K'Naan "Wavin' Flag" (LIVE) at iheartradio
K'Naan performs "Wavin' Flag" at P.C. Richard & Son Theater in New York on August 2nd, 2010 (at iheartradio).
K'Naan & Adam Levine : Bang bang (2010)
<br /><b>K'Naan & Adam Levine : Bang bang (2010)</b><br /><i>Uploaded by tartenpion333. - Explore more music videos.</i>
Sy Smith and Mark de Clive-Lowe at Strictly Social 2010
Sy Smith and Mark de Clive-Lowe preview new material from their forthcoming project at Strictly Social in Los Angeles. May 2010
Sy Smith and Mark de Clive-Lowe at Strictly Social 2010
Sy Smith jumps on stage for a freestyle session with Mark de Clive-Lowe at Nu-Soul Magazine's monthly Strictly Social event at Little Temple in Los Angeles! February 2009
Chris Botti & Sy Smith - The Look of Love
Celebrated jazz trumpeter CHRIS BOTTI takes center stage at Boston's Symphony Hall, performing "The Look of Love" with Sy Smith, together with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops on September, 2008.
Contest
The Capilano Review's "Midsummer Day" contest is inspired by Bernadette Mayer's poem -Midwinter Day-. We invite submissions that engage with that fact in any way at all!
prose - fiction or non-fiction - (max 2,500 words)
poetry (max 300 lines)The winning entry will be published in issue 3.12 (Fall 2010). Each entry will qualify for a one-year subscription to The Capilano Review. If you already have a subscription, we will extend your subscription or sign up a friend.
Fee: $35 for Canadian entries and $45 (CAN) for non-Canadian. Prize: $1,000 (CAN). Deadline: Aug. 31, 2010.
Send your entries to
The Capilano Review
2055 Purcell Way
North Vancouver, BC V7J 3H5
2010 Two Review Poetry Contest
Judge: Nathalie Handal
Nathalie Handal is an award-winning poet, playwright, and writer. She has lived in Europe, the United States, the Caribbean, Latin America and the Arab world. Her poetry collections include The NeverField, The Lives of Rain, short-listed for The Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize/The Pitt Poetry Series and the recipient of the Menada Award, and most recently, Love and Strange Horses (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2010).Handal edited The Poetry of Arab Women: A Contemporary Anthology, an Academy of American Poets bestseller and Winner of the Pen Oakland Josephine Miles Literary Award, and co-edited along with Tina Chang and Ravi Shankar the landmark anthology, Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia & Beyond (W.W. Norton). Handal lives in New York City.
Learn more at www.nathaliehandal.com.
Prizes
$100, $50, $25 plus publication. All submissions considered for publication in Two Review 2011.Guidelines
Pay $10.00 contest fee below, then submit up to five (5) unpublished poems with a brief bio to tworeview@gmail.com.Deadline
September 30, 2010.Two Review 2010 Poetry Contest Fee
Please pay your contest fee securely and reference your transaction number in your submission.
See below for a printable PDF of the 2010 Two Review Poetry Contest Announcement.
Download File
2010_two_review_poetry_contest_announcement.pdf File Size: 252 kb File Type:
SUBMISSIONS
Submitting work to Carpe Articulum is a four-step process.1. Review the appropriate Deadlines, Guidelines and Rules of Entry for your submission.
2. If you have not previously submitted work to Carpe Articulum, you must REGISTER with us prior to submitting your work. Once you are registered with us, you do not need to do so again in order to submit your works and may skip to the next step for all future submissions.
3. SUBMIT your work.
4. Submit the appropriate Reading or Entry Fee via PayPal pull-down menu below. Within PayPal, be sure to click the “Add special instructions to the seller” link and include YOUR NAME and THE NAME OF YOUR SUBMISSION. A PayPal account is not required in order to use PayPal. Submissions are not considered or complete until payment has been made.
DEADLINES
These dates are ANNUAL, REVOLVING deadlinesSHORT FICTION……..MAR 30, SEPT 30
POETRY…………………MAR 30, SEPT 30
NOVELLA…………….. JAN 7
ESSAY/NON-FICT……JAN 7, AUG 30
PHOTOGRAPHY……. AUG 30If deadlines are missed, the piece will automatically be entered into the next contest cycle for that particular genre.
GENERAL RULES OF ENTRY
- All contests are void where prohibited by law.
