Ravenweb Blog

I was in the bookstore this evening, and there were a number of displays featuring famous works by prominent black authors. The spread included titles by Frederick Douglass, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Toni Morrison, and Alice Walker. While all of these writers are great -- and I encourage you to read them all -- it got me thinking about which black authors and titles by black authors I would recommend. After some deliberation and a decision to focus on lesser-known and genre writers, I came up with the following short list of recommended titles by black authors. Happy reading. The Chaneysville Incident by John Bradley The Chaneysville Incident is a well-honed and affecting story of historian John Washington's attempt to discover what happened to thirteen runaway slaves in Chaneysville, Pennsylvania. The protagonist's efforts to reconstruct the past elevate the narrative, through various rhetorical devices and an interesting contrast that plays out thr...

I was fortunate enough to get to hear Joel Salatin speak to about 100 people in Buffalo, NY, about the local food movement. If you're unfamiliar with Salatin, he is an award-winning farmer and engaging speaker and was famously featured in the film, Food Inc . This evening he was in top form as he talked passionately about the many benefits of organic, local food. Organic food, he declared at one point in response to a question from the audience, could indeed feed the world. Many thanks to the organization Edible Buffalo for sponsoring the event and Daemen College for providing the venue.