“In so many ways and to so many people, Hughes was 'the Negro,' or at least 'Negro literature,' its public face, its spoken voice and cocktail-party embodiment as well as the source of its printed texts.”
Originally published June 13, 1989
The coming age of the post-nationalist black aesthetic.
Originally published December 9, 1986
Ellison's near fanatical commitment to sound novelistic form and structure has loads to do with why 'Juneteenth' wasn't published while he was alive.
Originally published July 6, 1999