KRLemmons African Authors, African autobiography, African folktales, African nonfiction

365 Black Books Nelson Mandela Monday

Heavenly belated birthday wishes Nelson Mandela! Born July 18, 1918, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid activist, statesman, and revolutionary who was the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country’s first Black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. In 1993 he and President FW de Klerk jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize. He died in 2013. He authored a few books that chronicled his life:

KRLemmons African American Authors, African American Journalists, African American Nonfiction

365 Black Books Ida B. Wells-Barnett Sunday

Heavenly belated birthday wishes Ida B. Wells-Barnett! Born July 16, 1892, Ida B. Wells-Barnett was an African American investigative journalist, sociologist, educator, and early leader in the civil rights movement. She was one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. She died in 1931. Some of her notable works:

KRLemmons African American anthology, African American Authors, African American Poetry, African American Poets

365 Black Books Mari Evans Saturday

Heavenly belated birthday wishes Mari Evans! Born July 16, 1923 (some sources say 1919), Mari Evans was an African-American poet, writer, and dramatist associated with the Black Arts Movement. Evans received grants and awards including a lifetime achievement award from the Indianapolis Public Library Foundation. Her poetry is known for its lyrical simplicity and the directness of its themes. She died in 2017. Here are a few of her notable works:

Read some of her poems here:

KRLemmons African American Journalists, African American Nonfiction

365 Black Books Les Payne Friday

Heavenly belated birthday wishes Les Payne! Born July 12, 1941, Les Payne was an African American journalist. He served as an editor and columnist at Newsday and was a founder of the National Association of Black Journalists. Posthumously, he was awarded the 2020 National Book Award for Nonfiction and the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Biography for his book The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X. Prior to the Malcolm X book, he co-wrote The Life and Death of the SLA in 1976. He died in 2018.

KRLemmons Nigerian authors, Nigerian playwright, Nigerian poets

365 Black Books Wole Soyinka Wednesday

Belated birthday wishes Wole Soyinka! Born July 13, 1934, Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka is a Nigerian writer, playwright, and poet. He has written three novels, ten collections of short stories, seven poetry collections, twenty-five plays and five memoirs. He has also written two translated works and many articles and short stories for newspapers and periodicals. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature. A few of his notable works are:

KRLemmons African American Artists, African American Authors, African American autobiography, African American children's literature, African American Folk Tales, African American Illustrators, African American Picture Books, African American Poetry, African American Poets

365 Black Books Ashley Bryan Monday

Heavenly birthday wishes Ashley Bryan! Born July 13, 1923, Ashley Bryan was a phenomenal award-winning poet and artist. He often wrote and portrayed the African American experience. He died in 2022. Here are just a few of his beautiful works:

KRLemmons African American adult fiction, African American Authors, African American Fantasy Literature, African American Science Fiction Literature

365 Black Books Charles R. Saunders Sunday

Heavenly birthday wishes Charles R. Saunders! Born July 12, 1946, Charles Robert Saunders was an American-born, Black Canadian author and journalist, a pioneer of the “sword and soul” literary genre with his Imaro novels. Saunders who was born in Pennsylvania, moved to Canada. He died in 2020. His pioneer works are: