Edited by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson
4 stars
A fantastic collection of poems, essays, short stories, comics, visual art, and historical excerpts that center on Black life in America, Black achievement, and Black identity.
I really enjoyed the variety in this collection. There are pieces from contemporary authors as well as historical pieces from Frederick Douglass, Daisy Bates, and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper.
The collection also ranges in topics from personal identity to sports heroes, historical trauma to folklore, activism to accomplishments both historical and personal. I loved the variety of topics centered around common themes.
Also includes 8 full-color art pieces, all of which are fantastic. I especially enjoyed Floyd Cooper’s America Doesn’t Love Us Back, London Ladd’s Breonna Taylor, Remember Her Name!, Ekua Holmes’ E Pluribus, and Vanessa Brantley Newton’s Empowered Reader.
Some of my favorite written entries include Jerdine Nolen’s “Coloring Outside the Lines”, Lesa Cline-Ransome’s “At Our Kitchen Table”, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper’s “The Slave Mother”, Robert H. Miller’s “My Hero is a Black Cowboy”, Cheryl Willis Hudson and Wade Hudson’s “Mary McLeod Bethune’s ‘Last Will and Testament'”, and Alicia D. Williams’ “The Devil in the Flowers”
The backmatter includes notes from the artists, biographies of the historical figures, contributor bios, more information about the Black Lives Matter Movement, and a list of sources.
Affirming, powerful, and engaging, this is a wonderful collection from a great group of artists and writers. Definitely recommend.