooked women. Her debut novel is “Mademoiselle Revo...
Tara Betts
Tara Betts NONE Tara Betts, a celebrated author and poet, is known for her educational efforts in arts programs and her work with GirlSpeak. She has been featured on HBO's Def Poetry Jam and the Blac...
Russell Atkins
Russell Atkins 0000000067797174 Russell Atkins, born in 1926, is a Cleveland-based musician, playwright, poet, and national figure in American avant garde poetry. He studied at renowned Cleveland ins...
Camonghne Felix
Camonghne Felix NONE Camonghne Felix, M.A., is a poet, political strategist, and cultural worker with degrees from NYU and Bard College. She's a recipient of multiple fellowships and a 2012 Pushcart ...
jessica Care moore
jessica Care moore 0000000043767122 jessica Care moore is an internationally renowned poet/ publisher/ activist/ rock star/ playwright and actor. She is a five-time Showtime at the Apollo winn...
Athena Dixon
Athena Dixon NONE Athena Dixon, a Northeast Ohio native, is a renowned poet, essayist, and editor, featured in 'The BreakBeat Poets Vol.2: Black Girl Magic'. An alumna of VONA, Callaloo, and Tin Hous...
Nikky Finney
Nikky Finney 0000000358800804 Nikky Finney, a South Carolina-born poet, is renowned for her first-person literary accounts of significant American historical events. She debuted with “On Wings Made o...
Quraysh Ali Lansana
Quraysh Ali Lansana NONE Quraysh Ali Lansana is a prolific author, educator, and radio producer based in Tulsa. He has written 23 books spanning poetry, nonfiction, and children's literature. Lansana...
Robyn C. Spencer
Robyn C. Spencer 0000000117365645 Robyn C. Spencer is a historian and Associate Professor at Lehman College, CUNY. She specializes in post-WWII social protest, urban and working-class radicalism, and...
Loretta Collins Klobah
Loretta Collins Klobah NONE Loretta Collins Klobah is a Caribbean Literature and creative writing professor at the University of Puerto Rico. She's lived in various Caribbean-related locations and ho...
W.D. Foster-Graham
W.D. Foster-Graham NONE W.D. Foster-Graham, a Minneapolis native and multi-Grammy Award-winning ensemble member, is a distinguished author and poet. He's a psychology graduate, guest writer, and book...
Richard Ellmann and Robert O’Clair
Richard Ellmann and Robert O’Clair MULTIPLE Richard Ellmann, an influential literary critic and biographer, and Robert O’Clair, a scholar specializing in modern poetry, were key contributors to the s...
The Bag Lady Experience
The Bag Lady Experience NONE "The Bag Lady Experience” is a collective of poets comprising Martha Bradley, Dawn C. Funderbirk, Cassandra R. McKibben, and Tonya D. Zeigler. Poets, Martha Bradley, Dawn...
Desiree C. Bailey
Desiree C. Bailey 0000000507276998 Desiree C. Bailey, born in Trinidad and Tobago, is an accomplished author known for her fiction chapbook, In Dirt or Saltwater. Her work has been featured in Best A...
Paul Beatty
Paul Beatty 0000000084014450 Paul Beatty, born 1962, the first American to win the Man Booker Prize in 2016 for his novel “The Sellout.” An LA native and graduate of Brooklyn College and Boston Unive...
Tracy K. Smith and Kevin Young
Tracy K. Smith and Kevin Young MULTIPLE Tracy K. Smith is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author of four poetry books, including 'Life on Mars', and the upcoming 'Such Color: New and Selected Poems'. She ha...
Keisha-Gaye Anderson
Keisha-Gaye Anderson NONE Keisha-Gaye Anderson is a Jamaican-born poet, creative writer, visual artist, and media professional, whose multi-platform storytelling has examined subjects like art, cult...
Carl Phillips
Carl Phillips 0000000034354617 Carl Phillips, born 1959, is a renowned author and professor, best known for his dozen books of poetry and two works of criticism. With an educational background from H...
Miguel Algarin
Miguel Algarin 0000000108989771 Miguel Algarin, a key figure of the Nuyorican movement and founder of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, has significantly contributed to Puerto Rican literature and American a...
Sierra Kay
Sierra Kay 0000000461326725 Sierra Kay is an award-winning author with a love for the written word. Encouraged by her mother to read widely, she has a fondness for everything from classical literatur...