- All contests are open to the public over the age of 18. International submissions accepted and encouraged. For publication in the English Version of CALR, participant must have work translated into English. All rules apply.
- All work must be original, and by submitting the pieces, author gives rights to the Carpe Articulum Literary Review to print the piece and to use it on the web or other media. All rights revert back to the author. See website for release and terms information. We want authors to become well known, and have no desire to encumber work. We do however, reserve the right to use it.
- Multiple entries are accepted.
- Previously printed work is acceptable as long as the circulation did not exceed 2,000 copies of a magazine, newspaper, book or other printed media. Previously printed authors are permitted.
- Two Cover Sheets must be included: One with author’s contact information, including name, address, telephone number, email, entry title and contest name. The second must contain the contest name and working TITLE of the piece ONLY. Absolutely no author name may be included on the work itself (unless it is a painting) or the piece(s) will be disqualified.
- No manuscripts will be returned, see winner’s announcements in the magazine or on the website.
- Electronic entries are accepted and encouraged, as long as all guidelines are observed, and entry fee accompanies its submission, ear-marked for the work’s title and author. Send electronic entries in Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx file extension) through the email address: Editor-in-Chief@CarpeArticulum.com
- If no suitable winner can be found by contests’ end, the judges may invoke the right to extend the contest date slightly, in order to find enough appropriate work material. However, all contests will be awarded the funds allocated by the end of the extension date.
- All reader’s fees are non-refundable, and work is non-returnable. Please see to it that you are NOT sending us your only copy.
- All reader fees can be paid online via PayPal, OR by check or money order payable to: CARPE ARTICULUM LITERARY REVIEW. Entries can be sent via regular or special mail to:
The Carpe Verbum Contest / [write short fiction, novella, etc. here]
PO Box 409
Lake Oswego, Oregon 97034- All Submissions MUST be postmarked by the deadline in order to be considered for that genre. We get a lot of work in, and in order to give it the proper attention, appropriate time allowances must be made. THE EARLIER, THE BETTER. If for any reason you feel you may have omitted an important piece of information, or may have inadvertently made an error in putting your package together, feel free to contact us and we will do our best to straighten out the issue. We sincerely want all worthy authors to get their due recognition and will in no way arbitrarily disqualify a participant for a slight oversight. International submissions welcome.
GUIDELINES FOR SHORT FICTION
Submissions must not exceed 25 pages double-spaced. Submissions must not be less than a 12 pt. nor larger than a 14 pt. of a typically used font.Reading Fee $20
AWARDS
FIRST = $1,250 / SECOND = $300 / THIRD = $200Each additional entry in this SAME category, $10, not to exceed 5 total submissions
GUIDELINES FOR NOVELLAS
Eligible submissions must be of a single novella. May be a self-contained portion of a larger book, but must be a complete work in and of itself. May be comprised of up to 150 double-spaced typed pages; other than length, all Short Fiction guidelines apply. Submissions must not be less than a 12 pt. nor larger than a 14 pt. size of a typically used font.Stories or novellas previously published are eligible, as long as the publication did not exceed 2,000 copies.
Reading Fee $25
AWARDS
FIRST = $1,000 / SECOND = $300 / THIRD = $200
Each additional entry in this SAME category, $10, not to exceed 5 total submissions.GUIDELINES FOR POETRY
Not to exceed three pages per poem.Not to include more than three poems per entry.
Reading Fee $20 (for 3 poems)
AWARDS
FIRST = $400 / SECOND = $200 / THIRD = $100
Each additional poem entry in this SAME category, $10 each, not to exceed 5 total submissions.GUIDELINES FOR PHOTOGRAPHY (JOHN & EVA KEENER AWARD)
Work can include up to 3 black and white or colour photographs.Work must not be digitally altered beyond very basic touch up, (i.e. no inserts of fire-breathing dragons over the White House).
Work must not be pornographic (sexually explicit) in nature.
Work must be provided between the sizes of 3×5 to 11×13.
Work must be available in jpeg and PDF format, preferably 300 dpi.
ENTRY FEE $20
AWARDS
FIRST = $400 / SECOND = $200 / THIRD = $100
Each additional entry in this SAME category, $10, not to exceed 5 total submissions.GUIDELINES FOR CARPE VERBUM ESSAY/NON-FICTION AWARD
See GUIDELINES FOR SHORT FICTIONReading Fee $20
AWARDS
FIRST = $300 / SECOND = $200 / THIRD = $100
Each additional entry in this SAME category, $10, not to exceed 5 total submissions.
