|
Showing 1 - 15 of
15 matches in All Departments
Stanley Nelson is considered by many to be the foremost avant-garde
poet of his generation. In his third collection, Nelson once again
demonstrates the validity of that claim with four new long poems,
City of the Sun, Fragrances, Genesis Vibes and Heidegger. These
poems deal with deep archetypes, science and religion in a manner
that is simultaneously deconstructive yet formal. Stanley Nelson
continues to present us with his unique vision of the possibilities
of poetry in this latest offering. Who else could combine the
courtesans and the old testament with jazzy music and quarks?
Stanley Nelson's "Limbos for Amplified Harpsichord" is a musical
and metaphorical tour de force, unique in both style and theme.
Nelson writes a rarefied kind of projective verse. Words explode on
the page, often utilised more for their musical value than for
their literal meaning. At the age of 74, Nelson has declared this
collection to be his greatest poetic achievement. He has been
called the greatest avant-garde poet of his generation. The author
of 16 published poetry collections, Nelson continues to push the
boundaries of poetic form.
Nelson explores the range of poetic form. He utilises a traditional
sonnet format in one section and an open, non-linear format, in
which he not only breaks up words, but separates syllables and
letters in another. The poems expand across the page. This book
offers a mix of visual and auditory imagery, creating an
alternative universe.
After midnight on December 10, 1964, in Ferriday, Louisiana,
African American Frank Morris awoke to the sound of breaking glass.
Outside his home and shoe shop, standing behind the shattered
window, Klansmen tossed a lit match inside the store, now doused in
gasoline, and instantly set the building ablaze. A shotgun pointed
to Morris's head blocked his escape from the flames. Four days
later Morris died, though he managed in his last hours to describe
his attackers to the FBI. Frank Morris's death was one of several
Klan murders that terrorized residents of northeast Louisiana and
Mississippi, as the perpetrators continued to elude prosecution
during this brutal era in American history. In Devils Walking: Klan
Murders along the Mississippi in the 1960s, Pulitzer Prize finalist
and journalist Stanley Nelson details his investigation-alongside
renewed FBI attention-into these cold cases, as he uncovers the
names of the Klan's key members as well as systemized corruption
and coordinated deception by those charged with protecting all
citizens. Devils Walking recounts the little-known facts and
haunting stories that came to light from Nelson's hundreds of
interviews with both witnesses and suspects. His research points to
the development of a particularly virulent local faction of the
Klan who used terror and violence to stop integration and end the
advancement of civil rights. Secretly led by the savage and cunning
factory worker Red Glover, these Klansmen-a handpicked group that
included local police officers and sheriff's deputies-discarded
Klan robes for civilian clothes and formed the underground Silver
Dollar Group, carrying a silver dollar as a sign of unity. Their
eight known victims, mostly African American men, ranged in age
from nineteen to sixty-seven and included one Klansman seeking
redemption for his past actions. Following the 2007 FBI reopening
of unsolved civil rights-era cases, Nelson's articles in the
Concordia Sentinel prompted the first grand jury hearing for these
crimes. By unmasking those responsible for these atrocities and
giving a voice to the victims' families, Devils Walking
demonstrates the importance of confronting and addressing the
traumatic legacy of racism.
In 1964, less than one year into his tenure as publisher of the
Bogalusa Daily News, New Orleans native Lou Major found himself
guiding the newspaper through a turbulent period in the history of
American civil rights. Bogalusa, Louisiana, became a flashpoint for
clashes between African Americans advocating for equal treatment
and white residents who resisted this change, a conflict that
generated an upsurge in activity by the Ku Klux Klan. Local members
of the KKK stepped up acts of terror and intimidation directed
against residents and institutions they perceived as sympathetic to
civil rights efforts. During this turmoil, the Daily News took a
public stand against the Klan and its platform of hatred and white
supremacy. Against the Klan, Major's memoir of those years,
recounts his attempts to balance the good of the community, the
health of the newspaper, and the safety of his family. He provides
an in-depth look at the stance the Daily News took in response to
the city's civil rights struggles, including the many fiery
editorials he penned condemning the KKK's actions and urging
peaceful relations in Bogalusa. Major's richly detailed personal
account offers a ground-level view of the challenges local
journalists faced when covering civil rights campaigns in the Deep
South and of the role played by the press in exposing the nefarious
activities of hate groups such as the Klan.
