Sewing vs Stitching, Ellen Prewitt in Rooted, and Upcoming Events

Hey Y’all,

The other day, when I was stitching a pair of pants, my grandson, while casually scrolling on his phone, said, “Dynamite, I didn’t know that you could sew.” I replied, “Naw, man, I can’t sew; I can only stitch.” He, in all of his fourteen-year-old wisdom, looked perplexed and asked, “What’s the difference?” Without stopping what I was doing, keeping my eyes on my needle and thread with fingers that aren’t nearly as nimble as they once were, I answered, “Sewing is an artistic skill that blends utilitarian needs with soulful creative expression to produce aesthetic function. Stitching is what broke folks like me do to make a shirt or pair of pants last a few mo’ months longer.” He ended with “Got it,” and we sat in silence, satisfied with another meaningful talk between Granddaddy Dynamite and Joshua, Jr. That is all.

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Hey Y’all Again,

Here’s a blast from the past of me reading poetry at the 2015 Albany State University Poetry Festival. My reading begins at the 6:08 mark after the opening remarks and the introduction. I was honored to open for noted poet, publisher, creator of Black Women Rock, and Detroit Poet Laureate Jessica Care Moore, and y’all can watch her reading here. It was cool when she began her reading by saying, “The Mississippi in me made me take off my high heels,” which is a reference to my poem, “Mississippi Like…” Finally, during the ASU Poetry Festival, I had the honor and pleasure to interview Mississippi native, Pulitzer Prize-winner, and U.S. and Mississippi Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey, which y’all can watch here. Now, let’s checkout the upcoming events and happenings.

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This morning’s Friday Forum will feature Katie Blount, Director of Mississippi Department of Archives and History, who will discuss their upcoming programming and the importance of studying and preserving history. For more information, see the calendar of events below or contact Nicole McNamee at nmcnamee72@gmail.com.

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Today and tomorrow, The Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Experience (The MAX) will offer Spring Break Music Studio Workshops, including Grammy-nominated American Idol winner Jamal Roberts’ Soul Sound Choir Workshop for grades 5 – 12, Audio Engineering Workshop with noted producer/engineer Pat Lane, Music Production Workshop with noted Billboard-charting producer Terrance Davis, and Beat Making Workshop with multi-Billboard-charting hip-hop producer Twysted Genius. For more information, see the calendar of events below.

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Today, Grammy-nominated poet, editor, cultural critic, and human and civil rights activist Kevin Powell will partner with the New York City Department of Education to host A Student Multi-Media Summit for public high school students from all five NYC boroughs Free breakfast and lunch will be provided at the summit, which will be an all-day event to include workshops led by Powell and other media industry professionals, covering the following topics: “How to Be A Writer,” “How to Produce Films and Videos,” “How to Create A Podcast,” “How to Make and Place Music,” and “How to Be A Photographer.” For more information, see the calendar of events below.

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Tomorrow, Monument Labs—a collaborative platform for critically understanding and reimagining monuments—which works to highlight artists who are deeply committed to changing the way we study, build, and interpret monuments, will hold a book launch for Monument Lab – Re:Generation, edited by Paul M. Farber and Sue Mobley. Monument Lab – Re:Generation addresses the question, “Which stories belong in public?,” through impactful, local reclamation projects that provide a deeper understanding of how monuments live and function in communities. The book presents case studies that travel across the country, highlighting local commemorative campaigns dedicated to advancing public memory. Featuring essays and artwork from the country’s leading monument makers plus a foreword from New York Times bestselling author Clint Smith. For more information about the book launch, see the calendar of events below, and to purchase a copy, go here.

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This month’s Torch Literary Arts feature is award-winning essayist and poet Bettina Judd, author of Feelin: Creative Practice, Pleasure, and Black Feminist Thought and patient, whose work has appeared in Feminist Studies, Torch, Mythium, Meridians, and other journals and anthologies. To read more about Judd and her work, go here. Next, Torch Literary Arts—a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization established to publish and promote creative writing by Black women—has announced its Spring Reading Season, which can be viewed in the calendar of events below. Finally, this fall, Torch Literary Arts will celebrate its 20th Anniversary with A Gathering of Flames, a three-day event that will include Torch Awards Gala, The Gathering (readings, panels, and workshops), and Community Brunch and feature award-winning and noted writers, such as Sharon Bridgforth, Patricia Smith, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, and Crystal Wilkinson. For more information on A Gathering of Flames, see the calendar of events below.

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Next week, the Mississippi Humanities Council (MHC)—a private nonprofit corporation funded by Congress through the National Endowment for the Humanities to provide public programs in traditional liberal arts disciplines to serve nonprofit groups in Mississippi—will award the winners of the 2026 Public Humanities Awards, which consists of scholars, educators, and organizations who have made significant contributions to the public humanities in Mississippi. To view the awardees and purchase tickets, see the calendar of events below.

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Next week, Community Bank and Mississippi Communities United for Prosperity (MCUP) will hold its hybrid (in-person and virtual) Praxis Summit with the theme: “Framing a Collective Impact Model to Advance an Equitable Community-Centered Community and Economic Development (CED) System in Mississippi.” This convening will bring together financial institutions, philanthropy, CED practitioners, minority-, disadvantaged- and women-owned businesses and community organizations to discuss strategies for advancing equitable community and economic development in historically disinvested communities. Agenda highlights include: breakout sessions connecting banks and community projects, stakeholder panel and lunch, and a keynote by Josh Silver, CRA researcher and policy analyst and author of Ending Redlining through a Community-Centered Reform of the Community Reinvestment Act. For more information on the summit, see the calendar of events below.
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Award-winning poet, short story writer, novelist, essayist, playwright, and seminal member of the Black Arts Movement, Judy Juanita’s California Fever Dream: A Memoir is available for pre-order as it examines the life of an extraordinary artist who joined fellow student protesters at San Francisco State University to revolutionize American higher education and create the nation’s first Black Studies Department, who then continued to become the editor-in-chief of The Black Panther, the newspaper of the Black Panther Party. Throughout her life, Juanita became one of the most important voices and workers of her time, and California Fever Dreams serves as both a testament and blueprint to a revolutionarily artistic life. For more information and to purchase a copy, go here.

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Cultural scholar, filmmaker, and dancer Harmony Holiday has a great new article, “Poetry in America; Poetry in the Epstein Files (here),” which takes a look at poetry’s presence in the files and in Epstein’s life. With mentions of Amiri Baraka, Prince, William Carlos Williams, Rumi, Robert Frost, and others, Holiday shows that poetry is so much the fabric of humanity that even the Epstein Files are flooded with it.

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Congrats to Jackson State University Creative Writing major Grace Ann Elinski for having her photographic essay, “After the World: The Written-Over Landscapes of Mississippi and South Louisiana (here),” published in Oxford American. To learn more about and connect with Elinski, go here, here, and here.

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Rooted Magazine has a great new interview with Jackson, Mississippi, native and award-winning novelist Ellen Morris Prewitt as part of its “Questionnaires” series that y’all can read here. (After reading this great discussion, see info about Prewitt discussing her latest novel, When We Were Murderous Time-Traveling Women, with literary theorist and fiction writer Dr. Ebony Lumumba, below.) Next, if y’all missed Rooted’s great discussion with Mississippi native and internationally noted historian Dr. W. Ralph Eubanks about his book, When It’s Darkness on the Delta: How America’s Richest Soil Became Its Poorest Land, y’all can watch it here. Finally, Rooted editor Lauren Rhoades is currently on a book tour, promoting Split the Baby: A Memoir in Pieces, and y’all can read more about that here. Rooted is a free, online magazine dedicated to telling stories of place to people who call Mississippi home. It publishes weekly questionnaires with interesting Mississippi transplants, natives, and expats. Their lagniappe issues feature original prose, poetry, art, and photography from Mississippi writers and artists. Y’all can subscribe to the online magazine at rooted.substack.com.

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Writer and editor Tia Ja’Nae has posted a new article, “Dear Authors, Publishing through Amazon Is Still Self-Publishing (here),” which addresses some of the lingering issues of self-publishing.

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Cultural critic Jason Thompson has three great new articles, “Why The Blues Brothers Is an Important Movie (here),” “What Sam Cooke’s Live Albums Tell Us About Survival in America (here),” and “The Radical Structure of Ray Charles’ ‘What’d I Say, Pt. 1 & 2’ (here).” Additionally, Thompson has posted an outstanding five-part series analysis, “The Veil Between: On the Musicology of Sinners,” which can be read here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5.

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This Woman’s Work is a one-shot hip-hop journal dedicated to women in rap and reggaeton, which includes articles from noted writers, such as Michael A. Gonzales, Miles Marshall Lewis, Harmony Holiday, and more. The Winter 2025 – 26 Issue can be read here.

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Journalist and editor Greg Nichols has an insightful new article, “Soul Craft: How to Make a 16-Page Zine (here).”

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The Jackson State University Margaret Walker Alexander Center has posted its latest newsletter, which includes the CASE Fest Proposal Deadline, Professional Opportunities, and the HBCU Radio Preservation Project that can be read here and here. Additionally, the JSU MWA Center unveiled Margaret Walker & the Power of Words—the first permanent exhibit on campus that examines the life and career of Margaret Walker Alexander. As the first African American to win the Yale Younger Poets Award for her book, For My People, Nikki Giovanni called Dr. Alexander “the most famous person nobody knows” because she, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Richard Wright are the Holy Trinity that formed the literary bridge between the Harlem Renaissance and the Black Arts Movement. Additionally, her novel, Jubilee, is the first neo-slave novel, creating the blueprint for Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Alex Haley’s Roots. Margaret Walker & the Power of Words documents the extraordinary life and work of a woman whose legacy continues to impact the current generation of writers. The grand opening included a wonderful discussion and reception with the foremost Margaret Walker Alexander scholar, Dr. Maryemma Graham, author of The House Where My Soul Lives: The Life of Margaret Walker, in the JSU Student Center Theater. (Here and here are pics from the lecture.) Dr. Graham’s lecture was followed by exhibit tours in Gallery 1. The exhibit is open to the public and available for tours of all sizes. To schedule a tour, contact Dr. Robert Luckett, Director of the JSU MWA Center, at robert.luckett@jsums.edu. Finally, the JSU MWA Center has started the Jubilee Book Club, which will feature close readings of Margaret Walker Alexander’s essential novel, Jubilee, along with resources, notes from Dr. Alexander’s journals, guest contributions, and more. Rather than read one book over the course of a few weeks, or several over a few months, the JSU MWA Center will spend its time taking a deep dive into Jubilee. Think of it as a low-stakes, slow-paced literature class—Jubilee 101! Each month, The Center will send a newsletter that contains a close reading of a topic or theme in the novel. Y’all will also see further reading suggestions, links to interviews, readings, trivia and polls, materials from our digital archive, and more! Plus, The Center will add page numbers for excerpts from the novels that will be helpful to (re)read depending on the month’s topic. Here is the link to this month’s edition of the Jubilee Book Club. For more information, contact mwa@jsums.edu.

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The Louisiana/Mississippi Branch of the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators will host a few events this month. For full details, see the calendar of events below.

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Narrative 4, an organization of creatives that uses storytelling to build community and civic engagement, has sent its latest newsletter that can be read here.

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Next month, The Jackson State University Margaret Walker Alexander Center will host the 19th Annual Creative Arts & Scholarly Engagement (CASE) Festival, which will feature a keynote address by award-winning poet Dr. Evie Shockley, Director of Creative Writing and Writers and the Zora Neale Hurston Distinguished Professor of English at Rutgers University, New Brunswick. The JSU MWA CASE Festival will also include poetry/spoken word panels, essay panels, and performing arts panels. Additionally, the best essay by a JSU student on the “Black experience in the American South” will receive the $1,000 Margaret Walker Alexander Annual Award. And, the JSU MWA Center CASE Festival will present the annual $500 Doris Derby Visual Arts and Social Justice Award to a student at any level from any institution whose contribution best reflects this year’s CASE Festival theme in the category of visual arts, including painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, and crafts. Winners for all awards will be announced during the closing ceremony for the 2025 CASE Festival. For more information, see the calendar of events below.

