|
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
/
Negro Iron Workers of Louisiana: 1718-1900 /
The Liberty Monument
* * *
* * George Schuyler (1895-1977), born in
Providence , Rhode island, enlisted with the United States Army
in 1912 and worked his way to the rank of lieutenant.
After the First World War Schuyler moved to New York City
where he worked as a laborer and later as a journalist on The
Messenger in 1923. For awhile a member of the socialist
Party, Schuyler contributed to a wide variety of radical
journals including Opportunity, Crisis, and Nation.
George Schuyler Critique of Black Letters * * *
* * Letters from the
Archives
of Marcus Bruce Christian
From & To Friends, Colleagues, & Wife
Table
of Contents Introduction
Letter 1 -- Langston
Hughes Comments on Christian's Blues Poems
Letter 2 -- Christian
Responds to Criticism of Elmer A. Carter, Editor
Letter 3 -- Elmer
A. Carter on Christian's "McDonough Day in New Orleans"
Letter
4 -- Elmer A. Carter on Christian's "Men on
Horseback"
Letter
5 -- Christian to Lyle Saxon on "Clothes Doctor" Manuscript
Letter
6 -- Lyle Saxon Comments on Christian's "Men on Horseback" &
Other Poems
Letter
7 -- Lyle Saxon Sends Christian a Letter of Employment for Dillard Project
Letter
8 -- Lyle Saxon to Houghton Mifflin Requests Fellowship or Publication
Letter
9 -- Paul Brooks of Houghton Mifflin Gives Christian the
Brush Off
Letter
10- Christian Complains about George Schuyler Critique of
Black Letters
Letter
11 -- George Schuyler Responds to Christian's Critique of
Editorial
Letter
12 -- George Schuyler and Christian after Critiques,
Exchange Gifts
Letter
13 -- George Schuyler Agrees To Review Saxon's Children of
Strangers
Letter
14 -- Christian Receives a
Thank-You from Mrs. Eleanor
Roosevelt
Letter
15 -- Elmer
Anderson Sends "Men on Horseback" to W.C. Handy
Letter 16 -- Sterling
Brown Requests Historical Material on New Orleans
Letter
17 -- Dr.
Carter G. Woodson's Office Responds to Christian
Letter 18-- Sterling
Brown Gives Christian an Assignment
Letter
19 -- Sterling
Brown Thanks Christian for History Material
Letter
20 -- Irene
Douglass Crosses the Color Line
Letter
21 -- Christian
Proposes to Albert Dent a Dillard University Press
Letter 22 -- Arna
Bontemps Advises Christian on a Rosenwald Fellowship
Letter 23 -- Lyle Saxon Leaves Dillard WPA
Negro History Material
Letter
24 -- Albert
Dent Outlines Christian Duties for Dillard WPA Project
Letter 25 -- Arna Bontemps Acknowledges
Documents from Christian
Letter
26 -- Dent
Complains to Quarles of Christian's Progress on WPA Project
Letter 27 -- Christian Reports to
Quarles on War Information Center
Letter 28 -- Rosenwald Fund
Notifies Christian of Fellowship
Letter 29 -- Christian
Accepts Rosenwald Fellowship
Letter 30 -- Ruth
[MBC's wife] Enjoys Negro life in Chicago
Letter 31 -- Christian's
Cool Answer to Ruth's Chicago Letter
Letter 32 -- Ruth
Lonely for Christian--Chicago Wears Thin
Letter 33 -- Christian
Considers Reconciliation with Wife Ruth
Letter 34 -- Ruth
Warm Again on Life in Chicago--Her View of Their Separation
Letter 35 -- Ruth
Unhappy with Christian's Lack of Response
Letter 36 -- Christian
Plans Resignation from Dillard--WWII Ends
Letter 37 -- Ruth
Anxious about War's End & Job Lay-Off -- Plans Return to
Louisiana
The Good
Ship BlunderBuss
Affectionately
dedicated to the Dillard University
History
Group of the Federal Writer's Project
By
Marcus Bruce Christian
* *
* * *
Books by Lyle
Saxon
Fabulous New Orleans /
Gumbo Ya-Ya /
Lafitte the Pirate /
Children of Strangers /
Father Mississippi /
Old Louisiana
* *
* * *
* *
* * * 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 * * *
* *
|
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. |
 |
* * *
* *
Marcus Bruce
Christian
Selected Diary Notes
/ Selected Poems
/
Selected Letters
* * *
* *
Profiles on Marcus Bruce Christian and the Federal
Writers Project
Bryan, Violet
Harrington.
The Myth of New Orleans in Literature.
Knoxville: University of Tennessee, 1993.
Clayton, Ronnie W.
“The Federal Writers Project for Blacks in Louisiana.”
Louisiana History 19(1978): 327-335.
Dent, Tom. “Marcus
B. Christian: A Reminiscence and an Appreciation.”
Black American Literature Forum, 1984, Volume 18,
Issue 1, pp. 22-26.
Hessler, Marilyn S.
“Marcus Christian: The Man and His Collection.”
Louisiana History 1 (1987):37-55.
Johnson, Jerah.
“Marcus B. Christian and the WPA History of Black People
in Louisiana.” Louisiana History 20.1 (1979):
113-115.
Larson, Susan.
“Poems in the Key of Life.” Times-Picayune (Book
Section), July 4, 1999.
Lewis, Rudolph. “Introduction.”
I Am New Orleans and Other Poems by Marcus Bruce
Christian. Edited by Rudolph Lewis and Amin Sharif.
New Orleans: Xavier Review Press, 1999. Reprinted in
revised form in Dillard Today 2.3 (2000): 21-24.
Lewis, Rudolph. “Magpies,
Goddesses, & Black Male Identity in the Romantic Poetry
of Marcus Bruce Christian.” Paper presented at
College Language Association, April 2000, Baltimore, MD.
Lewis, Rudolph. “Marcus
Bruce Christian and a Theory of a Black Aesthetic.”
Paper presented at the Zora Neale Hurston Society
Conference held June 1999 at University of Maryland
Eastern Shore. Published in ZNHS FORUM (Spring 2000).
Peterson, Betsy.
“Marcus Christian: Portrait of a Poet.” Dixie 18
(January 1970).
Redding, Joan. “The
Dillard Project: The Black Unit of the Louisiana
Writers’ Project.” Louisiana History 32.1 (1991):
47-62
Source:
Wikipedia
* * *
* *
* *
* * *
|
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.
|
 |
* *
* * *
 |
Weep Not, Child
By
Ngugi wa Thiong'o
This is
a powerful, moving story that details the
effects of the infamous Mau Mau war, the
African nationalist revolt against colonial
oppression in Kenya, on the lives of
ordinary men and women, and on one family in
particular. Two brothers, Njoroge and Kamau,
stand on a rubbish heap and look into their
futures. Njoroge is excited; his family has
decided that he will attend school, while
Kamau will train to be a carpenter. Together
they will serve their country—the
teacher and the craftsman. But this is Kenya
and the times are against them. In the
forests, the Mau Mau is waging war against
the white government, and the two brothers
and their family need to decide where their
loyalties lie. For the practical Kamau the
choice is simple, but for Njoroge the
scholar, the dream of progress through
learning is a hard one to give up.—Penguin
|
* *
* * *
update 29 June 2008
|
