The Wiley Blackwell Anthology of African American Literature was the most difficult editorial project I have ever taken up in my career. In the past I have compiled and reprinted the writings of canonical and obscure African American authors; edited and published the essays of contemporary scholars; and along the way dealt with the literary estates or agencies of authors whose works still exist in the private domain and require copyright permission for republication. Preparing this two-volume anthology demanded that I recall these experiences and endure them again. Doing so was equivalent to putting together multiple kinds of collections in one, and addressing a large group of collaborators and constituencies with varying interests and needs in this enterprise. Unenviable to some, this was no small task.
Yet multiple things helped bring everyone together, in the spirit of consensus and contribution. There was either a deep-seated admiration for the literatures of New World Africans and African Americans from centuries ago to the present; an ineluctable sense of belonging to, and support of, this historic community of writers; or an abiding commitment to examining and circulating this literary corpus on behalf of higher education both in the United States and around the world. Or, the sentiment included all the above. This shared focus inspired me as I tried to shepherd this project from inception to conclusion, as did the opportunity to work closely with great literary artists and critics, academic instructors, scholars, editors, and students.
Located in both England and the United States, an outstanding group of editors and staff at Wiley Blackwell advocated for this enormous and complex book, and I wish to thank them here. Emma Bennett, Executive Editor/Publisher of Literature, was receptive to my idea, first proposed in 2009, of a new comprehensive anthology of African American literature released in multivolume format. She was patient and considerate as we hammered out contractual details about the parameters and resources of the project. Our regular conversations since then were crucial to the anthology’s current shape and focus. Ben Thatcher, Project Editor, skillfully managed the project’s unwieldy materials. With an eye always to buoying my soul, he eloquently negotiated with copyright holders and literary estates and agencies so that I did not have to enter the fray. Deirdre Ilkson, Senior Development Editor, and Bridget Jennings, Senior Editorial Assistant, helped to usher the project to completion, especially in the final stages. Possessing a keen eye, Giles Flitney patiently copy-edited these very long volumes, and worked with me to resolve issues both big and small. Finally, Felicity Marsh managed the project with a steady hand that kept me at ease at all times.
My literary agent, Wendy Strothman, of the Strothman Agency, LLC, meticulously worked on my behalf during the very important and time-consuming negotiation with Wiley Blackwell over the contractual details of the project.
The anthology would not be where or what it is today without the members of the Editorial Advisory Board. They generously gave their time and insight, their advice and encouragement, cooperating with me and the countless staff, either at the publisher or at my home institution, Boston University, working on my behalf. By name I thank them again here, even though they are already spotlighted on another page in the front matter: Daphne A. Brooks, Joanna Brooks, Margo Natalie Crawford, Madhu Dubey, Michele Elam, Philip Gould, George B. Hutchinson, Marlon B. Ross, Cherene M. Sherrard-Johnson, James Edward Smethurst, Werner Sollors, John Stauffer, Jeffrey Allen Tucker, and Ivy G. Wilson. Over the course of preparing this anthology I also consulted several other professors, most notably, Brent Hayes Edwards, Harryette Mullen, Lawrence P. Jackson, William Maxwell and Margaret B. Wilkerson.
The essays in the Wiley Blackwell Companion to African American Literature (2010) figure prominently in the scholarly rationale or apparatus for the anthology. I thank their authors here (some also appearing above): Vincent Carretta, James Sidbury, Frances Smith Foster, Kim D. Green, Michael J. Drexler, Ed White, Joanna Brooks, Tyler Mabry, Philip Gould, Maurice S. Lee, Robert S. Levine, Ivy G. Wilson, Marlon B. Ross, Andreá N. Williams, Shirley Moody-Turner, Michelle Ann Stephens, Cherene M. Sherrard-Johnson, Mark Christian Thompson, Michelle Yvonne Gordon, Keith D. Leonard, James Edward Smethurst, Glenda Carpio, Madhu Dubey, Robin V. Smiles, Jeffrey Allen Tucker, Theresa Delgadillo, Guy Mark Foster, and Arlene R. Keizer. Finally, the many professors and instructors who responded to questionnaires and solicitations about the anthology were invaluable.
