Lori Johnson's Blog

A RAP SO DEEP IN BLUE

This is a slightly revised post that I shared on Facebook last week.  It is an update of sorts on an essay of mine that was published not long ago. 

***

In my last published piece “Hair Care Chronicles” (Forge Literary Magazine / April 7, 2025), I reflect on the disappearance of two of my hairstylists, one of whom was murdered.  In the piece, I mention not remembering how the murdered woman was killed.  Last week, while rummaging through a binder full of old notes and unfinished pieces, I had my memory jogged.

I found something I wrote called “A Rap So Deep In Blue.”  A title which I’m pretty sure was my poetic play on the word “rhapsody.”  I was taken aback when I read the following section of the piece.

Black girl

what

nightmares 

haunt you?

The rituals of hair.  The hair rituals . . .

That bond us/we women of color

a bond

he shattered 

with a single blast from a shotgun

He killed her with a shotgun.

And all I can think now

are of her hands

her hands

in my hair

her hands in my hair

her hands . . . and (every now and then)

 . . . her blood on his hands

and I can’t even remember her name

***

He killed her with a shotgun.  Somehow, I’d forgotten that horrifying detail.  I’m not sure where I got the “single blast” part.  Something tells me, I wasn’t told that.  I’m guessing, at some point,  I must have read about the tragedy in the newspaper.  In any case, my memory was wiped clean of all those details.  I wonder if a part of me never wanted the brutal manner of her death to arise when thoughts of her crossed my mind.  To shoot someone at close range with a shotgun means you not only don’t intend for them to survive, but you aim to destroy their body in the process, not unlike the current crop of twisted individuals who wreck the lives of innocents with modern day automatic weaponry. So chilling and coldblooded.  

***

If you haven’t read the entire piece and would like to do so, you can find it here:

Hair Care Chronicles

HAIR CARE CHRONICLES by Lori D. Johnson (Forge Literary Magazine)

 

Has a hair stylist, one you liked and/or who worked wonders with your hair, ever suddenly disappeared from your life?  If so, you might enjoy an essay about a couple of my own memorable experiences with hairstylists.  “Hair Care Chronicles” is the title of the piece I wrote that was recently published by The Forge Literary Magazine. Both the essay and a short interview The Forge’s senior editor, Sommer Schafer, conducted with me can be found on their website.   

The following is an excerpt from"Hair Care Chronicles"

I don’t remember her last name. Nor do I recall how I ended up at the hair salon where she worked in Cleveland Heights. What I do remember is that she went by “Lynette” (not her real name) and hailed from New Orleans. Some hair stylists you click with instantly, others over time, and still others never beyond the surface even while showing up to sit in their chair on the regular. I liked Lynette from the jump. Friendly, smart and hilariously blunt, she knew her way around the wayward kinks and curls adorning my head.

 Follow the links below if you’re interested in reading the rest of the essay published by

The Forge Literary Magazine  

HAIR CARE CHRONICLES

by Lori D. Johnson

Check out this link if you are interested in my interview.

LORI D. JOHNSON

(Forge Literary Magazine Author Interview)

A Couple of My Articles Were Reprinted in a new Memphis Public Library Publication

Recently, the Memphis Public Library (via The Memphis Library Foundation) launched a new

quarterly publication called MPL UNBOUND.  

I’m happy and proud to report that a couple of my previously published articles are featured in

the inaugural issue of MPL UNBOUND (Fall, 2024).  Hey, I even got my name on the cover. 😍  The articles about my grandmother’s scrapbook and my family’s history in the Whitehaven community appear between pages 16-22 of the publication. 

Both of my articles previously appeared in issues of Storyboard Memphis. “MaDear’s Scrapbook” was featured in the December 23, 2020 issue of Storyboard Memphis after being published first in the August 10, 2018 & December 18, 2020 issues of Chapter 16.   My article “Tracing My Black Roots In Old Whitehaven” was first featured in the August 11, 2023 issue of Storyboard Memphis. 

For those who live in the Memphis area, a few free print copies of MPL UNBOUND may still be available at 1 of the 18 branches of the Memphis Public Library. 

A digital copy of MPL UNBOUND can be found on the Memphis Library Foundation’s Website.  

“Mama Say She Had A Dream” by Lori D. Johnson won NELLE Literary Journal’s 2024 “Three Sisters Award” for creative nonfiction!!!

"Mama Say She Had A Dream" (which appears in NELLE issue #7 and won their 2024 "Three Sisters" award for creative nonfiction) is a blend of oral history and essay.  It opens with my grandmother's story about the death of her baby brother in the early 1900s.  My MaDear's story is one of several I culled and transcribed from the recorded kitchen conversations we had in 1989.

