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Title
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44 on 44: Forty Four African American Writers on the Election of Barack Obama 44th President of the United States
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This edition
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"44 on 44: Forty Four African American Writers on the Election of Barack Obama 44th President of the United States." Ed. Lita Hooper, Sonia Sanchez, and Michael Simanga. Chicago: Third World Press, 2011. xii+162 pp.
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Table of contents
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● Michael Simanga / Introduction: 44 on 44
● Sonia Sanchez / It's Been a Long Time Coming
● Askia M. Touré / Three for "O" in Light and Shadow
● Renee Simms / Go! Be a Superhero
● Patricia Smith / Man, Roll the Window Down!
● Randall Horton / Brand New Morning
● Frank X Walker / Obama Shuffle
● Jasmine Guy / On the Road '08: A Speech for the Obama Campaign
● Indigo Moor / 44, Sacred and Rising
● Ross Gay / What I Saw Shining on My Mother's Face
● Pearl Cleage / Michelle Obama: Woman of Power
● Opal Moore / Transcendence: Thoughts on Love and Race
● jessica Care moore / Barack Obama & the State of Black Women in Love
● Chuck D. and Gaye Theresa Johnson / From 40 Acres to 8 Cents: A Married Couple's Ruminations on the Symbolism of Barack Obama
● Amiri Baraka / Imagine Obama Talking to a Fool
● LaTasha Diggs / november 4th elegua in satin
● Tina McElroy Ansa / Keep Living
● Kelly Norman Ellis / Crossing Over: Invocation for the New Flag
● Natasha Trethewey / Another Country
● Sala Udin / Bridge from MLK, Jr. to BHO, Jr.: Span of a Lifetime
● Eugene B. Redmond / Passing the Baton: From King to President
● Keith Gilyard / From King to Obama
● Jericho Brown / Receiving Line
● Sababa Akili / President Obama and Organizing
● Nagueyalti Warren / Mrs. Pettawah's Journal Entry, January 20, 2009
● Martin Espada / Litany at the Tomb of Frederick Douglass
● Kevin Harewood / The Revolution is Being Televised!
● Haki R. Madhubuti / The Secret of His Success
● Shawn L. Williams / Audacious Hope, Auspicious Signs: Barack Obama and the Third Reconstruction
● Sharan Strange / Inaugural
● Antoinette Brim / We Winter Still
● Malaika Adero / The Reckoning: A Prayer by the People
● Lita Hooper / The Poem My Son Will Write One Day
● Demetrice Anntia Worley / On This Day, at This Moment--A Ghazal
● E. Ethelbert Miller / The Day the Earth Stood Still
● Gloria House / Annual Martin Luther King Day Observation and March
● Kwame Dawes / New Day
● Tara Betts / Malia at Lincoln’s Desk
● Nathan McCall / White America’s Trauma
● Tony Medina / Basketball Jones: Bofwana's Revenge
● Edward S. Spriggs / The veil falls (Outside the womb)
● Farai Chideya / Educational Opportunity in the Age of Obama
● Parneshia Jones / Auto-correcting History
● Michael Simanga / First President and First Lady
● Quincy Troupe / Three Editorials (From Black Renaissance Noire)
● Contributors
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About the anthology
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● Book design by Dana Gray; cover painting by Najee Dorsey (Acknowledgments)
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Publisher's description
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"To give voice to the historic election of President Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States, this anthology of essays, poetry, and creative non-fiction documents the conversation on President Obama's campaign within the African American community, and the dialogue after his election and since he has taken the Oath of Office. Included are perspectives on the historical moments during President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign, the finale of the 2008 general election, and Obama's new plans and policies since he took office in January 20, 2009. Editors Lita Hooper, Michael Simanga, and Sonia Sanchez have assembled an impressive list of forty-four contributors to capture the energy and excitement, the expectation and hope. Featured are works from Lita Hooper, Michael Sigmanga, Sonia Sanchez, Amiri Baraka, Haki Madhubuti, Askia Toure, Quincy Troupe, Chuck D, Pearl Cleage, Natasha Trethewey, Tony Medina, Jessica Care Moore, Nathan McCall, Jasmine Guy, Farai Chideya, Keith Gilyard, Opal Moore, Sharan Strange, and Tina McElroy Ansa."
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Anthology editor(s)' discourse
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From Michael Simanga's "Introduction: 44 on 44":
● "While we can not yet quantify the impact of the 2008 election, we can continue the mass conversation, engage in the continued fight and document it with the voices of artists who are committed to etching not only the facts into stone, but also the soul of this time, the thought, the feeling, the flesh of it, the blood, the laughter, the anger, the fear, the enduring faith that, ultimately, the people make change. From that experience, we gather the bits and pieces of memory and collect our impressions, questions, expectations, disappointments and incremental progress" (xi).
● "'44 on 44' is a collection of writings designed to leave forensic evidence of what we witnessed and participated in. It contains work that was inspired during four periods: the Obama campaign through Election Day; the days leading up to the inauguration; Inauguration Day 2009; and the months after the Obama Presidency began. Purposely, this collection includes writers of varying levels of experience in writing and in life. Our intention was to record the story of this movement, told in 44 unique voices in varying forms. The collection includes poetry, fiction, essays and speeches. This collection is a snapshot of the ways the movement to claim the presidency was felt and remembered. But we did not create '44 on 44' to be just a historical document. It is, most importantly, an invitation to remember that the movement to elect Barak Obama reaffirmed that we are the people and now is the time" (xii).
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Reviews and notices of anthology
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• n/a
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Item Number
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A0429
