Showing results by author "Bonnie Greer" in All Categories

In Search Of Black History with Bonnie Greer brings you face-to-face with the people you never knew existed. People whose stories tell us a different tale about who we all are. From the earliest glimmerings of modern humanity, up to the present day, Bonnie Greer uncovers the lives of people of African descent that don't fit with the accepted history of Western Civilisation we've traditionally been taught. From saints, to philosophers, to warrior women and king's heralds - these people's lives have been lost, hidden and distorted down the centuries. We've lost the full richness and complexity of our shared histories - it's time to fill in the gaps.

Janet Bookman Baker is a Black British woman, happily married and trying to come to terms with her father's death, and a weekend long ago when he disappeared without a word. She sits alone at night watching the lights in her neighbour's garden, imagining him with her. She listens, too, to a voice on the radio. Although she has never met the owner of the voice, in Janet's mind, the woman, Anna becomes her closest friend.

A Black American woman travels through the United States and Europe in search of her lost father. In the letters she writes to him she remembers her strict Catholic childhood in Chicago, her move to bohemian New York, and her bewilderment at growing up. When she discovers Degas' painting of a young circus performer hanging by her teeth at the top of a circus tent, she makes the performer, 'Miss La La', the symbol of her life.

Langston Hughes was a man far ahead of his time, but his actions were often unpredictable, contradictory and refused classification. To give an example, he campaigned tirelessly for civil rights but then testified before the controversial House Committee on Un-American Activities, seen by many as a witch-hunt. Rather than ignoring or excusing these contradictions, Bonnie Greer confronts them, highlighting the many contradictions present in both his day and ours and painting an unforgettable portrait of a man caught up in strange and contradictory times.

Born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, London-based author and playwright Bonnie Greer seeks to demonstrate that Barack Obama's presidency is what she calls a 'South Side Presidency'. And that it is only the South Side of Chicago, with its history and culture and institutions, that could have sent an African American, in this day and age, to the White House. Obama Music is a mixture of anecdotes about her own growing up in one of America's most formidable black communities, mixed in with observations on the origins and progress of the music of the South Side.

Award-winning playwright, author, and critic Bonnie Greer's touching, funny, and thought-provoking memoir is a voyage into the making of a woman who set out to unmake what she'd been born and brought up to be. 'Proper girl' was a precious definition in segregated and racist America, where black life was deemed only three-fifths of white life. And the life of a black woman even less. This compelling memoir will not just enlighten, engage, and enthrall, but will move you to tears with every word. Courage, defiance, and ultimately hope define the story of a life that just had to be lived.