Survivors Guilt Essays On Race And American Identity

"A well-written, powerful examination of America's racial legacies"--Kirkus Reviews "Artress Bethany White has written a beautiful book that shimmers with bravery on every page. In tackling race, she interrogates and informs, startles and prods, and implicates us all--forcing us to see ourselves through multi-faceted prisms of American identity. Using personal and familial narratives from her own 'tangled racial threads' as our intimate guide, White helps us understand this traumatized cultural moment by weaving together harsh truths with poetic language and fierce insight. We need this book right now. White shares an astute pedagogy here, one that acknowledges our collective mourning and provides a prescriptive for our collective healing. I want everyone to read this brilliant collection."--Bridgett M. Davis, author of The World According To Fannie Davis: My Mother's Life In The Detroit Numbers "In this volume of over a dozen essays, the author--whose award-winning poetry has appeared in multiple anthologies, collections, and journals--blends autobiography with biting social and political commentary on themes centered on racial trauma, sexuality, gender, and class."--Kirkus Reviews "Naming the beast is the first part of the battle. SURVIVOR'S GUILT: ESSAYS ON RACE AND AMERICAN IDENTITY is a reader's guide to shifting from silent abuser to empathetic ally."--Independent Book Review "Talk about the right time to find a story . . . My copy arrived two months after Breonna Taylor was shot in her bed, three weeks after the first arrests for the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, four days after the world watched George Floyd's murder on video; in other words, right when the world finally seemed to wake up to the reality of race in America."--Mom Egg Review "SURVIVOR'S GUILT is an urgent and honest look at one of the most important topics of our time. White is an eloquent storyteller and a deep thinker. She uses her personal life, family history, and teaching experience as a springboard for a wide-ranging discussion of race in America today. These essays are unflinching yet ultimately hopeful. This is one of the wisest books I have read in a long time."--Sharon Harrigan, author of Playing With Dynamite "In SURVIVOR'S GUILT: ESSAYS ON RACE AND AMERICAN IDENTITY, Artress Bethany White offers her personal take on some of the most important issues facing the country today. But rather than tackle political policy or electoral politics, White opens a family album and reflects upon what the nation's failure to reckon with its history has meant for her ancestors' and her past, as well as her own, her husband's, and their children's present and future. If you have been looking for a heartfelt, well-informed, but gentle entry into contemporary thinking about racial concerns--from the legacy of lynching, to the challenges of interracial marriage, to the complexities of class within the black community--you have found your guide."--Evie Shockley, author of Semiautomatic Literary Nonfiction. African & African American Studies. Essays. Women's Studies.

An anthology of a different sort, this volume presents a representative sample of contemporary American poems in 2023, with a road map of their origins. Bringing a diversity of styles and sensibilities, 62 poets from across the United States--some well known, some up-and-coming--illuminate their craft. Each poet contributes one poem, accompanied by an essay discussing their creative process and how the verse came to fruition.

This carefully and generously curated mosaic of essays, letters, and poems reveals the profound impact that poet Yusef Komunyakaa has had on poets, educators, and readers worldwide. The anthology brings together creative and critical offerings from fellow poets, former students, literary entities, and other admirers. There are emerging and established voices—from previously unpublished writers to Pulitzer Prize winning poets. Together these pieces honor one of the most influential writers of the last half century, one, it turns out, who is as beloved for his teaching as he is celebrated for his creative work. Contributors include Terrance Hayes, Sharon Olds, Carolyn Forché, Toi Derricotte, and Martín Espada, among others. Dear Yusef affirms Komunyakaa's transformative influence, showcasing how his mentoring has ignited creativity, nurtured passion, and fostered a sense of belonging among countless individuals. Through the artistry of these testimonials, we witness the transformative power of poetry and the enduring legacy of a true literary icon.

Artress Bethany White is a poet, essayist, and literary critic. She is the recipient of the 2018 Trio Award for her poetry collection, My Afmerica (Trio House Press, 2019). Her prose and poetry have appeared in such journals as Harvard Review, Tupelo Quarterly, The Hopkins Review, Pleiades, Solstice, Poet Lore, Ecotone, and The Account. Her collection of essays, Survivor's Guilt: Essays on Race and American Identity is forthcoming from New Rivers Press/Minnesota State University in March 2020.

"With unflinching honesty, E. Dolores Johnson shares an enthralling story of identity, independence, family, and love. This timely and beautifully written memoir ends on a complicated yet hopeful note, something we need in this time of racial strife." —De'Shawn Charles Winslow, author of In West Mills Say I'm Dead is the true story of family secrets, separation, courage, and transformation through five generations of interracial relationships. Fearful of prison time—or lynching—for violating Indiana's antimiscegenation laws in the 1940s, E. Dolores Johnson's Black father and White mother fled Indianapolis to secretly marry in Buffalo, New York. When Johnson was born, social norms and her government-issued birth certificate said she was Negro, nullifying her mother's white blood in her identity. Later, as a Harvard-educated business executive feeling too far from her black roots, she searched her father's black genealogy. But in the process, Johnson suddenly realized that her mother's whole white family was—and always had been—missing. When she began to pry, her mother's 36-year-old secret spilled out. Her mother had simply vanished from Indiana, evading an FBI and police search that had ended with the conclusion that she had been the victim of foul play.

In the tradition of Reflections of an Affirmative Action Baby, The Alchemy of Race and Rights, and The Sweeter the Juice, Notes of a White Black Woman explores the meaning of race in the United States, the power of racial categories in our lives, and the personal experience of being a black professional in an overwhelmingly white world.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • NAMED ONE OF TIME’S TEN BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE DECADE • PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST • ONE OF OPRAH’S “BOOKS THAT HELP ME THROUGH” • NOW AN HBO ORIGINAL SPECIAL EVENT Hailed by Toni Morrison as “required reading,” a bold and personal literary exploration of America’s racial history by “the most important essayist in a generation and a writer who changed the national political conversation about race” (Rolling Stone) NAMED ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOKS OF THE DECADE BY CNN • NAMED ONE OF PASTE’S BEST MEMOIRS OF THE DECADE • NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • O: The Oprah Magazine • The Washington Post • People • Entertainment Weekly • Vogue • Los Angeles Times • San Francisco Chronicle • Chicago Tribune • New York • Newsday • Library Journal • Publishers Weekly In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden? Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates’s attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son. Coates shares with his son—and readers—the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the world through a series of revelatory experiences, from Howard University to Civil War battlefields, from the South Side of Chicago to Paris, from his childhood home to the living rooms of mothers whose children’s lives were taken as American plunder. Beautifully woven from personal narrative, reimagined history, and fresh, emotionally charged reportage, Between the World and Me clearly illuminates the past, bracingly confronts our present, and offers a transcendent vision for a way forward.

In this controversial essay collection, award-winning writer Shelby Stelle illuminates the origins of the current conflict in race relations--the increase in anger, mistrust, and even violence between black and whites. With candor and persuasive argument, he shows us how both black and white Americans have become trapped into seeing color before character, and how social policies designed to lessen racial inequities have instead increased them. The Content of Our Character is neither "liberal" nor "conservative," but an honest, courageous look at America's most enduring and wrenching social dilemma.

Of all mankinds' vices, racism is one of the most pervasive and stubborn. Success in overcoming racism has been achieved from time to time, but victories have been limited thus far because mankind has focused on personal economic gain or power grabs ignoring generosity of the soul. This bibliography brings together the literature providing access by subject groupings as well as author and subject indexes. Contents: Racial Attitudes; Racism and Poverty; Hate Groups; Racial Justice; Racism and Politics; Race Discrimination; Racial Identity; Racism Around the World.