Tag Archives: Malcolm X

Malcolm X’s Reading

Posted on April 6, 2014 by wcd2

April 3, 2014 I’m always a little suspicious when people make a big point about what books they’ve read, when they throw around big name like Schopenhauer, Kant, Nietzsche. But Malcolm is pretty scrupulous. Of Herodotus, he writes: “I … Continue reading →

Posted in African-American literature, Prison | Tagged Aesop, Herodotus, Kant, Malcolm X, Mendel, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, Spinoza, Will Durant | Leave a comment

Passing On: Amiri Baraka, Suzan-Lori Parks, Claudia Rankine

Posted on January 22, 2014 by wcd2

January 22, 2014 James Baldwin probably felt a tinge of jealousy at the sight of Amiri Baraka, Maya Angelou, and Toni Morrison at his funeral. Thousands of people there, and those three in particular, so eloquent in their tribute, but … Continue reading →

Posted in African-American literature, collaboration, contemporary poetry, jazz, Music, Theater | Tagged Amiri Baraka, Claudia Rankine, Danny Glover, Diane Paulus, Diedre Murray, Dodge Poetry Fest, James Baldwin, Jesse Jackson, Langston Hughes, Malcolm X, Martin Espada, Maya Angelou, Sonia Sanchez, Stephen Sondheim, Suzan-Lori Parks, Toni Medina, Toni Morrison, Tony Hoagland | Leave a comment

New James Baldwin letters

Posted on January 1, 2014 by wcd2

January 1, 2014 The 100 letters recently acquired by the Beinecke Library are not to famous people, just Baldwin’s friends. The letters to Painter began in 1954, when his play “The Amen Corner” opened at Howard, and came up to 1964, … Continue reading →

Posted in African-American literature, Europe, Friendship, Libraries, Turkey, Twentieth century literature | Tagged Another Country, Beinecke Library, David Leeming, Ernest Hemingway, Eugene Lerner, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Invisible Man, Istanbul, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, Malcolm X, Martha Gellhorn, Martin Luther King, Mary Painter, Medgar Evers, No Name in the Street, Ralph Ellison, Rosa Parks, The Fire Next Time, The Panther and the Lash | Leave a comment

March on Washington: unsung

Posted on August 28, 2013 by wcd2

August 28, 2013 No, not literally unsung. In fact, the most memorable moments at the microphone, other than Martin Luther King’s “I had a Dream” speech, featured singers: Mahalia Jackson; Marian Anderson; Peter, Paul and Mary; Joan Baez and … Continue reading →

Posted in African-American literature, African-American music, Journalism, Media, Music, Twentieth century literature | Tagged Bob Dylan, Ghana, James Baldwin, Joan Baez, Langston Hughes, Mahalia Jackson, Malcolm X, March on Washington, Marian Anderson, Martin Luther King, Norman Mailer, Odetta, Paul and Mary, Peter, Ralph Ellison, Richard Wright, The Armies of the Night, W. E. B. Du Bois | 2 Comments

Frederick Douglass, H.D.: Egypt Again

Posted on January 2, 2013 by wcd2

Janurary 2, 2013 She never mentioned him and probably never read him. Still, he anticipated her. Visiting Egypt in 1887, Douglass wrote: “I do not know of what color and features the ancient Egyptians were, but the great mass of … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, ancient Greece, Christianity, Classics, Comparative literature, Egypt, Gender, Global South, Islam, Modernist poetry, Poetry, Race, slavery, Translation, Twentieth century literature, Wars, world literature | Tagged Egypt, Frederick Douglass, Greeks, H.D., Islam, Malcolm X, Petition for franchise for women, Seneca Falls Convention, Stesichorus of Sicily, Trojans | Leave a comment