Quraysh Ali Lansana

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Quraysh Ali Lansana (born Ron Myles [1] September 13, 1964, Enid, Oklahoma)[2] is an American poet, book editor, civil rights historian, and professor.[3][4][5] He has authored 20 books in poetry, nonfiction and children’s literature. In 2022, he was a Tulsa Artist Fellow and Director of the Center for Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation at Oklahoma State University-Tulsa, where he was also Lecturer in Africana Studies and English. Lansana is also credited as creator and executive producer of "Focus: Black Oklahoma," a monthly radio program on the public radio station KOSU.[6]

Early life and education[edit]

Born Ron Myles in Enid, Oklahoma, on September 13, 1964,[2] he graduated Enid High School in 1982.[7][1] Prior to focusing on poetry, in the 1980s he studied broadcast journalism[8][5] at the University of Oklahoma and worked as an assignment editor at KWTV.[1] After spending a year living in Medicine Park, Oklahoma, Lansana decided to move to Chicago in 1988.[8] There he worked as an editor for Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, and founded Nappyhead Press.[8]

Lansana grew up in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, but changed his name to Quraysh Ali after converting to Islam in 1993,[8] and adopted the last name Lansana upon marriage to now ex-wife Emily Hooper in 1996.[8] He practiced Islam until 1999,[1] later also turning to African faiths such as Yoruba[8] and attending Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.[1]

He decided to return to school in 1996, earning his B.A. in African American Studies at Chicago State University[5] where Gwendolyn Brooks was his mentor.[1] Lansana holds an M.F.A. in creative writing from New York University.[2]

Teaching career[edit]

Lansana has taught at the Juilliard School,[3] the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Oklahoma City University,[7][2] and was the director of the Gwendolyn Brooks Center for Black Literature and Creative Writing at Chicago State University.[7][2] He currently works as the acting director for the Center for Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation,[9] Writer in Residence for the Center for Poets & Writers,[10] and as a professor of Africana Studies and English at Oklahoma State University-Tulsa.[11]

Historical research[edit]

As a historian Lansana has extensively researched the 1921 Tulsa race massacre. For the centennial of the tragedy, he helped create an exhibit at Tulsa's Philbrook Museum of Art,[12] taught workshops at OSU-Tulsa,[11] worked with the History Channel, WYNC Studios, and KOSU to create Blindspot: Tulsa Burning podcast,[13] and hosted the documentary Tulsa Race Massacre: 100 Years Later which broadcast on OETA.[10] Lansana also wrote a children's book about the Greenwood District with Najah-Amatullah Hylton and illustrator Skip Hill entitled Opal’s Greenwood Oasis.[14]

Awards[edit]

In 1999 he won the Wallace W. Douglas Distinguished Service Award[3] and the Henry Blakely Award,[2] was nominated for the NAACP Image Award in 2012,[3] and was named the Chicago Black Book Fair's Poet of the Year in 2000.[2] He also received a Tulsa Artist Fellowship[4] to create a radio program entitled Focus: Black Oklahoma[5] for NPR affiliate KWGS.[5]

Works[edit]

Poetry collections[edit]

  • The Skin of Dreams: new and collected poems 1995-2018 (2019)[5][15]
  • A Gift from Greensboro Penny Candy Books. (2016) [3]
  • with Christopher Stewart, The Walmart Republic Mongrel Empire Press (2014)[2]
  • mystic turf Willow Books (2012)[2]
  • They Shall Run: Harriet Tubman Poems Third World Press (2004)[2]
  • Southside Rain Third World Press (2000)[2]

Chapbooks[edit]

  • reluctant minivan (2014)[3]
  • bloodsoil sooner red. (2009)[3]
  • Greatest Hits: 1995-2005 (2006) [3]
  • cockroach children: corner poems and street psalms (1995)[3]

Children's books[edit]

  • The Big World Addison Wesley (1999)[2]
  • with Skip Hill, Gift From Greensboro Penny Candy Books (2021)
  • with Najah-amatullah Hylton and Skip Hill, Opal's Greenwood Oasis The Calliope Group Ltd (2021)

Editor[edit]

  • African American Literature Reader Glencoe/McGraw-Hill. (2001)[3]
  • I Represent Gallery 37, Chicago, IL (1996)[3]
  • dream in yourself Gallery 37, Chicago, IL (1997)[3]
  • with Georgia A. Popoff, Our Difficult Sunlight: A Guide to Poetry, Literacy & Social Justice in Classroom & Community Teachers & Writers Collaborative (2011)[3]
  • The Breakbeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip Hop Haymarket Books (2015)[2]
  • Medina, Tony., Bashir, Samiya A, and Lansana, Quraysh Ali. Role Call : A Generational Anthology of Social and Political Black Art & Literature. Chicago: Third World, 2002.
  • with Georgia A. Popoff, The Whiskey of Our Discontent: Gwendolyn Brooks as Conscience and Change Agent Haymarket Books, 2017.
  • with Sandra Jackson-Opoku, Revise the Psalm: Work Celebrating the Writing of Gwendolyn Brooks Curbside Splendor Publishing, 2017.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f Medley, Robert (12 February 2012). "Oklahoma-born poet recognized nationally for literary work". The Oklahoman. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "About Quraysh Ali Lansana". Academy of American Poets. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Quraysh Ali Lansana". The Poetry Foundation. 3 March 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Poet QURAYSH ALI LANSANA". Tulsa Artist Fellowship. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Medley, Robert. "Tulsa poet, black historian to read works in Norman Tuesday". The Oklahoman. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  6. ^ "Quraysh Ali Lansana".
  7. ^ a b c Zorn, Phyllis (12 April 2014). "Enid grad returns to give back to Enid". Enid News & Eagle. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Marsh, Michael (13 April 2000). "The Making of a Poet". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  9. ^ Farris, Emily (14 April 2021). "OSU-Tulsa launches the Center for Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation". KJRH. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  10. ^ a b "OETA to premiere Tulsa Race Riots program". The Lawton Constitution. 26 May 2021.
  11. ^ a b "OSU workshop series discusses history, impact of Tulsa Race Massacre". The Black Wall Street Times. 17 May 2021.
  12. ^ Thackara, Tess (21 May 2021). "'I'It's About Time.' Museums Make Bids for Their Communities". The New York Times. The New York Times. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  13. ^ "KOSU Announces 'Blindspot: Tulsa Burning,' A Podcast Examining The Tulsa Race Massacre And History Of Racial Violence In America". KOSU. 28 May 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  14. ^ Rittler, Tara (23 Oct 2020). "Everyone Looks Like Me: "Opal's Greenwood Oasis" Celebrates the Greenwood Community Through the Eyes of a Young Black Girl". Tulsa Kids magazine. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  15. ^ "Quraysh Ali Lansana May 15". Magic City Books. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
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