RIP African American children's book author Walter Dean Myers

Walter Dean Myers

August 12, 1937 – July 1, 2014

USA Today says:

"Whenever Walter Dean Myers wrote a book — and he published nearly 100 of them for children and teens — he would ask his wife, Connie, to assemble a collage of related images that he hung above his desk.

'I like to look up and have my characters looking back at me,' Myers told USA TODAY in a 2008 interview at his home in Jersey City.

Myers, whose award-winning novels and non-fiction chronicled urban life, war and African-American history, died Tuesday at the age of 76.

His gritty and realistic novels for teens include Fallen Angels (1988) about the Vietnam War, Sunrise Over Fallujah (2008) about the Iraq war and Monster (1998) about a 16-year-old boy charged with murder.

Myers is survived by his wife and two sons. Several books by Myers are forthcoming, including Juba!, (to be released in April 2015), a novel for teens based on the life of a young African American dancer."

Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2014/07/02/walter-dean-myers/12107821/

The Man from Essence and the challenges of building a black magazine

Essence is a popular magazine for African American women.  If you are a black woman, at some point during your life you have heard about, seen, or even read at least one of the issues from the magazine. 

I remember whenever I went to get my hair done in Atlanta, there was always a copy of the magazine on the tables.  My mom had a collection of old Essence and Ebony magazines.  I especially loved these magazines because I could see all the beautiful and hard working black men and women across America.  Every cover portrayed a strong black female (and sometimes a black male) and it encouraged me to believe that I  could also grow up to be a success.  There's no value that can be placed on the importance of showing positive role models to the black community.

It's amazing to think about how long the magazine has been around.  Right after the Civil Right's movement, in 1969 the magazine started when a few business people of color decided to ban together.  As Capital Public Radio said,

"Today, it's a reading staple in many African-American households, doctors' offices, hair salons and other places black women gather. While Essence has undergone several changes over the years ... it is still a place where black women can turn to see diverse images of themselves, read about their most pressing concerns and see the latest trends in fashion and beauty."

And I hope Essence will continue to provide the black community and world with images of strong black leaders and stars for many more years to come.

Check out the new book:
The Man from Essence: Creating a Magazine for Black Women

Source: http://www.capradio.org/news/npr/story?storyid=320997345

List of ten books by African authors

The beautiful things that heaven bears by Dinaw Mengestu






 Tears of the Gireaffe by Alexander McCall Smith



Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe




Girls at War by Chinua Achebe




Half of a yellow sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie










Americanhah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie





So long a letter by Matiama Ba







The Stranger Albert Camus






The Beautyful ones are not yet born by Ayi Kweiarmah









Ghana must go by Taiye Selasi


Source: http://www.jaguda.com/2014/06/09/top-10-books-read-summer-explore-african-authors/
#Africa, #books

Africana History Fact: Peter Abrahams (novelist)

Peter Abrahams
(March 19, 1919, Vrededorp, South Africa), expatriate South African Novelist

His father was an Ethiopian and his mother was French and African, so Abrahams was considered "Coloured" in South Africa.  He grew up outside of Johannesburg and began working at the age of nine.  He didn't enroll in school until he heard about Shakespeare's Othello which sparked his interest in literature. 

He started out publishing his poems in local newspapers.  Later, he joined the South African Communist Party and tried to start a school for poor Africans.  After the school's failure, he moved from South Africa to England.  He wrote for the London Observer and the New York Herald and took an assignment in Jamaica.

He is known for the books:

Song of the City
Mine Boy
Wild Conquest
A Night of Their Own
This Island Now
Jamaica: An Island Mosaic
Return to Goli
Tell Freedom

From Africana: Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience.

Quote of the week

There is no secret to success except hard work and getting something indefinable which we call 'the breaks.

Countee Cullen

In memory of Maya Angelou

Maya Angelous passed away due to complications with a long time battle with heart problems in Winston-Salem, NC.  I lived there for four years and attended Wake Forest University.  Maya Angelou was one of our professors at the school.  I'll never forget when my first week at school in orientation when Maya Angelou appeared in a presentation to greet us as freshmen.

