1KILLENS REVIEW OF ARTS & LETTERS / FALL-WINTER 2018

Fall / Winter 2018

KILLENS REVIEW of ARTS & LETTERS$10.00

at the WATERS: II

GATHERING

1KILLENS REVIEW OF ARTS & LETTERS / FALL-WINTER 2018

contents

KILLENS REVIEW OF ARTS & LETTERSClarence V. Reynolds, Editor

Ellie Meek Tweedy, CopyEditor

Washington Design, Michele Y. Washington

Fred Beauford, Editor EmEritus

PEER REVIEW EDITORS:Victoria A. Chevalier, Todd Craig, Alfred Henderson II, DonnaHill, Ladi’Sasha Jones, E. Ethelbert Miller, and Nicole Sealey

KILLENS REVIEW OF ARTS & LETTERS EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARDMarie D. Brown, mariE Brown assoCiatEs

Keith Gilyard, pEnn statE univErsity

Anthony Grooms, KEnnEsaw statE univErsity

Lawrence P. Jackson, Johns hopKins univErsity

Barbara Killens-Rivera

Abiba Wynn-Deceus, awd & assoCiatEs Consulting

THE CENTER FOR BLACK LITERATURE STAFFBrenda M. Greene, Ph.D. ExECutivE dirECtor

Clarence V. Reynolds, dirECtor

Maeshay k. Lewis, ExECutivE assistant and logistiCs Coordinator

Naima Moore-Turner, mEdia assistant Teri Clarke. administrativE assistant

Donna Hill, worKshop lEadEr, FiCtion writing worKshop

Kel Spencer, Coordinator, rE-Envisioning our livEs through litEraturE program

Eisa Nefertari Ulen, worKshop lEadEr, EldErs writing proJECt

2 EDITOR’S NOTE

3 LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR BLACK LITERATURE

4 ESSAY: Four Women, Two Objects by Patricia Spears Jones

7 ESSAYS: Colonizer Meet Colonized: The Significance of Literary First Impressions In Ideology and Action by Iffah Elnaz

12 The Reimagining and Reinvigorating of a Storied Past by Kai Harris

15 And Now...A Message from the President by Rochelle Spencer

19 POETRY: Shaman’s Chant by Phillip J. Ammonds; American Portrait

by John Warner Smith; and Letter from Home by Keisha-Gaye Anderson

22 PORTFOLIO: Street Baptismal/Last Ritual in Harlemby Shawn W. Walker

28 EXCERPT: 2018 National Black Writers Conference: Gatheringat the Waters: A Call for Healing

34 FICTION: Lynched by Kim-Marie Walker

39 FICTION: The Tree: A Journey to Freedom by Minnette Coleman

43 POETRY: Momma’s Afrika by Safiya Washington; I Am Indigoand It Is by Fatima Séba Friday

45 FICTION EXCERPT: The Legend of Lonnie Lion by JM Holmes

54 PORTFOLIO: A Visual Guide to the Heart: The Music ofIsmael Rivera by Christopher Lopez

60 FICTION: She Remembers the Time Before This One by Akosua Albritton

64 FICTION: Only in Your Dreams by Cathie Wright-Lewis

70 CONTRIBUTORS

COVER: From the series “Street Baptismal/Last Ritual in Harlem” by Shawn W. Walker

The Killens Review of Arts & Letters (ISSN 2155-1758) is published twice a year by the Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College, of the City University of New York, 1650 Bedford Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11225; 718-804-8883. Material in this publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without permission. Opin-ions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the CBL. The Killens Review of Arts & Letters cannot be held responsible for unsolicited photographs or manuscripts.

FALL / WINTER 2018VOL. 9, NO. 1 & 2

1KILLENS REVIEW OF ARTS & LETTERS / FALL-WINTER 2018

contents

KILLENS REVIEW OF ARTS & LETTERSClarence V. Reynolds, Editor

Ellie Meek Tweedy, CopyEditor

Washington Design, Michele Y. Washington

Fred Beauford, Editor EmEritus

PEER REVIEW EDITORS:Victoria A. Chevalier, Todd Craig, Alfred Henderson II, DonnaHill, Ladi’Sasha Jones, E. Ethelbert Miller, and Nicole Sealey

KILLENS REVIEW OF ARTS & LETTERS EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARDMarie D. Brown, mariE Brown assoCiatEs

Keith Gilyard, pEnn statE univErsity

Anthony Grooms, KEnnEsaw statE univErsity

Lawrence P. Jackson, Johns hopKins univErsity

Barbara Killens-Rivera

Abiba Wynn-Deceus, awd & assoCiatEs Consulting

THE CENTER FOR BLACK LITERATURE STAFFBrenda M. Greene, Ph.D. ExECutivE dirECtor

Clarence V. Reynolds, dirECtor

Maeshay k. Lewis, ExECutivE assistant and logistiCs Coordinator

Naima Moore-Turner, mEdia assistant Teri Clarke. administrativE assistant

Donna Hill, worKshop lEadEr, FiCtion writing worKshop

Kel Spencer, Coordinator, rE-Envisioning our livEs through litEraturE program

Eisa Nefertari Ulen, worKshop lEadEr, EldErs writing proJECt

2 EDITOR’S NOTE

3 LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR BLACK LITERATURE

4 ESSAY: Four Women, Two Objects by Patricia Spears Jones

7 ESSAYS: Colonizer Meet Colonized: The Significance of Literary First Impressions In Ideology and Action by Iffah Elnaz

12 The Reimagining and Reinvigorating of a Storied Past by Kai Harris

15 And Now...A Message from the President by Rochelle Spencer

19 POETRY: Shaman’s Chant by Phillip J. Ammonds; American Portrait

by John Warner Smith; and Letter from Home by Keisha-Gaye Anderson

22 PORTFOLIO: Street Baptismal/Last Ritual in Harlemby Shawn W. Walker

28 EXCERPT: 2018 National Black Writers Conference: Gatheringat the Waters: A Call for Healing

34 FICTION: Lynched by Kim-Marie Walker

39 FICTION: The Tree: A Journey to Freedom by Minnette Coleman

43 POETRY: Momma’s Afrika by Safiya Washington; I Am Indigoand It Is by Fatima Séba Friday

45 FICTION EXCERPT: The Legend of Lonnie Lion by JM Holmes

54 PORTFOLIO: A Visual Guide to the Heart: The Music ofIsmael Rivera by Christopher Lopez

60 FICTION: She Remembers the Time Before This One by Akosua Albritton

64 FICTION: Only in Your Dreams by Cathie Wright-Lewis

70 CONTRIBUTORS

COVER: From the series “Street Baptismal/Last Ritual in Harlem” by Shawn W. Walker

The Killens Review of Arts & Letters (ISSN 2155-1758) is published twice a year by the Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College, of the City University of New York, 1650 Bedford Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11225; 718-804-8883. Material in this publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without permission. Opin-ions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the CBL. The Killens Review of Arts & Letters cannot be held responsible for unsolicited photographs or manuscripts.

FALL / WINTER 2018VOL. 9, NO. 1 & 2