In the summer of 1965, several Ku Klux Klan members riding in a
pickup truck shot two Black deputies on patrol in Washington
Parish, Louisiana. Deputy Oneal Moore, the driver of the patrol car
and father of four daughters, died instantly. His partner, Creed
Rogers, survived and radioed in a description of the vehicle. Less
than an hour later, police in Mississippi spotted the truck and
arrested its driver, a decorated World War II veteran named Ernest
Ray McElveen. They returned McElveen to Washington Parish, where he
spent eleven days in jail before authorities released him.
Afterward, the FBI sent its top inspector to Bogalusa, Louisiana,
to participate in the murder inquiry—the only civil rights–era
FBI investigation into the killing of a Black law enforcement
officer by the KKK. Despite that assistance, lack of evidence and
witnesses unwilling to come forward forced Louisiana prosecutors
eventually to drop all charges against McElveen. The FBI continued
its investigation but could not gather enough evidence to file
charges, leaving the murder of Oneal Moore unsolved. Klan of
Devils: The Murder of a Black Louisiana Deputy Sheriff is Stanley
Nelson's investigation of this case, which the FBI probed from 1965
to 2016. Nelson describes the Klan's growth, and the emergence of
Black activism in Bogalusa and Washington Parish, against the
backdrop of political and social change in the 1950s and early
1960s. With the assistance of two retired FBI agents who worked the
case, Nelson also explores the lives of the primary suspects, all
of whom are now dead, and points to the Klansmen most likely
responsible for the senseless and horrific attack.
Devils Walking stands as an important milestone in the ongoing
struggle to create justice from truth, and perhaps even
reconciliation in a nation that must collectively move in this
direction or face an uncertain future.""- David Ridgen, Canadian
filmmaker and director of award-winning documentary Mississippi
Cold Case After midnight on December 10, 1964, in Ferriday,
Louisiana, African American Frank Morris awoke to the sound of
breaking glass. Outside his home and shoe shop, standing behind the
shattered window, Klansmen tossed a lit match inside the store, now
doused in gasoline, and instantly set the building ablaze. A
shotgun pointed to Morris's head blocked his escape from the
flames. Four days later Morris died, though he managed in his last
hours to describe his attackers to the FBI. Frank Morris's death
was one of several Klan murders that terrorized residents of
northeast Louisiana and Mississippi, as the perpetrators continued
to elude prosecution during this brutal era in American history. In
Devils Walking: Klan Murders along the Mississippi in the 1960s,
Pulitzer Prize finalist and journalist Stanley Nelson details his
investigation- alongside renewed FBI attention- into these cold
cases, as he uncovers the names of the Klan's key members as well
as systemized corruption and coordinated deception by those charged
with protecting all citizens. Devils Walking recounts the
little-known facts and haunting stories that came to light from
Nelson's hundreds of interviews with both witnesses and suspects.
His research points to the development of a particularly virulent
local faction of the Klan who used terror and violence to stop
integration and end the advancement of civil rights. Secretly led
by the savage and cunning factory worker Red Glover, these
Klansmen- a handpicked group that included local police officers
and sheriff's deputies- discarded Klan robes for civilian clothes
and formed the underground Silver Dollar Group, carrying a silver
dollar as a sign of unity. Their eight known victims, mostly
African American men, ranged in age from nineteen to sixty-seven
and included one Klansman seeking redemption for his past actions.
Following the 2007 FBI reopening of unsolved civil rights- era
cases, Nelson's articles in the Concordia Sentinel prompted the
first grand jury hearing for these crimes. By unmasking those
responsible for these atrocities and giving a voice to the victims'
families, Devils Walking demonstrates the importance of confronting
and addressing the traumatic legacy of racism.
|
|