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Next month, poet, short story writer, and Prince scholar C Liegh McInnis will be in conversation with award-winning author, filmmaker, and Professor of African-American and African Diaspora Studies, Dr. Randal Maurice Jelks, about his latest book, My America: Langston Hughes on Democracy, at Central United Methodist Church. Dr. Jelks will be in Jackson, Mississippi, for the College Language Association Convention, the oldest association of HBCU English Teachers, to discuss Hughes and has scheduled this event, through the work of Sister Helena Brantley and Red Pencil Publicity, to provide more opportunity for the local community to engage the discourse. For more information about Dr. Jelks, go here, for more information about CLA, go here, and for more information about our upcoming public conversation, see the calendar of events below.

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Next month, award-winning novelist and cultural activist Ellen Prewitt will be in conversation about her latest novel, When We Were Murderous Time-Traveling Women, with Dr. Ebony Lumumba—Chair of the Jackson State University English Department at Lemuria Books. For more information, see the calendar of events below.

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Next month, MADDRAMA Performance Troupe invites you to support its upcoming Awards & Recognition Banquet, a special evening dedicated to celebrating excellence, leadership, artistic achievement, and community impact. This event brings together students, families, educators, community leaders, and supporters to honor the accomplishments of MADDRAMA Performance Troupe and to recognize individuals who have made meaningful contributions to the arts and our community. MADDRAMA is a spoken word choral group that often performs original pieces for specific events. They are housed in the JSU Speech and Dramatic Arts Department, whose graduate, former MADDRAMA alum, and Severance star Tramell Tillman became the first Black actor to win an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama series. (Here and here are two promo vids for MADDRAMA.) They invite you to show your support by purchasing an advertisement in the banquet souvenir program. Your ad not only promotes your business or organization but also demonstrates your commitment and support of MADDRAMA. For more information, see the calendar of events below.

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Mississippi native, fiction writer, playwright, and health activist Katrina Byrd, who has been a seminal part of the local Mississippi writing community, had a medical scare and has a new commentary, “I Owe It to Myself to Get Well: A Health Update,” that y’all can read here.

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Just taking a moment to introduce, to some, a Mississippi and national treasure, The International Sweethearts of Rhythm. They were “a groundbreaking American all-female jazz and swing orchestra, widely regarded as the first racially integrated all-women’s band in the United States. Formed in 1937 at the Piney Woods Country Life School in Mississippi—a boarding school for poor, orphaned, and primarily African American youth founded by Laurence C. Jones—the group began as a fundraising ensemble inspired by all-female bands like Ina Ray Hutton’s Melodears.” Yet, they quickly garnered local, regional, national, and international success, appearing on radio, television, and in films while touring extensively during the 1940s. To read more about them, go here, here, here, here, and here. And, to watch videos of them, go here and here.

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When Doves Podcast: Prince—Album by Album & Song by Song has posted Part Two of its great new interview with internationally recognized Prince scholar De Angela Duff, Associate Vice Provost at New York University and professor at NYU Tandon School of Engineering, and she discusses the origins of the Prince Symposia, What Did Prince Do This Week?, Prince and politics, D’Angelo, Bilal, Andre 3000, Cory Henry, Janelle Monae, Alice Smith, Prince’s album artwork, Prince’s philanthropy, Marva Collins, the We Are The World documentary, Live Aid, Luke Vibert, Arthur Turnbull and The Music Snobs, more on C Liegh McInnis and The Lyrics of Prince, and much more. To listen to part one, go here.

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Here is an insightful article, “What Prince Taught Me,” by John McKie, author of Prince: A Sign “O” the Times, in which McKie examines the remarkable life and career of one of the most mysterious figures in music through the prism of the record considered by many as his masterpiece, 1987’s Sign “O” the Times. McKie’s book can be purchased here.

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Here is a cool article about Jackson, Mississippi, native and award-winning visual artist Sabrina Howard.

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Noted Prince scholar and NYU Professor De Angela Duff is set to curate the annual spring Polished Solid Prince Symposium, #IWonderU40, a HYBRID symposium, celebrating two landmark anniversaries: ten years since Prince’s passing and forty years since his visionary 1986 releases, the Parade album and his second narrative film Under the Cherry Moon. As usual, Prof Duff has gathered some of the most noted Prince scholars from around the planet for three days of panels, roundtables, and keynotes. This symposium is dedicated to Prof Duff’s longest-standing Prince friend, whom she met in high school, and frequent Prince symposium contributor, Ricky Wyatt (1971–2025). In memory of our dear Ricky, please consider making a donation to the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation. For more information, including the schedule of panels and presenters, see the calendar of events below.

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In celebration of Black History Month, poet, short story writer, and Prince scholar C Liegh McInnis had the honor and pleasure to read poetry with cellist Bridgette Olugbala as part of the Margaret Walker Alexander Library’s month-long series of events. Y’all can watch the video here, which includes their presentation and a brief Q&A that followed. And, here’s a picture from the event.

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Poet, short story writer, and Prince scholar C Liegh McInnis joined Brother Ken Clark on KC 1400 Media and ended their discussion explaining how every vote matters by giving props to his wife, Monica McInnis, and others who worked to reduce the Neo-Confederate stronghold over the Mississippi Legislature from a supermajority to a majority, which enabled Democrats to kill a bill that was designed to gut funding severely to public education. Y’all can watch those brief comments here. However, he was remiss in not mentioning legendary civil rights Attorney Carol Rhodes, who has been a primary architect for the legal battles that have enabled Afro-Mississippians to create more districts that enable Afro-Mississippians to choose the representatives of their choice.

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As most of y’all know, I’m probably the least hip-hop person on the planet, but LL Cool J’s discussion of what it means to be an artist and why artists are important (here) is one of the best explications of the topic. This excerpt is taken from LL Cool J’s September 6, 2024, Breakfast Club Interview, which can be seen in full here.

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Here is the Schomburg Centennial Book List: 100 Black Voices, which is a wonderful resource, especially in a time when everything related to blackness and black history is being attacked and erased. Moreover, this list reminds me of the reading list I created for my comp lit classes. (See here.) Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste was the last book that I added as I retired in the same year it was published. During the semester, my students had to read four of the books from my list, one every 30 days, and produce a five-paragraph critical analysis on each. Well, two of the books were chosen for them. They had to read one book by Richard Wright and one book by Margaret Walker Alexander. Then, they could choose two books by two other writers on the list. (My Mississippi and Jackson State University bias wouldn’t allow me not to assign a Wright and Alexander book.) Yet, over the years, I was happy to see how much the students liked having the list for their own further reading. Although I’m no longer teaching, former students still email and ask me to re-share my list with them. Thus, this Schomburg list will allow me to update my list. Or, I could just be lazy and send them the Schomburg list.

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The editors of Star Trek and the Courtroom: An Edited Collection on Justice, Law, and the Trial in Star Trek invite proposals for an edited volume examining trial and courtroom episodes across the Star Trek franchise. From “Court Martial” (TOS) to “Ad Astra per Aspera” (SNW), Star Trek has used the trial format to explore questions of personhood, justice, military law, civil rights, ethical responsibility, and the limits of legal systems. These episodes serve as philosophical laboratories, testing the boundaries of law when confronted with, for example, artificial intelligence, alien cultures, time travel, and evolving definitions of sentience and citizenship. This collection seeks scholarly essays that engage with trial (or trial-like) episodes from any Star Trek series or film, examining them through lenses including but not limited to: legal theory, philosophy of law, political theory, ethics, disability studies, critical race theory, gender and sexuality studies, postcolonial theory, science and technology studies, media studies, or comparative legal systems. The editors welcome both single-episode analyses and comparative studies across multiple series or episodes. We encourage proposals that use Star Trek episodes as windows into real legal proceedings, doctrines, precedents, and contemporary legal debates. Contributions from legal practitioners, attorneys, judges, and legal scholars are especially welcome, as are collaborative proposals pairing legal professionals with humanities scholars or media studies experts. Essays might compare fictional Star Trek trials to landmark cases, analyze how episodes illuminate current legal controversies, or use Trek’s courtroom dramas to make complex areas of jurisprudence accessible. Further, the editors welcome international perspectives, including comparative analyses with legal systems and landmark cases from around the world. For more information and to submit, see the calendar of events below.

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Here is a great discussion, “Michael Jackson and Prince: Why Comparison Misses the Point,” between Prince scholar and Podcast Juice: Prince Podcast host Michael Dean and Prince scholar and entertainment lawyer Marc Wiggins. Rather than the usual “Who’s better?” debate, Dean and Wiggins seek to study and celebrate both artists as generational talents through the following topics: How Joe Jackson and John L. Nelson’s discipline became the foundation of genius; The blueprint they inherited from Stevie Wonder, Sly Stone, James Brown, and Jimi Hendrix; Why they HAD to be undeniable—the 10x rule; How they redefined creative control and Black masculinity; Why MJ and Prince answered different questions about greatness; and The real legacy: collective triumph, not competition.

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In celebration of Black History Month and in anticipation of the Lionsgate release of Michael, the cinematic portrayal of the life and legacy of Michael Jackson, the Jackson State University Marching Band, The Sonic Boom of the South, has joined the national campaign to promote the film and the artistry of MJ with their performance of “Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough (here).” Additionally, when chosen to be this year’s featured band for the HBCU Legacy Bowl, the all-star football game that highlights senior HBCU players, The Boom’s entire halftime show was dedicated to MJ, which can be viewed here. Finally, to learn more about The Boom’s participation in the Michael promotion campaign, go here.

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The Haiku Society of America seeks to publish an anthology of African-American haiku. The practice of haiku writing by black poets dates to the 1920s when Lewis G. Alexander, who learned the form from Imagist poet John Gould Fletcher, first published haiku in The Crisis. Since that time, the practice of haiku writing within other cultures and languages has expanded extensively into subgenres like Contemporary English-language haiku and African-American haiku. It is significant to mention that subgenres of haiku are adaptations of traditional Japanese haiku that borrow and forfeit certain aspects of form. HSA seeks submissions of haiku written by black poets who write and experiment with the form. While not a requirement, haiku that explore themes of our culture, histories, and traditions are welcomed. HSA is a small coterie, so you may spread the word to other black poets who write haiku, though this should be a practice they have already demonstrated. The anthology will feature several established black haiku poets and other selected poets. HSA has offered publication, and they have one external press interested in this publication. Please submit (10-15) haiku for consideration and include with your submission a statement of why you write haiku. This should be 4-6 sentences and will serve as your bio. To control submissions, please refrain from sharing this via socials; forwarding via email is preferred. For more information and to submit, see the calendar of events below.

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Now available in hardback, paperback, and eBook, Dr. Lelia Gaston Rhodes’ Jackson State University: The First Hundred Years, 1877 – 1977, can be purchased here. Before it was Jackson State University, it was Natchez Seminary, a school built on a vision of education and empowerment. In 1877, H. P. Jacobs and Black ministers from the Mississippi Baptist Missionary Convention, in partnership with the American Baptist Home Mission Society, founded Natchez Seminary to educate newly freed Black students. That institution grew into Jackson State University, a powerhouse of education, culture, and progress and one of the first HBCUs to achieve R2 status. For more information and to purchase a copy, go here. And, to watch two brief news reports about the republishing of Jackson State University: The First Hundred Years, 1877 – 1977, go here and here.

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The International Center 4 Prince Studies and the University of Minnesota are pleased to announce their Call for Papers for this year’s conference, “Dance On! The Cultural, Sonic, and Symbolic Legacy of Prince Conference.” This year’s conference will be celebrating and reflecting on Prince’s enduring connection to Minneapolis and his posthumous legacy. “Dance On! The Cultural, Sonic, and Symbolic Legacy of Prince” provides a platform to examine the enduring impact of Prince with particular attention to his profound connection to Minnesota. The conference seeks to preserve and contextualize the historical, artistic, and social environments within which Prince created his vast body of work, regrounding the ongoing interconnections between his legacy, popular culture, and place. An online archive of presentations is an anticipated outcome as well as a peer-reviewed academic publication of selected papers. By bringing together academic research, fan knowledge, oral histories, and community-based perspectives, the conference aims to deepen understanding of Prince’s posthumous afterlife - an under-explored yet critical dimension of his artistic legacy and to help shape directions for future historical inquiry and legacy-building efforts for generations to come. For more information, see the calendar of events below.

