Archive - History of Black Writing Blog
The Banner image for the HBW Blog, which was published from 2011-2021.
Black Literary History Making
The HBW Blog published regularly for ten years from 2011-2021 at the URL https://projecthbw.ku.edu. During that time, it served as a major forum for the exchange of information and ideas, as well as a robust network for scholars, teachers, and students from different disciplines around the world.
Guest contributors include leading scholars and writers, but most of the posts were conceived of, researched, and written by HBW's staff of undergraduate and graduate students. Its content consists of feature editorials, book reviews, memorials, and coverage of HBW programming. Altogether, 95 writers contributed more than 750 posts.
The HBW Blog Archive is searchable by topic, month and year, and contributor name.
| Blog Post/Link | Date |
|---|---|
| Make it Funky V: Reflections on Kendrick Lamar On March 24, “Make it Funky” will return for the fifth year. The purpose of the event is to explore connections between popular music and black writers. The keynote Speaker for this year, Sequoia Maner of the University of Texas at Austin, will talk about the impact of Kendrick Lamar’s radicalism on African American culture. .. | |
| Autobiography and Angles of Remembering During the October 28, 2015 PHBW webinar, it was refreshing to hear the poet Sharon Strange mention that art bears witness. She gave voice to one angle of remembering. Contemporary memory has a very brief half-life. We need to hear what is obvious again and again. .. | |
| Upcoming Event: “Incidents in the LIfe of a Genre,” by Maryemma Graham Open to all: Incidents in the Life of a Genre: Autobiography and Self-Invention an inaugural lecture presented by Maryemma Graham University Distinguished Professor Department of English Monday, March 23, 2015 Lecture: 5:30 p.m., Bruckmiller Room, Adams Alumni Center .. | |
| ICYMI: The Last Week in Black Writing and Culture (3/11-3/18) Kevin Powell asked, “Will racism ever end, will I ever stop being a nigger?” Kevin Powell is author of the recent memoir, The Education of Kevin Powell: A Boy’s Journey into Manhood (2015). .. | |
| Return to Africa Editor’s note: This piece is one of a series of posts that celebrate Women’s History. Stay tuned for more as we celebrate Women’s History Month. .. | |
| Writers and Politicians Among the Presidents who have occupied the White House since my birth, President Barack Obama is one of the most literate. Historians who write about the American presidency after 2017 will be obligated to note that Obama tried to “write an honest account of a particular province” of his life in Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance (1995; New York: Three Rivers Press, 2004), and that he called for a new kind of politics in The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming The American Dream (New York: Three Rivers Press, 2006).. | |
| History 2216 In light of election season, Dr. Jerry W. Ward, Jr. speaks about getting serious about our nation’s problems in 2016. .. | |
| ICYMI: The Last Week in Black Writing and Culture (3/5-3/10) Yesterday, the KU student senate voted and approved funding for a separate, multicultural student government. .. | |
| To trump or not to trump Many people would sleep better at night if Donald Trump were a cartoon character in an Aaron McGruder film. To paraphrase Ralph Ellison, Trump isn’t one of our ectoplasms; he is a human being of substance, of flesh, bone, and liquids — and he might even be said to possess a mind. He is blond, loud, and militant in giving American flavor to a wonderful Middle English document, Ayenbite of Inwit (1340), a perfect mirror for the white-faced conscience. Trump is an embarrassing gift to contemporary politics. He is the voice that asks: Why did I happen , and how does your outrage and your silence give substance to my shadow? .. | |
| Project HBW's Black Literary Suite Exhibit to Remain up through the end of March If you missed the kickoff reception for Project HBW’s Black Literary Suite, there is still time to view the exhibit. The exhibit will remain up in the 4th floor hallway gallery of Watson Library through the end of March. This year’s exhibit, Sports Figures with a Kansas Connection, highlights the writings of well-known and lesser-known sports figures with a Kansas connection. .. |