Poet Nikky Finney and novelist Jesmyn Ward.(photo courtesy of National Book Foundation) It is not uncommon in modern times for African-American women to win major literary awards but it is rare, if not unprecedented, for two such women to win the same major award in separate categories in the same year. That is precisely what happened on November 16, 2011, when Jesmyn Ward won the National Book Award for fiction and Nikky Finney accepted the award for poetry. “We begin with history” Finney, a professor of English and creative writing at the University of Kentucky, won the award for Head Off & Split, her fourth volume of poetry. Her previous titles include: The World Is Round (2003); Rice (1995); and On Wings Made of Gauze (1985). She is also author of the short story collection, Heartwood (1998). Upon accepting her National Book Award, Finney may have summed up just how triumphant the events of the evening turned out to be when she noted the following at the beginning her speech: P

Actor Samuel L. Jackson as superhero Nick Fury. If you missed the introduction to the Countdown of 10 Amazing Moments from the Year 2011 posted December 11, please click here. The actual countdown begins now with the triumphant actor at number 10: A lot of good-humored jokes portraying Samuel L. Jackson as one of the hardest working seriously-hustling actors in Hollywood have circulated for years throughout the entertainment industry. Laughter turned into respectful awe when editors of the Guinness World Records announced in October that Jackson had become “the highest-grossing actor of all time” with credits in films that collectively have grossed some $7.42 billion. To read the full story by Aberjhani please click this link: Countdown of 10 Amazing Moments from the Year 2011: No. 10 the $7 billion actor - National African-American Art | Examiner.com

Cover of National Urban League's "State of Black America." Just as the previous two annual countdowns from the National African American Art Examiner contained people and events some found debatable, this one for the year 2011 is likely to do the same. The point, however, remains unchanged: to highlight known as well as largely ignored moments that have added significantly to contemporary ongoing African-American culture and history, and thereby adding the same to current American and world history in general. At one end of the continuum known as history are first-time events that have generated notable measures of public recognition due to either a positive or negative impact. At the other end of the spectrum are individuals, organizations, and occurrences which have earned acknowledgment due to their enduring longevity and lasting influence upon humanity. This countdown list includes both and will be presented in ten separate posts starting Wednesday, December 14. Abou