Tag Archives: Richard Wright

Daddy Dearest

My father, a Native Southern Son, was born in the same month and year Negro History Week was established. Then, we were Negroes. Thirty-four years later, when I was born, we were still Negroes. When my father died at the … Continue reading

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Rereading Richard Wright’s Black Boy

When I first read Richard Wrightโ€™s Black Boy more than 40 years ago when I was a teenager, little that I knew about literature,  I thought the writing was superb.  I was doing a little writing then and thought Wright … Continue reading

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Daddy Dearest

My father, a Native Southern Son, was born in the same month and year Negro History Week was established. Then, we were Negroes. Thirty-four years later, when I was born, we were still Negroes. When my father died at the … Continue reading

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I Wanna Go to Bailey’s Cafe

Gloria Naylor is another Scheherazade.  She was a consummate storyteller, wrote beautifully, created engaging stories and characters we could judge if so inclined by the content of their character, not their race.  Unlike Alice Walker, Naylorโ€™s male characters have more … Continue reading

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Son of a Native Southern Son

On this day in American history, in 1982, my father passed away, at the age of 56, a week and a day after he reached that age.  I always think of my father as a Native Southern Son.  When I … Continue reading

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A Bigger By Any Other Name

Bigger Thomas, although a fictional character, haunts the imagination of white folk.  Richard Wrightโ€™s Native Son, where we meet Bigger Thomas, was published in 1940.  Benjamin Mays, in eulogizing the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 28 years later after … Continue reading

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