A Tribute To Henry Dumas – AfroHorn
Sistas’ Place
Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015 – 2 Sets – 9:00 pm & 10:30 pm
456 Nostrand Avenue/(corner of Jefferson Ave)
Brooklyn
(Excerpted from Wikipedia):
Henry Dumas (July 20, 1934 – May 23, 1968) was an African-American writer and poet. He has been called “an absolute genius” by Toni Morrison, who as a commissioning editor at Random House published collections both of his poetry, Play Ebony, Play Ivory, and his short stories, Ark of Bones.
During his life, Dumas was active in civil rights and humanitarian efforts, including transporting food and clothing to protestors in Mississippi and Tennessee. While serving in the military, he spent eighteen months at Dhahran Air Force Base in Saudi Arabia, where he developed an interest in the language, culture, religion, and mythology of the Arab world.
He was shot to death at the age of 33 by a white New York City Transit Authority police officer at 135th Street Station, in a case of “mistaken identity” on May 23, 1968. The tragic incident exemplified the position of blacks in America in the 1960s. His death is mentioned in the poem “An Alphabet of My Dead,” by Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky.
Dumas’s first collection of short stories was Ark of Bones and Other Stories, published in 1974, posthumously edited by his friend, poet Eugene Redmond, who also edited other volumes of his work, including his poetry collection, Play Ebony, Play Ivory0 (1974). Subsequent books include an unfinished novel, Jonah and the Green Stone (1976), Rope of Wind and Other Stories (1979), Goodbye, Sweetwater: New and Selected Stories (1988) and Knees of a Natural Man: The Selected Poetry of Henry Dumas.
His short story “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?” was included in the 2004 Dark Matter: Reading The Bones anthology edited by Sheree Thomas.
SPECIAL FEATURE “SPOKEN WORD”
ABIODUN OYEWOLE (THE LAST POETS)
MTUME GANT, Spoken Word
BRUCE WILLIAMS, Alto Sax
ALEX HARDING, Baritone Sax
ARUAN ORTIZ, Piano
RASHAAN CARTER, Bass
ROMAN DIAZ, Percussion
FRANCISCO MORA CATLETT, Drums
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