Phillis Wheatley

1853-1784

bull She was abducted from Senegal in 1753 at approximately age eight

bull John and Susanna Wheatley her owners educated her in theology Latin Greek and

Ancient History

bull She published her first poem at age twelve in the Newport Mercury

bull She traveled to London in 1773 following the success of her first and only published book Poems on Various Subjects

bull She was the third woman and first slave to publish a book

bull She was ultimately freed by the Wheatleys

bull She married John Peters a freeman in 1778 Her marriage was plagued by poverty

bull She was very patriotic but the American Revolution impacted her success as a writer

bull Wheatleyrsquos health had always been poor she died on December 5 1784

Martin R Delaney

1812-1885

bull He was born on May 6 1812 in West Virginia to a free mother and a slave father

bull He was descended from African royalty on both sides Both sets of grandparents were captured and brought to the United States

bull After his mother was reported for teaching her children to read the family except for his father who was still a slave moved to Pennsylvania

bull Delaney continued his education at Bethel Church School for Blacks and Jefferson College He studied the classics

bull After multiple apprenticeships with abolitionists he became a doctor

bull He worked as an abolitionist assisting fugitive slaves and forming a militia that protected Black communities from white mobs

bull He married Catherine Richards in 1843 They went on to have eleven children

bull He started the first African American newspaper The Mystery His paper failed but he began to work with Frederick Douglass on The North Star in 1847 They worked together for five years

bull He was accepted into Harvard in 1850 but he and three others were forced to leave after white protests

bull He was a Major in the Civil War the highest-ranking African American officer He also served as a trial judge

bull He was ambivalent about Black immigration He saw it as a last result

bull He was an unrepentant Black Nationalist

bull He died on January 24 1885 in Wilberforce Ohio

bull His works include The Condition Elevation Emigration and Destiny of the Colored People of the United States Politically Considered The Origin and Objects of Ancient Freemasonry Its Introduction into the United States and Legitimacy Among Colored

Me Blake Or the Huts of America Principia of Ethnology The Origin of Races and Color Archeological Compendium and Egyptian Civilization from Years of Careful Examination and Enquiry

Frederick Douglass-

1818-1895

bull Born in Maryland to a slave mother Harriet Bailey and an unknown presumably white father

bull He escaped slavery on September 3 1838 arriving in New York

bull He became a popular abolitionist lecturer His narrative sold more than 30000 copies in first five years

bull He broke with his abolitionist mentor and created The North Star Newspaper in 1847

bull He lobbied President Lincoln to allow African Americans to join the military during the Civil War

bull He held the following political offices the highest offices for any African American at that time

o Federal Marshal and Recorder of Deeds for the District of Columbia o President of the Freedmanrsquos Bureau Bank o Consul to Haiti

bull He was the premier African American leader He spent his last years focusing on integration insisting that skin

color does not relate to social value

bull He died February 20 1895

bull His works include o Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and American Slave Written by Himself (1845) o ldquoWhat to a Slave Is the Fourth of Julyrdquo o The Heroic Slave (1853) o My Bondage and My Freedom (1855) o Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (1881) o ldquoThe Color Linerdquo (1881) o ldquoThe Future of the Colored Racerdquo (1886)

Harriet Jacobs

1813-1897

bull She was born in Edenton North Carolina Her exact birthday is unknown but it is believed to be around 1813

bull Though she was orphaned in childhood she spent her early years with her grandmother and a kind mistress who

educated her

bull She was pursued by her master Dr James Norcom during her teenage years She had two children with a white attorney named Samuel Treadwell Sawyer

bull In 1835 Jacobs escaped to a small crawl space in the home of her grandmother She stayed there until 1842 when she escaped to New York

bull In New York she worked as a nursemaid and she began to move in abolitionist circles

bull Her employers purchased her freedom in 1852

bull She published her slave narrative Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl in 1861 under the pseudonym Linda Brent

bull During the Civil War she worked in Washington DC helping refuges of the war She went into the south after the

war to continue that work

bull Jacobs helped to form the National Association of Colored Women

bull She wanted to show the plight of slave women as well as the resistance of slave women

bull Harriet Jacobs died on March 7 1897

Charles Chesnutt

1858-1932

bull He was born in Cleveland Ohio on June 20 1858 but he grew up in Fayetteville North Carolina

bull He was educated and began to serve as an assistant principal of the Fayetteville State Normal School for

Negroes before the age of 20

bull By 1884 he had passed the Ohio State bar exam and become a stenographer

bull He began publishing in Atlantic Monthly in 1887

bull He closed his stenographer business in 1899 to write full time but he found it difficult to publish

bull He was the premier African American literary figure from 1887-1905 He dared to show the complexity and heterogeneity of African American culture

bull He was awarded the NAACP Spingarn Medal for his literary achievements in 1928

bull He died November 17 1932

bull His works include o The Conjure Woman (1899) o The Wife of His Youth and Other Stories of the Color Line (1899) o The House Behind the Cedars (1900) o The Marrow of Tradition (1901) o The Colonelrsquos Dream (1905)

Booker T Washington

1856-1915

bull He was born a slave in what is now West Virginia and raised by his mother who also a slave

bull After emancipation he worked in salt furnaces and coal mines to help support his family

bull Educated often through night school he traveled to Hampton Institute in 1872 to get a college education