Completing this project would have been impossible without my former and current research assistants at Boston University. John Barnard diligently worked on the project at a very early organizational stage. Kerri Greenidge possesses exhaustive knowledge of African American cultural, political, and intellectual history, and her tireless application of this knowledge to the project was a godsend. Iain Bernhoft demonstrated remarkable acumen, discipline, and leadership as he handled the anthology’s literary and scholarly materials and served as interlocutor between me and Wiley Blackwell. Joyce Kim generously and energetically came onto the project very late in the process to help rescue the preparation of key parts of the anthology. Anne Austin, as Department Administrator, helped to keep me organized and attentive as I necessarily attended to my other duties as Professor and Chair of the Department of English. And I thank my colleagues and administrators at Boston University for their longstanding support.
This anthology builds on the previous accomplishments of teachers, writers, scholars, and anthologists of African American literature. I express gratitude to the selected writers and their literary estates and agencies willing to work with us to include their writings. I also extend thanks to the editors of fellow anthologies who provided advice as I consulted them on the viability of this project: Henry Louis Gates, Jr, William L. Andrews, Robert S. Levine, Ivy Schweitzer, and Richard Yarborough.
My longtime wife and best friend, Renée, has long believed in me; she was the first to support this project; and she encouraged me as I tried to finish it. I thank her; our lovely children, Nyla, Noah, and Nadia; and the rest of our family who supported me all the while, from beginning to end.
A book of this complexity and magnitude will inevitably have factual and conceptual errors. Even though everyone above contributed to this anthology in some way, I accept ultimate responsibility and apologize for any such errors that happen to wind their way into print.
The editor(s) [or author(s) as appropriate] and publisher gratefully acknowledge the permission granted to reproduce the copyright material in this book:
Claude McKay, “Whe’ fe Do?” and “Cudjoe Fresh from de Lecture,” from Songs of Jamaica, 1912. Claude McKay, “America,” “The Tropics in New York,” “Harlem Shadows,” “The White City,” “Africa,” “The Tired Worker,” “If We Must Die,” from Complete Poems, ed. William J. Maxwell. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2004. Used by permission of the Literary Representative for the Works of Claude McKay, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. From Claude McKay, Banjo – A Story Without Plot. San Diego / New York / London: Harper & Bros., 1929 (copyright renewed in 1957). Used by permission of the Literary Representative for the Works of Claude McKay, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations; Jessie Fauset, “Double Trouble” Part 1, from The Crisis, Vol 26, no 4, August 1923 pp. 155–159 and “Double Trouble” Part II, from The Crisis, Vol 26, no. 5, September 1923 pp. 205–209. Used by permission of Gordon Feinblatt LLC. Jessie Fauset, “Dark Algiers the White” Part 1, from The Crisis, Vol 29, no 6, April 1925 and “Dark Algiers the White” Part II, from The Crisis, Vol 30, no. 1, May 1925. Used by permission of Gordon Feinblatt LLC; Jean Toomer, “Bona and Paul,” from Cane. New York: Boni & Liveright, 1923. Copyright © 1923 by Boni & Liveright, renewed 1951 by Jean Toomer. Used by permission of Liveright Publishing Corporation. Jean Toomer, “Balo,” from Plays of Negro Life: A Sourcebook of Native American Drama, ed. Alain Locke and Montgomery Gregory. