“Sister Outsider:” Audre Lorde

Nearly every article on poet and activist Audre Lorde makes use of her self-description: “I am a Black, lesbian, feminist, warrior, poet, mother doing my work.”   Lorde valued identity as a source of her work, and said, “My poetry comes from the intersection of me and my worlds.”  Regarding identity, Lorde considered herself a “continuum of [...]

Share the History: Celebrate Black History Month

Here at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, we are very excited to Share the History this month!  In branches all over the city, there are programs for adults, teens, children and families to celebrate Black History Month. 
At the Main library, the special events include a lecture and discussion on Pittsburgh’s Underground Railroad, presented by Soldiers [...]

Toni Morrison – A Mercy

The recent brouhaha over American literature and the Nobel Prize, ignited by Horace Engdahl of the Nobel Prize jury, has stirred up lots of emotion parochial and patriotic but thankfully, at least not yet, patriarchal. No matter what one thinks of the fact that America was characterized as “too isolated, too insular,” one thing can [...]

Shelf Examination: African American Fiction

Pittsburgh is a city whose neighborhoods are rich in African-American culture and heritage. Take, for example, the Hill District, home of the legendary August Wilson, whose legacy resonates throughout the Carnegie Library’s brand-new Hill District Branch.  There’s also Homewood, where John Edgar Wideman both spent his youth and set much of his writing. However, I could go on all day [...]

Shelf Examination: GLBT Fiction

Today’s installment of Shelf Examination highlights the GLBT fiction collection, which combines genres to please the various reading tastes within the spectrum of people who identify as lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual, intersexed, or otherwise queer.  So, whether you’re looking for a good mystery, an inspirational heart-warmer, or a supernatural thriller, you’ll find it here, written by, for, and [...]

Shelf Examination: Mystery

When the poor sap stumbled into my office, I could see he was desperate. “You’ve gotta help me,” he rasped. “You’re the only one who knows.”
I eyeballed his lanky form and decided he was more sinned against than sinner.  “Have a seat,” I said, and gestured to the battered computer chair where all my clients [...]

Jacob Lawrence and Aaron Douglas

A few weeks back, my partner and I headed off to Washington, DC, for vacation. We hadn’t done lots of planning; after discovering that booking a direct flight from the Burg to DC was beyond possibility at our late planning date, we packed up the little Yaris and headed on out. Five [...]

Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr.

One week ago today was the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s death.  In addition to being a leader of the civil rights movement, an anti-war activist, a tireless advocate of civil disobedience, and a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, Dr. King was also a noted speaker and an impassioned writer.  Despite the [...]

Celebrating Ralph Ellison

Another Black History Month has come and gone, but with the dawning of March comes the reminder that we celebrate African American culture year round: today is the anniversary of Ralph Ellison’s birth. Ellison is one of the greatest writers of the 20th century; his masterpiece, Invisible Man, vies with Joyce’s Ulysses and [...]

Pittsburgh reads.

Congratulations, Pittsburgh: you’re the ninth most literate city in America. I knew Steve Jobs was wrong when he said people don’t read anymore. He just doesn’t know you like I know you, Pittsburgh.
You see, I see you everyday at the library, with your arms, briefcases, and backpacks full of books. I know you check out other things too, and [...]