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
Another tragic day in A-merry-ca.
As painful as this next subject is to blog about, I can't shy away from it. And if any of you reading this lost a loved one or a friend in that tragic work place shooting today, you might not want to read any more.I was ready to write post about Negroes in A-merry-ca and when we started killing people after losing our jobs. (You Negroes know you don't care about getting fired). It is, after all, just a job. We are used to getting f&*%%d over in the work place. White folks, on the other hand, not so much. If you fire a white man you damn well better have a good reason, because it is not something he takes lightly. The term going postal has always somewhat of an "oxymoronic" feel to it. All those black folks working at the post office, and I guarantee you that you will never see one of them taking out their co-workers because of a perceived slight or injustice surrounding the workplace.
Then I saw this tragic story in Connecticut, and I thought to myself, wow. Omar Thornton totally shattered all the stereotypes that I bought into when it comes to workplace shootings.
Anyway, I read an article today that made me think that it was not just about him losing his job, but why he lost it. The author (who is black) was lamenting the loss of self control by the younger black generation when they suffer the sting of racism."Thornton shot a number of people, and as of this writing, it's not known how many because what once stood at seven killed just rose to nine killed, so we don't know how many were injured in some kind of way. Here's the exact quote from the Hartford Courant regarding Omar Thornton's possible motive for the shooting at Hartford Distributors:
Joanne Hannah, who lives in the Enfield neighborhood where Thornton lived until about a month ago, said her daughter Kristi had dated Thornton for eight years. Thornton, who is black, had complained about being racially harassed at work. Thornton brought his complaints to his superiors, who did nothing about it, she said her daughter told her.A New Trend: blacks who kill over racism
It seems there's a new and to this blogger, disturbing "small" trend of late where black men are as likely to commit workplace shootings as any white male.
The last person that comes to mind was was porn star Stephen Hill in Van Nuys, California, who, in June, went off and killed one person and stabbed another at the Ultima DVD office. Hill was black, and like Thornton, was about to be fired from his job. In Hill's case, he was called a "wacky guy" and no one mentioned racism. But then, no one who was close to him was interviewed at the time.
This is disturbing because I and my generation (I turn 48 tomorrow) was raised to be hardened and to expect racism, to point it out, but to not react violently to it.
Because racism is a mental illness, people who are racist are to be treated with pity and avoided. That's the way I'm conditioned to think.
Frankly, you just didn't hear of someone black who would open fire and kill anyone over racism. We were instructed that it was a sickness that's "just part of the deal" and something you needed to overcome to be successful.
This small trend says nothing good about the overall mental strength of the next generation of black men. If one who's black and make [sp] expects to be successful in America, reacting violently to racism can't be considered an option." [Article]
Hmmm. OK. Of course one should not react violently to anything. That is not how civilized human beings should act. Right people?I saw on CNN tonight that Thornton suffered a lot of racial taunts at work, and when he was told that he would be let go he snapped. "I killed the five racist that were bothering me" he allegedly said.
"Holliday said Thornton had been complaining to relatives that in the several years he worked at Hartford Distributors he was confronted with blatant racism.
PICTURES: Hartford Distributors Shooting
Holliday said, "He had some instances of racism at the company. They were hanging nooses in the bathroom and writing stuff like that. They were singling him out because he was the only black person there in that area."
Thornton's family said he had taken pictures of the threats and said they believe he just snapped Tuesday morning.
They said they expressed condolences to the families of the victims, but they said they were mourning, too."
"This all could have been avoided," Holliday said. "He went to the Union a couple of times with issues concerning what was going on, and it was not dealt with appropriately." [Article]
He is not alone, others have killed in the work place with underlying racial motives, but the scope of this carnage and tragedy today was incomprehensible. And let's not forget the families of those poor souls who lost their lives, they did not deserve this, and neither does our country.Finally, I have to leave you with an other tragic story: I am talking about the one in Northern Louisiana where six children lost their lives after drowning while their family members watched.
Black people, this is not funny anymore; please teach your children how to swim. Schools offer swimming lessons, they can learn at the local Y, and there are various city programs geared to teaching swimming to young children. I can't imagine the horror of watching your own child drown and not being able to do anything about it.
