I first met Pittershawn Palmer when our kids were attending the same elementary school. I knew her as the crazy lady who kept interrupting PTA meetings with brilliant ideas that the New York City Board of Education was never going to implement in a million years. My kids transferred to another school and I didn’t see her again. Flash forward and a few years and we meet again, this time at a writer’s group I was facilitating. She was the non-fiction guru. This time she moves away. Lo and behold, a couple of years ago, we meet again on a couple of yahoo groups.
I have come to the conclusion that Pittershawn is meant to be in my life. For what purpose? I have no idea. Maybe one day the universe will tell us. In the meantime, please enjoy her words. They, too, have made me cry.
Black Writings Through the Ages
by Pittershawn Palmer
Blacks have been writing since the dawn of mankind. Recent discoveries that prove Africa to be the seat of civilization further confirms that we were most likely the first to put pen to paper, or in those days, to walls or papyrus. To say we celebrate our writings, therefore, is less of a confirmation of our literary prowess, and more an acknowledgement and acceptance of a long history of greatness that requires no confirmation. We have always been writing. And we will continue to write, whether it be on the mediums we invented many ages ago, such as papyrus, or in the sands of the sea that sweep our words into the ocean to be remembered for all eternity.
The words of blacks have always been strong, carrying great spiritual power that transcends time–from our biblical musings to the recent works of some of the greatest authors of our time. Shamelessly, I must list, ad nauseam, the names of some of our great writers who have paved the way for so many others after the Diaspora and still, after slavery. This is a necessary exercise that honors those who struggled to ensure that our history and ancestry was preserved—as well as our right to write again. These great writers, whom within our century have brought us out of the belly of perceived ignorance, are to be thanked incessantly for giving us back our birthright…the right to express ourselves in the way we discovered and to some extent, created. These writers span the globe, writing in fiction and non-fiction, and across genres. It is by no means exhaustive, but it is a humble start. No particular order was honored.
I salute the greats: Lorraine Hansberry, Walter Mosley, Octavia Butler, Patricia L. Arnold, Tananarive Due, Ian Smith, Donna Hill, Evelyn Palfrey, Deirdre Savoy, Steven Barnes, Obery Hendricks, A’Lelia Bundles, Ayi Kwei Armah, Gwynne Forster, Ralph Ellison, Edward P. Jones, Nikki Giovanni, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Colin Channer, James McBride, Trisha R. Thomas, Zadie Smith, Jamaica Kincaid, James Baldwin, Regina Lousie, Stephen L. Carter, Gregory Townes, Marie-Elena John, Akosua Busia, Kwame Dawes, Ziba Kashef, Rajen Persaud, E. Lynn Harris, Ernest J. Gaines, Brandon Massey, Robert Fleming, Edwidge Danticat, Asha Bandele, Kenneth Meeks, Lawrence Ross, Lawrence Otis Graham, Paule Marshall, Kalisha Buckhanon, Zora Neale Hurston, Alice Walker, Langston Hughes, L.A. Banks, Phillis Wheatley, Frances E.W. Harper, Lana M. Hoshing, et al.
This list cannot begin to outline the success blacks have had in literature since prior to the 1700s, one of the many first periods noted for black literary achievements. Noted writers (slaves and freed men and women) between the 1700s and 1800s–who penned letters, memoirs and manifestos–include: Lucy Terry (Prince), Jupiter Hammon, John Marrant, Joeseph Mountain, Olaudah Equiano, Benjamin Banneker, Venture Smith, Benjamin Prentis, George White, William Grimes, George Moses Horton, Nat Turner, Mary Prince, Chloe Spear, Jane Blake, William Boen, et al.
It is almost insulting to make such listings and notations, as our history in literature is actually world history. To note the specifics of our achievements is like setting us apart from the various world accomplishments in the sciences and mathematics. Our diverse and educated lineage is the foundation of the majority of what the world has come to understand. Our writings, which translated into our Sphinx and our great pyramids, have always been. Our writings are us. They are our spirit, our soul. They are our immortality.
The greatness of black literature is an extension of the greatness of the black community and black social structure, now and in the distant past. The realization of that greatness is all that stands between us and our destiny. As we continue to write, let us remember the path that lies behind us. That path reminds us that through it all, we are still here. Let us remember that every word we commit to history will be remembered for all time. And that remembrance will be translated into who we are as a people—where we have come from and where we are going.
The great writers I’ve listed are only a few of the wonderful literary minds who have decided to continue our legacy of great literature by creating works that exemplify our proud heritage, in all its sadness and beauty. As blacks, we must continue to write those things which will preserve us. We must continue to show the world not that we are worthy, because we already know we are worthy, but that we are great communicators who have an incredible history tucked away in the Akashic records of our race. And that our literary greatness is not bolstered by acceptance, but by the power of our words.
Let us celebrate what we have always been. And never believe that our works are from anything less than a great people who built civilizations, one brick at a time—as we continue to build worlds, one word at a time. This is our immortality.
Please leave a comment and let Pittershawn know how much you enjoyed her words. Visit Pittershawn at her website and take a look at her blog.
Wednesday: Author L.A. Banks