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Here, here, and here are three very cool music videos celebrating the beauty and brilliance of Jackson, Mississippi, the City with Soul.

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Here is the link to an excellent discussion at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture about Prince’s place in American and African-American music by three brilliant black women: Prince scholar, host of What Did Prince Do This Week?, and NYU Professor De Angela Duff, ethnomusicologist and Juilliard Professor Dr. Fredara Mareuva Hadley, and Schomburg Curatorial Specialist Daniella Brito.

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“Kiss” is one of Prince’s most noted and popular songs. Many consider it an essential song to know Prince’s aesthetic, genius, and popularity. However, since its release in 1986, there’s been a great and ongoing discussion of whether or not “Kiss” fits and, for that matter, helps the album, Parade, and the film, Under the Cherry Moon. Specifically, many fans and scholars of Prince’s work assert that “Kiss” does not fit sonically with either the album or film and that it mostly disrupts, if not distracts, from the sound, flow, and meaning of both works. To this point, during the January 17, 2026, episode of What Did Prince Do This Week?, graphic designer, Prince scholar, and NYU Professor—De Angela Duff (who also coordinates the NYU Prince Symposiums), Prince scholar and host of Podcast Juice: A Prince Podcast—Michael Dean, Prince scholar and host of The Music Snobs—Arthur Turnbull, noted bass player, music teacher, and host of Ted Talks Bass—Ted Gould, and poet, short story writer, and Prince scholar—C Liegh McInnis discuss if Prince’s song, “Kiss,” should be in the film, Under the Cherry Moon, and on the Parade album, or should it have been replaced by “Neon Telephone” or “🧡 or $.” Y’all can watch their discussion here.

What makes this discussion great is that it’s not a group of people arguing to see who’s right. It’s a serious discussion about how the sound and lyrics of a song determine if it fits within a particular collection or project and how presenting a cohesive collection of works aids in the effectiveness and popularity of a work. Moreover, the discussion provides even more insight to Prince as a master songwriter (musician and lyricist), poet, storyteller, and producer. With that, please enjoy this discussion highlighting Prince’s overall genius and be sure to like and comment in the chat. Let them know what y’all think!

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Mississippi native and internationally noted historian Dr. W. Ralph Eubanks has another great discussion about his book, When It’s Darkness on the Delta: How America’s Richest Soil Became Its Poorest Land, with Mississippi native and Princeton University Professor Dr. Eddie Glaude that y’all can watch here. After that, check out Doc Eubanks’ great interview on The Eddrick Show! Finally, y’all can read a chapter from Doc Eubanks’ When It’s Darkness on the Delta here at Rooted Magazine.

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REAL Learning Institute and Afrikan Art Gallery have shared a cool video celebrating African and African-American history that y’all can watch here. For more information of the work they are doing, contact Baba Asinia Lukata Chikuyu at realsoulutions@yahoo.com.

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Third World Press, one of the largest black-owned publishers on the planet, has wonderful collections of poetry, fiction, and prose by award-winning and historic writers. To browse their catalog, go here.

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Afrikan Art Gallery has a new home at 1036 Charles Evers Blvd, Jackson, MS. For more information, go here and contact Asinia Lukata Chikuyu at afrikan_tbt@yahoo.com.

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Lolwe is offering masterclasses on multiple creative writing genres and techniques. For more details, see the calendar of events below.

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Mississippi-based scholar, editor, and community activist Vijay Shah has compiled a wonderful list of historical and literary resources that can be viewed here.

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Left of Black is the Webby Awards-nominated web series featuring interviews with Black Studies scholars created and hosted by James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of African and African American Studies Dr. Mark Anthony Neal. From 2010-2020, it was produced by the John Hope Franklin Center for International and Global Studies. In 2020, the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute took over production, with funding support from Trinity College of Arts & Sciences. The latest interview is with the brilliant young scholar Dr. Sarah Derbew as they discuss her book, Untangling Blackness in Greek Antiquity, which y’all can watch here. After viewing this episode, checkout all of the previous episodes of Left of Black here. And, be sure to purchase a copy of Derbew’s Untangling Blackness in Greek Antiquity here.

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Alternate ROOTS—an organization based in the Southern USA whose mission is to support the creation and presentation of original art, in all its forms, which is rooted in a particular community of place, tradition or spirit—has published its latest newsletter, which can be read here.

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Muntu Dance Theatre hosts dance workshops on various Saturdays throughout the month. For the next workshop, see the calendar of events below.

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The Emmett Till Interpretive Center has sent its latest newsletter. To read more about the ETIC, go here, and to receive the ETIC newsletter, go here.

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Monument Labs—a collaborative platform for critically understanding and reimagining monuments—works to highlight artists who are deeply committed to changing the way we study, build, and interpret monuments. To view their latest newsletter, go here, and for more information about Monument Labs, go here and here. Next, Monument Lab – Re:Generation, edited by Paul M. Farber and Sue Mobley, addresses the question, “Which stories belong in public?,” through impactful, local reclamation projects that provide a deeper understanding of how monuments live and function in communities. The book presents case studies that travel across the country, highlighting local commemorative campaigns dedicated to advancing public memory. Featuring essays and artwork from the country’s leading monument makers plus a foreword from New York Times bestselling author Clint Smith. For more information and to purchase a copy, go here. Additionally, Monument Lab’s special issue of Bulletin celebrates the life and legacy of Mamie and Emmett Till. To purchase a copy of that issue, which features some of the major names in African-American literature, go here. Finally, Monument Lab has announced its 2026 Monument Lab Summit, which is a biennial gathering of kindred spirits in the monument world. The Summit invites artists, organizers, scholars, and civic and cultural workers from across the country for three days of learning, dialogue, and play guided by the theme “School of Monumaking.” The Summit will offer inspiration, ideas, tools, and practice to deepen the monument-making approaches of attendees toward the cultivation and expansion of kinship and belonging in their communities. For more information and a detailed list of presenters, see the calendar of events below.

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Journalist and Clarksdale, Mississippi, native Aallyah Wright has published a new article, “How the USDA Advisory Boards Have Cost Black Farmers for Years (here and here).”

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Dr. Sarah L. Webb launched the global initiative Colorism Healing in 2013 to raise awareness and foster individual and collective healing through creative and critical work. Her myriad efforts to address colorism include designing college courses, hosting an international writing contest, publishing books, teaching workshops, and mentoring students across the world from Sacramento, California, to Sydney, Australia. Here is the link to Dr. Webb’s latest newsletter. Additionally, here is a link to Dr. Sarah L. Webb’s YouTube page, Colorism Healing, and here are the links to her website and Instagram page.

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Here is another great article, “Paris in Spring,” which reminds us that taking time to debrief and care for our mental, emotional, and spiritual health is not an act of escapism, but a necessary part of our personal and collective liberation struggle, by Moss Point, Mississippi, native and Princeton Professor Dr. Eddie Glaude, Jr., on his platform, A Native Son. Glaude’s latest book, America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation’s Anniversaries, can be purchased here.

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Poet, playwright, editor, and cultural critic Charlie R. Braxton has published another insightful article, “Yet Another Black Man Was Found Hanging from a Tree in Georgia (here).”

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The Jackson Advocate, one of the oldest African-American newspapers, has more insightful articles that can be read here. To watch archived episodes of JA’s podcast, go here and here, and to subscribe to JA, contact janews@thejacksonadvocate.com.

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Let’s highlight the great work that the Jackson State University Margaret Walker Alexander Center is doing in all of its endeavors. As such, if y’all would like to donate to one or all of them, here is the link to donate to the JSU MWA Center’s Catherine Coleman Literary Arts, Food, and Justice Initiative, which provides avenues for emerging writers across the state of Mississippi and in the City of Jackson to engage the rich legacy of creative writing in Mississippi, the tradition of southern foodways, and the history of social justice movements in their communities, here is the link to donate to the JSU MWA Center’s Endowment, and here is the link to purchase tickets for the JSU MWA Center’s For My People Award Luncheon. And, if you have any extra funds and really want to get in good with the spirit of my Pops, you can also donate to JSU Athletics through the KC 1400 Collective (here) and the JSU by 40 Campaign (here). Always remember that a mind and a great football program are terrible things to waste. That is all. Oh, yeah, I almost forgot: Thee I Love because I only Love Thee!!!

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Dance / Music / Sex / Romance aka Princesong.org is a song-by-song blog examining the music of Prince in chronological order by noted Prince scholar Zachary Hoskins. The latest entry can be read here and here, and all of the entries can be found here. His essay, “Rude Boy: Prince as Black New Waver,” was published in a special issue of Spectrum, A Journal on Black Men (2020), and his presentation from the Prince #1plus1plus1is3 virtual symposium (2021), “I Wish We All Were Nude: Controversy ‘Shower Poster’ as Aesthetic Linchpin and Artifact,” was published in the Journal of Popular Music Studies. He has also presented and appeared on roundtables at other @polishedsolid symposia, #TripleThreat40 (2023), #SexyMF30 (2022), and #DM40GB30 (2020), as well as the University of Minnesota’s Prince from Minneapolis symposium (2018). He holds an M.A. in Media Arts from the University of Arizona and B.A.’s in Film & Video Studies and Creative Writing & Literature from the University of Michigan. Go enjoy Zach’s wonderful insights on Prince’s songs.

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As part of the 20th Annual Creative Arts & Scholarly Engagement (CASE) Festival, The Jackson State University Margaret Walker Alexander Center invites essays by a JSU student on the “Black experience in the American South,” and the winner will receive the $1,000 Margaret Walker Alexander Annual Award. Submissions for the MWA Annual Award can be in various forms, including literary analysis, creative writing, research paper, biographical study, autobiography, and historical study. The JSU MWA Center CASE Festival will also present the annual $500 Doris Derby Visual Arts and Social Justice Award to a student at any level from any institution whose contribution best reflects this year’s CASE Festival theme in the category of visual arts, including painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, and crafts. Winners for all awards will be announced during the Closing Ceremony for the 2026 CASE Festival. For more information, see the calendar of events below.

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I struggled with sharing the video of my lecture, “Faith over Fear,” in the newsletter because I wondered if I was the proper messenger to provide this message, especially with it being rooted in a religious or spiritual context. However, after sharing it with a very few folks on the listserv, many of them provided positive feedback. Although I’ve never been afraid to pursue my dreams, I know that so many amazingly intelligent and creative folks are kept from pursuing their dreams simply because of fear. As such, I hope that this lecture can give them the push they need to become the person they truly are. Last Saturday morning, before the Jackson State University Football Game, I was asked to give a presentation on “Faith over Fear” for the Central United Methodist Church Community Prayer Breakfast, which y’all can watch here. It’s currently unlisted on my YouTube channel, and I haven’t decided if I’ll make it public. My wife, Monica, does a great deal of community work with Central because of their history within the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement and their current work as community servants and advocates. Additionally, one of my former JSU professors is an active member in Central’s work, and it’s difficult to say no to your former teachers who poured so much into you. However, although I admire Central’s work, I initially declined their invitation to speak for artistic and personal reasons. One, I retired from teaching to dedicate more time and energy to writing. That’s my life. That’s my love. That’s what I am. For better or worse, I’m a writer. Yet, I got to a point where too many other things were making it difficult to write. As such, since 2020, I’ve narrowly defined myself as a poet, short story writer, and Prince scholar, taking steps to ensure that nothing else interferes with writing, which includes declining several lucrative opportunities to remain a broke but focused writer. Yet, I agreed to give the talk, primarily because of my admiration for Central’s work and because of what it means to be with the same women since 1991, which has taught me that I’m not really the boss of anything. That being said, I didn’t know that my wife would record the lecture. It went well, and Monica promised to share the video with the Central congregation. Thus, even though it’s “unlisted” on the channel, some will have access to it. Since I haven’t decided if I’ll make it public, I’m sharing it with a very few of y’all on the listserv, mostly because y’all specifically manage to overcome the daily hurdles of life to do the work. But, since I no longer see myself as a religious person, I’m hesitant to make a lecture public that is rooted in religious (Christian) ideology, even though I think it can be of comfort or inspiration to some. That being said, check it out in your leisure as I know that y’all, who are receiving this email, overcome fear, doubt, oppression, and other hurdles daily to get the work done. (Y’all can also read the text here.) Now, let’s checkout the upcoming events.