His journey to Hampton over five hundred miles away was arduous

bull He served as a faculty member at Hampton from 1875-1881

bull He was selected to found a school in Alabama in 1881 He started Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute that same year He led the institution until his death in 1915

bull His autobiographyslave narrative Up From Slavery quickly eclipsed popular narratives by Douglass and Jacobs

bull He ascended just as Douglass died He became the premier African American leader He was the first African American to be invited to dinner in the White House in 1901

bull Washingtonrsquos method of uplift focused on self-reliance and industrial education He argued that white southerners would be more open to African American economic progress if African Americans accepted social separation and the political status quo

bull He died on November 14 1915

bull His works included

o ldquoThe Atlanta Exposition Addressrdquo (1895) o Story of My Life (1900) o Up From Slavery (1900)

WEB DuBois

1868-1963

bull He was born on February 23 1868 in Great Barrington Massachusetts

bull He received a Bachelorrsquos Degree from Fisk University in 1888 He also took advantage of a study abroad opportunity at the University of Berlin In 1895 he became the first African American to earn a PhD from Harvard University

bull He served as a college professor He joined the faculty of Atlanta University in 1897 where he remained for thirteen years

bull He co-founded the NAACP in 1909

bull DuBoisrsquo work includes sociology history religion politics music poetry and fiction

bull He felt that pieces of African American culture including artistic traditions and traditional values should be preserved

bull He was a proponent of the talented tenth He increasingly saw Marxism as the primarily way to address racial injuries

bull His political leanings eventually lead to his breaks with both Atlanta University and the NAACP He was also accused of subversive activity

bull He renounced his American citizenship and moved to Ghana in 1963

bull He died on August 27 1963 in Accra Ghana

bull His works include o The Suppression of the African Slave-Trade to the United States (1896) o The Philadelphia Negro A Study (1899) o The Souls of Black Folk (1903) o The Quest of the Silver Fleece (1911) o Dark water Voices Within the Veil ( 1920) o Black Reconstruction (1935) o Dusk of Dawn An Autobiography of a Concept of Race (1940) o Worlds of Color (1961)

Alain Locke

1885-1953

bull Alain Locke was born in Philadelphia Pennsylvania on September 13 1885 to Phliny Ishmael and Mary Locke a

middle class family

bull He studied at the Philadelphia School of Pedagogy He was a gifted student who graduated from Harvard University in 1907 magna cum laude with literature and philosophy degrees

bull Though he was the first African American Rhodes Scholars he faced race prejudice at Oxford University He graduated from Oxford in 1910 He studied philosophy at the University of Berlin until 1912

bull For years he served as the chair of Howard Universityrsquos Department of Philosophy

bull Lock was called the Dean of the Harlem Renaissance He supported many young artists including Zora Neal Hurston and Langston Hughes

bull He published works on art theater poetry and music He published reviews in prominent journals including Opportunity and Phylon

bull He wrote the essay ldquoThe New Negrordquo in 1925

bull He was not invested in uplift philosophy He believed in the aesthetic quality of art He saw art as a bridge between individuals and cultures

bull He died on June 9 1954

bull He edited the following works o The New Negro (1925) o Plays of Negro Life (1927) o Four Negro Poets (1927) o The Negro in Art A Pictorial Record of The Negro Artist and of the Negro Theme in Art (1940) o When Peoples Meet a Study in Race and Culture Contacts (1942)

George Schuyler

1895-1977

bull Schuyler was born on February 25 1895

bull He enlisted in the army at 17 in 1912 He served in the 25th Infantry an all-black unit

bull He went AWOL in 1918 because of racism within the armed forces

bull He joined the Socialist Party of America and Friends of Negro Freedom

bull He became a journalist and essay writer

bull He became the chief editorial writer for The Pittsburg Courier He was a sharp social critic

bull He served as the business manager of the NAACP from 1937-1944

bull Over the years he became more and more conservative He grew to condemn Martin Luther King Malcolm X and WEB DuBois by the 1960s

bull He died on August 31 1977

bull Along with his editorials he is most known for the following works

o Black No More (1931) o Black and Conservative 1966)

Langston Hughes

1902-1967

bull He was born on February 1 1902 in Joplin Missouri to Carrie and James Hughes Though he comes

from a distinguished family he lived in poverty He father left when he was an infant As a young child he was raised by his grandmother

bull He arrived in New York in 1921 to attend Columbia University but he only lasted one year

bull He joined a merchant steamer in 1921 and toured Europe He deserted the ship for several months to work as a dishwasher in Paris clubs

bull He was one of the most recognized figures in the Harlem Renaissance His poetical influences were Carl Sandberg Walt Whitman and Claud McKay

bull He also was a playwright short story writer and novelist He was one of the few Harlem Renaissance

writers who remained prominent after the Renaissance ended

bull He is best known for his celebration of African American folk culture

bull After the Renaissance he became heavily involved in leftist politics He traveled to Moscow in 1932

bull He died on May 22 1967

bull His works include o ldquoThe Weary Bluesrdquo (1924) o Fine Clothes for the Jew (1927) o Not Without Laughter (1930) o The Ways of White Folk (1934) o Mulatto (1935) o Donrsquot You Want to Be Free (1938) o The Big Sea (1940) o Shakespeare in Harlem (1942) o Montage of a Dream Differed (1951)

