Indignant Women: A Dramatic ReadingHad Gwendolyn Brooks and Lorraine Hansberry ever met, they would have had much to discuss. Both Chicago natives, whose insightful, moving works captured the reality of being a Black woman in mid-century America, Brooks and Hansberry also shared Sep 01 25September 01, 2025Video at Sandra on Authory
“Exhaust the Little Moment”: Deliberations on Death and DyingGwendolyn Brooks’s second volume of poetry is a coming-of-age narrative that charts the rites of passage in a young Black woman’s life: childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Annie Allen is among the most lyrical, formally proficient, yet challenging… Sep 09 24September 09, 2024Article at Poetry Foundation
Editors Choice – Fiction – Kallisto Gaia PressExcerpted from novel-in-progress, GOD'S GIFT TO THE NATIVES, "Sophiatown" tells of a South African musician coming of age under apartheid. Aug 21 24August 21, 2024Article at Ocotillo Review
Adi magazineADI MAGAZINE is a new US-based literary journal rehumanizing policy. May 16 24May 16, 2024Article at Adi Magazine
DiomedéaThis is the moment I recall, a memory blurred by nostalgia and the steep ascent of time. I was tired and happy. It took three days of travel to be there. The caress of sun on my face was blossoming into a smolder. I accepted this pain as the price of… May 25 23May 25, 2023Article at The Plentitudes Journal Fiction Prize, 2nd place
NARRATIVES IN THE LIFE OF SOJOURNER TRUTH WALKER (1)I am Coming Home. My mother will be screaming in an almost dirty dress. The crack is gone. So a Man will be in the house. I must watch myself. I must not dare to sleep. —Gwendolyn Brooks 1. “So who?” people say when she tells them who she is.… Nov 11 21November 11, 2021Article at Obsidian Journal
Sandra Jackson-Opoku's international life in letters Novelist Sandra Jackson-Opoku carried a stack of her books to the balcony outside her apartment, where we sat at a table facing Nichols Park. Describing herself, she said, “I’m a Chicago writer, born and raised, but I write about the world.” It is… Jun 10 21June 10, 2021Article at Hyde Park Herald
Blue Mermaid(The following is excerpted from a novel-in-progress set in the 18th century on Saint-Louis Island, Senegal) Crouching to meet the boy at his own height, Augustin Moreau smelt of saltwater and sweat, rum and pipe tobacco. His face was lean and… Oct 30 20October 30, 2020Article at eMerge Magazine
FALL 2020Prairie Winds, bulletin of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Fall 2020 Scroll down to page 12 for novel excerpt, "Schwerner" Sep 29 20September 29, 2020PDF at Prairie Winds
ReconstructionSadie Mae Freeman could take mill end scraps and turn them into dresses, shirts, quilts and baby clothes. She’d been seamstressing on a Virginia plantation from the age of six. “Had an old mistress by the name of Payne,” Mama said, “and pain is what… Oct 01 19October 01, 2019Article at storySouth
excerpt, “Night Coming Tenderly” by Sandra Jackson-Opokuexcerpt from a novel-in-progress To fling my arms wide In the face of the sun, Dance! Whirl! Whirl! Till the quick day is done. Rest at pale evening… A tall, slim tree… Night coming tenderly Black like me. — Langston Hughes, from “Dream… Sep 12 19September 12, 2019Article at Another Chicago Magazine
Tag: Sandra Jackson-OpokuThe bid-whist-playing, gin-drinking, chit’lin-cooking, barbecuing, party-loving Pattersons. That was Mama’s family–loud, boisterous and slightly disreputable. Miss Jonita declared them “country,” though the Pattersons had been established in Chicago… Sep 12 19September 12, 2019Article at Another Chicago Magazine
Snapshots in a Family Album: Maud Martha, a Poet’s Narrative“It is the power of her imagination that allows her to be at once aware of her position in the world, but not complacent in accepting it.” – Manuel Muñoz on Maud Martha It was with great satisfaction and sighs of admiration that Quraysh Ali Lansana… Jun 27 17June 27, 2017Article at Poetry Foundation
The streets of Black LondonThe fact that London has a distinctive Black presence should come as a surprise to no one. After all, we’re in the midst of a latter day British invasion. There’s supermodel Naomi Campbell, actors Chiwetel Ejiofor, Thandie Newton, and that… Sep 01 15September 01, 2015Article at Rolling Out
KweliI was stirring a pot of collards when I heard his key in the lock. “Come on back in the kitchen, Cristophe,” I called. “I got some talk for you.” He slouched into the room with his round-shouldered stride, a dirty muskmelon tucked beneath his arm. I… Jun 29 11June 29, 2011Article at Kweli
Quebec’s “hip hop historian” raps about Québécois black heritageQuebec city’s recent 400th anniversary celebration was quite a spectacle — Paul McCartney, Celine Dion, treasures from the Louvre, and even the occasional nod to diversity like the multicultural rap show, Hip hop tout en couleurs (Hip hop in all… Aug 19 09August 19, 2009Article at s60c9cd94e4104de1a046fe456d635867