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Here’s a great video, “Twenty Black Writers Who Changed America Forever.” Although it’s a very good list, I would replace Percival Everett with Margaret Walker Alexander—the first African-American to win the Yale Younger Poet Award for her poetry collection, For My People, and her novel, Jubilee, is the first credited neo-slave novel that inspired Toni Morrison’s Beloved and from which Alex Haley’s Roots borrows greatly. Additionally, in 1973, she curated the Phillis Wheatley Conference at Jackson State University, celebrating the 200th anniversary of Wheatley’s Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, which gathered every major black female writer at the time, including Morrison, Nikki Giovanni, Sonia Sanchez, and others. If the definition of greatness is that life after you is different and better than life before you, then Dr. Alexander is one of the seminal writers of American history. Finally, here is a link to an excellent presentation, “The Life of Margaret Walker,” by noted literary scholar Dr. Maryemma Graham, author of The House Where My Soul Lives: The Life of Margaret Walker (here), during the Mississippi Department of Archives and History’s “History is Lunch” monthly session.

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If y’all missed poet, short story writer, and Prince scholar C Liegh McInnis’ commentary, “Keep Wokeness from Purple Rain!!!, Pt. 2,” about Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins using somebody else’s art as a Trojan horse for his own politics, thereby soiling the original vision of the film, y’all can read it here.

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Poet, short story writer, and Prince scholar C Liegh McInnis had the honor and pleasure to participate in “Trouble the Water: Remembering the Life and Work of Dr. Jerry W. Ward,” which can be seen here. The tribute included poet, scholar, and arts activist Kelly Harris-DeBerry, poet, fiction writer, and scholar Dr. Candice Love Jackson, literary theorist and editor Dr. Howard Rambsy, II, legendary poet, playwright, fiction writer, scholar, and activist Kalamu ya Salaam, and C Liegh. The tribute to Doc Ward was also the opening event of the Words and Music Literary Festival, curated by One Book One New Orleans. The Festival had its usual great lineup of musical and literary masters, and to view some of the presentations, go here.

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Poet, short story writer, and Prince scholar C Liegh McInnis also had the honor and pleasure to be on the second installment of Favorite Poem Podcast, which is a monthly segment on MPB’s The Mississippi Arts Hour/Arts Hour Extra, hosted by Mississippi Poet Laureate Ann Fisher-Wirth. Each episode is ten to fifteen minutes and features poets reading and analyzing their favorite poem. Y’all can listen to C Liegh here as he reads and analyzes Margaret Walker Alexander’s “Jackson State, May 15, 1970.” Because they were limited in time, he wasn’t able to analyze the poem in its entirety. As such, y’all can read the entire analysis of the poem here. Additionally, Fisher-Wirth has completed three other episodes: Fisher-Wirth discusses Emily Dickinson’s “A Bird Came Down the Walk— (here),” Former MS Poet Laureate Beth Ann Fennelly reads and discusses Shakespeare’s Sonnet 29, “When, in Disgrace with Fortune and Men’s Eyes (here),” and poet, editor, and Professor Melissa Ginsburg reads and discusses H. D.’s “Oread (here).” As soon as more episodes are released, we’ll provide the links. We hope y’all enjoy C Liegh’s discussion of Dr. Alexander’s seminal poem on the night that African-American youth and intelligence were attacked by Jim Crow (here).

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Clarksdale and Bentonia, Mississippi, Blues establishments were featured on Good Morning America’s “50 States in 50 Weeks,” which y’all can see here and here.

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Everyday Tech is MPB Think Radio’s weekly program about consumer technology. Co-hosted by MPB’s own Abram Nanney and local community tech advocate Sabir Abdul-Haqq, you can listen to the show in real time, every Monday at 10:00 a.m. CST or previous episodes here. They invite you to enjoy the conversation: dial 877-MPB-RING to add to the subject at hand, ask a tech question that’s bugging you, or you can email the show at: everydaytech@mpbonline.org. Each episode explores the latest news talk, issues, and products in consumer technology, and they troubleshoot problems posed by the show’s callers and introduce listeners to preventive measures in a manner that’s easy-to-understand, cordial and not “tech-heavy.” Check it out everywhere you get your podcasts and on demand on the MPB PublicMedia App! For more information, contact Sabir Abdul-Haqq at sabir@yourebs.biz.

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Monica McInnis—through her efforts as a Census specialist, grassroots organizer, voter education specialist, and political mapmaker—was instrumental in the work across Mississippi that helped to create three new districts that were won by African-American Democrats, flipping them from Republican control. Senate District 2 was won by Theresa Isom (here), Senate District 44 was won by Johnny Dupree (here), and House District 22 was won by Justin Crosby (here). With more than two years of research and community engagement, Monica partnered with various organizations and community folks to enable Afro-Mississippians to increase their voice while ensuring better checks and balances in the Mississippi legislative process. “After six years, Mississippi Democrats have broken the Republican Party’s supermajority in the Mississippi Senate. Voters elected Democrats to two seats previously held by Republicans, reducing the number of Republican senators in the upper chamber from 36 to 34—one fewer than necessary to constitute a supermajority” (Pittman). Although Mississippi Republicans still hold a majority, not having a supermajority makes it difficult for them to “override a governor’s veto, propose constitutional amendments and execute certain procedural actions, like reviving dead legislation,” forcing them to develop some sort of a working relationship with Democrats in constructing legislative agenda (Pittman). Working directly with redistricting icon Attorney Carroll Rhodes and others, Monica has traveled tirelessly from the Delta, through Jackson and the Pine Belt to the Gulf Coast, helping communities organize and realize that they can craft their own maps to give voice to their political power. This past Tuesday night was a reminder and affirmation that we have the power to protect ourselves from President Agent Orange if we simply use what we have to get what we need. In this regard, Monica embodies Prince’s song “The Work, Pt. 1,” as she went from community to community and door to door teaching liberation gospel.

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Here is an interesting YouTube post, “Prince’s Legacy Is Over…AI Ruined It,” which discusses how many content creators are making a mockery of Prince’s artistry and legacy through the use of AI.

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I’m still flying from the two-day bi-annual Prince Symposium, #Shhh30, which celebrated 30 years of Prince’s The Gold Experience and Exodus and was curated by noted Prince scholar and NYU Professor De Angela Duff. These symposiums are some of the most impressive gatherings of scholars and creatives on the planet, within and outside academia. It’s not just that Professor Duff gets folks from three and four continents to participate each year. The variety of scholars and scholarship makes it evident that Prince understood the complexity of his humanity and the complexity of all humans more than most artists and strove to force listeners to be more aware of the multitude of slices that compile their human pie chart. As such, these gatherings feature presenters representing more than twenty different academic disciplines and creative genres, all providing research and insight into the seemingly boundless depths of Prince. To be quite honest, this may be the only conference in which my goal is to attend every panel, presentation, and roundtable while also arriving early each morning and staying late each evening just to hear folks continue to expound upon their ideas. If you didn’t attend the symposium, the only two events that are available to be watched, for now, are the excellent keynotes, featuring Prince’s longest tenure band member and HBCU alum Morris Hayes aka Mr. Hayes (here) and the man who designed much of Prince’s 90s artwork, Michael Van Huffel (here). I was honored to join Prof Duff for Mr. Hayes’ keynote. Both Hayes and Huffel provide great insights to Prince’s vast creativity and work ethic, with Hayes providing hilarious stories to punctuate his discussion and Huffel sharing how meticulous Prince was with every aspect of his career. As soon as Prof Duff uploads all the panels and presentations, I’ll include links to them. But, for now, below is the printed copy of my presentation. Then, after that, are the upcoming events.

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Last September, poet, short story writer, and Prince scholar C Liegh McInnis joined Patrick Weems (Director of the Emmett Till Interpretative Center), Gloria Dickerson (Director of the Mae Bertha Carter Learning Center), W. Ralph Eubanks (noted historian/scholar and author of Ever Is a Long Time), and Yolanda Wisher (poet/musician and author of Monk Eats an Afro) on the Monument Lab’s Bulletin Panel at the Mississippi Book Festival. Once again, the MBF was fantastic, and each of the writers on our panel has work in Bulletin’s special issue that commemorates the 70th anniversary of Emmett Till’s murder by celebrating the reverence for him and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley. The collection includes several great poets, visual artists, and scholars, such as The Alluvial Collective, Tony Bolden, Adrienne Brown-David, Daphne R. Chamberlain, Gloria Dickerson, W. Ralph Eubanks, Paul M. Farber, Justin Hardiman, Jerome G. Little, Dick Lourie, Yannick Lowery, Airea D. Matthews, January Gill O’Neil, Mark Palacio, Theo Palacio, Aubree Penney, Olivia C. Riley, Sonia Sanchez, Sabrina Santiago, Omar Tate, Wright Thompson, Natasha Trethewey, The Tyler Twins, Ashley Tyner, Elliot Waters-Fleming, Patrick Weems, Steve Weinik, Reverend Willie Williams, Yolanda Wisher, and C Liegh McInnis. When the MBF posts the videos of all the panels, I’ll provide the links in the newsletter. Until then, y’all can purchase a copy of this latest issue of Bulletin, go here.

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If anyone missed the video of poet, short story writer, and Prince scholar C Liegh McInnis reading the 12-inch version of his poem, “Remembering Emmett Till (in Five Haiku Movements),” during the Opening Plenary of the 70th Emmett Till Commemoration at Mississippi Valley State University, facilitated by the Emmett Till Interpretive Center, y’all can watch here. This is an extended version of the poem published in the special issue of Monument Lab’s Bulletin, which celebrates the life and legacy of Mamie and Emmett Till. (To purchase a copy of that issue, which features some of the major names in African-American literature, go here.) The 70th Emmett Till Commemoration was a wonderful four-day event that featured panels with many of the national and local Civil Rights workers in Mississippi between 1955 and 1968. Thursday night featured a performance of Jackson State University MADDRAMA’s Take Me Back: Unsettling Memories, which y’all can watch here. And, to watch the full Opening Plenary and all three panels that occurred on Friday, go here. Props to MVSU, the Emmett Till Interpretive Center, Monument Lab, and everyone involved in facilitating this great event.

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Here is a link to an excellent presentation, “The Life of Margaret Walker,” by noted literary scholar Dr. Maryemma Graham, author of The House Where My Soul Lives: The Life of Margaret Walker (here), during the Mississippi Department of Archives and History’s “History is Lunch” monthly session. Additionally, here are two more great presentations at “History is Lunch.” Longtime activist and former Dean of the Jackson State University College of Education Dr. Ivory Phillips, author of The Ayers vs. Waller Case: The Promise and the Disappointment (here), presented “The Ayers Case: A Fight for Equity in Higher Education (here),” and JSU Political Science Professor Dr. Byron D’Andra Orey and Dr. Jeanne Middleton Hairston, co-author of the original Mississippi: Conflict and Change, discussed the updated textbook Mississippi: Conflict and Change: A New Edition (here). To watch more of these great “History is Lunch” sessions, go here.

