Toni Morrison, arguably the most famous living African American author, was born Chloe Anthony Wofford in 1931 in Ohio. As a child, she was an avid and precocious reader, and her family of masterful storytellers raised her on a steady diet of tales and legends. She studied literature at Howard and Co

African american fiction, Dense, Feminine, Layered, Melancholy, Pathos, Religious, Southern gothic, Spectral, Women's literature

Dramatist Lorraine Hansberry broke social conventions by depicting black experiences of white prejudice. She also broke Broadway records by being both the youngest person and the first African American to win the Best Play award from the New York Drama Critics' Circle. Before that moment, black playw

African american fiction, African american theater, Political, Queer literature, Social protest, Tense

Playwright Alice Childress blazed across off-Broadway like a supernova, startling audiences and critics with her candid, finely crafted characterizations of African Americans. Childress remarked that she concentrated "on portraying the have-nots in a have society, those seldom singled out by mass med

African american fiction, African american theater, Egalitarian, Feminist, Political

When Alvin Ailey stumbled into Lester Horton's dance theater at UCLA, he abandoned his original plan to major in foreign languages. Instead, he moved to fulfill his destiny and become one of the finest, most influential, and most beloved Modern choreographers of this century. Just one year after his

African american fiction, Euphoric, Expansive, Kinetic, Political, Polychromatic, Spiritual