Claude McKay

1889-1948

bull He was born on September 15 1889 to Thomas and Ann McKay in McKay in Jamaica

bull His father was descended from the Ashanti people of West Africa and he taught his son to be proud of that aspect

of his identity

bull During his time in Jamaica he was apprenticed to be a cabinetmaker and wheelwright he also served as a police officer

bull He was the first black to receive the Jamaican Institute of Arts and Sciences Medal

bull He immigrated to the United States in 1912 and briefly attended Tuskegee Institute

bull As he pursued his writing career he worked as a porter and waiter

bull Though he did publish in African American literary magazines he was more active in white magazines based in Greenwich Village

bull His book of poetry Harlem Shadows is said by some to have inaugurated the Harlem Renaissance

bull He became the first African American to write a best-seller with Home to Harlem

bull He became a Communist and addressed the Fourth Congress of the Communist International in 1923 After that he spend server years in Europe especially Spain Morocco and France

bull He was deeply invested in a community ethos and skeptical of religion He was not an devotee of either DuBois or Locke though he was deeply invested in social change

bull He died on May 22 1948

bull His works include o Songs of Jamaica (1912) o Constab Ballads (1912) o Harlem Shadows (1922) o Home to Harlem (1928) o Banjo (1929) o Gingertown (1932) o Banana Bottom (1933)

Countee Cullen

1903-1946

bull On May 30 1903 Countee Cullen was born After the passing of all of his immediate family he was eventually

raised by Carolyn and Reverend Frederick Cullen Rev Cullen who was the minster of Salem Methodist Episcopal Church in Harlem

bull He graduated from New York University Phi Beta Kappa in 1925

bull Cullen won the Witter Bynner Poetry Prize in 1925

bull He earned a Masterrsquos Degree from Harvard University in 1926

bull He reviewed the works of African American writers as a member of Opportunity Magazinersquos editorial staff

bull He received a Guggenheim Fellowship 1928

bull He married DuBoisrsquos daughter in 1928 though they divorced in 1930

bull He was less productive after 1930 He became a French Teach at Frederick Douglass Junior High School in 1934

bull Cullenrsquos favorite poets were John Keats Percy Shelley and AE Housman He utilized European poetic structures

bull He was a poetry playwright childrenrsquos writer and translator

bull He died on January 9 1946

bull His works included o Color (1925) o The Ballad of the Brown Girl (1927) o One Way to Heaven (1932) o Meadea (Translator 1935)

Zora Neale Hurston

1891-1960

bull Hurston was born on January 7 1891 in Eatonville Florida an all black town

bull Her father was a minister and her mother died when she was a young child She was shifted between relatives as a

child

bull For a brief period she studied at Howard University in Washington DC where she would meet Alain Locke and begin her literary career

bull She graduated from Barnard College in 1928

bull She was fascinated with the work of Franz Boas famed anthropologist Interested in her folktales Boas encouraged her to seek a graduate degree at Columbia University

bull Using the money from a grant and money from her patron Charlotte Osgood Mason she returned to the south to collect folktales That material would later be part of her text Mules and Men

bull Throughout the 1930s she was part of the Works Progress Administration and she worked as a theater teacher

bull After she was falsely accused of molesting a ten year old boy she was unable to recover her career

bull Throughout the remainder of her life she worked as a librarian reporter substitute teacher and cleaning woman

bull Hurston celebrated African American folklore She was not invested in the political nature art She was often criticized for her portrayals of race and controversial views on civil rights

bull She died penniless on January 28 1960

bull Her works include o ldquoDrenched in Lightrdquo (1924) o Color Struck (1925) o ldquoSpunkrdquo (1925) o Jonahrsquos Gourd Vine (1934) o Mules and Men (1935) o Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) o Tell My Horse (1938) o Moses Man of the Mountain (1939) o Dust Tracks on the Road (1942) o Seraph on the Swanee (1948)

Richard Wright

1908-1960

bull He was born in Roxie Mississippi on September 4 1908 to Nathan and Ella Wright

bull His father abandoned the family and his mother fell ill during his youth He moved from family member to

family member at one point he was in foster care

bull His deeply religious maternal family members left him skeptical of religion

bull In many ways he educated himself through reading His favorite writers included Theodore Dreiser Sherwood Anderson Marcel Proust Henry James and Gertrude Stein

bull He migrated to Chicago in 1927 where he took various jobs

bull From the early 1930 until 1942 he was part of the Communist Party He left the movement because of their weak approach to racial issues

bull Native Son made him both a critical and commercial success It sold 200000 copies during the first three weeks For that text he won a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Spingarn Medal

bull He moved to Paris in 1945 and he stayed there until his death

bull His literature addressed the necessity of getting African Americans to see their place in the socio economic system

bull He died on November 28 1960

bull His works include o ldquoBlueprint for Negro Writingrdquo (1937) o Uncle Tomrsquos Children (1938) o Uncle Tomrsquos Cabin (1940) o Twelve Million Black Voices (1941) o ldquoI Tried to be a Communistrdquo (1944) o Black Boy (1945) o Black Power A Record of Reactions in a Land of Pathos (1954) o Savage Holiday (1954) o White Man Listen (1957) o The Long Dram 1958)

