Culture

African American PrintsProducts Relating to 'African American Prints'

What comes to mind when you think of African American Prints? Maybe Maya Angelou or William Edward Burghardt DuBois comes to mind? In truth many, many African American's have made prints through our history and shaped our world today.

DuBois was not only a writer, but a historian, educator, poet philosopher. Living in a time that was hard on African American, W.E.B DuBois was an active civil rights advocate and helped to found the N.A.A.C.P. DuBois was not only famous for his leadership, but for his writings which included:

- The Souls of Black Folk
- The Talented Tenth
- The Quest of the Silver Fleece
- Duck of Dawn: An Essay Toward an Autobiography of Race Concept
- In Battle for Peace

Maya Angelou is an African American poet, author and much more that has written novel after novel that never cease to amaze or impress her readers around the world. All of Maya Angelou's novels seem to be pointed at trying to help people in hard times. Angelou is also a well known civil rights activist. Her books include:

- I know Why the Caged Bird Sings; this was Angelou's first novel and a sort of spin off of her real life. Dealing with the struggles a young girl deals with in life.

- Gather Together in my Name

- The Heart of a Woman; this novel reflect on Angelou's own life as a mother in her 30's with the struggle of children and marriage during the civil rights movement.

- All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes; another autobiography by Angelou about finding one's self.

Angelou has also written screen plays and had a starring roll in the miniseries Roots. Angelou is a well established African American writer, poet and actress. Her poems are as follows:

- Alone
- Equality
- Refusal
- Still I Rise
- The Lesson
- They Went Home
- True Love
- Mother
- Any many, many more

Excerpt from a Maya Angelou Poem:

A Rock, A River, A Tree
Hosts to species long since departed,
Marked the mastodon.
The dinosaur, who left dry tokens
Of their sojourn here
On our planet floor,
Any broad alarm of their hastening doom
Is lost in the gloom of dust and ages.

But today, the Rock cries out to us, clearly, forcefully,
Come, you may stand upon my
Back and face your distant destiny,
But seek no haven in my shadow.
I will give you no more hiding place down here.

You, created only a little lower than
The angels, have crouched too long in
The bruising darkness,

Have lain too long
Face down in ignorance.
Your mouths spilling words
Armed for slaughter.
The Rock cries out today, you may stand on me,
But do not hide your face.

Wherever you look African American's has made prints on our hearts and our world. Writing novels and research papers that open our eyes and hearts to everything around us and only one of the things these amazing people have accomplished.

African American Prints are all around us and will amaze you with the heart and soul they incorporate, unlike many other novels floating around there today. The list is not limited to DuBois and Angelou, there are many, many more African American's who will touch your heart and have already touched millions of others.

Article Published: Wednesday 22nd November 2006