Maya Angelou is know as a great America writer and actress who launched into worldwide stardom after being chosen as the featured poet at President Bill Clinton's 1993 inauguration.  As one author states, "The wit, wisdom, and power of Maya Angelou's work have made her one of the most beloved contemporary American writers."  It is truly a great lose now that she has passed away.

In loving memory of Maya Angelou
1928 - 2014

Power of the Crowd: Help Diversify the World of Literature

It only takes one to make a difference

Individually, most people are powerless to make a significant change; but when those individuals join forces, they can change the world.  Crowd-funding empowers the public and allows people to get involved with the books they want to see on the shelf.  Fund a book and help sponsor one of D. C. Cowan’s future novels. You'll be helping the world of literature diversify protagonists with more male and female characters of color. 

D. C. Cowan uses Pubslush as their platform for crowd-funding.  The authors ask that you support this series because you will receive a great reward in return, but also they ask for your support because the world of fantasy fiction is seriously lacking in minority heroes.  You'll not only be helping the authors and editors who work for DCCowanAuthors.com, but also helping the world of literature see a little more color in its characters.

 

Every penny can help

Three ways to support:

1.)   Crowd-funding: Remember, this is not a hand-out.  You make a pledge and receive a reward in return for your support.    http://blackroseseries.pubslush.com

2.)   Make a financial pledge:  You can pledge a little (i.e. $1.00) or a lot (i.e. $25.00) to their cause. http://www.dccowanauthors.com/#!fund-a-book/c1tob

3.)   Purchase books currently available from the author: Proceeds go towards Black Rose Series. http://www.dccowanauthors.com/#!shop/c1fn5

Black Rose Pledge
http://www.dccowan.wix.com/black-rose-pledge
#crowdfunding, #books

DC's Poetry Corner

I've found my love

I've loved and been loved, many a time,
And many a time before.
I've lost that love with the passing of time,
Never to love anymore.
I've always seem to find someone else's
Heart beating just for me.
I've lost that someone, because of someone,
Needing it to be.
I've never grieved upon the last,
Because it was not too real.
I've searched and found, found and lost,
Heartbreak never to feel.

by D. C. Cowan, Sr.

Picture Source: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/371265563003230066/

Sample Chapter Available - Black Rose

A sample chapter of Black Rose Legend (the first book in the Black Rose Series, a.k.a. Legend of the Black Roses) is available on our website and on Goodreads.

Follow the links below:

Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/ebooks/download/19162785-black-rose-legend

Authors website
http://www.dccowanauthors.com/#!black-rose-series/c21t6

Quote of the Week

The price of hating other human beings is loving oneself less.

DC's Poetry Corner

by D. C. Cowan

Reach out your hand;
Reach out your hand;
Try to understand.
Can't you see somebody needs you;
You'll never know when you'll need someone too.

Reach out your hand,
Reach out your hand.
Try not to reprimand
Look beneath the body, the mind;
Search the soul and see what you'll find.

#poetry

DC's Poetry Corner

What's important to you?
by D. C. Cowan

What's important to you
As you live day by day?
I ask you,
What's important to you,
As you go on your merry way?
I wonder,
What matters to you?
What could be on your mind?
I wonder,
What lesson did you learn?
What truth did you find?

http://dccowanauthors.blogspot.com/

#poem, #author

Africana History Fact

Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola

(1937-1998) Nigerian businessman, presidential candidate, and political prisoner.

On June 12, 1993, the popular businessman Abiola won a long-awaited presidential election in Nigeria, only to have the country's military leader, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, annul the election results.  When Abiola declared himself the country's legitimate leader a year later, Babingida's successor Gen. Sani Abacha, jailed him for treason.  As a political prisoner, Abiola became the rallying symbol for Nigerians' democratic aspirations.

Source: Africana, The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience
http://dccowanauthors.blogspot.com/
#African #history

DC's Poetry Corner

I Had a Dream

I had a dream last night
Of how to live right.
It gave me a brand new start,
Now i know there's a God.
Deep in my heart I know,
My Jesus loves me so
As long as I live the life;
He'll ease the pain, sorrow and strife.

