Recognize! An Anthology Honoring and Amplifying Black Life

 

Publication date: October 12, 2021

Editors: Wade Hudson & Cheryl Willis Hudson

My Thoughts:

This anthology is a multi genre gem that mixes generations of writers and artists  to "honor and amplify" black life. From black scholars like Frederick Douglass to contemporary YA authors like Nic Stone, the pieces all add up to the message that Black Lives Matter. 

With the combination of historical text like James Baldwin's Great Debate and the haunting poem "The Slave Mother" by Frances Ellen Harper Watkins to contemporary art, cartoons and a powerful graphic arts "essay" titled "Darnella Frazier: Eyewitness" by Carole Boston Weatherford, this anthology gives enough entry points to students whether they are in middle school or high school. I definitely could use this in the English classroom as well as the social studies classroom.  

Most valuable, perhaps, is that by using text from different time periods, although the use of the term Black Lives Matter is contemporary, the importance of black lives in American culture is timeless. The powerful statements by Frederick Douglass and James Baldwin are just as timely as the portrait of Breonna Taylor by London Ladd, which means that this anthology will hold up against the test of time because Black Lives will always Matter.

From the Publishers:

BLACK LIVES HAVE ALWAYS MATTERED.
 
Prominent Black creators lend their voice, their insight, and their talent to an inspiring anthology that celebrates Black culture and Black life. Essays, poems, short stories, and historical excerpts blend with a full-color eight-page insert of spellbinding art to capture the pride, prestige, and jubilation that is being Black in America. In these pages, find the stories of the past, the journeys of the present, and the light guiding the future.
 
BLACK LIVES WILL ALWAYS MATTER.