"The two families had come to the area for a cookout, and the teenagers waded into the shallows, about 10 feet from the bank, said Cindy Chadwick, a public information officer for the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Department. About 10 minutes later, the teenagers began coming back to shore when one boy slipped on the slick riverbed and fell into deep water.“All of sudden, there was nothing underneath him,” Ms. Chadwick said.
The teenagers went to help, but neither they nor the other family members knew how to swim. There was one life jacket on hand, which they threw into the river.
“Family members saw them go in and screamed for help,” Mr. Sanders said. “There were some other citizens along the beach area that came to the rescue.”
The fire department was called around 6:30 p.m., Mr. Sanders said. Dive teams came shortly afterward to recover the bodies of the victims, a search that took hours. " [Article]
Sad, just sad.
After hunting down and killing coworkers that he thought were racist, the gunman at the Connecticut beer distributorship called 911 and calmly explained that he was done shooting but wished he had murdered more.
"You probably want to know the reason for this," Omar Thornton said in a relaxed tone."This place is a racist place. They treat me bad over here and all the other black employees bad over here too."
"So I took it into my own hands and handled the problem," he said. "I wish I could've got more of the people."
"I'm not going to kill nobody else though," said Thornton. "I'm calmed down."
Thornton refused to tell the operator where in the building he was located, "These cops are going to kill me," he said.
"When they find me that's when everything's going to be over," said Thornton.
Before abruptly ending the four minute call, Thornton told the operator that he was the only black driver at the company and claimed that he had been treated badly since he was hired. Thornton also admitted to the operator that he was armed but that he only had one gun left because he left the second in the warehouse.
A recording of Thornton's 911 call was made just hours after the CEO of Hartford Distributors today dismissed claims that racial harassment at the company drove Thornton to brutally gun down eight of his co-workers at the company's Connecticut warehouse Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters at an afternoon news conference, CEO Ross Hollander read prepared remarks about each of the victims, recalling his memories of their character. Hollander said that Thornton, who killed himself, had been "embraced" at the company until a company investigation revealed that he had been stealing and reselling beer.
"As for the claims that Omar's actions were the result of racial insensitivity, I can state to you unequivocally that no claim has ever been brought to the attention of our company," Hollander said, adding that no complaint had ever been filed with neither the company nor the government.
Hollander called the shooting an "inexplicable act," and spokesman James Battaglio noted that of 69 dockworkers at the warehouse, four were African Americans, nine Hispanic and one Asian.
Earlier today on "Good Morning America," Thornton's girlfriend described a far different workplace, saying she heard evidence of enough racial harassment the man had allegedly suffered at work to drive someone "crazy."
"He said every day when he'd come in, there'd be new stuff on the [bathroom] wall," Kristi Hannah said. "One was a hangman with a noose around his neck and underneath it said, 'Kill the n-word.'"
Hannah, who said she was gunman Omar Thornton's girlfriend for nine years, said he showed her cell phone pictures of the racial slurs written in the bathroom.
"I know what I seen on that wall and that picture and that would make somebody go crazy," she said. "If they keep doing it to somebody over and over and over and over and over. And I know that was happening to him because no one just wakes up one day and does that."
Hannah's comments came in stark contrast to those made on panicked 911 calls during the 45 minute rampage which were released Wednesday.
"Someone got shot, I got shot," Steven Hollander, the vice president of Hartford Distributors, told a 911 operator as he hid in his office. "We need the cops."
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO STEVE HOLLANDER'S 911 CALL
Hollander told the operator he knew the gunman.
"His name is Omar Thornton. He's a black guy, and get the cops here right away, I'm bleeding all over the place," Hollander said. "We need cops right away."
Hollander is believed to be one of the first of Thornton's victims and one of the few to survive after being shot. He was treated at a Hartford hospital for a gunshot wound to his neck.
Thornton opened fire right after meeting with Hollander, 50, who had given him a choice either to be fired or quit. Thornton had been trailed by a private investigator hired by the company after he was suspected of stealing alcohol from the distributor, police said.
In the 911 call, Hollander described a scene of complete chaos.
"There are people running all over the place," he said. "He's running, he's shooting at someone else, he's still shooting. He's still running after people, he's not leaving."
"Oh, s***, he's still shooting, I hear guns out there," Hollander said. "He's in the parking lot shooting people, he's carrying a red lunch bag."
