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​​ What might James Baldwin say about our country of 2017?
 

​As a black girl growing up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the 1960’s, I was mesmerized whenever I saw James Baldwin on television, a dark skinned “Negro” man with piercing, animated eyes, exuding the confidence and intellect equal to any white person I had ever seen and heard before.  Without hatred, he spoke directly into the authoritarian faces of white men challenging America’s persecution of black folk and people of color and questioning America’s humanity when she engaged in racism and brutality.
 
​I learned that James Baldwin refused to hate; however, he was intolerant of hate of any kind toward anyone. 
​Rather, he
preached a truth that we all need to run toward just about now.
 
To Baldwin, writing was more important than anything so much so he left America in 1948 because he could not write in America.  In an interview, he told Henry Louis Gates, Jr. why he left the United States.  “It was November 1948, Armistice Day, as a matter of fact. I left because I was a writer.  I had discovered writing and I had a family to save.  I had only one weapon to save them, my writing. And I couldn’t write in the United States.”
 
James knew that writing gave him a voice and power.   In Milwaukee, people in power wanted black voices shut down. We were greatly outnumbered by the “silent majority” and they were doing their best to keep us segregated in schools and neighborhoods, economically impaired and politically emasculated. There was so much oppression that I was convinced that I would never see a black man no less a woman as President of the United states.  I didn’t even dream of that possibility. However, when I witnessed James Baldwin speaking out with tenacious power, I knew I had to become a writer.
 
 So, what might James Baldwin say about our country of 2017?
 
He might say that if we continue to look the other way, this country will become entrapped in a momentum of destruction, racial intolerance and hatred that we won’t be able to stop.  That the moment is now to oppose the growing, insidious will to undo civil liberties, suppress freedom of speech and withhold justice for all.  That we have no other choice than to embrace our humanity while we still have it and fearlessly fight back.
 
James Baldwin might say, “I am my brother’s keeper and if I am destroyed, my brother is too.” Read The Fire Next Time and study what Baldwin wrote about race relations in the 1960’s – almost sixty years ago – some things have changed and much remains the same.
 
We, all of us, white, black, brown, yellow, red, the glorious rainbow of mankind, must refuse to go back to hatred and bigotry.  Some might argue that we have already gone back beyond redemption. But I do not believe that.  We have been misled and are lost, but together we can find our way. We have come too far to turn back now for we surely know that our only other recourse will be the fire next time.

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First On The Block: The True Story Of The Little Guild That Could

9/1/2015

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Hello and welcome to Harlem Writes, the official blog of the Harlem Writers Guild (HWG). I’m K.C., the baby of our little scribe tribe, and the first guest blogger of the newly minted Harlem Writes (HW). It’s my mission (if I chose to accept, and I do!) to introduce you to my mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, aunties, uncles, play cousins, and their works of fiction, poetry, essay, and more. And trust me, you’re going to want to get to know them! Our members, past and present, from Rosa Guy (a founding member, and author of among others My Love, My Love: Or, the Peasant Girl) to Grace Edwards (Mali Anderson Mysteries), make up a veritable who’s who of African American literature. 

Founded in 1950 as a direct response to a lack of exposure, support, and diversity in American literature, the HWGis not only the oldest, but also the longest, continuously running writer’s group comprised of African American writers in the world. Through the decades a roster of phenomenal talent such as John Oliver Killens (another founding member, and author of Youngblood) and the missed and beloved Ossie and Ruby Davis (With Ossie and Ruby: In This Life Together) have graced our family reunions, aka our bi-monthly meetings.

            While there are a handful of reputable writers groups and workshops who can boast of an impressive list of scribblers, and who nurture and provide a safe space to publish like Callaloo and Kimbilio, along with a history of publishing excellence (dozens upon dozens of works of fiction and nonfiction), the HWG has a mission. Our mission is not merely wider exposure and publishing opportunities for our coterie of canon worthy writers, but also an expansion of our family. It is imperative that our members such as Miriam Kelly Ferguson (Weaver), Eartha Watts Hicks (Love Changes), Minnette Coleman (The Blacksmith’s Daughter) and our esteemed Director Diane Richards (Sowa’s Red Gravy Stories) rub shoulders with other like-minded, ambitious scribes in order to stay relevant. Because sadly, our dirty little family secret is that although we are old, wise, and respected in some circles, we do not enjoy our fair portion of literary light. Over the years, we have lost a touch of our shine but with our newly revamped website (www.theharlemwritersguild.com) and our fancy new blog, we are determined to take our rightful place in the literary sun.

We want and deserve to be a touchstone for new and emerging writers, as well as a valued, historical archive that MFA and doctoral candidates and researchers can access. We want and deserve to be the first ones that come to mind when an editor is looking for a quote on the state of black writing, or an event planner is looking for an author for its panel. Holding our bi-monthly meeting at the world renowned Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture with whom we often collaborate, we are extremely cognizant of the importance of chronically our past, but we also understand the importance of the here and now. We need to embrace the past and the present so that we may march purposefully into the future.

            And this is why the HWG has launched our Harlem Writes blog. On a monthly basis, we will showcase our works in progress, let you know about new releases and upcoming events,  share our thoughts on recently released books, and our excitement over new writers we’ve discovered, whether they’re members of the guild or not (although of course we hope they will become members!) We cherish our motely brood of current members, but we also cherish writers of the African diaspora who didn’t originate in Harlem. I, myself, started in California, migrated to Brooklyn for twenty-one years, and now live in Washington Heights (Harlem adjacent to be sure!) We will never turn anyone away at the border!

            In the coming months you will learn more about our HWG family, our goals, hopes, and dreams, and we hope to learn more about you as you reach out to us and let us know what you’re interested in. Just remember, Harlem is not just a destination, it’s a state of mind, and as Harlem continues to write its fascinating story, so to shall the Harlem Writers Guild. 

Be sure to check back next month when we explore Harlem’s rich literary history and how it has influenced current writers, and the importance of tradition and longevity.   

K.C.
Write to delight
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