Richard Wright

1908-1960

bull He was born in Roxie Mississippi on September 4 1908 to Nathan and Ella Wright

bull His father abandoned the family and his mother fell ill during his youth He moved from family member to

family member at one point he was in foster care

bull His deeply religious maternal family members left him skeptical of religion

bull In many ways he educated himself through reading His favorite writers included Theodore Dreiser Sherwood Anderson Marcel Proust Henry James and Gertrude Stein

bull He migrated to Chicago in 1927 where he took various jobs

bull From the early 1930 until 1942 he was part of the Communist Party He left the movement because of their weak approach to racial issues

bull Native Son made him both a critical and commercial success It sold 200000 copies during the first three weeks For that text he won a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Spingarn Medal

bull He moved to Paris in 1945 and he stayed there until his death

bull His literature addressed the necessity of getting African Americans to see their place in the socio economic system

bull He died on November 28 1960

bull His works include o ldquoBlueprint for Negro Writingrdquo (1937) o Uncle Tomrsquos Children (1938) o Uncle Tomrsquos Cabin (1940) o Twelve Million Black Voices (1941) o ldquoI Tried to be a Communistrdquo (1944) o Black Boy (1945) o Black Power A Record of Reactions in a Land of Pathos (1954) o Savage Holiday (1954) o White Man Listen (1957) o The Long Dram 1958)

James Baldwin

1924-1987

Baldwin was born in Harlem on August 2 1924 to Emma Jones who was an unmarried His mother

later married David Baldwin who was a store front preacher As a child he was a evangelist celebrated for his energetic sermons In adulthood he renounced

Christianity

To escape a difficult home life be began reading and writing as a child

As a young writer Richard Wright was his mentor He was critical of Wright and all protest fiction This lead to a break with his mentor

In 1948 frustrated with the social conditions of the United Statesmdashhomophobia and racismmdashhe moved to Paris He stayed there until 1957 returning to join the Civil Rights Movement After the movement ended he returned to Paris for the remainder of his life

He was a multifaceted artist His mediums included childrenrsquos books playwright short story writer easiest and script writer

He believed that in order for America to fulfill its promise it had to address its racist legacy as well as its legacy of puritanical repression

He died on November 30 1987

His works include o Got Tell It on the Mountain (1953) o Notes on a Native Son (1955) o Giovannirsquos Room (1956) o Nobody Knows My Name (1961) o Another Country (1962) o Fire Next Time (1963) o Going to Meet the Man (1965) o Just Above My Head (1979)

Ralph Ellison

1914-1994

Ellison was born on March 1 1914 to Lewis Ellison and Ida Millsap in Oklahoma City His father died

when he was three he his mother and brother lived in poverty

He was a student of music and music theory He entered Tuskegee Institute in 1933 in pursuit of conservatory training However financial woes and displeasure with the environment resulted withdrawal from the college

He traveled to Harlem where he met Locke and Hughes who introduced him to Richard Wright who became a friend and mentor

He published Invisible Man in 1952 This novel was cast as the quintessential American novel from the African American experience He was a National Book Award in 1953

Throughout his life he served as a college professor He was a prolific literary and cultural critic

He explores the connection between the blues and literature Though he was partial to left leaning politics he was critical of Marxism Though he seemed to believe that African American art was innately political he saw himself as an artist first He was critical of Wrightrsquos naturalist view of African American life

On April 16 1994 he died of cancer

His works include o Invisible Man (1952) o Shadow and Act (1964) o Going to Territory ( 1986) o Juneteenth (Posthumously 1999)

Ernest Gaines

b 1933

bull Gaines was born on January 15 1933 to Manuel and Adrienne Gaines in Louisiana

bull He grew up in the quarters in a small Louisiana town He joined his mother and stepfather in California

during his teenage years

bull He spent two years in the army and graduated from San Francisco State College in 1957

bull In his fiction he created a fictional Louisiana parish called Bayonne He explores the culture of his region He works to have his characters present history from their own perspective He also explores black masculinity and father-son relationships

bull His works include o Catherine Cramer (1964) o Bloodline (1968) o The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1971) o In My Fatherrsquos House (1978) o A Gathering of Old Men (1983) o A Lesson Before Dying (1993)

Addison Gayle

bull He was born on June 2 1932 in Newport News Virginia

bull He was one of the most prolific articulators of what the Black Arts Movement was and why it

was important

bull He was a longtime professor of English He spent many years teach at City University of New York

bull He say artistic sensibility as being inextricably lined to social and political fights for equality

bull He died on October 3 1991

bull His works include

o Black Expression Essays by and About Black Americans in the Creative Arts (1969) o The Black Situation (1970) o Bondage Freedom and Beyond (1971) o The Black Aesthetic (1971) o The Way of the New World The Black Novel in America (1975) o Wayward Child A Personal Odyssey (1977

Ralph Ellison

1914-1994

Ellison was born on March 1 1914 to Lewis Ellison and Ida Millsap in Oklahoma City His father died

when he was three he his mother and brother lived in poverty

He was a student of music and music theory He entered Tuskegee Institute in 1933 in pursuit of conservatory training However financial woes and displeasure with the environment resulted withdrawal from the college

