We are all overworked, perhaps overwhelmed, and certainly underpaid. The holidays are over, the bills are piling in, and baby, it’s cold outside. And then wrapped around monetized hearts and fattening chocolates Black History Month sneaks up on us. It’s easy to be dismissive, cynical. We’ve got Michelle & Barack and their beautiful, well-behaved and soon to be wildly accomplished daughters, not to mention Loretta Lynch, Melissa Harris Perry, and Ta’Nehisi Coates, who needs Negro History Week aka McDonald’s new ad campaign aimed at good looking, trendsetting black millennials? The short answer is we do.
We may have much to be proud of, much to celebrate, but sadly as a people we are not there yet and can ill-afford to be dismissive, to be cynical because there is still much to be done to get to where as a brilliant, strong people we deserve to be. And if you’ve been following Harlem Writes, you know that we believe deeply that the journey requires looking forward while still holding our past close.
So this month, in honor of Black History, past and future, we are re-printing an article on the need for diversity in publishing written by Elizabeth Nunez, an award winning Distinguished Professor at Hunter College, CUNY.
Professor Nunez touches on many things in her excellent piece for Writer’s Digest magazine, including the importance of many different voices in order to keep literature fresh, alive, and relevant for future generations. But she also reaches back and pays homage to James Baldwin, Richard Wright, and little old us, the Harlem Writers Guild. And in doing so, she not only succinctly makes her case, but with any luck, also paves the way for up and coming writers of color.
We may have much to be proud of, much to celebrate, but sadly as a people we are not there yet and can ill-afford to be dismissive, to be cynical because there is still much to be done to get to where as a brilliant, strong people we deserve to be. And if you’ve been following Harlem Writes, you know that we believe deeply that the journey requires looking forward while still holding our past close.
So this month, in honor of Black History, past and future, we are re-printing an article on the need for diversity in publishing written by Elizabeth Nunez, an award winning Distinguished Professor at Hunter College, CUNY.
Professor Nunez touches on many things in her excellent piece for Writer’s Digest magazine, including the importance of many different voices in order to keep literature fresh, alive, and relevant for future generations. But she also reaches back and pays homage to James Baldwin, Richard Wright, and little old us, the Harlem Writers Guild. And in doing so, she not only succinctly makes her case, but with any luck, also paves the way for up and coming writers of color.
Happy Valentine's Day & happy reading!
