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Rober E.
Knoll, ed.
Weldon Kees and the Midcentury Generation: Letters, 1935-1955
(2003)
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Weldon Kees
(1914-1955?) Born in Beatrice, Nebraska (February 24,
1914), was keenly interested, even as a boy, in music,
art, and writing. In 1935, he graduated from the University of
Nebraska. At college he began publishing short stories in
mid-western literary magazines. In the eleven years between 1934
and 1945 he published more than thirty stories.
After college he began to write and publish poems. His first
job was with the Federal Writers Project in Lincoln, Nebraska.
In 1937 he moved to Denver, Colorado and was the Director of the
bibliographical Center of Research for the Rocky Mountain
Region. There he married Ann Swain. In 1943 the couple moved to
new York City and Kees wrote for Time magazine and
published reviews in national magazines and newspapers such as The
Nation and The New Republic.
In the mid-forties, he also began to paint and had a one-man
show at galleries including the Peridot Gallery. His
paintings were often compared to abstract expressionists such as
William de Kooning.
Kees's first collection of poems, The Last Man, was published
in 1943. His second collection, The Fall of Magicians, first
appeared in 1947. Kees moved to San Francisco in 1951. In
California, he began to study and play jazz piano. With Jurgen
Ruesch, Kees collaborated on the book
Non-Verbal Communication
(1956), illustrated with photographs by Kees. Much of Kees
writing has been collected in the
Reviews and Essays,
1936-1955 (1988).
In the mid-1950s, Kees became increasingly depressed.
He
divorced his wife in 1952. His final book, Poems 1947-1954,
was published in 1954. On July 18, 1955, his car was found
abandoned on the approach to the Golden Gate Bridge. He told a
friend that he wanted like Hart Crane to start a new life in
Mexico. He had also suggested that he might commit suicide.
In 1960 Kee's
Collected Poems was first published. This
volume has been reprinted twice. His collection of fiction
Ceremony
and Other Stories, first appeared in 1983.
Below is an autobiographical poem, set in his hometown of
Beatrice.
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The porchlight coming on
again
Early November, the dead
leaves
Raked in piles, the wicker
swing
Creaking. Across the lots
A phonograph is playing
Ja-Da.
An orange moon. I see the
lives
Of neighbors, mapped and
marred
Like all the wars ahead,
and R.
Insane, B. with his throat
cut,
Fifteen years from now, in
Omaha
I did not know them then.
My Airedale scratches at
the door.
And I am back from seeing
Milton Sills
And Doris Kenyon. Twelve
years old.
The porchlight coming on again. |
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Mockingbirds at Jerusalem
(poetry
Manuscript)
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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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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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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
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Negro Digest /
Black World
Browse all issues
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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 /
George Jackson /
Hurricane Carter
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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 3 April
2010
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