"Today, just now, before he started shooting," Hollander said. "He's chasing people in the parking lot."When the 911 operator asked Hollander if the gunman had worked at the distributor, Hollander said, "Yeah, 'til I just fired him."
One woman told emergency dispatchers she was hiding in a storage closet, crying for help and repeating "Oh my God, Oh my God."
Thornton passed over several people during the rampage inside and around the distributor, according to Manchester Police Lt. Chris Davis, who said Wednesday authorities believe the first few victims were likely targeted.
Davis declined to specify who the first of Thornton's victims were, but said that many of those who were killed were "executives" or "higher level" employees. All of those who were shot were 49 or older.
>via:http://abcnews.go.com/US/connecticut-shooters-girlfriend-talks-alleged-racial-harassment/story?id=11330589&page=1
Captured: America in Color from 1939-1943
Posted Jul 26, 2010
Share This Gallery
These images, by photographers of the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information, are some of the only color photographs taken of the effects of the Depression on America’s rural and small town populations. The photographs are the property of the Library of Congress and were included in a 2006 exhibit Bound for Glory: America in Color.
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Connecticut town on the sea. Stonington, Connecticut, November 1940. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Jack Delano. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
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Children gathering potatoes on a large farm. Vicinity of Caribou, Aroostook County, Maine, October 1940. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Jack Delano. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
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Headlines posted in street-corner window of newspaper office (Brockton Enterprise). Brockton, Massachusetts, December 1940. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Jack Delano. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
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Going to town on Saturday afternoon. Greene County, Georgia, May 1941. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Jack Delano. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
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Barker at the grounds at the state fair. Rutland, Vermont, September 1941. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Jack Delano. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
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At the Vermont state fair. Rutland, Vermont, September 1941. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Jack Delano. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
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Orchestra at square dance. McIntosh County, Oklahoma, 1939 or 1940. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Russell Lee. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
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Jack Whinery, homesteader, and his family. Pie Town, New Mexico, October 1940. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Russell Lee. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
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Saying grace before the barbeque dinner at the New Mexico Fair. Pie Town, New Mexico, October 1940. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Russell Lee. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
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School children singing. Pie Town, New Mexico, October 1940. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Russell Lee. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
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Mill at the Camp Bird Mine. Ouray County, Colorado, October 1940. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Russell Lee. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
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Hauling crates of peaches from the orchard to the shipping shed. Delta County, Colorado, September 1940. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Russell Lee. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
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On main street of Cascade. Cascade, Idaho, July 1941. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Russell Lee. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
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Shasta dam under construction. California, June 1942. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Russell Lee. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
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Grand Grocery Company. Lincoln, Nebraska, 1942. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by John Vachon. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
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Wisdom, Montana, April 1942. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by John Vachon. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
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Planting corn along a river. Northeastern Tennessee, May 1940. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Marion Post Wolcott. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
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Bayou Bourbeau plantation, a Farm Security Administration cooperative. Vicinity of Natchitoches, Louisiana, August 1940. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Marion Post Wolcott. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
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A crossroads store, bar, "juke joint," and gas station in the cotton plantation area. Melrose, Louisiana, June 1940. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Marion Post Wolcott. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
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A store with live fish for sale. Vicinity of Natchitoches, Louisiana, July 1940. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Marion Post Wolcott. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
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Children aiming sticks as guns, lined up against a brick building. Washington, D.C.(?), between 1941 and 1942. Reproduction from color slide. Photographer Unknown. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
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House. Washington, D.C.(?), between 1941 and 1942. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Louise Rosskam. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
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A welder who works in the round-house at the Chicago and Northwestern Railway Company's Proviso yard. Chicago, Illinois, December 1942. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Jack Delano. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
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Switchman throwing a switch at Chicago and Northwest Railway Company's Proviso yard. Chicago, Illinois, April 1943. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Jack Delano. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
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Putting the finishing touches on a rebuilt caboose at the rip tracks at Proviso yard. Chicago, Illinois, April 1943. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Jack Delano. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
