Letter to Sonia Sanchez June 6 2002

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Fax: +33-1-45 49 32 66 55 bis, bd du Montparnasse 75006 Paris FRANCE 6 June 2002 Prof. Sonia Sanchez c/o Geneviève Fabre 12, square Montsouris 75014 PARIS Dear Sonia, Hello—for the first time in some time. I am now looking at my copy of a letter that I sent you at Temple University on 18 September 2000. The envelope came back undelivered—curious because of its vigorous, total obliteration of your name and address (English Dept. there). If I find the envelope—which I have tried to do during the past hour—I will send it to you (if I am told an address that serves you well). Learning yesterday of your scheduled rencontre in Tours on my birthday, 15 June, I decided to try to say hello. Practical point: the enclosed poem, which I sent to Ishmael Reed in 1994 because I was told he would want to see it (he printed it in Konch), suggests my concern regarding a (or the) African American blacklist. Your subject in Tours, “Poésie et Politique,” is a relative of my poem. Could you pretend that I am in your audience on my birthday and that I raise my hand and ask, “Professor Sanchez, could you tell us whether you think there is an African American blacklist functioning?” Then, in a letter to me, could you summarize what you tell them? If you cannot do this comfortably, do not try. The subject has bothered me for almost 13 years, and I have at least 10 reasons for believing there is a Black blacklist. Your opinion would help, whether you express it in Tours (they need to know) or in private to me. But, as I say, you need say nothing. My knowing that you give it a thought can suffice. As The Bard said, “The truth will rise, though all the world o’whelm it, to men’s eyes.” May summer be generous to you. Cordially, James Emanuel Encl: Poem “The Blacklist…” P.S. This poem is on pages 273–74 of The Force and the Reckoning (Lotus Press, 2001). If you buy the book, let me refund the price, so that you can consider it a gift from me. (You are on p. 76, mid-page.)

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Typed letter to Sonia Sanchez from James Emanuel, dated June 6, 2002. Document features handwritten annotations He asks Sanchez about the alleged African American literary blacklist.

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  • type
    Image
  • created on
  • file format
    jpg
  • file size
    13 MB
  • container title
    James A. Emanuel Papers
  • creator
    James A. Emanuel
  • issue
    Box 13 Folder 25 "S" miscellaneous, 1949, 1981-1986; 2002-2004
  • rights
    James A. Emanuel Estate
  • rights holder
    James A. Emanuel Estate
  • version
    6-Jun-02