Was Shakespeare A Black Woman?

Oooh la la. What fun! 🙂

TheOriginalBlackWoman

Have you ever heard of Emilia Lanier? Well, Emilia is believed by some to actually be the author of all of Shakespeare’s works!

Emilia was a very important woman for many reasons. First off she was said to be of dark complexion, she was of Venetian / Moroccan / Jewish descent. Her father was appointed to King Henry VIII’s court as a musician and although she illegitimate she was educated and became the first professional poet through her single volume of poems, Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum (1611).

Emilia lived opposite the theatre district in London, she hung around in Shakespeare’s social circles. She was an accomplished poet and there are signs she may have been the author or at lest contributor of Shakespeare’s works. Watch the evidence presented below:

Of course, it’s not conclusive by any means. Snopes said the original meme was false (http://bit.ly/202fBvf) but there is a lot…

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Who was Bessie Coleman and why doez she still matter?

Desperately Seeking Answers, Part 2

Racism, Historical/Cultural Trauma, and PTSD Another long post. So, relax. No, that's a typo. Don't relax. Get a notebook, take notes, and prepare to work for change. There’s an adorable and funny scene in the CGI movie, Incredibles, where the main character, Bob (an undercover superhero with superhuman powers) is being watched by a normal, …

7 Rookie Writing Mistakes (and 7 Ways to Improve)

A Writer's Path

by Phoebe Quinn

7 rookie writing mistakes:

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Why Do We Care When Characters Die?

I’ve cried when characters die because I experienced a hard-to-explain connection that often occurs as a result of exquisitely written books by talented writers who have the super-power ability to grab readers’ attentions and hold us log after the last page . . . or maybe I’m just stark, raving mad 🙂

A Writer's Path

by Kyle Massa

Did you cry when Bambi’s mom got shot?

It’s okay. You can admit it. Though we know they’re not real, the death of fictional characters evokes real emotion in us. I find that amazing. After all, when fictional character die, we’re essentially mourning the loss of someone who does not, has not, and never will, exist.

The question is: why? Why do we care when a nonexistent character bites the dust?

I don’t claim to know the answer. But I do have some theories.

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NGOLO: The Graphic Novel Is Coming!

Wow!!!

Chronicles of Harriet

In 2014, authors Balogun Ojetade and Milton Davis joined forces to create the near-future Afrikan Martial Arts screenplay, Ngolo. That screenplay went on to win Best Screenplay at the 2014 Urban Action Showcase competition in New York.

Today, we are happy to announce that MVmedia, Roaring Lions Productions (Atlanta, GA) and Pedastudio Ltd. (Lagos, Nigeria) are joining forces to produce the Ngolo graphic novel!

We will soon launch a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to produce this exciting book that will also act as the storyboards for the Ngolo movie, which will go into production later this year.

Stay tuned for more details!

Here’s a sneak peek, courtesy of Milton Davis, Peter DanielandBalogun Ojetade:

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The Pleasure of Reading

Ahhhh. Cheers to the pleasure of reading indeed! 🙂

charles french words reading and writing

(https://pixabay.com)

I have spent the majority of my time on this blog writing about writing, so I thought I would address the most fundamental and most important part of this experience with books: reading.

I have been reading my entire life; in fact, I cannot remember a time when I did not read. And reading has informed my life in many ways, not only in terms of career but also in the joys of life itself.

I read books, I teach them, and I write about them, but mostly, I enjoy them. I remember my mother telling me when I was very little that you can go many places that you might not ever have a chance to visit, real and made up, if you read. And I have visited and continue to journey to real and fantastic lands.

(https://pixabay.com)

I am not a reading snob. While I teach college…

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Author Animal Farm—New York GOOOOD, Self-Pub BAAAAAAD

Kristen Lamb's Blog

Original image via Kabsik Park courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons.

Okay at first I wasn’t going to say anything regarding the latest Let’s Bash Self-Publishing rant over at HuffPo, but (like all “real” writers) I am in the business of serving my audience—YOU—what you want to hear and after about the tenth person who sent me Laurie Gough’s Self-Publishing—An Insult to the Written Word, I figured y’all might want my take 😉 .

For another angle on this controversy, I strongly recommend Fisking the HuffPo’s Snooty Rant About Self-Publishing.

Moving on…

Consider the Source

First of all, am I the only one to see the laughable hypocrisy of anyone who writes for Huffington Post lecturing anyone about real writing? Huffington Post is a predatory business, a literary parasite that has made hundreds of millions of dollars by paying writers in “exposure dollars.” And, by doing so, has…

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How to Keep Your Readers From Asking, “Why Didn’t They Just…?”

Oooh la la! So using number 4!

A Writer's Path

by Stephanie O’Brien

My siblings and I have sometimes joked that we could take over several fictional universes with the power of “Why didn’t they just…?”

When characters fail to use an obvious solution, or forget a skill or superpower that could easily resolve the situation, it can be pretty frustrating for the readers.

It can also hurt their opinion of the characters’ intelligence, or of your attention to detail, even if the story is otherwise awesome.

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BLACK WOMEN IN AMERICA: MARY JACKSON, KATHERINE JOHNSON, DOROTHY VAUGHN AND CHRISTINE DARDEN – THE WEST COMPUTER WOMEN

What a breath of fresh air. To hear beautiful facts about Black women and not be force-fed repetitive stories of slaves. That slave media train is old and tired. Happy New Year!

BEAUTIFUL, ALSO, ARE THE SOULS OF MY BLACK SISTERS

Theirnames are not known to millions of Americans. Their major contributions have been hidden for decades.

They are the Black women known as the West Computers, Black women who made their indelible contribution to NASA’s space race program. These four women with their superior math skills helped get astronaut John Glenn and many others into space.

In the 1940s, not many Black women had obtained university degrees, and the few who did, became nurses, secretaries or teachers in the fields of many subjects:  English, art, literature, history—and mathematics. For Black women, just as it was for Black men, the crushing cruelty of Jane Crow segregation held back so many bright and intelligent Black people forcing them into jobs of degradation and poverty. But, these women sought the best for themselves, their families, and their community when they defied all odds against them by joining NACA, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics…

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