Gwendolyn Brooks
Gwendolyn Brooks 0000000081816650 Brooks was U.S. Consultant in Poetry, 1985-1986 (title was changed to U.S. Poet Laureate in 1986) Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks (1917-2000) was an influential African-Am...
Ladan Osman
Ladan Osman NONE Somali-born poet and essayist, Ladan Osman, is renowned for her award-winning works including “The Kitchen-Dweller’s Testimony” and “Exiles of Eden.” She's also contributed to the Se...
t’ai freedom ford
t’ai freedom ford NONE t’ai freedom ford is a NYC high school English teacher, Cave Canem Fellow, and award-winning poet. She has been published in numerous reviews and anthologies, and is an editor ...
Tracy K. Smith and John Freeman
Tracy K. Smith and John Freeman MULTIPLE Tracy K. Smith is a Pulitzer-winning poet, author of four books, including 'Life on Mars', and editor of 'American Journal'. She served as the US Poet Laureat...
Linda Addison and Alessandro Manzetti
Linda Addison and Alessandro Manzetti MULTIPLE Poets Linda D. Addison and Alessandro Manzetti have collaborated to create a unique poetry collection. The book, written across different time zones, fe...
Destiny O. Birdsong
Destiny O. Birdsong NONE Destiny O. Birdsong is a critically acclaimed poet published in prominent outlets like The Paris Review. She's a recipient of the American Poets Prize and Richard G. Peterson...
Lucille Clifton
Lucille Clifton 0000000117802788 Lucille Clifton (1936-2010) was a distinguished poet and professor, notable as the first African American woman to win the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize. She also won the N...
Victoria Adukwei Bulley
Victoria Adukwei Bulley 0000000474165676 Victoria Adukwei Bulley is a celebrated poet, writer, and artist, recognized for her exceptional poetry with an Eric Gregory Award. She's an alumna of the Bar...
Omotara James
Omotara James NONE Omotara James is a writer, editor, and visual artist. She is the author of the chapbook Daughter Tongue, selected by the African Poetry Book Fund, in collaboration with Akashic Bo...
Matthew Shenoda
Matthew Shenoda 0000000045678350 Matthew Shenoda is a writer, professor, and author and editor of several books. His poems and essays have appeared in a variety of newspapers, journals, radio progra...
Steven Willis
Steven Willis NONE Chicago-based storyteller Steven Antoine Willis uses his background in fine arts to illustrate African American culture. With art influenced by urban life and religion, Steven mix...
Barbara Fant
Barbara Fant 0000000114483152 Barbara Fant is an acclaimed poet who has been writing and performing for over fifteen years. She has competed in nine National Poetry Slam competitions and placed 8th ...
Tracie Morris
Tracie Morris 0000000031997991 Born in Brooklyn, interdisciplinary poet and sound artist Tracie Morris earned an MFA at Hunter College and a PhD at New York University. She studied acting at the Roy...
Saul Williams
Saul Williams 0000000055187280 Saul Williams, hailed as the “Bob Marley of American poets” is a celebrated poet, actor, and spoken-word artist. Known for his vibrant and fearless writing, Williams ha...
Daphne A. Brooks
Daphne A. Brooks 0000000036317932 Daphne A. Brooks is a Yale University professor and co-founder of the Black Sound & the Archive Working Group. She is an award-winning author known for her works on ...
Faye Childs
Faye Childs NONE Faye Childs, born 1956, was a literary agent committed to promoting Black literature. She founded the Black Board Bestsellers list, a platform that increased visibility for Black aut...
Natasha S. Alford
Natasha S. Alford NONE Natasha S. Alford is a celebrated journalist and digital host known for her impactful reporting on politics, culture, and social issues. She's a Harvard graduate and an Emmy aw...
Peggy M. Fisher
Peggy M. Fisher NONE Peggy M. Fisher, a former educator and counselor with the Philadelphia public school system, is an accomplished author recognized for her literary excellence. A retired Army Nurs...
Sam Anderson
Sam Anderson 0000000119000682 Dr. Sam Anderson, a veteran activist and educator, is a renowned mathematics professor and Senior Editor of NOBO. A founding member of the Network of Black Organizers an...