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Here is a two-minute excerpt from an awesome Prince discussion with poet, short story writer, and Prince scholar C Liegh McInnis, author of The Lyrics of Prince: A Literary Look at a Creative, Music Poet, Philosopher, and Storyteller, and the wonderful Dr. Megan Holt, Director of the New Orleans Words and Music Festival. If you enjoy those two minutes, here is the link to the entire conversation that was part of a week-long masterclass on Prince that was taught by C Liegh at 100 Men Hall in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, which is a perfect place to conduct a masterclass on Prince, especially one in which Prince is rooted firmly in the tradition of black music. From 1922 to the late 60s, 100 Men Hall was one of the major stops on the Chitlin’ Circuit between New Orleans and Natchez, Mississippi, and up to Jackson, Clarksdale, and then, of course, Memphis. In short, if you were a famous black performer between 1922 and the late 60s, you played the 100 Men Hall, including Ray Charles, James Brown, Etta James, Big Joe Turner, Guitar Slim, Irma Thomas, Professor Longhair, Ernie K-Doe, James Booker, Deacon John, Earl King, and numerous others. Doc Holt and C Liegh talk all things Prince from race to gender to lyrics to music to the importance of b-sides and more. We hope y’all enjoy the talk as much as those in attendance did and feel free to share it with anyone y’all think will enjoy it. Also, here is the link to the 3-minute video of testimonials from some of the students who attended the week-long Prince Masterclass. Next, thanks to Racheal Dangermond, Director of 100 Men Hall, for moving mountains to make the class possible. (Here is a link to Dangermond appearing on a local Bay St. Louis station to promote the class.)

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Poet, short story writer, and Prince scholar C Liegh McInnis has two poems, “Free-the-Land Man [for Chokwe Lumumba] (here)” and “Yes He Did [for Obama] (here),” and an essay, “My Pop’s Retirement [for Work Well Done] (here),” in Merge Literary Magazine’s special issue “Celebrating Black Men: 2025 Special Edition,” Summer 2025. Kudos to the editors, Mari Rice and Malkia M’Buzi Moore, for compiling so many well-crafted writers for this issue, including Opal Moore, Alice Lovelace, RaShell Smith-Spears, Jacquese Armstrong, Tamara J. Madison, Tony Medina, Charlie R. Braxton, and many more. To see the cover, go here, to read the poetry, go here, to read the short stories and essays, go here, and to read the writer bios, go here.

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Poet, short story writer, and Prince scholar C Liegh McInnis joined noted sociologist and African-American history professor Dr. Charity Clay aka Professor Fresh on African World Order, which is hosted by emcee and Jackson, Mississippi, community organizer, Skipp Coon aka Joecephus Martin, to discuss NBA players’ slander of Memphis and Sinners. Their discussion of the slander of Memphis involved a discussion of the anti-political black athlete and is at the beginning of their discussion, which can be seen here. Their discussion of Sinners included Brother Skipp citing various points in C Liegh’s analysis of film and them discussing Sinners, point by point and scene by scene to provide an artistic and sociopolitical analysis of the film, which y’all can watch here.

To learn more about emcee and community organizer Skipp, here is a link to a great interview with him on Black Liberation Media. Here is a link Skipp’s song, “Color Complex,” and here is the link to “Women, Revolution, and Tennis Shoes,” both from his first album Women, Revolution, and Tennis Shoes. His work with various community organizing agencies, such as Fahrenheit Creative Group and being an Ashe Leaders Fellow (here), shows that his artistry is a reflection of the real life he’s living. To learn more about Skipp and his work, go here and here, and to watch more great discussions on African World Order, go here.

Dr. Clay is an emcee and Former D1 basketball player who, after an injury, pivoted to teach financial literacy and the lingering effects of racial trauma and healing. She’s currently a Professor at Rhodes College, and y’all can learn more about her research and teaching here and here. And, here’s a great brief documentary about Doc Clay titled Who Is Professor Fresh?

Finally, to remind folks why we should see, discuss, and celebrate Sinners as much as possible, here is the link to C Liegh’ analysis of the film. And, to celebrate Coogler’s love letter to the blues as a primary carrier and protector of African-American culture, here is a link to Playing for Change’s cover of Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads,” featuring many of the Mississippi blues masters keeping the blues alive today with musicians and singers across the globe whose art has been greatly impacted by the blues.

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Poet, short story writer, and Prince scholar C Liegh McInnis has a poem and two essays (“Eshu’s Post-Dated Poem,” “The Mythological People of Color Coalition,” and “‘This or That?’: Voting for Vice President Kamala Harris Despite Democratic Debacle and Cowardice”) published in a newly released anthology, Donald Trump’s Second Coming—Is Democracy Dead, Dying or Alive: An Anthology of North American Writers and African Writers, Vol 4., edited by Tendai Mwanaka. The collection features stories, poetry, essays, plays, fiction, mixed genres, songs, and visual art of writers from Africa and North America, discussing President Agent Orange’s impact on American democracy, global democracy, and the reaction and resistance to it. Other noted American writers included in the collection are Mississippi native, poet, playwright, editor, and cultural critic Charlie R. Braxton, who has two essays in the collection, and New York native, poet, editor, and arts activist Bob McNeal, who has four poems included. In total, the collection has seven essays, two short stories, ten artworks, and twenty-eight poems from writers and artists from Africa and North America. For more information or to purchase a copy, go here.

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Dr. John Zheng’s interview of poet, short story writer, and Prince scholar C Liegh McInnis has been published in African American Review (57.2), which is cited and archived online here by Project Muse. And, here is the link to purchase the issue. To subscribe to ARR, go here. To order a copy of this issue (57.2) by phone, contact (800) 548-1784 or jrnlcirc@press.jhu.edu. AAR has featured renowned writers and cultural critics, including Trudier Harris, Arnold Rampersad, Hortense Spillers, Amiri Baraka, Cyrus Cassells, Rita Dove, Charles Johnson, Cheryl Wall, Toni Morrison, and many more. The official publication of the Modern Language Association’s Division on Black American Literature and Culture, AAR fosters a vigorous conversation among writers and scholars in the arts, humanities, and social sciences.

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Here, here, and here are pictures and video from the 55th Gibbs-Green Commemoration to memorialize the 1970 attack on Jackson State University by the Jackson Police Department, the Mississippi Highway Patrol, and the Mississippi National Guard, which took the lives of Phillip Lafayette Gibbs, a twenty-one-year-old JSU student, and James Earl Green, a seventeen-year-old Jim Hill High School Student along with wounding eighteen others as law enforcement fired over four hundred rounds into Alexander Hall, a female Dorm. The photos include many of the speakers, including Mrs. Dale Gibbs—the wife of Phillip Lafayette Gibbs, Ms. Gloria Green McCray—the sister of James Earl Green, JSU Interim President Dr. Denise Jones Gregory, State Representative Zakiya Summers, James “Lap” Baker—JSU Class of 1970, Nadia Wright—Award-winning youth poet, C Liegh McInnis—poet, short story writer, and Prince scholar, and Dr. Robert Luckett—Director of the JSU Margaret Walker Alexander Center. Finally, props to Doc Luckett for accepting the baton from Dr. Jean “Jughead” Young and never wavering from his promise to keep this essential moment in Mississippi and American history ever-present so that all will know what happened, why it happened, and how Jackson State University and its community survived and thrived through the worst that Jim Crow and the neo-Confederates could muster. Additionally, BVC Films has an agreement with the Gibbs family to produce a six-part limited TV series, Blood on the Books, based on Phillip Lafayette Gibbs, which will also feature James Earl Green and others associated with the event. It’s great to know that BVC Films has been in talks with Doc Luckett through JSU Communications about getting story right, the possibility of filming on campus, and speaking with others who lived this event for even more research. For more about this, go here.

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Valley Voices, vol. 25, No. 1 (Spring 2025), “River and Land: The Mississippi Delta,” issue, edited by Dr. John Zheng—Chair of the Mississippi Valley State University English Department, is available, and it is a fantastic issue. The poetry contains contributions from Claude Wilkinson, Sterling D. Plumpp, Larry D. Thomas, George Drew, Philip C. Kolin, C. T. Salazar, Michelle McMillan-Holifield, and two new works celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. Jerry W. Ward by Charlie R. Braxton and C Liegh McInnis. There are also vivid essays on the land of Mississippi by Hermine Pinson and John Zheng, insightful criticism by John J. Han and Allison Wiltshire, beautiful photography by Claude Wilkinson and J. Guaner, and intriguing fiction by Jack Crocker and Dick Daniels. To purchase a copy of Abrasion & Erasing: Essays, Interviews, and Poems of Jerry W. Ward, Jr., send $10 to Valley Voices at MVSU 7242, 14000 Highway 82 West, Itta Bena, MS 38941 or valley_voices@yahoo.com.

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If y’all missed poet, short story writer, and Prince scholar C Liegh McInnis’ analysis of Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, y’all can read it here. Also, we’d like to share two more insightful discussions of Sinners that approach the film from different positions but are seeking the same end. Poet, literary theorist, librarian, arts activist, and Prince scholar Scott Woods’ essay, “Sinners Soars, But Act Like You Been Here Before (here),” asks that viewers, especially black viewers, engage the film with a more critical eye to understand what is and isn’t there to have a full appreciation of Coogler’s work and why black folks still need the blues. SIUE Professor and literary theorist Dr. Howard Rambsy’s brief essay, “Ryan Coogler, C Liegh McInnis, and Black Convergences (here),” asks viewers to understand Sinners as “cultural cataloging” in the most dense way to teach and celebrate black history and black genius within the limited timeframe a film allows. Finally, here is a link to “Sinners: A Reading and Resource List,” which provides a syllabus of materials to aid in the understanding and enjoyment of the film. Together, the two commentaries and the syllabus can aid in how we approach, discuss, share, and celebrate black art.

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Over the past three years, filmmaker Mark Brockway has been working on a new documentary, Where We Daily Tread, which tells the story of white supremacy, the Black Power Movement, and the May 1970 attack on Jackson State by Mississippi law enforcement. He has begun uploading very brief clips of interviews for the doc, and here is the link to give y’all a “taste” of what the doc will be. Two of the clips include insights from poet, short story writer, Prince scholar, and JSU graduate C Liegh McInnis.

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If you missed the Polished Solid #PopLife40 Prince Symposium, which celebrated 40 years of Prince’s Around the World in a Day, The Family’s self-titled album, and Sheila E.’s Romance 1600, you missed another great three days of Prince scholarship and community. Symposium curator and NYU Professor De Angela Duff has started uploading the videos of all the panels and roundtables, which y’all can watch here. These include the brilliant Prince scholar Edgar Kruize’s presentation, “Love Is the Color This Place Imparts,” which deconstructs how the album cover artwork of Around the World in a Day tells a cohesive story to reflect the message(s) of the songs, the first keynote, featuring The Family, the second keynote with saxophonist Eddie M, who is C Liegh’s favorite horn player to play with Prince, Maceo Parker notwithstanding, and more.

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The Spring 2025 edition of Ishmael Reed’s Konch Magazine has been published with its usual excellent poetry, fiction, and essays, including two tribute commentaries to poet and literary theorist Dr. Jerry W. Ward by poet and activist Julia Wright and poet, short story writer, and Prince scholar C Liegh McInnis, which y’all can read here.

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Abrasion & Erasing: Essays, Interviews, and Poems of Jerry W. Ward, Jr., edited by poet, scholar, and Mississippi Valley State University English Chair Dr. John Zheng, is available and beautiful—physically and literarily. Abrasion & Erasing is a collection of essays, interviews, and poems by Doc Ward published over the years in Valley Voices: A Literary Review and the Journal of Ethnic American Literature. Through this collection, Dr. Zheng has captured and illuminated the beauty, power, and significance of Doc Ward as one of the most important literary voices of Mississippi, the South, and America. We are extremely proud to share that poet, short story writer, and Prince scholar C Liegh McInnis’ interview with Doc Ward is included, along with interviews of Doc Ward by storyteller, visual artist, and arts activist Diane Williams and Dr. Tian Zhang—Professor of English at Central China Normal University. This collection is a testament and call to action to continue the work of Doc Ward as he served skillfully as a steward of black literature, leaving a brilliant blueprint for us to follow. As an artist, scholar, and Afro-Mississippian, I thank you for this work! To purchase a copy of Abrasion & Erasing: Essays, Interviews, and Poems of Jerry W. Ward, Jr., send $10 to Valley Voices at MVSU 7242, 14000 Highway 82 West, Itta Bena, MS 38941 or valley_voices@yahoo.com.