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1927. Used by permission of The Yale Committee on Literary Property, Yale University. Jean Toomer, “Winter on Earth,” from Second American Caravan: A Yearbook of American Literature, eds. Alfred Kreymborg, Lewis Mumford, and Paul Rosenfield. New York: Macaulay Co., 1929. Used permission of The Yale Committee on Literary Property, Yale University. Jean Toomer, “Race Problems in Modern Society,” from Man and His World: Northwestern University Essays in Contemporary Thought, VII. Chicago: Van Nostrand, 1929. Used permission of The Yale Committee on Literary Property, Yale University; Countée Cullen, “Yet Do I Marvel,” “Tableau,” “Incident,” “Heritage,” “To John Keats, Poet. At Springtime,” and “I Have a Rendezvous with Life,” from My Soul’s High Song. New York: Doubleday, 1991. Copyrights held by Amistad Research Center, Tulane University. Administered by Thompson and Thompson, Brooklyn, NY 11202. Used by permission. Countée Cullen, “Four Epitaphs: ‘For My Grandmother,’ ‘For John Keats, Apostle of Beauty,’ ‘For Paul Laurence Dunbar,’ and ‘For a Lady I Know,’” from My Soul’s High Song. New York: Doubleday, 1991. Copyrights held by Amistad Research Center, Tulane University. Administered by Thompson and Thompson, Brooklyn, NY 11202. Used by permission. Countée Cullen, “Millenial” from Copper Sun. New York: Harper & Bros, 1927. © 1927 Harper & Bros, NY renewed © 1954 by Ida Cullen. Copyrights held by Amistad Research Center, Tulane University. Administered by Thompson and Thompson, Brooklyn, NY 11202. Used by permission. Countée Cullen, “At the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem,” “From the Dark Tower,” “Uncle Jim,” from My Soul’s High Song. New York: Doubleday, 1991. Copyrights held by Amistad Research Center, Tulane University. Administered by Thompson and Thompson, Brooklyn, NY 11202. Used by permission. Countée Cullen, “To Certain Critics,” from My Soul’s High Song. New York: Doubleday, 1991. Copyrights held by Amistad Research Center, Tulane University. Administered by Thompson and Thompson, Brooklyn, NY 11202. Used by permission; W.E.B. Du Bois “The Negro Mind Reaches Out,” from Foreign Affairs, 3, no. 3, (1925). Used by permission of The Permissions Company, Inc., on behalf of the David Graham Du Bois Trust. W.E.B. Du Bois “Criteria of Negro Art,” from The Crisis, 32, October 1926. 290–297. Used by permission of Gordon Feinblatt LLC; “The City of Refuge,” Rudolph Fisher, 1925. “Blades of Steel,” Rudolph Fisher, 1927. “The Caucasian Storms Harlem,” Rudolph Fisher 1927; Helene Johnson, “My Race,” “The Road,” “Magula,” “A Southern Road,” “Bottled,” “Poem,” “Sonnet to a Negro in Harlem,” “Summer Matures,” “Invocation,” “Remember Not,” from This Waiting for Love: Helene Johnson, Poet of the Harlem Renaissance, ed. Verner D. Mitchell. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2000. Used by permission of University of Massachusetts Press; Alain Locke, “The New Negro,” from The New Negro: Readings on Race, Representation, and African American Culture 1892–1938, ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr and Gene A. Jarrett. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2007. Copyright © 2007 by Henry Louis Gates, Jr and Gene Andrew Jarrett. Used by permission of Princeton University Press; Langston Hughes, “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain,” from The Nation Magazine, 1926. Used by permission of David Higham Associates Ltd. Langston Hughes, “The Weary Blues,” “Jazzonia,” “Harlem Night Club,” “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” “Danse Africaine,” Epilogue (“I, Too, Sing America”) from The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, ed. Arnold Rampersad with David Roessel, Associate Editor. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994. © 1994 by the Estate of Langston Hughes. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc, and David Higham Associates Limited. Langston Hughes, “Dream Boogie,” “Juke Box Love Song,” “Ballad of the Landlord,” from The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes. ed. Arnold Rampersad with David Roessel, Associate Editor. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994. © 1994 by the Estate of Langston Hughes. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc, and David Higham Associates Limited; George S. Schuyler, “The Negro-Art Hokum,” from The Nation, 16 June, 1926. Used by permission of the publisher. From George Schuyler, Black No More: an Account of the Strange and Wonderful Workings of Science in the Land of the Free, AD 1933–1940. New York, Macaulay Co., 1931; Dorothy West, “The Typewriter,” pp. 9–17, from The Richer, The Poorer. Copyright © 1995 by Dorothy West. Used by permission of Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc, and Virago, an imprint of Little Brown Book Group, UK. Any third party use of this material, outside of this publication is prohibited; Zora Neale Hurston, “The