He traveled to Harlem where he met Locke and Hughes who introduced him to Richard Wright who became a friend and mentor

He published Invisible Man in 1952 This novel was cast as the quintessential American novel from the African American experience He was a National Book Award in 1953

Throughout his life he served as a college professor He was a prolific literary and cultural critic

He explores the connection between the blues and literature Though he was partial to left leaning politics he was critical of Marxism Though he seemed to believe that African American art was innately political he saw himself as an artist first He was critical of Wrightrsquos naturalist view of African American life

On April 16 1994 he died of cancer

His works include o Invisible Man (1952) o Shadow and Act (1964) o Going to Territory ( 1986) o Juneteenth (Posthumously 1999)

Ernest Gaines

b 1933

bull Gaines was born on January 15 1933 to Manuel and Adrienne Gaines in Louisiana

bull He grew up in the quarters in a small Louisiana town He joined his mother and stepfather in California

during his teenage years

bull He spent two years in the army and graduated from San Francisco State College in 1957

bull In his fiction he created a fictional Louisiana parish called Bayonne He explores the culture of his region He works to have his characters present history from their own perspective He also explores black masculinity and father-son relationships

bull His works include o Catherine Cramer (1964) o Bloodline (1968) o The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1971) o In My Fatherrsquos House (1978) o A Gathering of Old Men (1983) o A Lesson Before Dying (1993)

Addison Gayle

bull He was born on June 2 1932 in Newport News Virginia

bull He was one of the most prolific articulators of what the Black Arts Movement was and why it

was important

bull He was a longtime professor of English He spent many years teach at City University of New York

bull He say artistic sensibility as being inextricably lined to social and political fights for equality

bull He died on October 3 1991

bull His works include

o Black Expression Essays by and About Black Americans in the Creative Arts (1969) o The Black Situation (1970) o Bondage Freedom and Beyond (1971) o The Black Aesthetic (1971) o The Way of the New World The Black Novel in America (1975) o Wayward Child A Personal Odyssey (1977

Ernest Gaines

b 1933

bull Gaines was born on January 15 1933 to Manuel and Adrienne Gaines in Louisiana

bull He grew up in the quarters in a small Louisiana town He joined his mother and stepfather in California

during his teenage years

bull He spent two years in the army and graduated from San Francisco State College in 1957

bull In his fiction he created a fictional Louisiana parish called Bayonne He explores the culture of his region He works to have his characters present history from their own perspective He also explores black masculinity and father-son relationships

bull His works include o Catherine Cramer (1964) o Bloodline (1968) o The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1971) o In My Fatherrsquos House (1978) o A Gathering of Old Men (1983) o A Lesson Before Dying (1993)

Addison Gayle

bull He was born on June 2 1932 in Newport News Virginia

bull He was one of the most prolific articulators of what the Black Arts Movement was and why it

was important

bull He was a longtime professor of English He spent many years teach at City University of New York

bull He say artistic sensibility as being inextricably lined to social and political fights for equality

bull He died on October 3 1991

bull His works include

o Black Expression Essays by and About Black Americans in the Creative Arts (1969) o The Black Situation (1970) o Bondage Freedom and Beyond (1971) o The Black Aesthetic (1971) o The Way of the New World The Black Novel in America (1975) o Wayward Child A Personal Odyssey (1977

Addison Gayle

bull He was born on June 2 1932 in Newport News Virginia

bull He was one of the most prolific articulators of what the Black Arts Movement was and why it

was important

bull He was a longtime professor of English He spent many years teach at City University of New York

bull He say artistic sensibility as being inextricably lined to social and political fights for equality

bull He died on October 3 1991

bull His works include

o Black Expression Essays by and About Black Americans in the Creative Arts (1969) o The Black Situation (1970) o Bondage Freedom and Beyond (1971) o The Black Aesthetic (1971) o The Way of the New World The Black Novel in America (1975) o Wayward Child A Personal Odyssey (1977

Larry Neal

1937-1981

bull He was born on September 5 1937 in Atlanta Georgia

bull He was a profess at City College of New York He also taught at Yale for a brief period of time

bull He was an essayist literary critic poet and playwright He was very active in the Black Arts Movement He was known for his sharp critical eye He helped shape the movement

bull He died on January 6 1981

bull His works include

o Black Fire An Anthology of Afro-American Writing (1968) o Trippin A Need for Change (1969) o Black Boogaloo Notes on Black Liberation (1969) o Moving On Up (1973) o Hoodoo Hollerin Bebop Ghosts (1974) o The Glorious Monster in the Bell of the Horn) (1979) o In an Upstate Motel A Morality Play (1980) o Visions of a Liberated Future Black Arts Movement Writings (1989)

Amiri Baraka

1934-2014

He was born LeRoi Jones to a middle class family on October 7 1934 in Newark New Jersey

He was smart though disciplinarily challenged child who graduated high school at the age of fifteen

He entered Howard University in 1952 but chafing under what he viewed as a bourgeois culture he

failed out of college

He served in the air force for a time but he was dishonorably discharged in 1957

He became enamored with the Beats Culture and he moved to Greenwich Village where he became a literary critic

A visit to Cuba in 1960 was a catalyst for major personal and political change for Baraka

