April 4, 2006

The Project on the History of Black Writing, which celebrated its twentieth anniversary last year, was founded in 1983 as the Computer Assisted Analysis of Black Literature to provide a clearinghouse for archival, documentary, and scholarly research in African American literature. Our work has grown and expanded, but our mission remains the same. As we enter our third decade, we invited Jerry W. Ward, Jr., HBW founding board member, to reflect upon the importance of our stories. Prof. Ward, a resident of New Orleans, was forced to evacuate his home. He recently moved from a shelter to Vicksburg, Mississippi. The following is an excerpt from THE KATRINA PAPERS , an evolving chronicle of that experience and its aftermath.

On April 3, 2006 you had to contemplate emptiness, the oddly bounded space of air in the Grand Canyon. You have been near the Grand Canyon. You did not have time during your last visit to Arizona to have the eyegasm of viewing this natural wonder. You view it in your head. Read the whole excerpt.

Gordon Parks, who captured the struggles and triumphs of black America as a photographer for Life magazine and then became Hollywood’s first major black director with "The Learning Tree" and the hit "Shaft," died Tuesday, his family said. He was 93. Read entire article…

An interesting article from NPR.org…

Remembering Octavia Butler: Eye on the Stars, Feet on the Ground

Octavia E. Butler, considered the first black woman to gain national prominence as a science fiction writer, has died, a close friend said Sunday. She was 58.Read full article…

Coretta Scott King, who died on January 30, 2006, at the age of 78, is best known as the driving force behind the memorialization of her late husband, slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. Read the collection of articles on Coretta…

  View "Remembering Coretta  Scott King" Slide Presentation

Read the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Coverage

See note from the founder thanking our sponsors…

Langston Hughes Creative Writing Award goes to two renowned poets Max Keith Sutton and Kevin Rabas. Read more…