Poem by D. C. Cowan

African American Book Review

 

Dark Genesis (The Darkling Trilogy)

Synopsis: Life for a female slave is one of hardship and unspeakable sorrow, something Luna knows only too well. But not even she could have foreseen the terror that would befall her one sultry Mississippi evening in the summer of 1807.  On her way back from a visit to see the African woman, a witch who has the herbs Luna needs to rid her of her abusive master’s child, she attracts the attention of a deadly being that lusts for blood. Forcibly removed from everything she knows by this tormented otherworldly creature, she is sure she will be dead by sunrise. Dark Genesis is a love story set against the savage world of slavery in which a young woman who has been dehumanised by its horrors finds the courage to love, and in doing so, reclaims her humanity.

5 out of 5 Stars WOW, May 9, 2013, By Romance Novels in Color (USA) 

I never have been a big fan of historicals or period pieces and usually I find life before the electronic era less than appealing to my mental palate. (I can't even imagine using a chamber pot, an outhouse, or having to draw baths. No microwaves, indoor plumbing or TV?) But when I finished Dark Genesis the only word I could come up with to describe it was...WOW.  Is this story worth reading? The only answer to that is a resounding yes. I sat in front of my laptop and refused to close the lid of my PC until this story was finished. Honestly, I'm a Nook girl and the fact that I had to use my computer was of no consequence, even when I was forced to chain myself to the wall to charge in the middle of the story. This is the first in a trilogy and I will be reading the other two as soon as I can get my hands on them.

-Reviewed by: Jennifer

3 out of 5 Stars DIFFERENT, March 23, 2013,By Rosa L. Ferguson (Olive Branch, MS) 

A slave and a vampire love story...I hadn't expected that when I first started reading this book. And it actually worked. I enjoyed the story line. However, after all of the action, drama and excitement on the plantation, the relationship between Avery and Luna became a little mundane. It went on for far too long without much to keep my attention. I continued reading because I kept expecting something to happen. By the time the relationship took a physical turn, I had grown quite bored with the two of them. When the action finally picked up again I was ready for the book to be over. The ending seemed a little rushed and a little discombobulated. I was also bothered by the writing of Luna's journal...it was written so eloquently by someone who at first couldn't read or write...once she learned to do both why didn't her speaking change to match the level of her writing? I would read the other two books in this trilogy just to see what happens but I hope when I do they stay action packed.

Source: Amazon.com

Africana History Fact

 

Ralph David Abernathy

(1926-1990), American minister and civil rights leader who organized nonviolent resistance to segregation and succeeded Martin Luther King, Jr. as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).

Ralph Abernathy was born on March 11, 1926, in Linden Alabama, to William and Louivery Abernathy.  He earned a B. S. from Alabama Stage College and was ordained a Baptist minister in 1948.  In 1951, he received an M.A. in sociology and became pastor of First Baptist church in Montgomery, Alabama.  He and Martin Luther King, Jr. led the successful boycott of the Montgomery bus system in 1955, protesting segregated public transportation.

In 1957 Abernathy helped King found the Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC) to coordinate nonviolent resistance to segregation.  After King's assassination in 1968, Abernathy served as SCLC president until he resigned in 1977.


Source: Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience, (1999)  Edited by, Appiah, Kwame Anthony, & Gates, Henry Louis.

DC's Poetry Corner

Why do you cry?

Why do you cry?
Is it that the world has done you wrong, 
Or, have your wronged yourself?

Why do you cry?
Is it that love has failed you,
Or have you failed to love?

Why do you cry?
Is it worth the tears you shed?
Are the tears you shed worth it?
Do you know why you cry?
Or, do you cry because you don't know why?
Tell me,
Why do you cry?
If you can...

 





Text Copyright © 1962-2014 by D. C. Cowan

Quote of the Week

Africana History Fact

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

(1947-Present) American basketball player, widely considered to be one of the greatest National Basketball Association (NBA) players in history.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the highest scorer in NBA history, was born Ferdinard Lewis Alcindor Jr. in Harlem, New York.  After being influenced by the Black Power movement and becoming a political activist he changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.  Raised in a middle-class household and educated at Catholic schools in Manhattan, he was introduced to basketball at age nine and played competitively throughout elementary school and high school.  At the age of 14 he was already six feet eight inches.  He led his high school to two victories in the city championship.  He was popular NBA star from 1969 to 1989.  He devastated opponents with his legendary "skyhook" shot.  For twenty years he had a career in professional basketball, playing on 18 all-star teams, six MVP awards, six championships and much more.