Back Room.” 1927. Used by permission of The Zora Neale Hurston Trust via Victoria Sanders & Associates. Zora Neale Hurston, “How It Feels to Be Colored Me.” 1928. Used by permission of The Zora Neale Hurston Trust via Victoria Sanders & Associates; Sterling A. Brown, “Odyssey of Big Boy,” “When de Saints Go Ma’ching Home,” “Southern Road,” “Memphis Blues,” “Ma Rainey,” “Tin Roof Blues,” “Cabaret,” “Salutamus,” and “To a Certain Lady in Her Garden,” from The Collected Poems of Sterling A. Brown, ed. Michael S. Harper. Evanston, IL: TriQuarterly Books, Northwestern University, 1989. Copyright © Sterling A. Brown. Used by permission of The Estate of Sterling A. Brown c/o The Blakeslee Law Firm; Richard Wright, “Big Boy Leaves Home,” from Uncle Tom’s Children. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. Used by permission of HarperCollins Publishers USA and John Hawkins & Associates Inc. Richard Wright, “Blueprint for Negro Writing,” from Within the Circle: An Anthology of African American Literary Criticism from the Harlem Renaissance to the Present, ed. Angelyn Mitchell. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1994. pp. 97–106. Copyright © 1994 Duke University Press. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Duke University Press. Richard Wright, “How ‘Bigger’ Was Born,” from Native Son and How “Bigger” Was Born. New York, NY: Harper Perennial, 1991. Used by permission of HarperCollins USA, and John Hawkins & Associates Inc, and The Random House Group Ltd UK; Gwendolyn Brooks, “A Street in Bronzeville,” from Selected Poems. New York: Perennial Classics, 1999. Used by permission of Brooks Permissions. Gwendolyn Brooks, “Notes from the Childhood and the Girlhood,” “The Anniad,” “The Womanhood,” from Selected Poems. New York: Perennial Classics, 1999. Used by permission of Brooks Permissions; Robert Hayden, “Middle Passage,” “The Ballad of Nat Turner,” from Collected Poems of Robert Hayden, ed. Frederick Glaysher. New York: Liveright, 1985. “Middle Passage” Copyright © 1962, 1966 by Robert Hayden. “The Ballad of Nat Turner” Copyright © 1966 by Robert Hayden. Used by permission of the Liveright Publishing Corporation; Chester B. Himes, “A Night of New Roses,” “Da-Da-Dee,” “Tang,” from The Collected Stories of Chester Himes. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan, 1990. Used by permission of The Estate of Chester Himes; Ann Petry, “The Bones of Louella Brown,” “In Darkness and Confusion,” from Miss Muriel and Other Stories. New York: Kensington Publishing Corp., Mariner Book, 1999. Copyright © 1971 by Ann Petry. Renewed 1999 by Elizabeth Petry. Used by permission of Russell & Volkening as agents for the author; James Baldwin, “Everybody’s Protest Novel,” “Notes of a Native Son,” from Notes of a Native Son. Boston, MA: The Beacon Press, 1955. Copyright © 1955, renewed 1983 by James Baldwin. Used by permission of Beacon Press, Boston. James Baldwin, “Sonny’s Blues,” from Going to Meet the Man. New York: Vintage, 1995. “Sonny’s Blues” © 1957 by James Baldwin. Originally published in Partisan Review. Copyright renewed. Collected in Going to Meet the Man published by Penguin and Vintage Books. Used by permission of the James Baldwin Estate; From Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man. New York: Vintage International, Random House, Inc., 1995. Copyright © 1947, 1948, 1952 by Ralph Ellison. Copyright © renewed 1975, 1976, 1980 by Ralph Ellison. Used by permission of Random House, Inc. Any third party use of this material outside of this publication is prohibited. Interested parties must apply direct to Random House, Inc, for permission. Ralph Ellison, “Hidden Name and Complex Fate,” from Shadow and Act. New York: Vintage International Edition, 1995. © 1964 and renewed 1992 by Ralph Ellison. Used by permission of Random House, Inc, and The Wylie Agency Ltd; Lorraine Hansberry, “Willie Loman, Walter Younger, and He Who Must Live,” from Village Voice, Vol. 4, No. 42. Copyright © by Lorraine Hansberry. Used by permission of David Black Agency, on behalf of the Author; Amiri Baraka, “The Myth of a ‘Negro Literature,’” from Amiri Baraka Reader, ed. by William J. Harris. New York: Avalon Publishing Group, 2000. Copyright © by Amiri Baraka. Used by permission of SLL/Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc. Amiri Baraka, “Crow Jane,” “For Crow Jane/Mama Death,” “Crow Jane’s Manner.,” “Crow Jane in High Society.,” “Crow Jane The Crook.,” “The dead lady canonized.,” “I Substitute for the Dead Lecturer,” “Political Poem,” from Amiri Baraka Reader, ed. by William J. Harris. New York: Avalon Publishing Group, 2000. Copyright © by Amiri Baraka. Used by permission of SLL/Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc. LeRoi Jones, “Dutchman,” from Dutchman and the Slave. New York: William Morrow & Company, 1964. Used by permission of SLL/Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc; Adrienne Kennedy, “Funnyhouse of a Negro,” from In One Act. