African American literature is literature written by, about, and
sometimes specifically for African Americans. The genre began during
the 18th and 19th centuries with writers such as poet Phillis Wheatley
and orator Frederick Douglass, reached an early high point with the
Harlem Renaissance, and continues today with authors such as Toni
Morrison and Maya Angelou being ranked among the top writers in the
United States. Among the themes and issues explored in African
American literature are the role of African Americans within the
larger American society, African American culture, racism, slavery,
and equality. As African Americans' place in American society has
changed over the centuries, so too has the focus of African American
literature. Before the American Civil War, African American literature
primarily focused on the issue of slavery, as indicated by the popular
subgenre of slave narratives. During the American Civil Rights
movement, authors like Richard Wright and Gwendolyn Brooks wrote about
issues of segregation and black nationalism. Today, African American
literature has become accepted as an integral part of American
literature, with books in the genre, such as Roots: The Saga of an
American Family by Alex Haley and The Color Purple by Alice Walker,
achieving both best-selling and award-winning status.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_American_literature
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1814:
Washington, D.C. was burnt down during the War of 1812.
1835:
The New York Sun perpetrated the Great Moon Hoax.
1912:
The Kuomintang was founded by Sung Chiao-jen and Dr. Sun Yat-sen in:
Guangdong, China.
1920:
In the Polish-Soviet War, the Battle of Warsaw ended with a Russian:
defeat.
1989:
The Voyager 2 spacecraft reached Neptune, the last planet it could:
visit before leaving the solar system.
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Wikiquote of the day:
Time is the substance from which I am made. Time is a river which
carries me along, but I am the river; it is a tiger that devours me,
but I am the tiger; it is a fire that consumes me, but I am the fire.
-- Jorge Luis Borges
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jorge_Luis_Borges)