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Here and here are links to a fantastic new funk documentary, We Want the Funk, which was just released on PBS this week. It has a host of funk legends and scholars interviewed, including noted Prince scholar and NYU Professor De Angela Duff, music archivist, DJ, and Loyola and Tulane Professor Melissa A. Weber aka DJ Soul Sister, and noted cultural critic and Duke University Professor Mark Anthony Neal. This is one of the best documentaries on Funk!

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Magnitude and Bond: A Field Study on Black Literary Arts Organizations is now LIVE! This first-of-its-kind field study focuses on Black literary arts service organizations that provide essential programming, services, and networks of support to the literary community. These organizations have modeled resilience in the face of concentric disparities often in the absence of institutional support and recognition. To produce this research, Cave Canem and Ithaka S+R collaborated closely with a working group, composed of directors from Getting Word: Black Literature for Black Liberation, as well as two literary experts in the field, to hone the research questions and instruments that would become this study. Click here to explore the Magnitude and Bond webpage, read the full study, flip through our executive summary e-zine, and learn more about upcoming programs.

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Poet, short story writer, and Prince scholar C Liegh McInnis appeared on long-time media veteran and Prince scholar Tonya Pendleton’s WURD radio show Reality Check to read his poem, “Black Man,” and discuss the continued significance of observing and celebrating Black History Month. To watch the recording, go here and then go to the 1:41:38 mark. Feel free to leave a like or comment so that Sister P knows that y’all were there. Also, if y’all would like to read “Black Man,” go here.

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On November 21, 2024, in New Orleans, poet, fiction writer, playwright, and editor Kalamu ya Salaam was joined by poet, short story writer, and Prince scholar C Liegh McInnis to discuss Salaam’s new novel, Walkin’ Blues, and their discussion was recently uploaded here.

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Callaloo: A Journal of African Diaspora Arts and Letters has released its special issue documenting and celebrating the Jackson State University Phillis Wheatley Poetry Festival. In 2023, the Jackson State University Margaret Walker Alexander Center curated the Phillis Wheatley Poetry Festival to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the original 1973 festival, which hosted most of the major black women writers of the day. In the same vein, the 2023 festival hosted many of the major black women writers of today. Callaloo: A Journal of African Diaspora Arts and Letters, one of the three major African-American literary journals, has published a special proceedings issue of the 2023 JSU MWA Phillis Wheatley Poetry Festival that includes scholarly essays, poetry, fiction, and artwork presented during the festival along with interviews, reflections, and photography from the festival. The Callaloo special proceedings issue documents this historic gathering of scholars and artists, including noted writers Jesmyn Ward, Alice Walker, Paula Giddings, Maryemma Graham, Imani Perry, Tiffany Caesar, Barbara Lewis, and a host of JSU professors and products—Tonea Stewart, Shanna L. Smith, Iely Mohamed, Roy Lewis, RaShell R. Smith-Spears, LaWanda Dickens, Ebony Lumumba, Kaitlyn Taylor, and C Liegh McInnis. To view the full table of contents, go here. For more information about the Callaloo Phillis Wheatley Poetry Festival Special Issue, go here, and to purchase a single print or electronic issue, go here. Once y’all get to the page, scroll down to the print section or the electronic section and choose The Phillis Wheatley Poetry Festival 50th Anniversary: A Special Issue Vol. 42, No. 3, Summer Issue 2024. Finally, to give y’all an idea of the type of scholarship presented during the festival and included in the special issue, here is a link to C Liegh McInnis’ edited video presentation of his paper, “‘You Will Be Moved’: Exploring Black Liberation Theology in the Work of Margaret Walker Alexander and Prince.” The complete version of his paper is in the Callaloo special issue along with his poem, “My People.” Other amazing sessions at the festival include the Opening Session, which was a Tribute to the Original Participants hosted my award-winning actress and JSU graduate Tonea Stewart (here), Dr. Maryemma Graham’s keynote, Nikki Giovanni’s talk, and Sonia Sanchez’s talk. For more about Callaloo, go here.

Additionally, Jackson State University’s The Researcher: An Interdisciplinary Journal published a special issue (In Our Own Words: The Phillis Wheatley Poetry Festival 50th Anniversary Commemorative Issue) that y’all can read here. Y’all can also purchase a print copy of the issue here. C Liegh McInnis has a poem, “For Sappho, Margaret, Marie, and Iley (After Catherine Pierce’s Message to POL),” and an essay, “The Phillis Wheatley Poetry Festival as Performative Manifestation of Margaret Walker Alexander’s Literary Manifesto and Genius,” included in the issue, along with great works by scholars and poets, such as Dr. Tiffany Caesar, Alissa Rae Funderburk, Angela Stewart, Dr. Craig Meyer, Dr. Shanna Smith, Patricia Jones, Ming Joi, Barbara Brewster Lewis, and Dr. RaShell Smith-Spears. Special thanks to Dr. Candis Pizzetta, editor of The Researcher, for compiling this wonderful special issue. This commemorative issue was crafted before the actual festival as a way to promote and highlight the festival as it was occurring.

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Poet, short story writer, and Prince scholar C Liegh McInnis appeared on The Eddrick Show, which is hosted by Eddrick Jerome, a talented writer and award-winning short film producer from Northern California. Jerome is also the former host of The Globe Newspaper Hour on KECG 88.1 FM - More Public Radio in Oakland, CA. (Shoutout to Alice Tisdale, Editor Emeritus of the Jackson Advocate, for McInnis and Jerome.) Brother Jerome asked if C Liegh would discuss songs in which Prince is directly addressing issues specific to the African-American community. Here and here are the YouTube and audio only versions of their discussion. We hope y’all enjoy the discussion, and, of course, feel free to let us know what y’all think.

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Here, here, and here are three very cool music videos celebrating the beauty and brilliance of Jackson, Mississippi, the City with Soul.

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Prince scholar and NYU Professor De Angelia Duff has uploaded all of the presentations, panels, and roundtables for the #Come30 Virtual Prince Symposium. To watch all of the events, including C Liegh McInnis’ presentation, “Part I: Come as the Introduction/EP to The Gold Experience or When Life Imitates Art and/or Art Imitates Life in the Artistic Production of Prince,” go here.

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Tougaloo College grad Dr. Howard Rambsy II aka Doc HR is the author of two excellent books, Bad Men: Creative Touchstones of Black Writers and The Black Arts Enterprise and the Production of African American Poetry. He has dedicated time over the years to chronicling the work of C Liegh McInnis at his wonderful website Cultural Front, which can be read here. His latest commentary on McInnis’ work, “A Local Conscious Poet Who Knows a Lot about Prince,” can be read here.

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Poet, short story writer, and Prince scholar C Liegh McInnis was interviewed by the brilliant Scott Woods, editor of Rock Critics.com, which features interviews with some of the most noted music journalists of the past sixty years. (This Scott Woods is not to be confused with the other brilliant Scott Woods who is a noted Prince scholar.) The title of the interview is “The Aesthetics of Prince: An Interview with C Liegh McInnis” and can be read here. It’s a very lengthy interview of C Liegh’s work as a Prince scholar and engages a few things that he hasn’t discussed regarding his work on Prince. One of the coolest parts of the interview is that C Liegh got to shout out Prince scholar Harold Pride about midway through the interview and that he got to shout out the Polished Solid Prince Symposium and What Did Prince Do This Week? at the end of the interview. RockCritics.com is also on Twitter. So, if y’all feel so inclined, locate and checkout his tweet about the interview as well. We hope y’all enjoy the interview and, as always, feel free to respond with your thoughts or feedback.

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The Jackson State University Creative Writing website is live and can be accessed here. Also, to give to this new program, go here. Once you are at the page, complete the amount and contact information, type “Department of English, Creative Writing,” in the “or other” box at the bottom of the form, and submit payment. And, here is a link to poet, short story writer, and Prince scholar C Liegh McInnis discussing the newly established JSU Creative Writing Concentration and Minor.

The JSU Creative Program Writing offers a concentration and minor for its Bachelor of Arts program. Unlike many creative writing programs across the country, JSU’s creative writing concentration and minor will allow students to specialize in multiple genres if they desire. Additionally, unlike most creative writing programs across the country, JSU’s creative writing concentration and minor will encourage and prepare students to use their writing to engage social justice and socio-political issues by offering a capstone class that will match a student with an organization or institution that is doing the type of social justice work that the young writer desires to engage with one’s writing. This new concentration and minor were developed as a collaborative effort between Dr. Ebony Lumumba—Chair, Dr. RaShell Smith-Spears—Graduate Coordinator, and C Liegh McInnis. For more information, contact Dr. Lumumba at ebony.o.lumumba@jsums.edu or Dr. Smith-Spears at rashell.smith-spears@jsums.edu.

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Every Monday at 6:30 p.m., Afrikan Art Gallery & Bookstore (1036 Charles Evers Blvd, Jackson, MS) will hold weekly meetings to discuss and organize around the newly published Long Term Strategic Plan for Black America. For more information, contact Asinia Lukata Chikuyu at afrikan_tbt@yahoo.com.

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The first Tuesday of each month, from 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., at the Capital Club, Women for Progress of Mississippi, Inc., will host its monthly Lunch and Learn, featuring various women in impactful leadership in the city and around the country. For more information, contact mail@womenforprogress.net.

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Every Wednesday from 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m., Dependable Source Corp. Center for Community & Workforce Development, which is a black woman-owned business, hosts The Working Woman Report, which is a live podcast that curates conversations on a variety of topics with professional women. Y’all can join the conversation here, and for more information, contact Willie Jones, owner and CEO of Dependable Source Corp at williejones@drivingyourfuturems.com.

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Every Friday from 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m., Refill Jackson—a nonprofit designed to equip young adults ages 18 – 24 with the skills needed to enter the workforce and be self-sufficient—holds its Friday Forums, which are at 136 S. Adams Street Jackson, MS 39203. For more information, contact Nicole McNamee at nmcnamee72@gmail.com or visit their website here.

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The first Friday of each month, at 8:00 p.m. at The Event Center (716 S Gallatin Street), Spoken Soul Open Mic holds its monthly open mic readings and performances. Hosted by Queen Speaks, the cost is $10. All poets and performers welcomed. For more information, contact Erica Garrett at ericamvsu03@gmail.com or (601) 500-3502.

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Each Saturday, from 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m., at Kennedy King College, Muntu Dance Theatre will facilitate a Community Class with a certified dance instructor. To register, go here, and for more information, contact info-muntu.com@shared1.ccsend.com and go here.

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The first Saturday of each month, the Mississippi Museum of Art will begin its Access for All: Free First Saturdays. For more information, go here.

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The first Saturday of each month, from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., The Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Experience (The MAX) will host, Earth’s Bounty at the Max, which is held the first Saturday of every month and features:

8:00 – noon: Earth’s Bounty Farmers Market + Live Music
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.: Free admission to The MAX
11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.: Art activities in upstairs classroom

To register and to learn about vending opportunities, go here.

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The second and fourth Saturday of each month, Dr. RaShell Smith-Spears (rashell.spears@jsums.edu) and Dr. Shanna Smith (shanna.l.smith@jsums.edu) coordinate a creative writing workshop that meets via Zoom. That group has been meeting for almost ten years now, and many of the works developed in that workshop have been published. In fact, I’ve had at least four works that I had workshopped by the group to be published later.

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Two Saturdays a month, Afrikan Art Gallery will host a program, Freedom School Saturdays, for middle and high school students that is modeled after the 1964 Freedom Summer/School Project. The mission is to will help with the intellectual empowerment of our children with course in Civics 101, A Meeting with the Elders: What to Expect in Life, Spiritual Pilgrimage to the Mississippi Delta, Spiritual Pilgrimage to Africatown, AL, photo-journalism exercises, cultural expressions and performances for Black-centered events through their Speech - Choir and Afrikan Cultural Pride Dance Troupe, financial literacy workshops, and so much more. For more information, contact Asinia Lukata Chikuyu at afrikan_tbt@yahoo.com.

