Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The Promise of Language: A Memoir

The Promise of Language: A Memoir

Boyd, Melba Joyce
Gilyard, Keith

Paperback

Series: African American Life

ArtistsBiographies GeneralGeneral Poetry

ISBN10: 0814351948
ISBN13: 9780814351949
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
Published: Jan 14 2025
Pages: 166
Weight: 0.45
Height: 0.60 Width: 5.90 Depth: 8.90
Language: English

Recounting a life--and language--by an esteemed scholar of African American rhetoric.

Finalist for Foreword Indies Book Awards in the Autobiography/ Memoir category!
Featured in 2026 AUPresses Book, Jacket, and Journal Show!

In this powerful coming-of-age memoir, author, scholar, and linguist Keith Gilyard presents a testament to the transformative power of language. From his earliest days in the segregated New York City public schools of the 1950s and '60s through his ascent in academia, the rhythm of Black America's vernacular and music provides the backdrop to Gilyard's intellectual awakening. He absorbed language through music, television, and radio, recognizing early on that his mother was a language chameleon, a woman from Georgia who never sounded Black southern. His journey intertwines personal growth with the multiplicity of language and the sociopolitical upheavals of the Cold War era and the Civil Rights, Black Power, angb00d Black Arts movements. Through vibrant anecdotes and introspection, Gilyard brings his experiences and realizations to life from memories of barbershops, churches, and schools, to lessons from mentors and influencers like Ed Bullins, Sonia Sanchez, Don L. Lee (later Haki Madhubuti), Toni Morrison, and Paule Marshall. Each encounter brings clarity and a new lens through which to understand the world, revealing how language shapes our lives and how our lives shape language.

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