From the earliest days of Oklahoma’s settlement, African Americans struggled to secure their civil rights in this land. From the Territorial Legislature through the Tulsa Race Massacre and the battles that integrated state universities, lunch counters, and schools, the...

A riot is the language of the unheard.

Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I.

if a riot is the language of the unheard what

is silence? the disease of the privileged

the opioid of the wealthy or apathetic   silence

is only listening to the loudest mouth

an agreement fro...

Quraysh discusses A Gift From Greensboro with KidLit 411. Talks generating the idea for the story, his research process and upcoming projects. Read the full interview here.

Quraysh helps induct Jean Toomer to the Poet's Corner at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine on Sunday November 11th in New York City. 

The Whiskey in Our Discontent: Gwendolyn Brooks as Conscience and Change Agent listed finalist for the Central New York Book Award in nonfiction. Read full story here.

Revise the Psalm: Works Celebrating the Writing of Gwendolyn Brooks and The Whiskey of our Discontent: Gwendolyn Brooks as Conscience Change Agent named finalists for 2017 Chicago Review of Books Award. Read the full story here.

Martha Bayne discusses the intentions and fun in the production of Rust Belt Chicago: An Anthology. Read the full conversation here.

Quraysh reads Higher Calling at La Casita, the  Lincoln Center's Out of Doors Series, featuring poets Paul Tran, Safia Elhillo and Patricia Spears Johen; music by James Lovell and Orquesta Criolla Nacional de Puerto Rico and more. Watch the video here. 

photo credit: Associated Press

Revise the Psalm: Work Inspired by the Writing of Gwendolyn Brooks, edited by Quraysh Ali Lansana and Sandra Jackson-Opoku, in addition to The Golden Shovel Anthology, edited by Peter Kahn, Ravi Shankar and Patricia Smith, have...

Quraysh Ali Lansana is the editing poet for In Verse, a new program by WBEZ.  This summer, they're sending out a reporter, a photographer and a poet together to reflect on the emotional weight of Chicago's gun violence. 

Friday, July 21

This week...