Books by Kalamu ya Salaam

The Magic of JuJu: An Appreciation of the Black Arts Movement  /   360: A Revolution of Black Poets

Everywhere Is Someplace Else: A Literary Anthology  /  From A Bend in the River: 100 New Orleans Poets

Our Music Is No Accident   /  What Is Life: Reclaiming the Black Blues Self

My Story My Song (CD)

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Kalamu ya Salaam was born Vallery Ferdinand III on March 24, 1947 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He attended Carleton College (1964-1969), and Delgado Junior College from which he earned an A.A. (Associate Arts) degree in business administration. 

Mr. Salaam is a professional editor/writer, filmmaker, producer and arts administrator.  more

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Books

The Blues Merchant (New Orleans: BLACKARTSOUTH, 1969)

Hofu Ni Kwenu (New Orleans: Ahidiana, 1973)

Pamoja Tutashinda (New Orleans: Ahidiana, 1974)

Ibura (New Orleans: Ahidiana, 1976)

Tearing the Roof Off the Sucker: the Fall of South Africa (New Orleans: Ahidiana, 1977)

South African Showdown: Divestment Now (New Orleans: Ahidiana, 1978)

Nuclear Power and The Black Liberation Struggle (New Orleans: Ahidiana, 1978)

Revolutionary Love (New Orleans: Ahidiana, 1978)

Who Will Speak for Us? New Afrikan Folk Tales, by Kalamu ya Salaam and Tayari kwa Salaam (New Orleans: Ahidiana, 1978)

Herufi: An Alphabet Reader (New Orleans: Ahidiana, 1978)

Iron Flowers: A Poetic Report on a Visit to Haiti (New Orleans: Ahidiana, 1979)

Our Women Keep Our Skies From Falling (New Orleans: Nkombo, 1980)

Play Productions

The Picket, New Orleans, Free Southern Theater, 1968

Mama, New Orleans, Free Southern Theater, 1969

Happy Birthday, Jesus. New Orleans, Free Southern Theater, 1969

Black Liberation Army, New Orleans, Free Southern Theater, 1969

Black Love Song, New Orleans, Free Southern Theater, 1970

The Quest, New Orleans, BLACKARTSOUTH, 1972

Somewhere in the World (Long Live Asatta), New Orleans, Art For Life Theater Company, 1082

Other

Black Love Song #1, in Black Theater, U.S.A., edited by James V. Hatch and Ted Shine (New York: Free Press, 1974), pp. 864-874

Periodical Publications

Drama

The Destruction of the American Stage (A Set for Non-Believers), Black World, 21 (April 1072): 54-69

Homecoming, Nkombo, no. 8 (August 1972): 3-15

The Turn of the Century. A set/for our rising . . . by Salaam, Kwesi, and Nyumba, Nkomba, no 8 (August 1972): 43-58

Fiction

"Cutting the Body Loose," in What We Must See: Young Black Storytellers, edited by Orde Coombs (New York: Dodd & mead, 1971)

"Sister Bibi," in We Be Word Sorcerers: 25 Short Stories by Black Americans, edited by Sonia Sanchez

NonFiction

"News from BLACKARTSOUTH," Black Theater, mo. 4 (1970): 4

"On Black Theater in America: A Report," Negro Digest, 19 (April 1970): 23-31

"Annual Black Theater Round-Up: New Orleans," Black World, 21 (April 1972): 40-44

"Black Ritual Theater: The Destruction of the American Stage: A Set for Non-Believers," Black World, 21 (April 1972): 54-69

"Three Recent Photo Books," Black World, 22 (August 1973): 80-86

"James Baldwin: Looking Toward the Eighties," Black Collegiam, 10 (October/November 1979): 105-110

"Cuban Cinema," Black Scholar, 11, no. 3 (1980): 85-90

"Searching for the Mother Tongue: An Interview with Toni Cade Bambara"

Source: Arthenia J. Bates Millican. "Kalamu ya Salaam (Vallery Ferdinand III)." In Afro-American Writers After 1955: Dramatists and Prose Writers. Edited by Thadious M. Davis and Trudier Harris. Detroit, Michiagan, 1985

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updated 9 April 2008