We look to our elders to demonstrate another way of being in this broken world, extending our circle of commitment to the person in front of us, or to a group of people, like she did with Palestinian people. June taught us it is important to practice self-love, to show commitment to your community and to extend that care to those struggling for justice around the world.
On Gene Andrew Jarrett’s “Paul Laurence Dunbar”
Los Angeles Review of Books
During his lifetime, Paul Laurence Dunbar, an African American, was among the most famous poets in the United States. It is one of the great paradoxes of the early Jim Crow era. This biography sheds new light on the writer's life and work.
Alice Walker is often an autobiographical writer, even in her fiction; the main character in “The Color Purple,” Celie, is based on her grandmother. Now, by publishing her journals, she has invited the world into some of her most private moments.
In the 30s and 40s, Langston Hughes wrote poetic tributes to the working class and socialist leaders worldwide. Some critics allege he abandoned his principles later in life, but they ignore the role of McCarthyist oppression and Hughes’s resistance.
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