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Every Saturday, noted Prince scholar and NYU Professor De Angela Duff hosts, What Did Prince Do This Week?, a very, very, very slow read of Duane Tudahl’s entire Prince Studio Sessions book series through an interactive, online, weekly book club web series. Professor Duff will be live via Streamyard video every Saturday at noon ET on YouTube and Facebook to discuss the parallel week, beginning in 1983. The weekly discussion will be recorded if y’all cannot attend the livestream. The first Saturday of the series, Duff was joined by Tudahl, and y’all can watch the recording of the first session here. To get notifications or to join Duff’s listserv, go to

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The last Saturday of every month, from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m., Mississippi Writer’s Guild and Mississippi Songwriter’s Alliance partner for writer’s meeting and workshop at The Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Experience (The MAX). Whether songwriter, poet, author, all writers are welcome. This is a time for writers to network and write together and have breakout sessions. Every writer is welcome to participate because we inspire each other. For more information, go here.

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Every Sunday from 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., Afrikan Art Gallery & Bookstore (800 North Farish Street) will hold stimulating conversations, robust debates, and strategic action-step planning for an improved lifestyle for Afrikans. These meetings will be facilitated by the Coalition for Economic Empowerment, and for more information contact Jean at (769) 572-7441 and Asinia Lukata Chikuyu at afrikan_tbt@yahoo.com.

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Each Sunday at 5:00 p.m. CST, award-winning novelist Ellen Morris Prewitt, author of In the Name of Mississippi, and Alisha Johnson Perry, children’s book author, social justice advocate, and certified fundraising executive, have joined forces to establish Contemplative Writing Group. Each week is led by a member of the group. They catch up on their writing week, then the leader offers a contemplative writing prompt. They write for 30 - 40 minutes and share if anyone want. It’s come-and-go/participate when you can and of indefinite duration—as long as folks are getting something from it, the workshop will be offered. To join the group, folks can email the School of Contemplative Living at livingschool12@gmail.com or go here.

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Mississippi-based funnymen Merc B. Williams and Cocky McFly...real-life brothers…have joined forces to create The Vibe Controllers, which is a podcast that shows the two of them in their natural element discussing various topics, with a little humor and lots of sibling banter! Y’all can checkout the podcast via Soundcloud or YouTube at soundcloud.com/thevibecontrollers and The Vibe Controllers Podcast - YouTube.

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Cave Canem, one of the most important organizations in the development and nurturing of black poets, has announced its spring/summer events schedule. To see the full schedule, go here. And, for more information about Cave Canem, visit their website here.

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Torch Literary Arts—a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization established to publish and promote creative writing by Black women—has announced its Spring Reading Season, which can be viewed here.

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Mississippi Museum of Art (MMA) has posted its exhibits and events for March. For full details, go here.

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The Louisiana/Mississippi Branch of the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators will host a few events in March. For full details, go here.

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March 9 – 14, 2026, The Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Experience (The MAX) will offer Spring Break Music Studio Workshops, including Grammy-nominated American Idol winner Jamal Roberts’ Soul Sound Choir Workshop for grades 5 – 12, Audio Engineering Workshop with noted producer/engineer Pat Lane, Music Production Workshop with noted Billboard-charting producer Terrance Davis, and Beat Making Workshop with multi-Billboard-charting hip-hop producer Twysted Genius. For more information and to register, go here.

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March 11 – 14, 2026, the National Council for Black Studies (NCBS) will celebrate the 50th convening of its annual national conference. This year’s theme, “uMkhonto weSizwe (Tip of the Spear): Black Studies as Uncompromising Liberation,” concerns Black Studies fight against the current attack on the history and culture of African descended peoples. Black Studies as an academic discipline was founded by activist-intellectuals who sought to use the resources of academic and professional institutions to diagnose and solve problems of communities in the African diaspora. The history of Black Studies demands that Black Studies respond to the current assault by continuing to advocate and organize with Black and other oppressed communities to preserve and expound upon our humanity and agency. The conference seeks conversations that both explore and inspire the continued advocacy of Black Studies and the continued fight for our freedom in America. For more information, go here.

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March 13, 2026, 10:00 am EST – 3:00 p.m. EST, at St. Francis College, Grammy-nominated poet, editor, cultural critic, and human and civil rights activist Kevin Powell will partner with the New York City Department of Education to host A Student Multi-Media Summit for public high school students from all five NYC boroughs Free breakfast and lunch will be provided at the summit, which will be an all-day event to include workshops led by Powell and other media industry professionals, covering the following topics: “How to Be A Writer,” “How to Produce Films and Videos,” “How to Create A Podcast,” “How to Make and Place Music,” and “How to Be A Photographer.” For more information, contact Billy Johnson, Jr., at billy@mediaandrepertoire.com.

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March 14, 2026, at 6:00 p.m., at Community Book Center (New Orleans), Monument Labs—a collaborative platform for critically understanding and reimagining monuments—which works to highlight artists who are deeply committed to changing the way we study, build, and interpret monuments, will hold a book launch for Monument Lab – Re:Generation, edited by Paul M. Farber and Sue Mobley. Monument Lab – Re:Generation addresses the question, “Which stories belong in public?,” through impactful, local reclamation projects that provide a deeper understanding of how monuments live and function in communities. The book presents case studies that travel across the country, highlighting local commemorative campaigns dedicated to advancing public memory. Featuring essays and artwork from the country’s leading monument makers plus a foreword from New York Times bestselling author Clint Smith. For more information about the book launch, go here, and to purchase a copy, go here.

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March 18, 2026, at the Jackson Medical Mall Community Room, from 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m., Community Bank and Mississippi Communities United for Prosperity (MCUP) will hold its hybrid (in-person and virtual) Praxis Summit with the theme: “Framing a Collective Impact Model to Advance an Equitable Community-Centered Community and Economic Development (CED) System in Mississippi.” This convening will bring together financial institutions, philanthropy, CED practitioners, minority-, disadvantaged-, and women-owned businesses and community organizations to discuss strategies for advancing equitable community and economic development in historically disinvested communities. Agenda highlights include: breakout sessions connecting banks and community projects, stakeholder panel and lunch, and Keynote by Josh Silver, CRA researcher and policy analyst and author of Ending Redlining through a Community-Centered Reform of the Community Reinvestment Act. For more information of the summit, go here.
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Through March 19, 2026, Cecelia Moseley’s Remnants of Language exhibit has been extended to display at The Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience (The MAX) through spring. Lyrical steel curves, splashes of bright color, and provocative questions about barriers to understanding combine in as Remnants of Language transforms the gallery into an immersive, deeply personal experience on display through. Oversized metal sculptures, prints, and a vivid acrylic installation invite you to consider what remains—and what is lost—when digital communication replaces handwriting. Meridian native Cecelia Moseley poses powerful questions: As we move forward, what traces remain? How are we adapting? What parts of us are changing? For more information, go here.

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March 20, 2026, at the Two Mississippi Museums, the Mississippi Humanities Council (MHC)—a private nonprofit corporation funded by Congress through the National Endowment for the Humanities to provide public programs in traditional liberal arts disciplines to serve nonprofit groups in Mississippi—will award the winners of the 2026 Public Humanities Awards, which consists of scholars, educators, and organizations who have made significant contributions to the public humanities in Mississippi. To view the awardees, go here, and to purchase tickets, go here.

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March 20 – 21, 2026, the Mississippi Philological Association will hold its 2026 annual meeting hosted by William Carey University. The conference will feature creative writing, critical discussions of literature, film, and music, pedagogical approaches to linguistics and the humanities, including presentations that address the meeting theme: looking forward, looking back in works of regional and southern literature, especially in the works of Mississippi writers, such as William Faulkner, Jerry W. Ward, Jesmyn Ward, Eudora Welty, Richard Wright, Hubert Creekmore, John Grisham, Catherine Lacey, Donna Tartt, Barry Hannah, Margaret Walker, Willie Morris, Katy Simpson Smith, Thomas Harris, Kiese Laymon, Larry Brown, Ellen Douglas, Richard Ford, Jim Whitehead, Chris Offutt, Beth Henley, Tennessee Williams, Tom Franklin, Beth Ann Fennelly, C. T. Salazar, Thomas Richardson, W. Ralph Eubanks, Steve Yarborough, Exodus Brownlow, and so many more. In honor of this theme, the keynote speaker will be Ted Atkinson, editor of the Mississippi Quarterly. For more information, contact Lorie Massey at lmassey@wmcarey.edu.

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March 20 – 22, 2026, the Jackson Food & Wine Festival returns. Get ready for a weekend of incredible flavors as the JXN Food & Wine Festival brings top chefs and award-winning culinary talent to Jackson for three days of food, wine and unforgettable experiences. The festival kicks off with the Friday Feast, followed by Grand Tastings, featuring celebrated chefs from across the country, including Michelin-recognized restaurants and James Beard finalists. Food lovers can enjoy tastings, chef experiences and a chance to sample dishes from some of the best culinary talents in the nation, right here in Jackson. For more information and to purchase tickets, go here.

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March 20 – June 14, 2026, Mississippi Museum of Art (MMA) will host L.V. Hull: Love Is a Sensation, the first major museum exhibition devoted to the art and life of the self-proclaimed “Unusual Artist” Ms. L.V. Hull (1942–2008). Born in McAdams, Mississippi, Hull merged artmaking and the Southern art of “visiting” to craft a creative practice that allowed her to commune with her inner spirit, her Creator, her community, and visitors from around the state, region, and world. Using found objects and paint and glue from Walmart, Hull produced a vibrant, immersive, and evolving art environment at her home of 34 years in the small town of Kosciusko, Mississippi. She adorned every surface and corner of her house, front porch, and garden with carefully arranged assemblages of everyday objects and signs, often painted with her signature dot pattern. . For more information, go here.

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March 24 – 27, 2026, The Center for the Study of Southern Culture (CSSC) will curate its annual Oxford Conference for the Book, which celebrates authors and books that investigate, document, interpret, and teach about the American South through academic inquiry and creative production. For the full schedule and list of participants, go here and here.

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The Jackson State University Margaret Walker Alexander Center invites proposals for papers, presentations, and panels for the 20th Annual Creative Arts & Scholarly Engagement (CASE) Festival, which will feature a keynote address by award-winning poet Dr. Evie Shockley, Director of Creative Writing and Writers and the Zora Neale Hurston Distinguished Professor of English at Rutgers University, New Brunswick. The theme of the 2026 CASE Festival will be “The Black Experience in the American South,” but the organizers welcome proposals from high school, undergraduate, and graduate students on any topic.

Note that the best essay by a JSU student on the “Black experience in the American South” will receive the $1,000 Margaret Walker Alexander Annual Award. Submissions for the MWA Annual Award can be in various forms, including literary analysis, creative writing, research paper, biographical study, autobiography, and historical study. JSU students who would like to be considered for this award must submit their 8- to 10-page essays by March 31, 2026. The JSU MWA Center CASE Festival will also present the annual $500 Doris Derby Visual Arts and Social Justice Award to a student at any level from any institution whose contribution best reflects this year’s CASE Festival theme in the category of visual arts, including painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, and crafts. Students must drop off their artwork to the JSU Art Department in Johnson Hall by March 31, 2026. To win either award, students must present their written or visual pieces at the CASE Festival and attend the closing awards ceremony, where all winners will be announced. Winners for all awards will be announced during the Closing Ceremony for the 2026 CASE Festival.

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Due to great acclaim, Aquarius Press/Willow Books are pleased to announce a new volume, Black Fire This Time, Volume 3 to be published in 2026. This has become an ongoing series in the spirit of the Black Arts Movement, and they are seeking poems, stories, and essays that speak to, personify, and celebrate the spirit of the Black Arts Movement. The deadline to submit is March 31, 2026. For more information and to submit, go here. (To purchase Volume 1 and 2, go here.) Along with this call, Aquarius Press/Willow Books have three new projects as well. Black Fire This Time Radio—a channel dedicated to Black Fire This Time with interviews and readings—will debut on September 1, 2025, on YouTube. Black Fire This Time Authors Series is a new project by Aquarius Press/Willow Books to expand to publishing books by their BFTT writers and will include standard publication contract and national readings. Writers can send their work for consideration to aquariuspress@gmail.com. And, finally, The Jerry Ward Collection will be an anthology of the life and legacy of Dr. Jerry Ward, Jr., who was an inspiration to many. Please send recollections and essays here. Please share!

