(IP Stanback Museum and Planetarium) It’s probably a safe bet to say that most families are not sitting around their economically-challenged dinner tables these days discussing celebrations of the Bicentennial of the end of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Pretty much nothing commands our attention spans these days as much as the presidential 2008 election campaign and watching the bouncing ball called Wall Street. And yet in these days when the word “change” can make or break political destiny, it makes sense to pause and acknowledge one of the greatest changes in the history of humanity: It started when Denmark outlawed international slavery in 1802; Great Britain and the United States kept the ball going in 1808. Sweden joined the party in 1813, The Netherlands in 1814, Spain in 1820, and Mexico in 1829. By 1830, where the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was concerned, it was all over but the shouting. Such a huge revolution in a relatively small window––three decades––of historical time...

The notion of rendering service these days is one that most of us generally associate with business enterprises that promise lucrative monetary rewards, or influential political power in exchange for whatever service one might render. Unless affiliated with a religious institution of some kind, it’s rare that we consider service in the manner indicated when the great scholar and humanitarian W.E.B. Du Bois wrote the following: “In the civilized world each serves all, and the binding force is faith and skill, and the skill is bounded only by human possibility and genius, and the faith is faithful even to the untrue.” During this month, September 2008, of the fifth anniversary of the publication of Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance, I find myself increasingly grateful for the service my co-author and I were able to provide by rising to the challenge of completing the ground-breaking encyclopedia. Initially, I thought only in terms of the personal honor that came from doing so. Since...

The online literary club, Girls Reading in the South.com, known as G.R.I.T.S.com, has over the past eight years gained a solid reputation as one of the more entertaining and informative literary sites around . Book lovers can get a generous sample of why by tuning in right now as the site’s gracious hostess, Marlive Harris interviews artist Luther E. Vann and author Aberjhani, the creators of ELEMENTAL, The Power of Illuminated Love at: http://www.thegrits.com/radio The interview is a revealing and sometimes provocative one in which Aberjhani not only discusses the impact of Senator Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential bid on his writings but dedicates a live reading from ELEMENTAL to the historic presidential campaign. In addition, Vann provides a rare glimpse into the creative dynamics and philosophy that drive the creation of his art. Featuring more than 60 color reproductions of acclaimed work by Vann, and including award-winning corresponding essays and poetry by Aberjhani, ELEMENTAL ...

(2005 model for Freedom Tower to replace World Trade Center) Before the hours of insanity and annihilation that changed world history on September 11, 2001, the month of September was noted by members of my family primarily as the birth month for at least a half dozen individuals. It remained, of course, their month after the destruction of New York City’s World Trade Center and the loss of thousands of lives, but the shadow of that event tends to lessen the glow of birthday candles and soften the volume of songs and laughter. Especially for those born on the actual day. Two years later, the greater impact of 9/11 was just beginning to unfold as the Iraq and Afghanistan wars upgraded to levels of mega-mayhem no one could have fully anticipated. At the same time, Facts On File published my Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance (with Sandra L. West). That the encyclopedia was my first major book published by a major company added––for me, personally––greater emotional balance to the mo...

One of my publishers first approached me with the idea of joining an online social network as a means to promote a new book. Although I was not exactly in love with the idea, I couldn’t argue against its modern practicality. After enjoying myself as a well-mannered guest (or at least I hope I was) in several “hot” communities, it seemed only fitting that I should take my turn as host at someplace like Creative Thinkers International located just over the rainbow. Since its establishment, the community has developed far beyond any vision I had of it and now serves as an authentic point of global cultural reference and interaction. Over the past year, it has grown into a worldwide community of authors, artists, filmmakers, actors, musicians, readers, photographers, and ordinary everyday people. Moreover, it is home to quite a few Amazon widgets. Next month, from September 10-16, the community will celebrate its first anniversary in its own creative style with friendly blog funtests, poe...

The primary objective of a book signing might be to sell books but one of the great priceless perks of such events is the opportunity to meet people from all over the world. So it was Sunday, July 27, when I signed copies of ELEMENTAL The Power of Illuminated Love along with the title’s co-creator Luther E. Vann) at the monthly Sunday Gospel Brunch hosted by the Telfair Museum Jepson Center for the Arts in Savannah, Georgia. Among those I was honored to meet during the event was a professor who had moved to the South from Puerto Rico. We shared a dialogue about the evolution of race relations over the centuries––from intercontinental trading enterprises and slavery of the past to the uncertainties and potentials of the present––and she shared some insights about the celebrated island: “The people of Puerto Rico are a rainbow and they knew almost right away that slavery was something they did not want.” The rainbow part was not news to me but the history part was. Then she focused on t...

