Voices To Be Heard

摘要

This collection brings together excerpts, essays, and interviews by 25 black authors, including legends in the canon and newer writers such as Edwidge Danticat, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Roxane Gay, Colson Whitehead, and Marlon James. Written between 1845 and 2017, the works range from memoirs on the power of reading during slavery and emancipation to narratives of how certain books and authors shaped these writers' lives and straightforward advice on composition; all address the centrality of literacy to black liberation, both personally and politically. Many of these pieces, such as those by Maya Angelou, Frederick Douglass, and Malcolm X, will be familiar to those steeped in black history and literature. In an effort to be a tight and fast-moving read, some samples feel disjointed excerpted from their original books, and the very brief introductions to each piece are at times lacking in necessary historical context. But taken as a whole, this survey of what it means to be a black reader and writer is an important and long overdue project. VERDICT An essential collection for readers and students of black history and literature.