ChickenBones: A Journal
for Literary & Artistic African-American Themes
www.nathanielturner.com 
That disdainful whip, the startling crack / The sound of fifty lashes
to my brother man’s back / We listened to hate’s hypocrisy and religion
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Books by Latorial Faison
Secrets of My Soul: A Collection of Poetry / Immaculate Perceptions
28 Days of Poetry Celebrating Black History I / 28 Days of Poetry Celebrating Black History II
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The Sounds of Blackness
By Latorial Faison
In my heart there lies no defeat But in my bosom a triumphant and rhythmic beat And while my spirit dances with gladness I am quick to recall the sounds of blackness. I hear the moaning and the wailing Of native Africans held captive on ships sailing As though it were my youth of yesterday Whispering truths to ears in dark dismay. The long, persistent motherland call Of anxious hope and justice for all As though it beckoned from higher heights I hear the songs of steal away nights. That disdainful whip, the startling crack The sound of fifty lashes to my brother man’s back We listened to hate’s hypocrisy and religion And prayed for deliverance complete with wisdom. Hear Harriet’s footsteps and her hushing sacred sounds As she walked without fear in search of freedom’s grounds To lead as many captives safely to northern light Her savvy spirit vowed to never give up the fight. The sighs of relief at a kingdom finally come Freedom at last for us, the worst of sins to some But to the surprise and shock of a divided nation Came the lyrics of a long overdue slave Emancipation. The endless cheering must have been loud While those who stood free made their ancestors proud And the old African’s dream really did come true In a nation where his people were brought to be subdued. Dr. King shouted “Free at last, free at last . . . ” And his dream of a promised land did come to pass The sit-ins, the marches and the demand for equal rights Were necessary for those freed in darkness and deprived of light.So, in my daily living, I do not dare ignore the sounds But am honored that my ancestors were strong and freedom bound When fellowmen can’t remember the truth about this sadness Pause to share with them one of the many sounds of blackness.
posted 10 September 2005
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Latorial Faison, a native of Courtland, VA, studied English and Religious Studies at the University of Virginia and VA TECH. Faison has been writing poetry since adolescence, but in March 2000 she walked onto the literary scene as the founding editor of Poetically Speaking, a globally read online poetry magazine. In 2001 Faison’s first book collection of poems, Secrets of My Soul, was published. This collection set the stage for what would follow in later publications such as Immaculate Perceptions in 2003, and two collections, 28 Days of Poetry Celebrating Black History I (2006) and 28 Days of Poetry Celebrating Black History II ( 2008).
Faison has been published in various literary journals, magazines, anthologies, and online publications. She has been published in the US and abroad in the following: Anointed Magazine, Whispers of Inspiration, The Digital Drum sponsored by BET, Facets Literary Magazine, RiverSedge, The Nubian Chronicles, Seeker Magazine, Timbooktu, The Taj Mahal Review, Red River Review, and many other venues.
Latorial’s story “On Good Ground” is featured in the 2003 NAACP winner, Keeping the Faith, a collection of nonfiction essays on love, courage, healing and hope from Black America edited by Tavis Smiley. Her work has also received notice on radio shows like The Tom Joyner Morning Show and PowerTalkFM.com.
She has taught for various colleges and universities in the U.S. Currently, Faison is an Online Instructor for DeVry University. Latorial Faison is currently accepting speaking engagements as well as opportunities to appear and read poetry. For information on upcoming events, visit the EVENTS page of this site. Invite Latorial Faison, Poet & Author, to your next community, church, school, college, or university event. http://latorial.faithweb.com/Biographyl
Visit her online at http://www.latorialfaison.com/
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AALBC.com’s 25 Best Selling Books
Fiction
#1 – Justify My Thug by Wahida Clark #2 – Flyy Girl by Omar Tyree #3 – Head Bangers: An APF Sexcapade by Zane #4 – Life Is Short But Wide by J. California Cooper #5 – Stackin’ Paper 2 Genesis’ Payback by Joy King #6 – Thug Lovin’ (Thug 4) by Wahida Clark #7 – When I Get Where I’m Going by Cheryl Robinson #8 – Casting the First Stone by Kimberla Lawson Roby #9 – The Sex Chronicles: Shattering the Myth by Zane
#10 – Covenant: A Thriller by Brandon Massey
#11 – Diary Of A Street Diva by Ashley and JaQuavis
#12 – Don’t Ever Tell by Brandon Massey
#13 – For colored girls who have considered suicide by Ntozake Shange
#14 – For the Love of Money : A Novel by Omar Tyree
#15 – Homemade Loves by J. California Cooper
#16 – The Future Has a Past: Stories by J. California Cooper
#17 – Player Haters by Carl Weber
#18 – Purple Panties: An Eroticanoir.com Anthology by Sidney Molare
#19 – Stackin’ Paper by Joy King
#20 – Children of the Street: An Inspector Darko Dawson Mystery by Kwei Quartey
#21 – The Upper Room by Mary Monroe
#22 Thug Matrimony by Wahida Clark
#23 – Thugs And The Women Who Love Them by Wahida Clark
#24 – Married Men by Carl Weber
#25 – I Dreamt I Was in Heaven – The Rampage of the Rufus Buck Gang by Leonce Gaiter
Non-fiction
#1 – Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning Marable #2 – Confessions of a Video Vixen by Karrine Steffans #3 – Dear G-Spot: Straight Talk About Sex and Love by Zane #4 – Letters to a Young Brother: MANifest Your Destiny by Hill Harper #5 – Peace from Broken Pieces: How to Get Through What You’re Going Through by Iyanla Vanzant #6 – Selected Writings and Speeches of Marcus Garvey by Marcus Garvey #7 – The Ebony Cookbook: A Date with a Dish by Freda DeKnight #8 – The Isis Papers: The Keys to the Colors by Frances Cress Welsing #9 – The Mis-Education of the Negro by Carter Godwin Woodson
