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Books by Marcus Bruce
Christian
Song of the Black Valiants: Marching Tempo
/
High Ground: A Collection of Poems /
Negro soldiers in the Battle of New Orleans
I am New
Orleans: A Poem
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Negro Iron Workers of Louisiana: 1718-1900 /
The Liberty Monument
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Letter 3
Elmer A.
Carter Comments on Christian's
"McDonough Day in New Orleans"
OPPORTUNITY:
Journal of Negro Life
(Published
by the National Urban League)
1133
Broadway, Room 826
New
York City
June
Twenty-fifth 1934
My
dear Mr. Christian:
Your
poem, "McDonogh Day in New Orleans," was reprinted in
the New York Herald Tribune on Sunday, June 17. I am
using "Spring in the South" this month and will be
glad to see another group of your poems.
Sincerely
yours,
Elmer
A. Carter
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Elmer A. Carter (1890-1973), editor
and a prominent Republican, was the first chairman of the New
York State Commission Against discrimination (the predecessor of
the State Division of Human rights) and first director of the
State Human rights Division until his resignation in 1961. He
then served for two years as special assistant to Governor
Nelson A. Rockefeller on issues of race relations. In 1937,
while editor of Opportunity, a journal published by the Urban
League, Carter was appointed by Governor Herbert Lehman to the
Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board. He thus began a career in
public service devoted to eliminating racial bias in housing,
employment, and public accommodation. Carter's wife, the former
Thelma Johnson, died just a few weeks before her husband. The
Carters lived at 409 Edgecombe Avenue from the 1940s until their
deaths |
| OPPORTUNITY -- Journal of Negro Life, the
official organ of the National Urban League, completing in
December thirteen brilliant years under the able editorship of
distinctive contribution to the literature dealing with the
problems of interracial contacts in America. Dispassionate,
factual data and illuminating articles from the pens of some of
America's most distinguished students and writers graced the
columns of the magazine -- establishing it in the minds of
discriminating readers as one of the indispensable sources of
light on "America's most baffling problem." Opportunity
Journal, thanks to its perceptive, broad-minded editors,
first, Charles S. Johnson, and then Elmer A. Carter,
was a leading venue for the work of African-American artists. |
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Opportunity magazine was published from 1923 to 1949 by
the National Urban League (at first as a monthly, later as a
quarterly). . . .Charles S. Johnson served as its first editor
for five and a half years; Elmer A. Carter took over in 1928.
The magazine published both sociological reporting on conditions
of African American life and poetry and literature written by
young black writers. . . . After Johnson left the magazine for
Fisk University in 1928, the magazine continued to stress
socio-economic analysis of northern, urban African Americans.
Though he never stopped publishing stories and poems, Elmer A.
Carter, Johnson's successor, "directed his attention to the
sociological and economic aspects of the Negro's relation to
American life," as one early historian of the publication put
it. The magazine focused on working conditions of African
Americans during the Great Depression--and their precarious
relationship with America's labor unions. Then it focused on the
Fair Employment Practice Committee during the 1940s and the
general fight for racial equality which occurred during and
immediately after World War II.
Opportunity magazine
accomplished a great deal for a publication with a small
circulation. In every possible way, it promoted the work of
black writers and documented the lives of a growing number of
African Americans in northern cities. “Opportunity.” St.
James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture, Jan 29, 2002.
Find Articles
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Selected Letters
Selected Diary Notes Memories of Marcus B. Christian
(Cains) Christian's
BioBibliographical Record Introduction to I AM NEW
ORLEANS
A
Theory of a Black Aesthetic Magpies,
Goddesses, & Black Male Identity
Activist Works on Next Level of Change
Intro to I Am New
Orleans
Letter from Dillard University
A
Labor of Genuine Love
Letter of Gift of
Photos
Letters from
LSU and Skip Gates * * *
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Negro Iron Workers of Louisiana: 1718-1900
By Marcus Bruce Christian
Study of the blacksmith
tradition and New Orleans famous lace balconies and
fences.
Acclaimed
during his life as the unofficial poet laureate of
the New Orleans African-American community, Marcus
Christian recorded a distinguished career as
historian, journalist, and literary scholar. He was
a contributor to Pelican's
Gumbo Ya Ya, and also wrote many articles
that appeared in numerous newspapers, journals, and
general-interest publications. |
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Audio:
My Story, My Song (Featuring blues guitarist Walter Wolfman Washington)
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Bob
Dylan: Only a pawn in their game /
The
Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll
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Panel on Literary Criticism
26 March 2010
National Black Writers Conference
Patrick Oliver, Kalamu ya Salaam,
Dorothea Smartt, Frank Wilderson discuss
the use of literature to promote
political causes and instigate change
and transformation. The event is at the
Medgar Evers College at the City
University of New York.
C-Span Archives
Panel on Politics and Satire
26 March 2010
National Black Writers Conference
Herb Boyd, Thomas Bradshaw, Charles
Edison and Major Owens discuss how
current events are reflected in the
writings of African Americans. The
event is at the Medgar Evers College at
the City University of New York.
C-Span Archives |
posted 17 April 2010 |
