Ebook: Blues Vision: African American writing from Minnesota

"A rich Minnesota literary tradition is brought into the spotlight in this groundbreaking collection of incisive prose and powerful poetry by forty- three black writers who educate, inspire, and reveal the unabashed truth. Historically significant figures tell their stories, demonstrating how much and how little conditions have changed: Gordon Parks hitchhikes to Bemidji, Taylor Gordon describes his first day as a chauffeur in St. Paul, and Nellie Stone Johnson insists on escaping the farm for high school in Minneapolis. A profusionof modern voices-- poet Tish Jones, playwright Kim Hines, and memoirist Frank Wilderson-- reflect the dizzying, complex realities of the present. Showcasing the unique vision and reality of Minnesota's African American community from the Harlem renaissance through the civil rights movement, from the black power movement to the era of hip- hop and the time of America's first black president, this compelling anthology provides an explosion of artistic expression about what it means to be a Minnesotan. Alexs Pate, an award- winning novelist, playwright, and writing professor, is the president of Innocent Technologies, LLC. Pamela R. Fletcher is associate professor of English at St. Catherine University. J. Otis Powell!? is a poet, performance artist, and curator working in an aesthetic rooted in Afrocentric lore and culture"--;Introduction / Alexs Pate -- SCENE 1 HEART -- Birth of the Cool: Minnesota / Philip Bryant -- from A Choice of Weapons / Gordon Parks -- Poetryapolis / Roy McBride -- Tracks / Tish Jones -- Ottawa, MN, Cemetery -- 1992 / Philip Bryant -- Coming to Minnesota / Susan J. Smith-Grier -- Anybody but me on Grand Avenue / Mary Moore Easter -- Afrika / E.G. Bailey -- Kenwood 1964 / Frank B. Wilderson III -- SCENE 2 REMEMBERED -- God's Chosen People / Lloyd Brown -- Apology for Apostasy? / Etheridge Knight -- from Swallow the Fish / Gabrielle Civil -- Migrations / Angela Shannon -- Glitter Lions / David Haynes -- Autobiographia / G.E. Patterson -- Shameless Lutherans / Mary Moore Easter -- St. Peter, Minnesota: Barry Harris / Philip Bryant -- Granny's Story / Shá Cage -- SCENE 3 PLACES -- from The Slide / Alexs Pate -- Our Grandmothers / Shá Cage -- Tongue Swallow / J. Otis Powell?! -- Christmas Tale / Conrad Balfour -- Creating Change / Andrea Jenkins -- All the Information We Have / Shannon Gibney -- from I Believe I'll Run On and See What the End's Gonna Be / Kim Hines -- As You Leave Me / Etheridge Knight -- Home Delivery / Anthony Peyton Porter -- SCENE 4 FELT -- When a Cat Goes Out / J. Otis Powell?! -- Heartsong for Our Father / Louis Alemayehu -- OnScene / Tish Jones -- Love Across the Middle Passage / Shannon Gibney -- It's Like a Miracle / David Grant -- At the End of Myself / Rohan Preston -- Lilac Week / Roy McBride -- The Bank Robbery / Carolyn Holbrook and Steven Holbrook -- Mama / Evelyn Fairbanks -- SCENE 5 FACES -- from Born to Be / Taylor Gordon -- Kwame J.C. McDonald / Kofi Bobby Hickman -- My Rites of Passage / Kemet Imhotep -- Decay / Taiyon Coleman -- I Hear Myself Say (MMA) / Rohan Preston -- The Night Before / Craig Green -- The Brawl in St. Paul / Kofi Bobby Hickman -- Akhenaten's Dream: SunRise! / Louis Alemayehu -- The Pork Chop Wars / Laurie Carlos -- Off to the Big City / Nellie Stone Johnson.;"A rich Minnesota literary tradition is brought into the spotlight in this groundbreaking collection of incisive prose and powerful poetry by forty-three black writers who educate, inspire, and reveal the unabashed truth"--;SCENE 6 HEARD -- Stones and Sticks / Carolyn Holbrook -- Who Would You Be? / Arleta Little -- In the City, Homelessness / Davida Adedjouma -- Smart Enough for Ford / Clarence White -- Zombies, by Andre Lord / Kyra Crawford-Calvert -- Sabotage / Anthony Peyton Porter -- On Performing "Berlitz" / Gabrielle Civil -- Liberia / E.G. Bailey -- Job / G.E. Patterson -- SCENE 7 SPOKEN -- Mary / G.E. Patterson -- Bad / Pamela R. Fletcher -- Inland Sea / Roy McBride -- Preston's Dream: Version No. 1 / Philip Bryant -- To Be Black in America / Ralph Remington -- Don't Blink / Libby Green -- Unbuckling / Rohan Preston -- The Stagnant Reassurance in the Communication of the Dead / Taiyon Coleman -- Carrying Home / Angela Shannon -- Anniversary / J. Otis Powell?! -- Lifeline / Pamela R. Fletcher.