Abdul authored the book entitled Black Profiles: A Legacy of African American Achievement in 1996.


Source: Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience, (1999)  Edited by, Appiah, Kwame Anthony, & Gates, Henry Louis.

Africana History Fact

Abd al-Qadir

(1807-1883) Algerian religious and military leader credited with unifying Algerian territory into a state through his campaign against French Colonization.

Considered a hero of anti-colonial resistance by many contemporary Algerians, Abd al-Qadir created an Arab-Berber alliance to oppose French expansion in the 1830s and 1840s.  He also organized an Islamic state that, at one point, controlled the western two-thirds of Algeria's inhabited land. 

Abd al-Qadir's ability to unite Arabs and Berbers owed in part to the legacy of his father, the head of the Hashim tribe in Mascara and leader of the Qadirayya regional political body, which opposed the Turkish sultanate.  As the French expanded westward into territories of Algeria, in 1832 Abd al-Qadir led attacks on French-occupied Oran, taking the city within six months.  In 1837, the French signed the Treaty of Tafna with Abd al-Qadir, acknowledging his sovereign authority over an area encompassing two-thirds of Algeria.


Source: Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience, (1999)  Edited by, Appiah, Kwame Anthony, & Gates, Henry Louis.

DC's Poetry Corner

  I've Found My Love

I've loved and been loved, many a time,
       And many a time before.
I've lost that love with the passing of time,
       Never to love anymore.
I've always seem to find someone else's
       Heart beating just for me.
I've lost that someone, because of someone,
      Needing it to be.
I've never grieved upon the lost, 
        Because it was not too real.
I've searched and found, found and lost,
      Heartbreak never to feel.
I've seen the light, I'll find my love,
      And he'll be mine forever more.

 

Text Copyright © 1962-2014 by D. C. Cowan

Africana History Fact

James Baldwin

(1924-1987) African American novelist, essayist, playwright, and poet known to many as one of the best American thinkers in the 20th Century.

Popular quote:
"We are responsible for the world in which we find ourselves, if only because we are the only sentient force which can change it."  James Baldwin collection of essays, No Name in the Street.

He was born in Harlem in 1924.  His mother married a Pentecostal Minister with him had seven other children younger than Baldwin.  Baldwin had an early beginning with the joy of writing as he became the an editor for the Frederick Douglas Junior High School paper and literary club.  The tragedy of losing his stepfather and the Harlem Riots in 1943 spurred Baldwin to work more diligently at his writing career.  Baldwin used his writing as a means to communicate the injustice in America and help people see a way to make it better.  He published his first essay, Nation in 1946.  Later he published more essays such as New Leader, Commentary, and Partisan Review and his first book Go Tell it on the Mountain.  He is best known for his works Notes of a Native Son, Nobody's Knows My Name, and The Fire New Time which established Baldwin as a prominent American writer.

Quote of the Week

African American Book Review

Kindred by Octavia Butler

Synopsis: Dana, a modern black woman, is celebrating her twenty-sixth birthday with her new husband when she is snatched abruptly from her home in California and transported to the antebellum South. Rufus, the white son of a plantation owner, is drowning, and Dana has been summoned to save him. Dana is drawn back repeatedly through time to the slave quarters, and each time the stay grows longer, more arduous, and more dangerous until it is uncertain whether or not Dana's life will end, long before it has a chance to begin.