After the assassination of Malcolm X Jones changed his name to Amiri Baraka converted to Islam left his wife and children embraced Black Nationalism and moved to Harlem

He founded Spirit House an organization that promoted the arts He was a professor at SUNY Stony Brook He was also active in promoting African American politicians

He was one of the shapers of the Black Arts Movement While he was a very complicated and controversial figure he stayed true to Black Arts principles throughout the remainder of his life

He died on January 9 2014

His works include o Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note (1961) o Cuba Libre (1961) o The Dutchman (1964) o The Slave (1964) o Black Fire Anthology of Afro-American Writing (1968) o Somebody Blew Up America And Other Poems (2003) o Tales of the Out amp the Gone (2006)

Audrey Lorde

She was born on February 18 1934 Her parents were from the Caribbean She began publishing while she was in high school In 1959 she graduated from Hunter College with a bachelorrsquos degree She earned a Masterrsquos degree from Columbia University Her poetic sensibility was at its height during the 1960s She embraced her hybridized identity as a women African American feminist lover and mother She felt that all marginalized people should articulate their experiences in an effort to combat invisibility During the last years of her life she changed her name to Gamba Adisa moved to the Caribbean and embraced Pan Africanism She died on November 17 1992 Her works include

bull The First Cities (1968) bull Cables to Rage (1970) bull Between Our Selves (1976) bull Hanging Fire (1978) bull The Black Unicorn (1978) bull Zami A New Spelling of My Name (1983) bull Sister Outsider Essays and Speeches (1986) bull The Marvelous Arithmetics of Distance (1993)

Gwendolyn Brooks

She was born on June 7 1917 in Topeka Kansas Her parents Keziah Wims and David Brooks raised her in Chicago She began publishing at the age of thirteen She earned a degree from Wilson Junior College in 1936 Though she was already a celebrated author winning a Pulitzer Prize in 1950 she was inspired at a conference in Nashville when she met Baraka Neal and others in the Black Arts Movement She saw her purpose as reaching out to African Americans She died December 2 2000 Her works include

bull Maude Martha (1953) bull The Bean Eaters (1961) bull In the Mecca (1968) bull Primer for Blacks (1981) bull Black Love (1981)

Nikki Giovanni

She was born Yolande Giovanni Jr in Knoxville Tennessee on June 7 1943 She is known for verse that contains intense militancy and revolutionary rhetoric rhetoric She has taught literature at Rutgers Ohio State and Virginia Tech Her works include

bull Black Feeling Black Talk (1967) bull Black Judgement (1968) bull Re Creation (1970) bull My House (1972) bull The Women and The Men (1975) bull Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day (1978) bull Those Who Ride The Night Winds (1983) bull Knoxville Tennessee (1994))

Audrey Lorde

She was born on February 18 1934 Her parents were from the Caribbean She began publishing while she was in high school In 1959 she graduated from Hunter College with a bachelorrsquos degree She earned a Masterrsquos degree from Columbia University Her poetic sensibility was at its height during the 1960s She embraced her hybridized identity as a women African American feminist lover and mother She felt that all marginalized people should articulate their experiences in an effort to combat invisibility During the last years of her life she changed her name to Gamba Adisa moved to the Caribbean and embraced Pan Africanism She died on November 17 1992 Her works include

bull The First Cities (1968) bull Cables to Rage (1970) bull Between Our Selves (1976) bull Hanging Fire (1978) bull The Black Unicorn (1978) bull Zami A New Spelling of My Name (1983) bull Sister Outsider Essays and Speeches (1986) bull The Marvelous Arithmetics of Distance (1993)

Gwendolyn Brooks

She was born on June 7 1917 in Topeka Kansas Her parents Keziah Wims and David Brooks raised her in Chicago She began publishing at the age of thirteen She earned a degree from Wilson Junior College in 1936 Though she was already a celebrated author winning a Pulitzer Prize in 1950 she was inspired at a conference in Nashville when she met Baraka Neal and others in the Black Arts Movement She saw her purpose as reaching out to African Americans She died December 2 2000 Her works include

bull Maude Martha (1953) bull The Bean Eaters (1961) bull In the Mecca (1968) bull Primer for Blacks (1981) bull Black Love (1981)

Nikki Giovanni

She was born Yolande Giovanni Jr in Knoxville Tennessee on June 7 1943 She is known for verse that contains intense militancy and revolutionary rhetoric rhetoric She has taught literature at Rutgers Ohio State and Virginia Tech Her works include

bull Black Feeling Black Talk (1967) bull Black Judgement (1968) bull Re Creation (1970) bull My House (1972) bull The Women and The Men (1975) bull Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day (1978) bull Those Who Ride The Night Winds (1983) bull Knoxville Tennessee (1994))

Toni Morrison

Born 1931

bull She was born Chole Anthony Wofford in Loran Ohio in 1931

bull She attended Howard University studying English and the Classics She graduated in 1953 She earned

her masterrsquos degree from Cornell University

bull For almost twenty years she worked as an editor at Random House She published many young African American writers

bull In 1993 she won a Nobel Prize for Literature she was the first African American to do so She was also the first African American since Richard Wright to win the National Book Critics Award

bull In her literature she explores the dangerous psychological and physical effects to oppression whether that oppression comes in the form of racism sexism or class exploitation She also believes that good literature marries political and aesthetic sensibilities Her literature draws from the American literary past classic literature and African American folk culturefolklore

bull Her works include o The Bluest Eye (1970) o Sula (1973) o Song of Solomon (1977) o Tar Baby (1981) o Beloved (1987) o Playing in the Dark (1991) o Jazz (1991) o Love (2003) o A Mercy (2008) o Home (2012) o God Help the Child (2015)