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1988. © 1962, 1988 by Adrienne Kennedy. Used by permission of the author and University of Minnesota Press; Larry Neal, “And Shine Swan On,” from Black Fire: An Anthology of Afro-American Writing, eds. Leroi Jones (Amiri Baraka) and Larry Neal. New York: Black Classic Press, 2007. Used by permission of Evelyn Neal; Lucille Clifton, “in the inner city,” “my mamma moved among the days,” “my daddy’s fingers moved among the couplers,” “The white boy,” “Ca’line’s prayer,” and “Generations,” from The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton. Copyright © 1987 by Lucille Clifton. Used by permission of The Permissions Company, Inc. on behalf of BOA Editions Ltd., www.boaeditions.org; Michael S. Harper, “Brother John,” “American History,” “Deathwatch,” “Dear John, Dear Coltrane,” from Songlines in Michaeltree: New and Collected Poems. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2000. Copyright © 2000 by Michael S. Harper. “Where Is My Woman Now: For Billie Holiday,” “Malcolm’s Blues,” “Dirge for Trane,” from Dear John, Dear Coltrane. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1985. Copyright © 1970 by Michael S. Harper. Used with permission of the poet and the University of Illinois Press; From Sonia Sanchez, A Blues Book for a Blue Black Magic Woman. pp. 11–20. Detroit, MI: Broadside Press, 1974; Toni Cade Bambara, “My Man Bovanne,” from Gorilla My Love. New York: Vintage Contemporaries, 1992. Copyright © 1971 by Toni Cade Bambara. Used by permission of Random House, Inc. Any third party use of this material, outside of this publication is prohibited. Interested parties must apply directly to Random House, Inc, for permission; June Jordan, “In Memoriam: Martin Luther King, Jr.,” “If You Saw A Negro Lady,” “And Who Are You,” “Toward a Personal Semantics,” “What Would I Do White?” “No Train of Thought,” “I Celebrate the Sons of Malcolm,” “Last Poem for a Little While,” from Directed by Desire: The Collected Poems of June Jordan, eds. Jan Heller Levi and Sara Miles. Port Townsend, WA: Copper Canyon Press, 2005. Used by permission of the June M. Jordan Literary Estate Trust and Copper Canyon Press. June Jordan, “On the Black Poet Reading His Poems in the Park,” “On the Black Family,” “Calling on All Silent Minorities,” “No Poem Because Time Is Not a Name,” from Directed by Desire: The Collected Poems of June Jordan, eds. Jan Heller Levi and Sara Miles. Port Townsend, WA: Copper Canyon Press, 2005. Used by permission of the June M. Jordan Literary Estate Trust and Copper Canyon Press. June Jordan, “The Difficult Miracle of Black Poetry in America: Something Like a Sonnet for Phillis Wheatley,” from On Call: Political Essays. Boston, MA: South End Press, 1985. Used by permission of the June M. Jordan Literary Estate Trust; Samuel R. Delany, “Omegahelm,” from Aye, and Gomorrah: Stories. New York: Vintage Books, 2003. Copyright © 1973, 2000 by Samuel R. Delany. Used by permission of the author and his agents, Henry Morrison, Inc; From Ntozake Shange, for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf: a choreopoem. New York: Macmillan publishing company, 1977. Copyright © 1975, 1976, 1977, 2010 by Ntozake Shange. