(Academy Award Winners Forest Whitaker and Denzel Washington) When reading about what may be described as the lesser celebrated heroic figures of the Harlem Renaissance, we rarely get a definitive look at just how complicated and sometimes dangerous their everyday lives were. In fact, until the past ten years, many defined the period primarily by its well-known literary, musical, and artistic elements while overlooking the fact there was any political component to it at all. THE GREAT DEBATERS corrects both oversights by giving us an extraordinary portrait of poet and educator Melvin B. Tolson (1898-1966) portrayed with convincing restraint by Denzel Washington, who also directed the movie. At the same time, it delivers an exciting story filled with the creative intellectual genius that characterized the Harlem Renaissance, the thrill of youthful romance, and the painful loss of innocence. Tolson, historically, is known largely as the celebrated author-poet of “Rendezvous with America ...

CTI News Room, Dec 2007--Within weeks of the release of his first novel, the controversial “Christmas When Music Almost Killed the World,” American author Aberjhani made a surprise move with the early-December release of a powerful collection of poetry titled “The Bridge of Silver Wings.” Both titles have been included in the Google Book Search Program. “These titles came out relatively late for the holiday shopping season because the original plans for their publication were changed at the last minute,” said Aberjhani. “So their inclusion in the Google Book Search Program in such a short period of time is kind of miraculous and very necessary because it gives readers worldwide an opportunity to preview the books before buying them.” In a recent interview posted on The Student Operated Press, poet Chase Von (author of YOUR CHANCE TO HEAR THE LAST PANTHER SPEAK) discussed with Aberjhani the sometimes controversial nature of his work. They also spoke about his prolific output, which incl...

Original cover art by Luther E. Vann With excerpts and snippets from the book Christmas When Music Almost Killed the World having been posted around the Internet for several years, award-winning U.S. author and poet Aberjhani announced the novel’s publication November 12, 2007 , Veteran’s Day. The author, whose previous books include Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance, cautioned that despite the use of the word “Christmas” in the title, readers should not expect a typical Christmas story novel. “This is actually the very novel I’ve always said I was writing but it wasn’t until we were preparing to go to publication that I realized how big a role the holiday, especially Christmas Eve, plays in it,” said Aberjhani. “That made the new title very appropriate and even more accurate in some ways.” Early on the book stirred controversy because of a plot scenario that links mass suicides to music by a fictional character. The author has declined to state whe...

October 2007 saw the quiet but steady growth of Creative Thinkers International, a thriving online community of authors, musicians, painters, poets, educators, environmentalists, and other progressive personalities from all over the world. Created by the U.S. author Aberjhani, a former editor for the U.S. Air Force and co-author of “Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance,” the community is hosted by the Ning collective at http://www.creativethinkersintl.ning.com/ “A year ago I would have fainted at the thought of embarking on such a venture,” said Aberjhani, “but on the one hand technological advances in 2007 made it more feasible. And on the other it seemed a good way at this point in my career to make a contribution to helping the world get its act together as opposed to just complaining about everything that’s wrong with it. It's also very much in the spirit of the Harlem Renaissance, a creative movement that spanned the globe in a major way.” True to its name, Creative Thinkers...

(photo of Bayo Olorunto and A.K. Powell courtesy of Nightjohn) In many ways Hiphop is the Harlem Renaissance of the twentyfirst century. Two particularly good examples supportive of that hypothesis are Bayo Olorunto (a member here at CB) and A.K. Powell. Known collectively as Nightjohn, theirs is the combined talent behind the icon-challenging book "The Hiphop Driven Life" and their ultra-fresh self-titled CD. So how do we bridge the historical gap between such giants of the (1920s to 1940s) Harlem Renaissance as author Zora Neale Hurston and jazz great Duke Ellington, and the modern-day multi-talented duo Nightjohn? By considering the following factors: Just as the highly successful Harlem Renaissance blossomed out of the innate creative talents of African Americans, so did the crossover triumph of Hiphop. Just as advances in technology, the growth of the publishing industry, diverse forms of black music, and everyday folk culture provided the Harlem Renaissance with the raw...

Discussions on the Great Northern Migration of African Americans out of the South during the first half of the Twentieth Century often focus on what the millions of migrants escaped, or left behind. The new HARLEM RENAISSANCE WAY DOWN SOUTH, available exclusively as an Amazon Short on Amazon.com, takes a look at what they took with them to help insure the extraordinary success of the Harlem Renaissance––a movement which today still drives artistic creations, political movements, and social philosophies. To purchase THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE WAY DOWN SOUTH, please click on the title link above.