In an effort to help sustain momentum for and contribute to urgent anti-racist action in the US and beyond, we present these works from the NER archive. Black Lives Matter, and Black Literature Matters.
NONFICTION
CAMILLE T. DUNGY A Shade North of Ordinary
SEAN HILL For Which It Stands
KIM MCLARIN Eshu Finds Work
JERALD WALKER Breathe
LARRY I. PALMER The Haircut
FRANCOIS SCARBOROUGH CLEMMONS From the Beginning
POETRY
CARL PHILLIPS The Steeper the Fall
LYNNE THOMPSON Langston won’t stay in his grave
ALISON C. ROLLINS Five and a Possible
GEFFREY DAVIS West Virginia Nocturne
CHESWAYO MPHANZA Lester Leaps In
JOSHUA BENNETT The Sobbing School
JASMINNE MENDEZ Machete
LUTHER HUGHES Culture
DERRICK AUSTIN Dear & Decorations
SAFIYA SINCLAIR Good Hair
FICTION
RAVEN LEILANI Dead Weight
CELESTE MOHAMMED Six Months
MARIA THOMAS Simple Battery
INTERVIEW
NATHANIEL G. NESMITH The Alchemy of Art: An Interview with CHARLES JOHNSON
Dr. Francois Scarborough Clemmons says
Dear Madame/Sir This particular issue is wonderful…..I know I’m prejudiced as a black man in America I too had my inadvertent never-to-be-forgotten run-in with the guys in Blue in Youngstown, Ohio!!! They were not helpful or receptive for me. The fact that I was asked to portray a policeman on Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, was a shock based on the sad state of affairs of my youth. I knew that Fred was making a statement fit for America and I tried to help him. I’m encouraged by the number of folk who do write to me or come up at one of my engagements and recite the whole bit of their lives that has led them to become a legitimate, hard working, and honest cop. For many of them it’s been hard and they think of me as a positive part of the variety of roles I play on the show. I’m encouraged. and honored beyond words I didn’t expect anyone to want to be a cop because of me. I thought most of those who liked me would want to be some kind of professional artist, ..maybe a singer!!! And there have been quite a few over the years, I’ve learned not to be so surprise at the ‘goodness’ lurking around all kinds of groups of people in our society who love this country and feel that being a cop is one way to ‘serve’!!!! Thank you for publishing this brief selection from my memoir: Officer Clemmons. A Memoir! One little gesture has affected thousands of folk all over the world. Thank You , Mr. Rogers!!!!!!