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General view of part of the South Water Street freight depot of the Illinois Central Railroad Chicago, Illinois, May 1943. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Jack Delano. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
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Women workers employed as wipers in the roundhouse having lunch in their rest room, Chicago and Northwest Railway Company. Clinton, Iowa, April 1943. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Jack Delano. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
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At Beecher Street School. Southington, Connecticut, May 1942. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Fenno Jacobs. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
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Shepherd with his horse and dog on Gravelly Range Madison County, Montana, August 1942. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Russell Lee. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
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Marine glider at Page Field. Parris Island, South Carolina, May 1942. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Alfred T. Palmer. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
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Welder making boilers for a ship, Combustion Engineering Company. Chattanooga, Tennessee, June 1942. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Alfred T. Palmer. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
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Assembling B-25 bombers at North American Aviation. Kansas City, Kansas, October 1942. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Alfred T. Palmer. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
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Woman is working on a "Vengeance" dive bomber Tennessee, February 1943. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Alfred T. Palmer. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
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Rural school children. San Augustine County, Texas, April 1943. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by John Vachon. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
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Worker at carbon black plant. Sunray, Texas, 1942. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Worker at carbon black plant John Vachon. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
by Anton Polouektov
Spanning a variety of genres and sub-genres, African-American and/or Black literature is best seen as an umbrella term that defines not only the ethnic background of the authors but also a commitment to putting out a message that is relevant both within and outside the Black community. Readers may not agree with everyone whose name is on this list as the best representation of the genre, but these 13 authors are some of the best selling black authors of the past few years and they certainly have offered works that appeal to mainstream audiences. So, as you can tell, this list hinges on book sales, rather than critical reviews. Without further ado, here are the 13 Black fiction and non-fiction writers who have enjoyed widespread popularity and “bestseller” status over the course of the last five years.
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Before she hit big as part of the “street lit” trend, Teri Woods was hustling. Her spirits were not dampened when her first book was rejected by a publisher. Instead, her entrepreneurial talents kicked into overdrive as she resolved to affirm herself as an author first by selling self-made copies of her book from her car’s trunk and later by establishing her own publishing house. Her instincts, it turned out, were on point, as her gritty urban novels quickly found a ready audience, establishing a wide reader base that propelled her to bestseller status. Woods’ writing skills and business acumen make her a force to be reckoned with on the literary arena.
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Maya Angelou is one of the authors that defined modern African-American literature — celebrated for her active participation in the Civil Rights movement and her role in giving voice to disenfranchised communities throughout the United States, she is the author of several perennial bestsellers that remain firmly entrenched on required reading lists in the school system. Angelou was invited to read one of her poems at Bill Clinton’s presidential inauguration – the first author to be given that opportunity since the 1961 Kennedy inauguration. Today, her works continue to sell well, demonstrating their continued relevance.
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A highly controversial figure, Kola Boof is perhaps best known for being the mistress of Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, but her brief involvement with the terrorist mastermind is but one small part of the rich tapestry of her life. Born in strife-ridden Sudan, Boof moved to the United States at an early age after the murder of her parents, later becoming a poet, novelist, vocal supporter of feminism, and proponent of “womanist” thought. Her collections of animism-inspired poetry and her poignant autobiography have become instant bestsellers, though Boof herself continues to fuel controversy both in the United States and in her native Sudan.
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Balancing the struggles of motherhood and the challenges of a literary career can be a daunting task, but Nikki Turner pulls it off with flair and panache, ensuring a place for her novels on Essence Magazine’s bestseller list. Writing about the dangers that lurk in the shadows of street life from a woman’s perspective, Turner has been called the “Queen of Hip Hop Fiction,” and her novels continue to enjoy popularity and garner critical acclaim. Turner’s writing career has been further boosted by a literary line she launched after teaming up with the Random House publishing company in 2007.
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Tavis Smiley is perhaps best known for his television career as a political commentator and talk show host, but he is also a driven entrepreneur, a committed philanthropist, and a bestselling author. Smiley is a staunch supporter of African-American social and political empowerment. “The Convenant with Black America” was one of his most notable contributions to the literary landscape, striking a chord with many fans. Through his candid and powerful political writings, Smiley channels the voices of those who feel marginalized and alarmed by the course taken by the United States in recent years, ensuring the continued relevance of his message.
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An entertaining, energetic radio celebrity as well as a bestselling novelist, Michael Baisden is a man of many talents. On top of his experience as a talk radio host, Baisden also has a rich entrepreneurial background that has without a doubt colored his outlook on life. Over the course of his writing career, Baisden penned a number of books dealing primarily with romantic relationships, economic jeopardy, and sexual encounters. Although he has achieved success in many of his ventures, Baisden remains uncompromisingly ambitious, viewing the film arena as the next big step for his career.
