| [Editor's note: Below is my first attempt
to get the poems of Marcus Bruce Christian published. The editor
in effect told me that LSU does not publish dead poets, even
if he is a native son. RL]
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Letters
from LSU and Skip Gates
on Publishing the Poems Marcus Bruce Christian October 22, 1985
Louisiana State University Press
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70893
Mr. Rudolph Lewis
Department of English
University of New Orleans
Lakefront
New Orleans, LA 70148
Dear Mr. Lewis:
Thank you for your letter of October 20. I'm sorry we are not
bale to invite submission of "The Selected Poems of Marcus
Bruce Christian." We have a very modest series of
publishing original poems, generally by living poets. But we
have been forced to adopt a policy of not considering selected
or collected poems, since our own series is so modest. We do
appreciate your thinking of the Press with Mr. Christian's work,
and we wish you the best of luck with finding a suitable outlet
for it.
Best regards,
(Ms.) Beverly Jarrett
Associate Director & Executive Editor
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[Editor's note: Having been frustrated by the white
folks. I went to my brother Skip, with hat in hand pressed
tightly against my chest, to see if he could help in our efforts
to bring Marcus Bruce Christian from out of the pit that had
been dug for him. It was hope against hope, for I knew that Skip
was part of the problem because he had left Christian out of his
Anthology. He had been involved in publishing however, another
Louisiana writer, Alice Dunbar Nelson (which there was little
interest other than that she was a black female writer). Below
is his response. RL]
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October 12, 1999
Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Director
W.E.B. Du Bois Professor of the
Humanities
W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for
Afro-American Research
Harvard University
Barker Center
12 Quincy Street
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138-3879
Dear Mr. Lewis:
Thank you much for your recent letter and the copy of Marcus
Christian's poems. You are doing a wonderful thing in bringing
his writing into print and establishing him in the canon of
African American authors. I regret that an extremely full
schedule means that I simply have no time for an additional time
project, no matter how interesting, and so I cannot take on the
writing of an introduction to the publication of another
collection of Christian's poems. I regret this, but I know we
can all trust your dedication to bring Marcus Christian and his
work to the attention they deserve.
Sincerely,
[signed "Skip"]
Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
* * *
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[Editor's note: We also sent Joyce A. Joyce, while she
was chair of Temple's Afro-American Studies Department, a copy
of I Am New Orleans & Other Poems By Marcus B. Christian
to review. I knew she too was part of the canon problem because
I had attempted to get her to include Christian in the Anthology
she worked on in the late 80s. I brought up the Christian poems
then. As I understand it, she was too busy cleaning up after the
maid to respond, even though I went out of the way to bring her
to Baltimore for a speaking engagement at Enoch Pratt Free
Library. Another excuse was that Asante and his posse in the
department were threatening to do her bodily damage. RL]
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 |
Sex at the Margins
Migration, Labour Markets and the Rescue Industry
By Laura María Agustín
This book explodes several myths: that selling sex is completely different from any other kind of work, that migrants who sell sex are passive victims and that the multitude of people out to save them are without self-interest. Laura Agustín makes a passionate case against these stereotypes, arguing that the label 'trafficked' does not accurately describe migrants' lives and that the 'rescue industry' serves to disempower them. Based on extensive research amongst both migrants who sell sex and social helpers, Sex at the Margins provides a radically different analysis. Frequently, says Agustin, migrants make rational choices to travel and work in the sex industry, and although they are treated like a marginalised group they form part of the dynamic global economy. Both powerful and controversial, this book is essential reading for all those who want to understand the increasingly important relationship between sex markets, migration and the desire for social justice. "Sex at the Margins rips apart distinctions between migrants, service work and sexual labour and reveals the utter complexity of the contemporary sex industry. This book is set to be a trailblazer in the study of sexuality."—Lisa Adkins, University of London |
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|
Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in
America
By Melissa V.
Harris-Perry
According to the
author, this society has historically exerted
considerable pressure on black females to fit into one
of a handful of stereotypes, primarily, the Mammy, the
Matriarch or the Jezebel. The selfless
Mammy’s behavior is marked by a slavish devotion to
white folks’ domestic concerns, often at the expense of
those of her own family’s needs. By contrast, the
relatively-hedonistic Jezebel is a sexually-insatiable
temptress. And the Matriarch is generally thought of as
an emasculating figure who denigrates black men, ala the
characters Sapphire and Aunt Esther on the television
shows Amos and Andy and Sanford and Son, respectively.
Professor Perry
points out how the propagation of these harmful myths
have served the mainstream culture well. For instance,
the Mammy suggests that it is almost second nature for
black females to feel a maternal instinct towards
Caucasian babies.
As for the source
of the Jezebel, black women had no control over their
own bodies during slavery given that they were being
auctioned off and bred to maximize profits. Nonetheless,
it was in the interest of plantation owners to propagate
the lie that sisters were sluts inclined to mate
indiscriminately.
|
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The White Masters of the
World
From
The World and Africa, 1965
By W. E. B. Du Bois
W. E. B. Du Bois’
Arraignment and Indictment of White Civilization
(Fletcher)
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Ancient African Nations
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If you like this page consider making a donation
* * * * *
Negro Digest /
Black World
Browse all issues
1950
1960
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
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2000
____ 2005
Enjoy!
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The Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan
/
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
/
Only a Pawn in Their Game
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson Thanks America for
Slavery
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The Journal of Negro History issues at Project Gutenberg
The
Haitian Declaration of Independence 1804
/
January 1, 1804 -- The Founding of
Haiti
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posted 20 August 2005
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