Currently on a ten percent off sale for the summer at a variety of locations, ELEMENTAL, The Power of Illuminated Love, recently joined the line-up of books featured on the G.R.I.T.S. Online Reading Club for the month of July 2008. A showcase of award-winning art by Luther E. Vann, whose work is currently on exhibit at the Jepson Center in Savannah, Georgia, and writings by well-known author Aberjhani, ELEMENTAL has become one of the most acclaimed gift books on the market since its release in May. The weekly newsmagazine Connect Savannah described ELEMENTAL as, “a beautiful book…the reproductions of the paintings are outstanding. The poems were inspired by the paintings, and make perfect companions for the reproductions… a real delight and was definitely worth the wait.” Art critic, author, and collector Ja A. Jahannes called it “A wondrously amazing book.” In addition to ELEMENTAL, other titles featured on G.RI.T.S. include: Say You’re One of Them, by Uwem Kapan; When a Man Loves ...

Invisible Man, Shadow and Act, and Going to the Territory, all books by that quintessential twentieth century literary artist Ralph Waldo Ellison, remain towering masterworks of American literature for their penetrating explorations of racial identity, cultural complexity, and historical consequences in the United States. With Senator Barack Obama’s historic bid for the White House evolving daily into the possibility of an historic win, Ellison’s brilliantly charged writings, which first catapulted him to fame in the 1950s, are perhaps more relevant now than ever before, making Arnold Rampersad’s detailed biography of the great writer one of the best reads around during these very exciting times. Biographies of high-achieving African Americans have too often in the past fallen into one of two categories: those that romanticized their subjects as cultural heroes and those that condemned them as embarrassing villains. Fortunately, in Rampersad, we have a biographer who assigned himself t...

Following its official launch at the Telfair Museum Jepson Center for the Arts in Savannah, Georgia, on May 29, 2008, critics have started to weigh in on ELEMENTAL The Power of Illuminated Love (ISBN 0972114270) a coffee table gift book that showcases the work of acclaimed artist Luther E. Vann and poetry by noted author Aberjhani. Writing in the June 4, 2008 edition of the weekly news entertainment magazine CONNECT Savannah, news editor Linda Sickler described ELEMENTAL as, “a beautiful book…the reproductions of the paintings are outstanding. The poems were inspired by the paintings, and make perfect companions for the reproductions. All in all, Elemental is a real delight and was definitely worth the wait.” In her review of Vann’s exhibit at the Telfair Museum, The highly regarded art critic and painter Bertha Husband described the artist’s work as “real painting” that is “realized in the process of its creation, and the end result can often surprise the painter, himself.” She furth...

CTI News Room--West Savannah artist Luther E. Vann became the first Savannah-born African-American artist to have a one-man exhibit at the Telfair Museum’s Jepson Center for the Arts when his show opened there April 16, 2008. On May 29, the Jepson Center will host “An Evening with Luther E. Vann and Friends,” an event open to the public from 6-7 p.m. The event will include a presentation by the artist reading from his newly released book, ELEMENTAL: The Power of Illuminated Love (Soar Publishing); a statement of interpretation of Vann’s work by Dr. Ja A. Jahannes; and other surprise events followed by a book signing. His book is now available at the Jepson Center Gift Shop, telephone (912) 790-8831. “This event,” said Vann, “is very special for many different reasons. For one thing, it represents a major successful effort on behalf of the Telfair Museum, working with the Friends of African-American Arts, to interact more inclusively with Savannah’s African-American community. Secondly...

(AP photo of Junot Diaz by Jim McKnight) The more the fate of books in the world are called into question ––as they compete with the ever-increasing domination of techno gadgetry–– the stronger and more enduring their impact seems to become. There is, apparently, no such thing as a permanent substitute for the written word adorned by human imagination and artfully bound in hard or soft covers. This observation is particularly evident in April 2008 for three strong reasons. Number one: this is indeed National Poetry Month and celebrations of it are in full swing, complete with the first “Poem in Your Pocket Day” slated for April 17. Number two: the great and mighty 92 nd Annual Pulitzer Prizes were announced this past week with Junot Diaz taking the fiction prize for his novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao; Tracy Letts picking up the drama prize for August: Osage County; Robert Hass receiving the poetry prize for Time and Materials; Saul ...

