The Black Family: Representation, Identity and Diversity
"The black family has been a topic of study in many disciplines—history, literature, the visual arts and film studies, sociology, anthropology, and social policy. Its representation, identity, and diversity have been reverenced, stereotyped, and vilified from the days of slavery to our own time. The black family knows no single location, since family reunions and genetic-ancestry searches testify to the spread of family members across states, nations, and continents."
Read the full summary at The Association for the Study of African American Life and History
"The black family has been a topic of study in many disciplines—history, literature, the visual arts and film studies, sociology, anthropology, and social policy. Its representation, identity, and diversity have been reverenced, stereotyped, and vilified from the days of slavery to our own time. The black family knows no single location, since family reunions and genetic-ancestry searches testify to the spread of family members across states, nations, and continents."
Read the full summary at The Association for the Study of African American Life and History
Selected Authors
- James Baldwin (1924-1987)
Poet, playwright, essayist, novelist, and cultural critic. Baldwin wrote about many different topics, and is widely considered to be among the most important writers on race in the United States. (Read Biography) -
Octavia Butler (1947-2006)
American science fiction writer and novelist. Butler was awarded a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship grant in 1995, and in 2000, she won a PEN American Center lifetime achievement award. (Read biography)-
Kindred (2003; science fiction classic originally published 1979)
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Kindred (graphic novel adaption of the science fiction classic)
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Families of Orphans: Relation and Disrelation in Octavia Butler's Kindred (Journal article)
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- Stephen L. Carter (1954- )
Professor at Yale Law School and author of both fiction and non-fiction works as well as many opinion pieces. (Read Biography) - David Anthony Durham (1969- )
Award-winning author of both historical and fantastic fiction. (Author Web Site) - Langston Hughes (1901-1967)
Poet, playwright, and novelist. Hughes was among the most significant authors of the Harlem Renaissance. (Read Biography) - Devorah Major (1952- )
Author, poet, and creative-writing professor. Major was San Francisco's Poet Laureate from 2002-2004. (Author Web Site) - Toni Morrison (1931-2019)
Recipient of many awards for her writing, including the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In addition to her fiction writing, she wrote essays and literary criticism. (Read Biography) - Alexs Pate
Author of both fiction and nonfiction works. Pate created the Innocent Classroom, a teacher-training project to counteract stereotypes in schools, in 2012. (Biography on Innocent Classroom Web Site) - Angie Thomas (1988-)
Award winning young adult author. (Read Biography) - Alice Walker (1944- )
Author, essayist and poet. Walker won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel, The Color Purple. (Read Biography) - Jesmyn Ward (1977- )
Award-winning author and creative-writing professor at Tulane University. (Faculty Web Site) - Frank J. Webb (1828-1894)
Author, newspaper editor, and educator. Webb was the second African-American author to be published in the United States. (Read Biography)
Selected Artists
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Rob “ProBlak” Gibbs
Gibbs has "transformed the cultural landscape of Boston through graffiti art since 1991." He co-founded Artists for Humanity in 1991. This organization works helps youth to develop their creative skills. Awards include 2006 Graffiti Artist of the Year award from the Mass Industry Committee, the Goodnight Initiative’s Civic Artist Award, and Hero Among Us award by the Celtics. (Artist Web Site )-
Works include Martin Luther King Junior and Coretta Scott King in Roxbury Love Story, a brother and sister in Breathe Life, and a mural at Black Market Nubian.
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- Varnette P. Honeywood (1950-2010)
Painter celebrated for her depictions of everyday Black family life. Honeywood's paintings appeared as set decorations in several television series in the 1980s and 1990s, and her illustrations for the book series Little Bill formed the basis for the animation style of the television adaptation. (Read Biography) - Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000)
"The paintings of Jacob Lawrence express his lifelong concern for human dignity, freedom, and his own social consciousness" (Read Biography). - Kerry James Marshall (1955- )
Painter of Black life with a goal of increasing representation of Black artists in museums. (Read article "No ordinary life: Kerry James Marshall: the experience of black America")
Selected Photographers
- Gordon Parks (1912-2006)
Photojournalist for LIFE Magazine, author, artist, and film director. Parks was the first Black director of a major Hollywood movie and one of the co-founders of Essence magazine. (Read Biography)- A Harlem Famiy: 1967. Photoessay.
- LaToya Ruby Frazier (1982-)
Works include The Notion of Family (2014) and Flint is Family (2016). (Artist Web Site) - William Bullard (1876-1918)
Photographer from Worcester, MA. Not much is known about Bullard; he took a series of portrait photographs of his neighbors - 80% of whom have been identified - in the Beaver Brook area of Worcester. (Read article "Rediscovering an American Community of Color: The Photographs of William Bullard, 1897-1917")) - Charles "Teenie" Harris (1908-1998)
Photographer for the Pittsburgh Courier and the New Pittsburgh Courier from 1935-1975. (Teenie Harris Archive at Carnegie Museum of Art)
Further Resources/Selected Organizations
- Changing the Narrative About Black Families
Created by Color of Change and Family Story. See also their report: A Dangerous Distortion of Our Families (pdf)
- National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)Seeks “to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination.”