Who’s Afraid of a Black Helen of Troy?

Did you hear that Lupita Nyong’o has been cast as Helen of Troy in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming Odyssey flick? Of course you have. Because the usual chorus of salty folk won’t let you not know. The face that launched a thousand ships, has launched a thousand takes. So I figure, why can’t I have one? Let’s go!

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Revisiting Good Trouble

March Book One

Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble. We will find a way to make a way out of no way.”–John Lewis, 1940-2016

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Good Trouble

March Book One

Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble. We will find a way to make a way out of no way.”–John Lewis, 1940-2016

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Early Black Writers, Speculative Fiction and Confronting Racial Terror

BlakeIn the bleakest of moments African-American writers have turned to literature to confront racial terror and the trauma it could induce–turning to poetry, personal narratives, plays and novels. Sometimes, they even dreamed of the fantastic.

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