Poetry and Jazz Music have been friendly kissing cousins at least since the 1920s during the United States ’ great jazz age and the very famous worldwide Harlem Renaissance. That was when the great author Langston Hughes and others thrilled themselves and their friends by reciting and recording poetry to the beats of jazz. Many more––Jack Kerouac, Nikki Giovanni, Amiri Baraka, Sekou Sundiata, June Jordan, etc––later followed their example. With that in mind, it makes sense that the Academy of American Poets kicked off the first National Poetry Month in April 1996, and that the Smithsonian Institution followed suit in April 2002 with a “Jam Session” headed by famed New Orleans son Branford Marsalis. In April 2003, the Jam Session was officially recognized by the U.S. Congress as Jazz Music Appreciation Month. Some might say, “Yeah, well, that’s nice and everything but why bother to celebrate?” Excellent question. Here are some answers: Probably no other single literar...

(photo of Susan L. Taylor by Marc Brasz) When the NAACP in 2006 presented author and social activist Susan L. Taylor with its President’s Award, the organization publicly acknowledged what readers of Essence® Magazine had been experiencing for nearly four decades. Namely, that Ms. Taylor is among the most effective, dynamic, and beloved human resources on the planet. In All About Love (Urban Books) a rich of harvest of writings from Taylor ’s “In the Spirit” column, it’s easy to see why. A collection of more than 80 empowering editorials and three bonus dialogues, All About Love is all about life as we know, live, dread, treasure, and live it. Unlike too many book collections of short essays or creative nonfiction, this is not one aimed at demonstrating the intellectual profundity or virtuosity of the author. These are the observations, emotions, realizations and affirmations by which generations of women––and sometimes men––have mapped out the course of their daily lives and es...

Savannah, Ga., USA––The young adult novel, Blood Kin A Savannah Story , written by Robert T.S. Mickles and featuring a foreword by Aberjhani, debuted at number four on ESSENCE Magazine’s Best Seller Book List for paperback fiction in the March 2008 “Hollywood Issue” of the publication. A taxi driver and native of Savannah , Georgia , Mickles said his surprise best-selling novel is based on stories passed down to him by, “My grandmother, Beulah Tremble. She was born not too long after slavery ended in the United States and her parents had actually been slaves. She lived to be 100 years old and at the time when she passed on to me the stories that had been passed on to her, I really had no idea what a powerful legacy they would turn out to be.” The novel takes place during the Civil War and tells the story of two best friends, one black and one white, who d...

“All this life and love and strife and failure––is it the twilight of nightfall or the flush of some faint-dawning day?” –– The Wisdom of WEB Du Bois The first half of the twentieth century in the United States and much of the world was an era when racial and ethnic differences determined even the most uncontrived actions. Stepping into a restaurant, boarding a train, engaging in sexual relationships, or running or voting for a public office were all ruled by notions of differences between groups. Race remained an element that tempted society in general and historians in particular to half-truths, shortsightedness, and outright falsifications. However, as W.E.B. Du Bois noted in his many observations on the nature of history, it was important to realize that the record of human interaction was much more than an account of entanglements between people with varying shades of skin color. It was also the log of humankind’s ability or inability to rise above age-old phobi...

Savannah, Ga.––The Jepson Center for the Arts in Savannah, Georgia, will feature one ground-breaking artist from the present and another from the past when it presents simultaneous exhibits of art by Luther E. Vann and photographs, taken by the late Nickolas Muray, of legendary Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. The one-man show of Vann’s work, titled “Elemental,” will be the first by the artist at the Jepson Center and will run from April 16 to August 17, 2008 . The Kahlo exhibit is titled “Through the Lens of Nickolas Muray,” and will run from April 16 to June 15, 2008 . “Kahlo’s imagination and the freedom she allowed herself to express it is what I admire most about her work,” said Vann. “I also appreciate the energy of surrealism that you find in some of her images. The fact that my art is hanging at the same time as Muray’s photographs of her make me feel like I’m in good company and I hope she feels the same way [smiles].” Many of the paintings scheduled to hang in Vann’s “E...

A big part of the fun of entering a New Year is making a list of noble resolutions, some of which we work hard to keep and some of which become lost causes shortly after midnight on New Year’s Eve. Another part of the fun is making lists of people and events likely to stand out as the New Year unfolds. This blog introduces my list of Books and Authors to Watch in 2008 . Rest assured that the list, maintained on my Amazon author profile page, is an evolving one. One of the first things some of you will notice when reviewing my 2008 canon is that neither of my own two new releases, The Bridge of Silver Wings and Christmas When Music Almost Killed the World , are on it. Does this mean I don’t expect my own humble offerings to make any kind of impact in some corner of our beautiful world at some point in 2008? It certainly does not; only that these titles have not yet made it into Amazon’s book catalogue (yes I am working on it). Please rest assured that upon their inclusion, th...