Kazembe
Kazembe NONE Lasana Kazembe is a renowned poet, essayist, and lecturer, recognized for his performances at literary venues across Chicago. Garnering accolades such as the 1st Place Winner of the Gwen...
Huey P. Newton
Huey P. Newton 000000010924806X Huey P. Newton, born February 17, 1942, was a key figure in the US civil rights and Black Power movements. A co-founder of the Black Panther Party, he championed self-...
James H. Cone
James H. Cone 0000000381571755 James Hal Cone (1938-2018) was a renowned theologian known for advocating black theology and black liberation theology. His seminal work, Black Theology and Black Power...
Historical Research Department of the Nation of Islam
Historical Research Department of the Nation of Islam NONE This author explores the historical relationship between Black and Jewish communities, claiming that Black leaders advocating for economic a...
Esther Iverem
Esther Iverem NONE Esther Iverem is a multi-disciplinary artist, writer, curator, and social justice advocate. She's a radio host, founder of the Black website SeeingBlack.com, and author of four boo...
Taylor Byas
Taylor Byas NONE Dr. Taylor Byas, Ph.D. is a Black poet and essayist. Originally from Chicago, she moved to Alabama for six years, where she received both her Bachelor’s degree in English and her Ma...
Lois Brown
Lois Brown 0000000055214322 Lois Brown is an author known for her literary biography of Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins, a pioneering New England writer. Brown's work also extends to essays on American and...
William Jelani Cobb
William Jelani Cobb 0000000034332610 William Jelani Cobb, Ph.D., is an accomplished author, educator, and journalist specializing in post-Civil War African American history and 20th-century American ...
Michael A. Gonzales
Michael A. Gonzales NONE Harlem-born essayist and short story writer Michael A. Gonzales, co-authored the seminal hip-hop book Bring the Noise. Known as the “hip-hop Chester Himes,†his fiction a...
Abdulrazak Gurnah
Abdulrazak Gurnah 0000000109376264 Winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature Abdulrazak Gurnah, a UK-based novelist and academic, won the 2021 Nobel Prize for Literature for his exploration of colo...
Sara Rzeszutek
Sara Rzeszutek NONE Sara Rzeszutek, an associate history professor at St. Francis College, is a noteworthy contributor to books exploring the Civil Rights Movement and the contributions of James and ...
Maria Pinto
Maria Pinto 0000000066372318 Naturalist, forager, and educator Maria Pinto offers a stunning debut book that uncovers strange and beautiful fungal connections between the natural and human worlds. S...
Rudolph Lewis
Rudolph Lewis NONE Rudolph Lewis is an author and the Editor and Founder of ChickenBones: A Journal one of the webs most importsant and oldest websites Rudolph Lewis (born 1948 in Baltimore, Maryland...
Bobby Seale
Bobby Seale 0000000108724909 Bobby Seale, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, is a key figure in the civil rights and Black Power movements. He helped establish the party's ideology and Ten-Point ...
Troy Johnson
Troy Johnson 0000000530602616 “I lead the world's oldest and largest online platform dedicated to books by and about people of African descent.” Troy Demetrius Johnson, founder and President of AALBC....
Nathan Hare
Nathan Hare 0000000116200187 Dr. Nathan Hare, known as “the Father of Black Studies,” was the first coordinator of a black studies program in the US. Despite being fired for his role in a student-led...
The Black Dot
The Black Dot NONE The Black Dot is renowned for his insight into the metaphysical aspects of Hip Hop, contributing to various media outlets and authoring the game-changing book, “Hip Hop Decoded.” A...
Doni Glover
Doni Glover NONE Doni Glover is the founder of the Original Black Wall Street SERIES and blackwallstreetnews.com. He's an influential voice in Maryland's black community, often sought for insights on...
Marvin X
Marvin X 0000000023827167 Marvin X, born in 1944, is a renowned poet, playwright, and essayist associated with the Black Arts Movement. Known for co-founding the Black House and Black Arts/West Theat...
C. Liegh McInnis
C. Liegh McInnis NONE C. Liegh McInni, an English instructor at Jackson State University, is a former editor of Black Magnolias Literary Journal. He was invited by the NAACP to read poetry at the 200...
Valjeanne Jeffers
Valjeanne Jeffers NONE Valjeanne Jeffers, a graduate of Spelman College and North Carolina Central University, is a member of the Carolina African American Writer’s Collective. She is a published poe...