Black in the Middle: an Anthology of the Black Midwest was officially released this week from Belt Publishing, adding yet another critical read to your bookshelf at this juncture in history.
The anthology, which is edited by Terrion Williamson, takes a look at the often marginalized identity of Black Midwesterners.
Williamson is the director of The Black Midwest Initiative at the University of Minnesota.
The anthology is a mixture of essays, poems and personal narratives that touch on all aspects of the Black experience in the midwest.
Black in the Middle "brings the voices of Black Midwesterners front and center. Filled with compelling personal narratives, thought-provoking art, and searing commentaries, this anthology explores the various meanings and experiences of blackness.
Bringing together people from major metropolitan centers like Detroit and Chicago as well as smaller cities and rural areas where the lives of Black residents have too often gone unacknowledged, this collection is a much-needed corrective to the narrative of the region," according to a press release from Belt.
If you want a taste of what you can expect, check out this essay from Mark Reynolds titled Cleveland and Chicago: Cities of Segregation, which can be found in the tome.