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Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu is a dynamic, committed African-American educator whose continued efforts to improve the African-American educational experience and strengthen the foundations of the Black community have earned him high praise from students, teachers, parents, and community leaders. Having authored more than 20 books on subjects ranging from urban anthropology to African-American education issues, Dr. Kunjufu has certainly made his mark on the literary landscape where his works have enjoyed widespread popularity, topping a number of annual bestseller lists.
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Zadie Smith
English-born novelist Zadie Smith began her career with criticially-acclaimed “White Teeth,” a multifaceted exploration of London’s cultural diversity that attracted a lot of attention even before it was published in 1997, and has since established herself as one of the most promising contemporary Black writers. Her continued efforts to promote other young writers culminated in “The Burned Children of America,” a short-story collection that brought modern literary dynamics to the fore and 2005′s “On Beauty” marked one of the bestselling novels of the year. Although she has only authored a few books, Zadie Smith has already proven herself to be a talented, insightful novelist and her rise to prominence is almost certain to continue.
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As one of America’s most outspoken and provocative progressive intellectuals, Cornel West has often made waves in academic circles and is no stranger to heated public debate. A talented speaker and writer, West is not afraid to stand up for his beliefs, having authored numerous analytical and philosophical works that have enjoyed widespread popularity amongst academics and laymen alike thanks to the resounding forcefulness of West’s message. West is also known for his political activism, publicly backing social and political movements that seek to precipitate change within the fabric of modern American society.
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Karrine Steffans autobiography, Confessions of a Video Vixen, jump-started her literary career by giving readers exactly what they want – laden with piquant celebrity gossip and explicit descriptions of the author’s sexual exploits in the course of her career as a hip-hop dancer, Confessions of a Video Vixen made headlines and numerous bestseller lists. Following her explosive debut, Steffans continued to turn heads with two more bestselling book releases that delved deeper into exploring the glamorous hip-hop scene as well as her own persona.
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Without a doubt, Zane is one of the most prominent African-American fiction authors of the 21st century. This once-enigmatic New York Times Bestselling Author has enjoyed tremendous popularity since she began her writing career with a collection of erotic fiction stories in 1997. Zane’s works routinely fill out multiple spots in annual bestseller lists, having been credited with propelling erotic fiction into the mainstream literary market. In addition to being an author, Zane also heads her own publishing house, Strebor Books, and has served as the driving force behind numerous other business and entertainment ventures.
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Barack Obama’s election to Presidential office redefined the relationship between race and politics in the United States, catapulting the young politician to instant star status. It is hardly a surprise, then, that his political biography, “The Audacity of Hope” quickly achieved bestseller status as readers across generations and party lines flocked to find out more about the man who defied all odds and achieved the seemingly impossible. With a focus on bipartisanship and consensus-making, the President’s books, alongside his other bestselling book “Dreams From My Father” resonated deeply with large sectors of the electorate, demonstrating the political clout that President Obama found himself commanding.
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An ambitious journalist for The New Yorker and talented writer with a pronounced interest in psychology and the social sciences, Gladwell has written numerous books that have achieved bestseller status thanks to his unorthodox view of societal undercurrents and careful examination of psycho-social factors impacting the dynamics of social change in the modern world. Gladwell’s scientific work has seen its fair share of praise and criticism, but readers’ persistent interest in his conclusions shows that he has ample skill as a writer as well as a researcher. All of his books from The “Outliers” to “The Tipping Point,” remain on bestseller lists all over the world.
>via: http://atlantapost.com/2010/08/04/13-top-selling-black-authors/
Kuweni Serious! - "If This Country Burns, We Burn With It"
There is a difference between the one who rents a house, and the one who owns a house. The one who rents a house doesn't care if the walls crack and crumble, they can always move to another house. The one who owns a house knows that no one else will take care of it, thus they paint the walls and mend the cracks. More than 60% of Kenya's population consists of young men and women like us. The problem is that we behave like tenants of Kenya. We have let the older generation tear this country apart. We have let them use us to fight their battles. We have let them loot this country. We have let them fool us into thinking that we're not fit to run this country ourselves. So we hide in our alcohol, in our religions and on the Internet as if there is some other Kenya out there that we shall move to when this one crumbles. We sit at home and wait for others to fight for us on the streets. We want green cards instead of voter's cards. We are angry, but we are too scared to do anything about it. It is not Obama's job to save this country. It is not the donors' job, and the government has shown that it is not their job, either. Responsibility is not shared, it is earned. Freedom is not given, it is taken. When we decide we want freedom, we will have to get it ourselves. Because if this country burns, we burn with it.
