About the Librarian
Clayton Hayes has been a librarian at WSU since 2015. In addition to working on publishing efforts in the library system, he serves as the subject specialist librarian to the Honors College, KHS, Mathematics, and Urban Studies & Planning.
The Origins of the Urban Crisis by ISBN: 9781400851218Publication Date: 2014Sugrue's book is probably one of the most important written about post-WWII Detroit and how the urban landscape developed the way it did in Southeast Michigan. I read this shortly after finishing Richard Rothstein's excellent The Color of Law (available as an ebook through DPL!), and the two make for a powerful combination.
Canvas Detroit by ISBN: 9780814340233Publication Date: 2014It might be a bit cruel to suggest this book, a sort of catalog of contemporary art in Detroit which uses the city as its canvas (hence the title), as it features a lot of works that are outdoors. I'm instead hoping that this offers a bit of relief while we're all stuck inside.
The Morning Breaks: The Trial of Angela Davis by ISBN: 0801485975Publication Date: 1999I'm not sure what originally led me to read this book, but I'm glad that I did because it's amazing to me how little progress has been made since Angela Davis's arrest in 1970. I'd also recommend her 1974 An Autobiography (which is more of a memoir of her life surrounding the arrest) and Anne Braden's The Wall Between if you can find them.
Stamped from the Beginning by ISBN: 9781568584645Publication Date: 2016I actually started this book on the first day of WSU's "extended" spring break and this is a good book to read when you have time for self-reflection. Kendi is the author of How to Be and Antiracist, and this is an attempt to track racist ideas from Greece and Rome all the way through to the modern day.
The Thing Around Your Neck by ISBN: 9780307271075Publication Date: 2009I've yet to have the chance to read this collection of short stories, but I've loved Purple Hibiscus and Americanah so this is definitely on my list of things to read. If you have yet to read anything by Adichie, this could be the perfect place to start!
The Very Best of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Vol. 2 by ISBN: 9781616961633Publication Date: 2014A collection of short stories from the pages of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, from 1950 up to 2011. Hopefully it's a bit less apocalyptic than the collection just above.
James Baldwin Online
We (unfortunately) don't have any ebooks of James Baldwin's writing, but he actually has quite a lot of work available online. I put all of this together for a Subject of the Month display back in August of 2016, and have checked to make sure the links still work.
- Everybody's Protest NovelAn essay originally published in the June 1949 issue of The Partisan Review; a critique of Uncle Tom's Cabin and Native Son.
- Many Thousands GoneThis essay appeared in the November-December 1951 issue of The Partisan Review; it features an expanded critique of Native Son.
- Paris Letter: A Question of IdentityAn essay appearing in the July-August 1954 issue of The Partisan Review. It explores Baldwin's experiences as an African-American living in Paris.
- Faulkner and DesegregationAn essay originally published in the Fall 1956 issue of The Partisan Review; it addresses the infamous advice from William Faulkner that the civil rights movement should "go slow."
- The Crusade of IndignationThis essay was originally published in the July 7, 1956 issue of The Nation; it is an examination of race and socioeconomic status.
- Sonny's BluesA short story published in the Summer 1957 issue of The Partisan Review; it was later collected in Baldwin's Going to Meet the Man.
- Letter from the South: Nobody Knows My NameAn essay appearing in the Winter 1959 issue of The Partisan Review; an examination of Baldwin's experiences traveling through the South, it would later be collected in (and provide the title for) his essay collection Nobody Knows My Name.
- Any Day NowA short story appearing in the Spring 1960 issue of The Partisan Review; it would later be expanded and developed to form part of Baldwin's third novel Another Country.
- Fifth Avenue, UptownAn essay appearing in the July 1960 issue of Esquire; it explores the state of Harlem as New York City transitioned into the 1960s.
- Letter from a Region in My MindAn essay appearing in the November 17, 1962 issue of The New Yorker; a revised version would later form the bulk of The Fire Next Time.
- A Letter to My NephewAn essay appearing in the December 1962 issue of The Progressive; it would later be included in The Fire Next Time.
- An Open Letter to My Sister, Miss Angela DavisAn essay appearing in the January 7, 1971 issue of The New York Review of Books; it frames a discussion of race relations around the wrongful arrest of activist Angela Davis.
- Roots: How One Black Man Came to Be an AmericanA book review appearing in the September 26, 1976 issue of The New York Times shortly after the publication of Roots but before the 1977 miniseries adaptation.
- An Open Letter to Mr. CarterAn essay appearing in the January 23, 1977 issue of The New York Times; it is a call for justice in the case of the Wilmington 10.
- If Black English Isn't a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?An essay appearing in the July 29, 1979 issue of The New York Times; a discussion of the history and contemporary state of Black English.
- Open Letter to the Born AgainAn essay appearing in the September 29, 1979 issue of The Nation; it criticizes the political treatment of Andrew Young, a friend to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and then-Ambassador to the UN.
- Notes on the House of BondageAn essay appearing in the November 1980 issue of The Nation; it discusses race as it relates to the 1980 presidential election.
- James Baldwin -- Reflections of a MaverickAn interview appearing in the May 27, 1984 issue of The New York Times; fellow author Julius Lester interviews Baldwin on his writing and influences.