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Obsidian Lit: Black Literary Ecosystem Is Healthy, But Underfunded

Courtesy: Obsidian Literature & Arts

A Normal-based Black literary organization is calling for financial support of African and African diaspora artists and the publications that uplift them.

For more than 45 years, Obsidian Literature & Arts has elevated the work of Black artists from the Illinois State University campus. Obsidian showcases poetry, fiction, performance and visual art of Africans globally, in print publications biannually and year-round online.

Founded in 1975 by Alvin Aubert, Obsidian Lit was built on the energy of the Black Arts Movement to support the imagination of African and African Diaspora literature. The mission remains rooted in social justice, making space for those who might otherwise remain voiceless and unseen.

Obsidian Lit is joining four other Black-led literary organizations in "Getting Word: Black Literature for Black Liberation,” an inaugural fundraiser to better support, cultivate and promote Black writers. The collective also includes the Cave Canem Foundation, the Furious Flower Poetry Center, the Hurston/Wright Foundation and the Watering Hole.

Duriel E. Harris is editor of Obsidian Literature & Arts.
Courtesy
Duriel E. Harris is editor of Obsidian Literature & Arts.

Obsidian Lit editor Duriel E. Harris said all have a legacy of uplifting artists and transforming lives by giving platforms to diverse ideas and voices, all while being historically underfunded.

“The members of the collective Getting Word, we are already folks who are known to one another. We are organizations that at times have collaborated or continuously collaborate,” Harris said. “And so the ecosystem itself is strong, and we lean on each other and support one another. The need, however, remains great. And in part that is related to just, you know, the very ... energies even at the founding of this nation.”

The campaign launched on Juneteenth and is bookended by Independence Day. Harris said it’s in recognition of the connectivity between freedom, creativity and liberation.

“Getting Word” was inspired by the calls for support of Black organizations that took place in June 2020, following Black-out Tuesday. Harris said a year later, the work continues.

“I think many people did recognize upon the murder of George Floyd last year, and the unrest and the engagement that people had with the issues of injustice … folks (recognized) that need and then (made) some donations to different organizations that were organizing toward social justice—Black literary and other organizations,” Harris said. “But a one-time donation is definitely not enough. We need to have sustained support.”

Artists can’t exist and thrive in a gift-based economy, Harris added. They need to get paid. So do the folks working behind the scenes to bring publications to print and deliver them to an audience. Harris said contributions made through “Getting Word” will help sustain those efforts.

…we are each other’s harvest: we are each other’s business: we are each other’s magnitude and bond.
Gwendolyn Brooks

Harris said an erosion of the Black literary ecosystem due to lack of resources would be detrimental to society and democracy as a whole.

“So much of what is cultural in the United States of America—what we have enjoyed, what helps us grow—is work that has been contributed by Black folk,” Harris said. “If we shut down possibilities for such a large group of people, how much are we all as human beings diminished?”

Harris said without these organizations and spaces, Black writers and artists may not get a platform at all. Science fiction writer Octavia Butler, for example, was working in a factory for years before her work got published—including in Obsidian Lit.

“The publishing industry is, even with the advances that we've had as of late, is notoriously white and male,” Harris said. “They choose people that they're comfortable with, they choose the people that they know, and they publish the material that they know. And so part of the diversity piece that helps us solve problems, in order for that to happen, we need to have the venues that are going to support those works, especially while those folks are cultivated.”

Harris said everyone has a vested interest in the cultivation of Black artists. She said uplifting Black literary word and culture empowers everyone towards collective liberation.

Contributions to “Getting Word” can be madehere.

Dana Vollmer is a reporter with WGLT. Dana previously covered the state Capitol for NPR Illinois and Peoria for WCBU.
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