#10 – John Henrik Clarke and the Power of Africana History by Ahati N. N. Toure
#11 – Fail Up: 20 Lessons on Building Success from Failure by Tavis Smiley
#12 –The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
#13 – The Black Male Handbook: A Blueprint for Life by Kevin Powell
#14 – The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore
#15 – Why Men Fear Marriage: The Surprising Truth Behind Why So Many Men Can’t Commit by RM Johnson
#16 – Black Titan: A.G. Gaston and the Making of a Black American Millionaire by Carol Jenkins
#17 – Brainwashed: Challenging the Myth of Black Inferiority by Tom Burrell
#18 – A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose by Eckhart Tolle
#19 – John Oliver Killens: A Life of Black Literary Activism by Keith Gilyard
#20 – Alain L. Locke: The Biography of a Philosopher by Leonard Harris
#21 – Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number: Black Women Explore Midlife by Carleen Brice
#22 – 2012 Guide to Literary Agents by Chuck Sambuchino #23 – Chicken Soup for the Prisoner’s Soul by Tom Lagana #24 – 101 Things Every Boy/Young Man of Color Should Know by LaMarr Darnell Shields
#25 – Beyond the Black Lady: Sexuality and the New African American Middle Class by Lisa B. Thompson
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The Hidden Story of Change in the Obama Era
By Michael Grunwald
Time senior correspondent Michael Grunwald tells the secret history of the stimulus bill, the purest distillation of Change We Can Believe In, a microcosm of Obamas policy successes and political failures. Though it is reviled by the right and rejected by the left, it really is a new New Deal, larger than FDRs and just as transformative. It prevented an imminent depression, while jump-starting Obamas long-term agenda. The stimulus is pouring $90 billion into clean energy, reinventing the way America is powered and fueled; it includes unprecedented investments in renewables, efficiency, electric cars, a smarter grid, cleaner coal, and more. Its carrying health care into the digital era. Its Race to the Top initiative may be the boldest education reform in U.S. history. It produced the biggest middle-class tax cuts in a generation, a broadband initiative reminiscent of rural electrification, and an overhaul of the New Deals unemployment insurance system. Its revamping the way government addresses homelessness, fixes infrastructure, and spends money.
Grunwald reveals how Republicans have obscured these achievements through obstruction and distortion. The stimulus launched a genuine national comeback. It also saved millions of jobs, while creating legacies that could rival the Hoover Dam: the worlds largest wind farm, a new U.S. battery industry, a new high-speed rail network, the worlds highest-speed Internet network. Its main legacy, like the New Deals, will be change.
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Irish Americans, African Americans, and the Politics of Citizenship
By Christian G. Samito
In Becoming American under Fire, Christian G. Samito provides a rich account of how African American and Irish American soldiers influenced the modern vision of national citizenship that developed during the Civil War era. By bearing arms for the Union, African Americans and Irish Americans exhibited their loyalty to the United States and their capacity to act as citizens; they strengthened their American identity in the process. . . . For African American soldiers, proving manhood in combat was only one aspect to their quest for acceptance as citizens. As Samito reveals, by participating in courts-martial and protesting against unequal treatment, African Americans gained access to legal and political processes from which they had previously been excluded. The experience of African Americans in the military helped shape a postwar political movement that successfully called for rights and protections regardless of race. For Love of Liberty
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Incognegro: A Memoir of Exile and Apartheid
By Frank B. Wilderson III
Wilderson, a professor, writer and filmmaker from the Midwest, presents a gripping account of his role in the downfall of South African apartheid as one of only two black Americans in the African National Congress (ANC). After marrying a South African law student, Wilderson reluctantly returns with her to South Africa in the early 1990s, where he teaches Johannesburg and Soweto students, and soon joins the military wing of the ANC. Wilderson’s stinging portrait of Nelson Mandela as a petulant elder eager to accommodate his white countrymen will jolt readers who’ve accepted the reverential treatment usually accorded him. After the assassination of Mandela’s rival, South African Communist Party leader Chris Hani, Mandela’s regime deems Wilderson’s public questions a threat to national security; soon, having lost his stomach for the cause, he returns to America. WPublishers Weekly
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The White Masters of the World
From The World and Africa, 1965
W. E. B. Du Bois Arraignment and Indictment of White Civilization (Fletcher)
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The Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan / The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll / Only a Pawn in Their Game
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson Thanks America for Slavery
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The Journal of Negro History issues at Project Gutenberg
The Haitian Declaration of Independence 1804 / January 1, 1804 — The Founding of Haiti
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update 5 July 2012
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Related files: Sounds of Blackness When We Were Poor Revelations Chaos After Katrina . . . A Poem for Rudy