Josiah Henson (1789 – 1883) was an author, abolitionist and minister. He was born into slavery in Maryland, and escaped to Canada in 1830, where he founded a settlement for fugitive slaves in Ontario. Henson's autobiography, ‘The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself’ (1849), is thought to have inspired the title character of Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel ‘Uncle Tom's Cabin’. The autobiography was written down by the abolitionist Samue...

Poetry. A form of words that seems so elegantly simple in one verse and so cleverly complex in another. Each poet has a particular style, an individual and unique way with words and yet each of us seems to recognise the path and destination of where the verses lead, even if sometimes the full comprehension may be a little beyond us.Through the centuries every culture has produced verse to symbolize and to describe everything from everyday life, natural wonders, the human condition ...

Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. A few pages can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere.In this series we try to offer up tried and trusted ‘Top Tens’ across many different themes and authors. But any anthology will immediately throw up the questions – Why that story? Why that author?The theme ...

Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. A few pages can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere.In this series we try to offer up tried and trusted ‘Top Tens’ across many different themes and authors. But any anthology will immediately throw up the questions – Why that story? Why that author?The theme ...

‘A dime a dozen’ as known in America, is perhaps equal to the English ‘cheap as chips’ but whatever the lingua franca of your choice in this series we hereby submit ‘A Rhyme a Dozen’ as 12 poems on many given subjects that are a well-rounded gathering, maybe even an essential guide, from the knowing pens of classic poets and their beautifully spoken verse to the comfort of your ears.1 - A Rhyme A Dozen - 12 Poems, 12 Poets, 1 Topic - Birthdays - An Introduction2 - A Birthda...

As a general rule we are a trusting lot. You say something and, whilst I might disagree, I believe you are acting in good faith. Of course this may be just the beginning of a ruse. If I trust you I might let down my guard, I might seek to share and to create a bond between us. But, if you can’t be trusted, if you have an ulterior motive I might lose out.In the hands of authors such as Maxim Gorky, Ella D’Arcy, Rudyard Kipling, Ivan Turgenev and may others reality may not be what it...

The American literary tradition has, in a far shorter span of time than others throughout history, achieved a glowing and glittering reputation.From its transatlantic roots it has absorbed the sons and daughters of other cultures, other lands and made them part of her own.America prides itself on liberty, on justice for all and, if you are a wealthy white man, that is essentially true. Sadly, many other segments of society find it difficult to feel or become part of this en...

Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. A few pages can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere.In this series we try to offer up tried and trusted ‘Top Tens’ across many different themes and authors. But any anthology will immediately throw up the questions – Why that story? Why that author?The theme ...

The American literary tradition has, in a far shorter span of time than others throughout history, achieved a glowing and glittering reputation.From its transatlantic roots it has absorbed the sons and daughters of other cultures, other lands and made them part of her own.America prides itself on liberty, on justice for all and, if you are a wealthy white man, that is essentially true. Sadly, many other segments of society find it difficult to feel or become part of this en...

Joseph Julius Jackson was an African-American preacher who published ‘The History of the Black Man’ (1921). The book discusses the influence of African civilization upon ancient history, and covers the black kingdoms of Ghana, Sudan, Melle, Hausa, Songhay, as well as the Moorish dynasty of Spain in some detail. The bulk of the work is devoted to the history of the American negro from 1619 to the early decades of the twentieth century. Jackson argues that the lack of knowledge about their o...

The Rev. Calvin Dill Wilson (1857–1946) was a Presbyterian minister and author. His book ‘Black Masters,’ first published in 1904, explore the history of wealthy free African-Americans who became slave-owners. According to Wilson’s research, there were around 6,200 black slave-holders in the years before the Civil War, who owned some 18,000 slaves. By owning their families, free colored men and women could protect them against oppressive local laws. The earliest documentary evidence of suc...

Dr. William Lucius Hunter, MD (1850-1915) was a physician and a clergyman of the African Methodist-Episcopal Church. For his 1901 book ‘Jesus Christ Had Negro Blood in His Veins’, he researched scripture in order to combat racial discrimination and abuse. He identifies the biblical Canaanites as having been black and argues that several important Jewish figures and ancestors of Jesus had children by this group of people. Showing that David and Solomon married black women, he contends that ...