Photo courtesy of the author
Leana Brunson-McClain grew up in the heart of Santa Monica’s Black community during its heyday in the 1950s and ’60s. According to Brunson lore, the family moved to San…
SPECIAL SECTION
Black Reparations and Restorative Justice: A Bearing Witness Portfolio
Photo by Mark Carrel / Stock.adobe.com. The idea of reparations for slavery—a polarizing topic—continues to gain traction in US society. According to a 2023 Pew Research Center survey, 18 percent o…
Photo of Areva Martin with Section 14 Survivors / Courtesy of Areva Martin Palm Springs, California, an affluent desert community one hundred miles east of Los Angeles, is known for tourism and for…
Carolyne and Bill Edwards founded the Alfred T. Quinn Research Center in 2019 to document the history of Santa Monica’s Black community for future generations. The…
Black beachgoers Verna Deckard and Arthur Lewis pictured in front of a fence demarcating Santa Monica’s whites-only Club Casa Del Mar. Blacks were relegated to a small roped-off area known as the Ba…
CURRENT ISSUE
March 2025
With the March issue, World Literature Today showcases Global Black Los Angeles, a cover feature presenting the work of three LA writers from the African diaspora: Safia Elhillo, Alain Mabanckou, and Mahtem Shiferraw. Additional highlights include “Black Reparations and Restorative Justice,” a special section guest-edited by Karlos K. Hill. All this + book reviews from around the world, and additional interviews, fiction, essays, and more combine to offer readers the best in global literature and culture.