Rita Dove

She was born in Akron Ohio on August 28 1952 She was a gifted student She was a Presidential Scholar Fulbright Scholar and participant in the Iowa Writerrsquos Workshop She won a Pulitzer Prize for her work Thomas and Beulah She became the nationrsquos youngest Poet Laureate in 1993 She likes incorporate other artistic mediums into her poetry Her works explore politics and history as well Her works include

bull The Yellow Thomas and Beulah (1986) bull House on the Corner (1980) bull Through the Ivory Gate (1992) bull The Darker Face of the Earth (1996) bull On the Bus with Rosa Parks (1999) bull American Smooth (2004) bull Sonata Mulattica (2009)

Yusef Komunyakaa

He was born on April 29 1947 in Louisiana He attended the University of Colorado and he earned MA from Colorado State University and a MFA from the University of California Irvine He served in Vietnam He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1994 for his work Neon Vernacular New an Selected Poems His works are simple Much of his material is autobiographical

His works include

bull Magic City (1992) bull Neon Vernacular New amp Selected Poems (1994) bull Thieves of Paradise (1998) bull Taboo The Wishbone Trilogy Part 1 (2006) bull The Emperor of Water Clocks (2015)

Patricia Smith

She as born on June 25 1955 in Chicago Illinois She has worked as a journalist and creative writing teacher She became a Guggenheim Fellow in 2014 Her works include

bull Janna and the Kings (2003) bull Teahouse of the Almighty ( 2005) bull Africans in America (1999 bull Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah (2012)

Terrance Hayes

He was born on November 18 1971 in Columbia SC He attended both Coker College and the University of Pittsburgh where he earned his MFA He confronts the politics of masculinity and race He integrates music and popular elements of contemporary culture into his works as well His works include

bull Muscular Music (1999) bull Hip Logic (2002) bull Wind in a Box (2006) bull Lighthead (2010) bull How to Be Drawn (2015)

Percival Everett

1956-Present

He was born on December 22 1956 in Fort Gordon Georgia to Percival and Dorothy Everett

He earned his bachelorrsquos degree in Philosophy from the University of Miami and he earned his MA in creative

writing from Brown University

He currently works at the University of Southern California

He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2015 He is a short story writer novelist and poet He writes westerns as well

His Philosophy

o I canrsquot represent African-Americans No one canrdquo and ldquoI do not pretend to represent anyone but myselfrdquomdashFrom ldquoSigning to the Blindrdquo

o ldquoWriting is by its very nature subversive As a disenfranchised people one of the legacies is that the subversion [sic] [of] our writing is political Even when our work seeks to be something else it is a reaction to the position in which we and our works have been placedrdquomdash From ldquoUncategorizable Is Still A Categoryrdquo

o ldquoWriting is not just the putting of words on paper but also the getting of the works to a community A community not a public The public is the nameless sexless raceless horde that the media tells us has a need to knowrdquomdashFrom ldquoSigning to the Blindrdquo

His works include

o Suder (1983) o Walk Me to the Distance (1985) o Gods Country a novel (1994) o Frenzy (1997) o Glyph a novel (1999) o Erasure a novel (2001) o Damned if I do Stories (2004) o A History of the African-American people (proposed) by Strom Thurmond as told to Percival Everett and James

Kincaid ) (2004) o Assumption A Novel (2011)

Rita Dove

She was born in Akron Ohio on August 28 1952 She was a gifted student She was a Presidential Scholar Fulbright Scholar and participant in the Iowa Writerrsquos Workshop She won a Pulitzer Prize for her work Thomas and Beulah She became the nationrsquos youngest Poet Laureate in 1993 She likes incorporate other artistic mediums into her poetry Her works explore politics and history as well Her works include

bull The Yellow Thomas and Beulah (1986) bull House on the Corner (1980) bull Through the Ivory Gate (1992) bull The Darker Face of the Earth (1996) bull On the Bus with Rosa Parks (1999) bull American Smooth (2004) bull Sonata Mulattica (2009)

Yusef Komunyakaa

He was born on April 29 1947 in Louisiana He attended the University of Colorado and he earned MA from Colorado State University and a MFA from the University of California Irvine He served in Vietnam He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1994 for his work Neon Vernacular New an Selected Poems His works are simple Much of his material is autobiographical

His works include

bull Magic City (1992) bull Neon Vernacular New amp Selected Poems (1994) bull Thieves of Paradise (1998) bull Taboo The Wishbone Trilogy Part 1 (2006) bull The Emperor of Water Clocks (2015)

Patricia Smith

She as born on June 25 1955 in Chicago Illinois She has worked as a journalist and creative writing teacher She became a Guggenheim Fellow in 2014 Her works include

bull Janna and the Kings (2003) bull Teahouse of the Almighty ( 2005) bull Africans in America (1999 bull Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah (2012)

