Title: The
Messenger Reader; Stories, Poetry, and Essays from the Messenger Magazine
(Click Title or Book to Order Online)
Author: Sondra Kathryn Wilson (Editor)
Publisher: Random House, Incorporated
Date Published: January 2000
Format: Trade Paper
The Messenger was the third most popular magazine of the
Harlem Renaissance after The Crisis and Opportunity. Unlike the other two magazines, The
Messenger was not tied to a civil rights organization. Labor activist A. Philip Randolph
and economist Chandler Owen started the magazine in 1917 to advance the cause of socialism
to the black masses. They believed that a socialist society was the only one that would be
free from racism.
The socialist ideology of The Messenger "the only magazine of scientific radicalism
in the world published by Negroes," was reflected in the pieces and authors published
in its pages. The Messenger Reader contains poetry, stories, and essays from Paul Robeson,
Zora Neale Hurston, Wallace Thurman,
and Dorothy West.
The Messenger Reader, will be a welcome addition to the critically acclaimed Modern
Library Harlem Renaissance series.
Related Links
AALBC.com's Harlem Renaissance Author Profiles Page
