A review by proffy
Black Ink: Literary Legends on the Peril, Power, and Pleasure of Reading and Writing by Stephanie Stokes Oliver
5.0
Black Ink: Literary Legends on the Peril, Power, and Pleasure of Reading and Writing is one of the best anthologies I have read in a long, long time. Not only is it well-written, interesting, and important, it’s also extremely relevant to my field of study, my profession, and my passions.
A collection of 25 essays written between the early 1800s and the early 2000s, this anthology of Black writers’ perspectives on reading and writing is a lament for the struggles of those excluded from the literary world and a celebration of the power of that world.
The early essays move readers through the literary journeys of some of the most influential Black authors at the turn of the 20th century. Kept from reading and writing by practice and law, Blacks often learned in secret, protesting their restrictions and then using their newfound power to tell the world the truth about slavery and racism. This section on the Peril of Reading reveals the revolutionary power of words to communicate truth and effect change by excerpting works from The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, Up From Slavery, The Souls of Black Folk, and Twelve Years a Slave. Writing is activism.
The middle section, on the Power of Reading, contains 13 essays from writers such as Zora Neale Hurston, James Baldwin, Martin Luther King Jr., and Toni Morrison, to name a few. This is a much broader cross-section of authors and topics than part 1 and attempting to effectively paraphrase them in their entirety is just not possible, nor would it communicate the breadth of force these essays possess.
The third section focuses on the Pleasure of Reading and Writing, featuring authors such as Junot Diaz, Roxane Gay, and Ta-Nehisi Coates. The final selection is an interview with Barack Obama on his relationship with reading. My favorite essay here is “The Danger of a Single Story” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie who so beautifully argues the necessity of multiplicity and diversity in stories.
For more about my thoughts on this book, check out my review post at http://unfinishedintellectual.com/2018/05/01/black-ink-literary-legends-on-the-peril-power-and-pleasure-of-reading-and-writing/
A collection of 25 essays written between the early 1800s and the early 2000s, this anthology of Black writers’ perspectives on reading and writing is a lament for the struggles of those excluded from the literary world and a celebration of the power of that world.
The early essays move readers through the literary journeys of some of the most influential Black authors at the turn of the 20th century. Kept from reading and writing by practice and law, Blacks often learned in secret, protesting their restrictions and then using their newfound power to tell the world the truth about slavery and racism. This section on the Peril of Reading reveals the revolutionary power of words to communicate truth and effect change by excerpting works from The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, Up From Slavery, The Souls of Black Folk, and Twelve Years a Slave. Writing is activism.
The middle section, on the Power of Reading, contains 13 essays from writers such as Zora Neale Hurston, James Baldwin, Martin Luther King Jr., and Toni Morrison, to name a few. This is a much broader cross-section of authors and topics than part 1 and attempting to effectively paraphrase them in their entirety is just not possible, nor would it communicate the breadth of force these essays possess.
The third section focuses on the Pleasure of Reading and Writing, featuring authors such as Junot Diaz, Roxane Gay, and Ta-Nehisi Coates. The final selection is an interview with Barack Obama on his relationship with reading. My favorite essay here is “The Danger of a Single Story” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie who so beautifully argues the necessity of multiplicity and diversity in stories.
For more about my thoughts on this book, check out my review post at http://unfinishedintellectual.com/2018/05/01/black-ink-literary-legends-on-the-peril-power-and-pleasure-of-reading-and-writing/