Jay Levine by painter Gary VanGorp
In high school and college I developed a greater interest in Black authors which were rarely part of my education. Richard Wright, James Baldwin, John A. Williams, and Chester Himes quickly became favorites of mine. Detroit had two emerging presses - Broadside Press and Lotus Press - which became two of the trendsetters of publishing authors and poets of high quality. My favorite poets became Gwendolyn Brooks, Sonia Sanchez, Nikki Giovanni, Don L. Lee (now Haki Madhubuti), and many more.
So going back to my teaching, I used Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield, Gil Scott-Heron, and the Last Poets as well as the above authors with Langston Hughes and Donald Goines to create a reading interest for my students. As a result, I had one of the more successful classes which was evidenced by the number of writing awards my students achieved during my three years at Kettering High School. The school had two winners prior to my arrival in the Scholastic Writing Awards and we finished sixth in the state one year with one New York national winner.
I taught English at Southeastern High School for 11 years and continued to emphasize Black authors. I received information that Chicago State University was having a Black Writers' Conference which would have Gwendolyn Brooks and Haki Madhubudi, so I packed their books and went to the conference with the hope to get some of my books autographed. Gwendolyn Brooks had such a positive and inspirational effect on me that I attended the conference (later changed to the Gwendolyn Brooks Black Writers' Conference) for over 20 years and Haki was extremely helpful providing me separate access to the authors.
My collection of over 20,000 books by Black authors is being donated to Wayne State University - Special African American Collection (in the memory of Gwendolyn Brooks). If you have books you want to donate contact Cindy Krolikowski or Dean Sandra Yee - (313) 577-3311 or (313) 577-4020.
My collection continued to grow in many areas as I attended the African World Festival in Detroit and found many treasures to add to my collection. My contact with book dealers expanded to movie posters and I soon found I was buying posters of Oscar Micheaux, Dorothy Dandridge, Paul Robeson, Lena Horne, Joe Louis, and pre-1950 posters. I started bidding in auctions for documents and letters signed by Malcolm X, Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Mary McCleod Bethune, Blanche Kelso Bruce, and many more.
Later I became a counselor at The Detroit High School for the Fine and Performing Arts which expanded my contacts in the entertainment area. I started collecting autographs at a very young age and whenever I had the opportunity to go to a signing I would take books, magazines, posters, etc. with the hope of getting items signed. This collection also has many other non-African American items some of which are being displayed.
Now I have a collection difficult for me to have ever imagined and this site is being developed with the hope of finding a permanent home - a museum or museums - to showcase the historical treasures I have.
So going back to my teaching, I used Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield, Gil Scott-Heron, and the Last Poets as well as the above authors with Langston Hughes and Donald Goines to create a reading interest for my students. As a result, I had one of the more successful classes which was evidenced by the number of writing awards my students achieved during my three years at Kettering High School. The school had two winners prior to my arrival in the Scholastic Writing Awards and we finished sixth in the state one year with one New York national winner.
I taught English at Southeastern High School for 11 years and continued to emphasize Black authors. I received information that Chicago State University was having a Black Writers' Conference which would have Gwendolyn Brooks and Haki Madhubudi, so I packed their books and went to the conference with the hope to get some of my books autographed. Gwendolyn Brooks had such a positive and inspirational effect on me that I attended the conference (later changed to the Gwendolyn Brooks Black Writers' Conference) for over 20 years and Haki was extremely helpful providing me separate access to the authors.
My collection of over 20,000 books by Black authors is being donated to Wayne State University - Special African American Collection (in the memory of Gwendolyn Brooks). If you have books you want to donate contact Cindy Krolikowski or Dean Sandra Yee - (313) 577-3311 or (313) 577-4020.
My collection continued to grow in many areas as I attended the African World Festival in Detroit and found many treasures to add to my collection. My contact with book dealers expanded to movie posters and I soon found I was buying posters of Oscar Micheaux, Dorothy Dandridge, Paul Robeson, Lena Horne, Joe Louis, and pre-1950 posters. I started bidding in auctions for documents and letters signed by Malcolm X, Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Mary McCleod Bethune, Blanche Kelso Bruce, and many more.
Later I became a counselor at The Detroit High School for the Fine and Performing Arts which expanded my contacts in the entertainment area. I started collecting autographs at a very young age and whenever I had the opportunity to go to a signing I would take books, magazines, posters, etc. with the hope of getting items signed. This collection also has many other non-African American items some of which are being displayed.
Now I have a collection difficult for me to have ever imagined and this site is being developed with the hope of finding a permanent home - a museum or museums - to showcase the historical treasures I have.
For more information contact Jay Charles Levine: 313.549.7160 / [email protected]
Website design/ photography of photos, documents, statues and memorabilia by Leisia A. Duskin: [email protected]
Website design/ photography of photos, documents, statues and memorabilia by Leisia A. Duskin: [email protected]