Terrance Hayes

He was born on November 18 1971 in Columbia SC He attended both Coker College and the University of Pittsburgh where he earned his MFA He confronts the politics of masculinity and race He integrates music and popular elements of contemporary culture into his works as well His works include

bull Muscular Music (1999) bull Hip Logic (2002) bull Wind in a Box (2006) bull Lighthead (2010) bull How to Be Drawn (2015)

Percival Everett

1956-Present

He was born on December 22 1956 in Fort Gordon Georgia to Percival and Dorothy Everett

He earned his bachelorrsquos degree in Philosophy from the University of Miami and he earned his MA in creative

writing from Brown University

He currently works at the University of Southern California

He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2015 He is a short story writer novelist and poet He writes westerns as well

His Philosophy

o I canrsquot represent African-Americans No one canrdquo and ldquoI do not pretend to represent anyone but myselfrdquomdashFrom ldquoSigning to the Blindrdquo

o ldquoWriting is by its very nature subversive As a disenfranchised people one of the legacies is that the subversion [sic] [of] our writing is political Even when our work seeks to be something else it is a reaction to the position in which we and our works have been placedrdquomdash From ldquoUncategorizable Is Still A Categoryrdquo

o ldquoWriting is not just the putting of words on paper but also the getting of the works to a community A community not a public The public is the nameless sexless raceless horde that the media tells us has a need to knowrdquomdashFrom ldquoSigning to the Blindrdquo

His works include

o Suder (1983) o Walk Me to the Distance (1985) o Gods Country a novel (1994) o Frenzy (1997) o Glyph a novel (1999) o Erasure a novel (2001) o Damned if I do Stories (2004) o A History of the African-American people (proposed) by Strom Thurmond as told to Percival Everett and James

Kincaid ) (2004) o Assumption A Novel (2011)

Patricia Smith

She as born on June 25 1955 in Chicago Illinois She has worked as a journalist and creative writing teacher She became a Guggenheim Fellow in 2014 Her works include

bull Janna and the Kings (2003) bull Teahouse of the Almighty ( 2005) bull Africans in America (1999 bull Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah (2012)

Terrance Hayes

He was born on November 18 1971 in Columbia SC He attended both Coker College and the University of Pittsburgh where he earned his MFA He confronts the politics of masculinity and race He integrates music and popular elements of contemporary culture into his works as well His works include

bull Muscular Music (1999) bull Hip Logic (2002) bull Wind in a Box (2006) bull Lighthead (2010) bull How to Be Drawn (2015)

Percival Everett

1956-Present

He was born on December 22 1956 in Fort Gordon Georgia to Percival and Dorothy Everett

He earned his bachelorrsquos degree in Philosophy from the University of Miami and he earned his MA in creative

writing from Brown University

He currently works at the University of Southern California

He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2015 He is a short story writer novelist and poet He writes westerns as well

His Philosophy

o I canrsquot represent African-Americans No one canrdquo and ldquoI do not pretend to represent anyone but myselfrdquomdashFrom ldquoSigning to the Blindrdquo

o ldquoWriting is by its very nature subversive As a disenfranchised people one of the legacies is that the subversion [sic] [of] our writing is political Even when our work seeks to be something else it is a reaction to the position in which we and our works have been placedrdquomdash From ldquoUncategorizable Is Still A Categoryrdquo

o ldquoWriting is not just the putting of words on paper but also the getting of the works to a community A community not a public The public is the nameless sexless raceless horde that the media tells us has a need to knowrdquomdashFrom ldquoSigning to the Blindrdquo

His works include

o Suder (1983) o Walk Me to the Distance (1985) o Gods Country a novel (1994) o Frenzy (1997) o Glyph a novel (1999) o Erasure a novel (2001) o Damned if I do Stories (2004) o A History of the African-American people (proposed) by Strom Thurmond as told to Percival Everett and James

Kincaid ) (2004) o Assumption A Novel (2011)

Percival Everett

1956-Present

He was born on December 22 1956 in Fort Gordon Georgia to Percival and Dorothy Everett

He earned his bachelorrsquos degree in Philosophy from the University of Miami and he earned his MA in creative

writing from Brown University

He currently works at the University of Southern California

He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2015 He is a short story writer novelist and poet He writes westerns as well

His Philosophy

o I canrsquot represent African-Americans No one canrdquo and ldquoI do not pretend to represent anyone but myselfrdquomdashFrom ldquoSigning to the Blindrdquo

o ldquoWriting is by its very nature subversive As a disenfranchised people one of the legacies is that the subversion [sic] [of] our writing is political Even when our work seeks to be something else it is a reaction to the position in which we and our works have been placedrdquomdash From ldquoUncategorizable Is Still A Categoryrdquo

o ldquoWriting is not just the putting of words on paper but also the getting of the works to a community A community not a public The public is the nameless sexless raceless horde that the media tells us has a need to knowrdquomdashFrom ldquoSigning to the Blindrdquo

His works include

o Suder (1983) o Walk Me to the Distance (1985) o Gods Country a novel (1994) o Frenzy (1997) o Glyph a novel (1999) o Erasure a novel (2001) o Damned if I do Stories (2004) o A History of the African-American people (proposed) by Strom Thurmond as told to Percival Everett and James

Kincaid ) (2004) o Assumption A Novel (2011)