50 Black Writers Whose Impact Went Beyond the Page
By Rachel Cavanaugh, Stacker News
On 2/23/21 at 8:00 PM EST
Harris & Ewing/Interim Archives/Getty
African American authors have created a rich body of literature: fiction and nonfiction, essays, poetry, scholarly articles and more. The narratives they ve added to American storytelling have shifted perspectives and prompted fresh conversations; their writing has shaped how the Black experience is viewed and understood in America by readers of all races and backgrounds.
In the 19th century, African American literature was driven by narratives of slavery, many told from the perspective of escaped slaves such as Harriet Jacobs or Frederick Douglass. In the 1920s, as Black artists and intellectuals emerged following the Great Migration, the Harlem Renaissance produced a generation of authors who addressed issues of racism and segregation. By the middle of the century, Black authors played an important role in laying the foundatio
When Julian DeShazier, a 37-year-old Black pastor, marches in Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests, he removes his clerical collar – a symbol of authority – and follows the instructions of organisers, many of whom are younger than him, and many of whom are women.
DeShazier and members of his Hyde Park University Church in Chicago, Illinois, decided that the youth, whom he describes as “faithful, but secular”, are “best positioned to lead this movement right now”. The role of the Church is “to be supportive of them in offering ourselves in the ways they show us they need us and to fill in the gaps as well.”
Detroit s Black history should be shouted from the rooftops freep.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from freep.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Civil rights to the White House: Black leaders who blazed trails in US politics and changed American history
By Chris Williams article
The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial is shown in the early morning light on Martin Luther King Day January 15, 2018 in Washington DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The Civil Rights Movement marked a pivotal turning point in Black history. First gaining traction in the 1950s with Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, civil rights advocates demonstrated, protested and remained steadfast in the fight for equality between communities.
Advocates for equality knew their work wasn’t in vain when the U.S. elected its first Black president in 2008 and then elected its first female and Black vice president in 2020 both historic moments.