The push for the telling of the real American story continues. I was heartened when I read this news in The Washington Post about a major foundation’s support for a truthful version of American history: The Mellon Foundation has awarded…
In 1992 I visited Turkey as a Visiting Writer accompanying the photographic exhibit of Black women notables published by Brian Lanker, I Dream A World. I spent ten days traveling in Turkey meeting scholars, writers, and cultural activists. The photo…
Marie Brown was one of the first African American editors at a major publishing house. She was my editor at Doubleday Books and got me a contract for my first book Migrations of the Heart. But Marie was also a…
The day I interviewed Toni Morrison (for what would be the first time) I was writing an article for Essence Magazine about the rise of the Black feminist movement. We met in a French restaurant a few blocks from the…
Who are your most influential mentors? In the early 1970’s I was young, gifted, and Black living in New York City and beginning to find my voice as a writer. At a poetry reading, I gave a sheaf of poems…
