Category: Black History Month

Black History Month: Twelve Years a Slave

10/11/2014

by Hayley Charlesworth

Before this year’s Oscar-winning adaptation of Solomon Northup’s memoirs, Twelve Years a Slave wasn’t a huge work in the public consciousness. Sure, those with a vested interest in African-American history were aware of Northup’s story, but it wasn’t the account of slavery on everybody’s lips until a faithful and devastating adaptation from Steve McQueen. Luckily, Twelve Years a Slave is now in the spotlight as one of the most important, affecting, and accurate accounts of the darkest part of America’s history.

Black History Month: Passing

10/10/2014

by Sarah Wagner

Tragic, complex and enlightening, Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel, Passing, explores the complexities of racial and sexual identity through the tumultuous relationship between two mixed-race women, Irene Redfield and Claire Kendry.

Black History Month: The Three Musketeers

10/9/2014

by Cookie N Screen

Dr. King Schultz: Actually, I was thinking of that poor devil you fed to the dogs today, D'Artagnan. And I was wondering what Dumas would make of all this.

Calvin Candie: Come again?

Dr. King Schultz: Alexander Dumas. He wrote "The Three Musketeers." I figured you must be an admirer. You named your slave after his novel's lead character. If Alexander Dumas had been there today, I wonder what he would have made of it?

Calvin Candie: You doubt he'd approve?

Dr. King Schultz: Yes. His approval would be a dubious proposition at best.

Calvin Candie: Soft hearted Frenchy?

Dr. King Schultz: Alexander Dumas was black.

This is an exchange from last year’s phenomenal Quentin Tarantino’s Western Django Unchained, which shocked a mostly ignorant audience watching, myself included and the fact had caused a trickle of confusion to kneed my brow. The author of one of the most famous French romps of literature history was, indeed, black. Descended from slavery, Alexandre Dumas was a literary icon who strived in his excellence and become a name on the wagging tongues of aristocracy, in a time where his skin colour and race where made mockery and treated inhumanely. Yet he has provided us with a book so undeniably good and rousing that it’s legacy still lives on.

Black History Month: Author Corner - Malorie Blackman

10/8/2014

By Ellie Bowker

Malorie Blackman is a British writer who primarily writes literature for children and young adults. Born in Clapham, London, she had aspirations to become an English teacher but then became a systems programmer instead. Blackman earned a Higher National Certificate at Thames Polytechnic and is also a graduate of the National Film and Television School. Her first book, titled Not So Stupid, was a collection of horror and science fiction stories for young adults and this was publish in November 1990. Since then, Malorie Blackman has written over 60 children’s books including novels, short stories and also television scripts and stage plays.

Black History Month: Author Corner - Maya Angelou

10/7/2014

by Cookie N Screen

This year, we lost a true poet. No, wait, we lost a true humanitarian. No, wait, we lost the ultimate modern culture icon who helped pave the way for rights as well as a wagging her tongue round evocative verses that portrayed the pain of her past with the mind of the present and the hope of the future. The death of Maya Angelou ricocheted across the globes and the nations she had brought together with her astute, vibrant and beautiful written work. As a voice for her generation, as well as an active role in revolution, Angelou graced this world with her intellect and talent. Let's be sycophantic, and rightly so, Angelou was indeed her namesake and then some; a goddess to grace this Earth.

Black History Month: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

10/6/2014

by Hayley Charlesworth

There are works of literature, and especially memoirs, that are so influential and so affecting that a straightforward review will never do them justice. The memoirs of Maya Angelou, and in particular her first volume, are such books. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which details the early life of one of the most remarkable people in the fight for civil rights, is a triumph, able to connect with all readers on a deep, emotional level. With Angelou’s passing earlier in 2014, it seems like an especially poignant time to explore her story.