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Obsidian Literature and Arts in the African Diaspora Journal has announced a call for works for issue 52.2, “Bond of a Nation: Ekphrasis and the Promise of America,” edited by Duriel E. Harris and D. Lenaé Littlefield. This project highlights collective participation in the making of contemporary America through the creative, accessible, long-valued, and multidisciplinary arts practice that is ekphrasis. To highlight the ideals, values, and promise of American democracy, Obsidian will foreground this popular form of expression, involving making new art through reflection on/engagement with existing art. Obsidian seeks meditations on works of public art, employing a broadened interpretation, including mural, sculpture, installation, etc., as well as national monuments, national parks, historic land­marks, and other sculpted spaces. They welcome poetry, fiction, nonfiction, criticism, drama, visual art, and audio/visual media in conversation with public art throughout the continental United States, Hawaii, and inhabited territories such as Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Obsidian is interested in a wide range of creative works—traditional, speculative, hybrid, multidisciplinary, and experimental artmaking. They encourage makers to reflect upon the fundamental and oft-cited “unalienable rights” among the concepts buttressing the premises of the American Declaration of Independence—“Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” We encourage an exploration of four key aspects of the “Bond of a Nation” symbolized by the American flag: Valor; Innocence and Integrity; Perseverance and Justice; and Collective Flourishing. The deadline is April 1, 2026. For more information and to submit to Obsidian’s issue 52.2, “Bond of a Nation: Ekphrasis and the Promise of America,” go here.

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April 10 – 11, 2026, The Jackson State University Margaret Walker Alexander Center will host the 19th Annual Creative Arts & Scholarly Engagement (CASE) Festival, which will feature a keynote address by award-winning poet Dr. Evie Shockley, Director of Creative Writing and Writers and the Zora Neale Hurston Distinguished Professor of English at Rutgers University, New Brunswick. The JSU MWA CASE Festival will also include poetry/spoken word panels, essay panels, and performing arts panels.

Additionally, the best essay by a JSU student on the “Black experience in the American South” will receive the $1,000 Margaret Walker Alexander Annual Award. And, the JSU MWA Center CASE Festival will present the annual $500 Doris Derby Visual Arts and Social Justice Award to a student at any level from any institution whose contribution best reflects this year’s CASE Festival theme in the category of visual arts, including painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, and crafts. Winners for all awards will be announced during the closing ceremony for the 2025 CASE Festival. For more information, contact the JSU MWA Center (mwa@jsums.edu or 601-979-3935) or the Conference Coordinator, Dr. Robert Luckett—Director of the JSU MWA Center (robert.luckett@jsums.edu) or go here.

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April 12, 2026, at 2:00 p.m., at Central United Methodist Church, poet, short story writer, and Prince scholar C Liegh McInnis will be in conversation with award-winning author, filmmaker, and Professor of African-American and African Diaspora Studies, Dr. Randal Maurice Jelks, about his latest book, My America: Langston Hughes on Democracy. Dr. Jelks will be in Jackson, Mississippi, for the College Language Association Convention, the oldest association of HBCU English Teachers, to discuss Hughes and has scheduled this event, through the work of Sister Helena Brantley and Red Pencil Publicity, to provide more opportunity for the local community to engage the discourse. For more information about Dr. Jelks, go here, for more information about CLA, go here, and for more information about the Jelks and McInnis conversation, contact Helena Brantley at helenabrantley@redpencilpublicity.com.

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April 16, 2026, at Lemuria Books, at 5:00 p.m., award-winning novelist and cultural activist Ellen Prewitt will be in conversation about her latest novel, When We Were Murderous Time-Traveling Women, with Dr. Ebony Lumumba—Chair of the Jackson State University English Department at Lemuria Books. For more information, go here and here.

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April 17 – 19, 2026, at NYU, noted Prince scholar and NYU Professor De Angela Duff will curate the annual spring Polished Solid Prince Symposium, #IWonderU40, a HYBRID symposium, celebrating two landmark anniversaries: ten years since Prince’s passing and forty years since his visionary 1986 releases, the Parade album and his second narrative film Under the Cherry Moon. As usual, Prof Duff has gathered some of the most noted Prince scholars from around the planet for three days of panels, roundtables, and keynotes. This symposium is dedicated to Prof Duff’s longest-standing Prince friend, whom she met in high school, and frequent Prince symposium contributor, Ricky Wyatt (1971–2025). In memory of our dear Ricky, please consider making a donation to the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation. For more information, including the schedule of panels and presenters, go here.

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April 26, 2026, at 4:00 p.m., at The Alora Venue (5663 Hwy 18, Jackson, MS.), MADDRAMA Performance Troupe invited you to support its upcoming Awards & Recognition Banquet, a special evening dedicated to celebrating excellence, leadership, artistic achievement, and community impact. This event brings together students, families, educators, community leaders, and supporters to honor the accomplishments of MADDRAMA Performance Troupe and to recognize individuals who have made meaningful contributions to the arts and our community. MADDRAMA is a spoken word choral group that often performs original pieces for specific events. They are housed in the JSU Speech and Dramatic Arts Department, whose graduate, former MADDRAMA alum, and Severance star Tramell Tillman became the first Black actor to win an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama series. (Here and here are two promo vids for MADDRAMA). They invite you to show your support by purchasing an advertisement in the banquet souvenir program. Your ad not only promotes your business or organization but also demonstrates your commitment and support of MADDRAMA. For more information, go here.

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The Haiku Society of America seeks to publish an anthology of African-American haiku. The practice of haiku writing by black poets dates to the 1920s when Lewis G. Alexander, who learned the form from Imagist poet John Gould Fletcher, first published haiku in The Crisis. Since that time, the practice of haiku writing within other cultures and languages has expanded extensively into subgenres like Contemporary English-language haiku and African-American haiku. It is significant to mention that subgenres of haiku are adaptations of traditional Japanese haiku that borrow and forfeit certain aspects of form. HSA seeks submissions of haiku written by black poets who write and experiment with the form. While not a requirement, haiku that explore themes of our culture, histories, and traditions are welcomed. HSA is a small coterie, so you may spread the word to other black poets who write haiku, though this should be a practice they have already demonstrated. The anthology will feature several established black haiku poets and other selected poets. HSA has offered publication, and they have one external press interested in this publication. Please submit (10-15) haiku for consideration and include with your submission a statement of why you write haiku. This should be 4-6 sentences and will serve as your bio. To control submissions, please refrain from for sharing this via socials; forwarding via email is preferred. Deadline for submissions is April 30, 2026. Submit your haiku in one PDF-formatted document to the editors via email: crystalsimone915@gmail.com.

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May 6 – 8, 2026, in Philadelphia, PA, Monument Lab will curate its 2026 Monument Lab Summit, which is a biennial gathering of kindred spirits in the monument world. The Summit invites artists, organizers, scholars, and civic and cultural workers from across the country for three days of learning, dialogue, and play guided by the theme “School of Monumaking.” The Summit will offer inspiration, ideas, tools, and practice to deepen the monument-making approaches of attendees toward the cultivation and expansion of kinship and belonging in their communities. For more information and a detailed list of presenters, go here.

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May 24 – 30, 2026, and June 14 – 20, 2026, the Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing will hold its Summer Writers’ Conference, which offers a deep dive into fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction with award-winning poets and authors. The conference includes generative seminars, evening readings, panel discussions, and individualized manuscript sessions. MVICW is committed to supporting writers from all backgrounds, abilities, and genres. Their Fellowships are aimed to support BIPOC writers, LGBTQIA+ writers, parent-writers, teachers & educators, caregivers, and emerging poets and authors. MVICW was founded with a belief that a supportive, creative, and nourishing community is essential for a successful writing life. Their mission is to give writers at all stages of their careers the opportunity to reconnect on a deep level with their writing practice, to believe in the work they do, and to build a vibrant network of writers. MVIC believes in teaching compassion not competition, creative help not hierarchy, and offering the tools to heal your Inner Critic so that you can go on to produce the most powerful, creative, and life-changing work of which you’re capable. For more information, contact Alexander Weinstein director@mvicw.com or go here.

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The editors of Star Trek and the Courtroom: An Edited Collection on Justice, Law, and the Trial in Star Trek invite proposals for an edited volume examining trial and courtroom episodes across the Star Trek franchise. From “Court Martial” (TOS) to “Ad Astra per Aspera” (SNW), Star Trek has used the trial format to explore questions of personhood, justice, military law, civil rights, ethical responsibility, and the limits of legal systems. These episodes serve as philosophical laboratories, testing the boundaries of law when confronted with, for example, artificial intelligence, alien cultures, time travel, and evolving definitions of sentience and citizenship. This collection seeks scholarly essays that engage with trial (or trial-like) episodes from any Star Trek series or film, examining them through lenses including but not limited to: legal theory, philosophy of law, political theory, ethics, disability studies, critical race theory, gender and sexuality studies, postcolonial theory, science and technology studies, media studies, or comparative legal systems. The editors welcome both single-episode analyses and comparative studies across multiple series or episodes. We encourage proposals that use Star Trek episodes as windows into real legal proceedings, doctrines, precedents, and contemporary legal debates. Contributions from legal practitioners, attorneys, judges, and legal scholars are especially welcome, as are collaborative proposals pairing legal professionals with humanities scholars or media studies experts. Essays might compare fictional Star Trek trials to landmark cases, analyze how episodes illuminate current legal controversies, or use Trek’s courtroom dramas to make accessible complex areas of jurisprudence. Further, the editors welcome international perspectives, including comparative analyses with legal systems and landmark cases from around the world. The deadline to submit is June 1, 2026. For more information and to submit, go here.

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June 1 – 2, 2026, The International Center 4 Prince Studies and the University of Minnesota will host its annual conference, “Dance On! The Cultural, Sonic, and Symbolic Legacy of Prince Conference.” This year’s conference will be celebrating and reflecting on Prince’s enduring connection to Minneapolis and his posthumous legacy. “Dance On! The Cultural, Sonic, and Symbolic Legacy of Prince” provides a platform to examine the enduring impact of Prince with particular attention to his profound connection to Minnesota. The conference seeks to preserve and contextualize the historical, artistic, and social environments within which Prince created his vast body of work, regrounding the ongoing interconnections between his legacy, popular culture, and place. An online archive of presentations is an anticipated outcome as well as a peer-reviewed academic publication of selected papers. By bringing together academic research, fan knowledge, oral histories, and community-based perspectives, the conference aims to deepen understanding of Prince’s posthumous afterlife - an under-explored yet critical dimension of his artistic legacy and to help shape directions for future historical inquiry and legacy-building efforts for generations to come. For more information, go here.

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Through June 14, 2026, the Mississippi Museum of Art (MMA) will host L.V. Hull: Love Is a Sensation, the first major museum exhibition devoted to the art and life of the self-proclaimed “Unusual Artist” Ms. L.V. Hull (1942–2008). Born in McAdams, Mississippi, Hull merged artmaking and the Southern art of “visiting” to craft a creative practice that allowed her to commune with her inner spirit, her Creator, her community, and visitors from around the state, region, and world. Using found objects and paint and glue from Walmart, Hull produced a vibrant, immersive, and evolving art environment at her home of 34 years in the small town of Kosciusko, Mississippi. She adorned every surface and corner of her house, front porch, and garden with carefully arranged assemblages of everyday objects and signs, often painted with her signature dot pattern. . For more information, go here.

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September 25 – 27, 2026, in Houston, TX, Torch Literary Arts will celebrate its 20th Anniversary with A Gathering of Flames, a three-day event that will include Torch Awards Gala, The Gathering (readings, panels, and workshops), and Community Brunch and feature award-winning and noted writers, such as Sharon Bridgeforth, Patricia Smith, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, and Crystal Wilkinson. To see the complete schedule and presenters and to purchase tickets, go here and here, and to learn more about the work of Torch Literary Arts and its magazine, go here.

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