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Scribner Publishing Group and Russell & Volkening, Inc; Alice Walker, “Looking for Zora,” “Zora Neale Hurston: A Cautionary Tale and a Partisan View,” from In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens: Womanist Prose. London: Orion Books Ltd, 2005. Used by permission of David Higham Associates Ltd. From Alice Walker, The Color Purple. pp. 116–140. London: Orion Books Ltd, 1983. Used by permission of David Higham Associates Ltd; Audre Lorde, “Poetry is Not a Luxury,” “The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House,” “Age, Race, Class and Sex: Women Redefining Difference,” from Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches. Berkeley, CA: Crossing Press, 2007. Used by permission of Abner Stein. Audre Lorde, “The Black Unicorn,” “Coniagui Women,” “For Assata,” “In Margaret’s Garden,” “Woman,” “But What Can You Teach My Daughter,” “Sister Outsider,” from The Collected Poems of Audre Lorde. New York: W.W. Norton &Company, 2000. Copyright © 1978 by Audre Lorde. Used by permission of W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, and Abner Stein; From Octavia Butler, Kindred. pp. 9–51. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2003. Copyright © 1979 by Octavia E. Butler. Used by permission of Beacon Press; Gloria Naylor, “Dawn,” “The Block Party,” “Dusk,” from The Women of Brewster Place. New York: Penguin Books, 1992. Copyright © 1980, 1982 by Gloria Naylor. Used by permission of Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc; Toni Morrison, “Recitatif,” from Confirmation: An Anthology of African American Women, eds. Amiri Baraka (Leroi Jones) and Amina Baraka. New York: William Morrow & Company Inc., 1983. Copyright © 1983 by Toni Morrison. Used by permission of International Creative Management Inc; Rita Dove, Thomas and Beulah. Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie-Mellon University Press, 1986. © 1986 by Rita Dove. Used by permission of the author; August Wilson, Fences. New York: Plume, 1986. Copyright © 1986 by August Wilson. Used by permission of Dutton Signet, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc; From Jamaica Kincaid, Lucy. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1990. pp. 3–15. © 1990 by Jamaica Kincaid. Used by permission of Farrar Straus and Giroux, LLC and The Wylie Agency; From Ernest Gaines, A Lesson Before Dying. pp. 211–256. New York: Vintage, 1993. Copyright © 1993 by Ernest J. Gaines. Used by permission of Profile Books Limited and Alfred A. Knopf an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Random House LLC. All rights reserved; Suzan-Lori Parks, “An Equation for Black People Onstage,” from The America Play and Other Works. Ann Arbor: Theater Communications Group, 1995. Copyright © 1992, 1994 by Suzan-Lori Parks. Used by permission of Theatre Communications Group; Edwidge Danticat, “New York Day Women,” from Krik? Krak! New York: Soho Press, 1995. Copyright © 1995 by Edwidge Danticat. Used by permission of Soho Press Inc. All rights reserved; Walter Mosley, “Black to the Future,” from New York Times Magazine, 148 (1998): 32. Used by permission of Watkins Loomis. Walter Mosley, “The Nig in Me,” from Futureland: Nine Stories of an Imminent World. New York: Warner Books, 2001. Used by permission of Watkins Loomis and Open Road Integrated Media; Percival Everett, “The Fix,” from Damned if I Do. Minneapolis: Graywolf Press, 2004. Copyright © Percival Everettt 2000. Used by permission of the author.; John Edgar Wideman, “Weight,” from God’s Gym. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005. Copyright © 2005 John Edgar Wideman. Used by permission of The Wylie Agency (UK) Limited; Harryette Mullen, “All She Wrote,” “The Anthropic Principle,” “Bleeding Hearts,” “Denigration,” “Daisy Pearl,” “Dim Lady,” “Ectopia,” “Exploring the Dark Content,” “Music for Homemade Instruments,” “Natural Anguish,” “Resistance is Fertile,” “Sleeping with the Dictionary,” “We Are Not Responsible,” from Sleeping With the Dictionary. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002. Used by permission of University Of California Press; From Edward P. Jones, The Known World. pp. 1–28. New York: Amistad Press, 2003. Copyright © 2003 by Edward P. Jones. Used by permission of HarperCollins Publishers; Charles R. Johnson, “The End of the Black American Narrative,” from The American Scholar (June 1, 2008). Copyright © 2008 by Charles Johnson. Used by permission of Georges Borchardt, Inc., on behalf of the author.
Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and to obtain their permission for the use of copyright material. The publisher apologizes for any errors or omissions in the above list and would be grateful if notified of any corrections that should be incorporated in future reprints or editions of this book.