African Voices Summer 2017 AV Summer 2017 Digital Issue | Page 3

VOLUME NO. 14, ISSUE 34
Founded in 1992, published since 1993
270 W. 96th STREET, NYC 10025
Phone: [phone]
www.africanvoices.com
PUBLISHER/EDITOR
Carolyn A. Butts
BOARD CHAIRPERSON
Jeannette Curtis-Rideau
PRODUCTION MANAGER/
COPY EDITOR
Obinwanne Nwizu
POETRY EDITOR
Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie
WEBSITE CONTENT EDITOR
Sandrine Dupiton
ART DIRECTOR
Derick Cross
ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR
AZIZA
LAYOUT & DESIGN
Graphic Dimensions
Lorraine Rouse
ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS
Sonia Sanchez
Poet/Activist
Marie Brown
Literary Agent
Danny Simmons
Visual Artist/Philanthropist,
Rush Philanthropic Arts Fdn.
© 2017, African Voices Communications, Inc.
is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization.
Donations are tax-deductible.
ISSN 1530-0668
African Voices is supported
with funds from the
West Harlem Development Corp.,
Regional Economic Development Council,
NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and
New York State Council on the Arts.
P ublisher ’ s N ote
“Surely, they had insurance for cosmic funk. They pushed back.
I pushed harder then…My dance was born in New York’s
streets, channeled fractals from across the nation, adopted
traditions from around the world, reimagined Ailey and
Dunham, Jamison and Jackson reborn as starship troopers,
flinging their Black bodies through space.”
— Sheree Renée Thomas, “The Dragon Can’t Dance”
African Voices is proud to have artwork by Afua Richardson,
one of the leading women illustrators for Marvel Comics’ “Black
Panther World of Wakanda,” and N. Steven Harris, a member of the graphic novel
team for Brotherhood of the Fringe, gracing the outside covers of our digital issue.
Inside the issue, you will enjoy excerpts from their comic book series and get a
preview of Afua’s forthcoming series “Aquarius the Book of Mer.”
The issue salutes the emergence of Black women comics as a force in creating
opportunities for graphic novelists of color to share their work. Following in
the footsteps of Civil Rights activist Jackie Ormes, the first African-American
woman cartoonist, Regine Sawyer is the founder of Women in Comics Collective
International, an organization devoted to supporting women illustrators and comic
publishers. Trailblazing entrepreneur Ariell Johnson, founder of the popular comic
store Amalgam Comics & Coffeehouse in Philadelphia, recently received a $50,000
grant from the Knight Foundation to expand her outlet for comic book enthusiasts.
Enjoy the stories in our special issue and support the graphic novelists by purchasing
copies of their books and posters. The issue also includes “The Dragon Can’t Dance,”
a short fantasy story by Sheree Renée Thomas, author of “Sleeping Under the Tree
of Life” and a fine selection of poems by Lynne Thompson, Quincy Scott Jones and
Roman Johnson, among other talented writers.
African Voices’ first double cover issue celebrates the power of graphic novelists to
transform society through envisioning a future where good triumphs over selflessness
and greed. Graphic novelists create super heroes to help us cope in times when the
world is turned inside out. They inspire us to survive unimaginable odds.
Our artists are taking the lead and we can join them. Let’s use our super powers
of activism to tilt the world in a better direction so that future generations inherit a
healthier planet — spiritually and environmentally.
Outside Covers: Afua Richardson and N. Steven Harris.