Remaining Gulf Spill Still Bigger Than Exxon Valdez
AOL News
(Aug. 5) -- On Day 107, it seemed the news from the Gulf of Mexico couldn't be better. Not only did BP's "static kill" finally seal its runaway well, but then came a report that most of the spilled oil has vanished.National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists announced that 74 percent of the oil that escaped BP's Macondo well had either evaporated or been burned, skimmed, siphoned into ships from the wellhead, or broken up by a chemical dispersant released into the Gulf by BP. The White House expressed a "high degree of confidence" in the findings.
NASA / APDespite a report that much of the oil in the gulf has vanished, there's still nearly 53 million gallons of it -- nearly five times the size of the Exxon Valdez spill, which wreaked environmental havoc in Alaska in 1989.
But in the parishes on the sole of Louisiana's boot, where they have battled BP, government bureaucrats, oil, bad weather and recalcitrant equipment every day since the oil first began slithering into the marshes in May, the news of the disappearing oil was greeted with skepticism -- and fresh worries."If only 25 percent of the oil is left, it must be all in St. Bernard Parish, because we're finding new oil every day," parish president Craig Taffaro told AOL News.
There's also this simple math: If NOAA's numbers are right, that still leaves 1 million barrels of oil at large. On its own, that amounts to a spill four times the size of the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Prince William Sound -- the worst in U.S. history, until the Deepwater Horizon disaster easily topped it.
While BP and the Obama administration declared belated victory, Taffaro and the other coastal parish leaders remain focused like lasers on two things as the oil spill enters the next phase: One, making sure BP sticks around long enough during the weeks and months ahead to finish the cleanup. And, two, finding a way to convince the buying public that Gulf seafood caught after April 20 is safe to eat.
Last week, BP's incoming CEO, Bob Dudley, announced from Biloxi, Miss., that the time has come to scale back the cleanup campaign. He stressed that no one should interpret his remarks as a signal that BP is gearing up to pull out.
In Plaquemines Parish, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus has scheduled a town hall meeting today in Buras, La. to discuss the long-term recovery plan.
Gov. Bobby Jindal wants BP to fund a 20-year study of seafood safety in the gulf. On Monday, he expanded his request and asked BP to finance a five-year monitoring plan and increase test sampling.
As far as the vanishing oil is concerned, parish politicians aren't the only skeptics. Samantha Joye, a marine scientist at the University of Georgia, told Bloomberg News that she finds it "hard to believe, impossible, actually, that they have three-quarters of the oil accounted for."
The figures for the disappearing oil break down like this:
- about 25 percent evaporated or dissolved
- about 17 percent captured at the wellhead
- about 8 percent skimmed or burned off
- about 8 percent broken down by chemical dispersants
- about 16 percent dispersed naturally in the water
Jane Lubchenco, NOAA administrator, said in a statement released with the report that the disappearance of the oil does not mean that "there isn't oil still in the water column or that our beaches and marshes aren't still at risk. Knowing generally what happened to the oil helps us better understand areas of risk and likely impacts."Ed Overton, a Louisiana State University environmental scientist with long experience studying oil spills, served as one of the independent scientists consulted by NOAA. He said he shared his knowledge about spills, but was not involved in calculating the percentages.
"Everybody seems skeptical," he told AOL News. "But I don't think it's too far off."
He said he thinks most of the oil that's left in the water is in the deep ocean. "I would be flabbergasted if there is significant new oiling coming ashore," he said.
"The oil is down in the deep abyss, if you will. That doesn't mean it's lurking and is going to pop out of the closet and get us. Water circulation down there is not conducive to it coming up. Water in the abyss stays down in the abyss."
Whether or not the oil remains in the abyss, whether or not NOAA's calculation holds up, Taffaro won't be satisfied until every drop is dealt with. "For some reason, we went from saying that any oil is unacceptable to whatever is left is OK," he said. "I am here to tell you it is not OK."