Review 1: 5 out of 5 stars, Called "A masterpiece from one of the essential sci-fi writers"
Octavia Butler's "Kindred" is a novel which fits into many literary niches. It could be seen as a milestone in both African-American literature and science fiction; it's also a novel with a lot for feminist readers and critics. But ultimately the power of this book allows it to transcend all labels. "Kindred" tells the story of Dana, a 20th century African-American woman who is married to a white man. Throughout the book Dana is mysteriously thrust back and forth in time between her world and the world of her ancestors in the 19th century. She seems to be tied to one ancestor in particular: Rufus, the white son of a slaveowning family. Part of Dana's struggle is to deal with the utterly alien world of Rufus' slaveowning culture.Butler brilliantly weaves many powerful themes into this gripping story: violence, sexual desire, race, literacy, language, law, and education. The story is peopled with well-developed characters who have complex, interconnected relationships. Butler vividly evokes how the slave system both physically brutalized blacks and psychologically warped whites.Butler's prose is lean and muscular. She grips you from the stark opening lines: "I lost an arm on my last trip home. My left arm." The story is richly ironic and heartbreaking. 

Review 2: 2 out of 5 stars, Called it "Good concept, but boring."
When I first started reading this book I really liked it. I liked the premise and how quickly the story was moving. But then it hit a brick wall from there. I feel as if nothing happened in this book and the story just stood still. I wanted to finish the book just to see what would happen and I was sadly disappointed when nothing really did.  The author had a good concept but fell short once it came to the telling of a good story.

Source: Amazon.com/Books

Black Rose Symbolism

 Language of Roses

Many florist nowadays know all the meanings of the different flowers and which types and colors of flowers to suggest depending on the occasion.  However, this art of the language of flowers did not become popular until the the nineteenth century.  In this art of color meaning, the black roses, though not naturally occurring, symbolizes death to the majority of people.   Other meanings of black roses includes hatred, farewell, rejuvenation, or rebirth.  A lesser known meaning is "pure devotion" because to naturally produce a black rose is impossible.  The red rose has come to signify romance blossoming and is regularly given as a gift.  In  nature, a black rose is usually a red rose that is very dark such as the baccara rose or the black beauty Tuscany superb.  Although the light red rose symbolizes romance and love, the black rose symbolizes romance as well, but a tragic one.  The blackness of the rose is equated to the sadness that may occur in the relationship.  However, when red roses wither they sometimes turn black and can take on the meaning and symbolism of a black rose.

Source: Symbolism Wiki

Africana History Fact of the Day

 

Robert Sengstacke Abbott (1868-1940)

African American founder, editor and publisher of the Chicago Defender.

Abbott was the son of former slaves.  He learned the publishing business from Hampton College and became a lawyer for some time after graduating from Kent College of Law.  He founded the Chicago Defender in 1905.  The paper was used as a protest against racism and became very popular in the African American community.  He used the paper as a means to fight against police brutality and other issues relevant in the black community.  On the side he was also active in many civic organizations like the Chicago Commission on Race Relations.

DC's Poetry Corner

 What times are these?

What times are these
When evil prevails
When righteousness leaves
And good fails
When men must die
For doing right
And you and I
Must fear the night

These, these are times of woe
Of man against man, forever more
Stop, stop for dignity
And become a complete humanity


Text Copyright © 1962-2014 by D. C. Cowan

Africana History Fact of the Day

 

Diane Abbott

 (1953-Present) The first black female to be elected as a member of the British Parliament.
 A graduate of Cambridge University, Abbott came from a working class family in London.  She joined the Labour Party at the age of eighteen.  After graduating from college she worked for many years with a department of the government that oversaw many domestic issues.  Afterwards she became the first black to work for the National Council for Civil Liberties.  She won a seat with the Westminster council in 1982, joined parliament in 1985 and became one of four percent of women who serve in elected office in Britain. Other blacks soon took office in 1987.  Now, she has made history for being the first black to serve in office in the British Parliament and has become a controversial figure because of her protests against racism and other political views. 

Africana History Fact of the Day

 

Abakuas

Secret society of African peoples who were enslaved in Cuba.

In the mid-19th century, thousands of Africans were brought against their will from territories in Nigeria to the sugar plantations of Cuba.  Though enslaved, they did not abandon many traditions of their culture that they had in Africa.  They continued to form all-male organizations that oversaw traditions in religion, music and dance.  They called these groups, Abakuas.  Today the Abakuas can be found in places like the city of Havana.  They held on to their language from the Calabar region of Nigeria called Ibo and used it to preserve the traditions of their people.