Just in Time for Black History Month -- Exciting News About Black Books

Hi Meltingpot Readers,

Here we are already into the second week of February and I have yet to even mention Black History Month. And you know why? Because I have nothing to say about it. Really, I'm kind of tired of the debate/discussion surrounding the necessity of the month as opposed to just recognizing Black history all year round. Not to mention, why separate Black history from American history? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of recognizing the significant contributions of Black people in creating this country?

I don't know. Next week, I may feel differently. But despite my ambivalence about waving my Happy Black History flag, I know a good promotional opportunity when I see one. I did begin my career as a publicist after all. So, I am going to take this random day during Black History month to call your attention to some exciting news in the world of Black literature.

1. The wonderful book Wench, which I reviewed here on The Meltingpot last year, has just come out in paperback and landed on the New York Times Bestsellers List. Wench is the based-on-real-life-events story of four slave women who were kept as summer concubines by their White masters at a resort in Ohio. For those of you waiting for the book to come out in paperback, now's your chance to grab a copy.

2. One of my writer friends, Denene Milner and her awesome journalist husband, Nick Chiles, have taken action with their passions and created a fabulous new company called NorthParan.com. The website is like a Black Amazon.com but only features books. It's one-stop shopping for purchasing books and finding information about your favorite authors of color. But that's not the amazing part. For every single book purchased on the site, the organization will donate a book to a child in need, in this country and abroad. Seriously. Please check it out and consider making your online purchases with them.

3. Phati'tude Literary Magazine will be hosting its first Annual African American Literary Festival later this month in Queens, New York. It's going to be an all day affair with great workshops and speakers on Saturday, February 26, 2011. You can get more details about the event on the Phati'tude website. And if you don't live in the Queens area, you may still want to check out the phati'tude magazine and website which aims to support cultural diversity through literature. We can get down with that, can't we?

Enjoy!

Peace!

Brothers Seperated at Birth?

No, Barak Obama and Dick Cheney are not brothers, but according to Cheney's wife, Lynne they are distant cousins! Yikes! Reported on CNN.Com:

"Mrs. Cheney said that in the course of researching her husband's genealogy for her new book, "Blue Skies, No Fences," she discovered that the two public figures share an ancestor eight generations ago.

"Think about this," Mrs. Cheney said. "This is such an amazing American story that one ancestor, a man that came to Maryland, could be responsible down the family line for lives that have taken such different and varied paths as Dick's and Barack Obama's."

Mrs. Cheney's spokeswoman Ginny Justice gave CNN's Ed Henry more details, saying the two unlikely relatives are related through a French Huguenot named Mareen Duvall. Cheney and Obama are both descendants of her."

Wow, this must be a lot for Dick to digest. First his daughter turns out gay and now he's got a Black cousin. I hope his heart can take the news!

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And in other unrelated news.
Please check out the new links I've added. The Backlist is a wonderful site managed by author/lit lover, Felicia Pride. I'm always checking it out to find out what's going on amongst the colored literatti. New books, lit prizes, author gossip, you name it, it's being reported on, on the Backlist. Check it out.

And if you're still looking for more literary news, views and reviews, mixed with a happy mix of gossip, politics and pop culture dissection by a Black man with a wicked bite, please check out Nat Turner's Revenge, the hilarious (and informative) blog by author Christopher Chambers. Today there's a really in-depth interview Chambers conducted with author Peter Schmidt. Schmidt's new book is called, Color and Money: How Rich White Kids are Winning the War Over College Affirmative Action.

Peace!