In 1995, I was able to publish a fictionalized version of the story in Obsidian II: Black Literature in Review, but I've longed to share the original story that MaDear told me--and in her own words.  I'm thrilled that after all of these years, NELLE Literary Journal has finally granted me that opportunity.

"Mama Say She Had A Dream" is also the first chapter of a larger unpublished body of work--MaDear's Memories (of Mart Road, Johnson Sub and More)--that pays homage to both my grandmother's unique story-telling abilities and our family's roots in Johnson Sub, the 48-acre Black farming community and Freedman's settlement in Memphis, Tennessee, where Ethel V. Johnson (aka MaDear) lived most of her life (1912-1999).

Mama Say She Had A Dream

by Lori D. Johnson

AN HONORABLE MENTION

The first chapter of my novel-in-progress BLOOD KIN received an honorable mention in the 2024 Chapter One Prize of the Gutsy Great Novelist Contest. The chapter was ONE of THE TOP 10 entries in a contest that had a total of 930 entries! 

If you’re interested in reading the complete first chapter of BLOOD KIN or any of the the other winners and/or honorable mentions in this year’s Gutsy Great Novelist contest, visit the link below. (You’ll find BLOOD KIN and my pic under honorable mentions).

2024 Chapter One Prize of the Gutsy Great Novelist Contest

My Family's History In "Old Whitehaven"

 Recently, I turned some of the research I've collected on my family's history into an article.  The article, "Tracing My Black Roots In Old Whitehaven" appears in the August 11, 2023 issue of StoryBoard Memphis.

The following are a few key points of "Tracing My Black Roots in Old Whitehaven."

--In 1989, I recorded my conversations with my 76-year old-grandmother about our family's history.  Among other things she shared with me--her family once lived and worked on "The McCorkle Place" which was then located in Whitehaven.

--Whitehaven is a community/residential aread located in the south-west section of Memphis, TN.  The McCorkles were one of Whitehaven's founding families.  The community's history wad documented in --TALES OF OLD WHITEHAVEN--a book written by Anna L. McCorkle in 1967.

Tales of Old Whitehaven
by Anna L. McCorkle

--One of the churches that served the Whitehaven community during the early days of its existence wad Edmondson Presbyterian Church.  In 1847, the congregation moved into a new building.  According to Anna L. McCorkle, "This building consisted of one room with a slave gallery in back.  There were twenty-five members, five of whom were colored."  

--Turns out, my grandmother's great grandmother (my 3rd great grandmother), an enslaved woman named Celia Plunkett (later Celia Plunkett Morgan) was one of the original five "colored" members of Edmondson Presbyterian Church.

--According to records compliled by David Ragland Davis in his publication EDMONDSON PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 1844-1931, Celia, described as a servant of Dr. Plunkett (John Desire Plunkett), was baptized in the church in 1854.

Edmondson Presbyterian Church 1844-1931
by David Ragland Davis

--So many odd coincidences and baffling events occured during the course of my "discovery" of Celia, I'm almost convinced SHE WANTED ME TO FIND HER . . .

--For additional details, checkout the article--"Tracing My Black Roots In Old Whitehaven"

WORDS & IMAGES . . . Hattie Mae's Harvest by Lori D. Johnson

 Sometimes mere words aren't enough.  After I finished writing "Hattie Mae's Harvest" an essay that appears in the most recent issue of Midnight and Indigo, I was inspired to create an accompanying collage.  It's been years since I've felt inspired to create something that falls within the realm of the fine arts.  I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm kind of rusty, but the feeling that I got while I was in the throes of putting it together was nothing short of WONDERFUL.  

The following is a snippet from the essay . . . 

An old black and white photograph of seven smiling Black women is one of my favorites.  I discovered it in 2017 on a visit with my now ninety-some-year-old Aunt Rubylene.  I don't know who took the picture; what year it might have been taken, or for what occasion.  Even though my Aunt Rubylene is in the photo, she blames her failing memory for her inability to offer any of the pertinent details.  My aunt has always been gracious and forthcoming with me, so I want to take her at her word.

You can read the rest of the work here . . . HATTIE MAE'S HARVEST.

And if you look closely at the artwork below,  you will notice that a couple of the photos described in the essay are featured in the collage.

Hattie Mae's Harvestby Lori D. Johnson

WORDS & IMAGES

 Sometimes mere words aren't enough.  After I finished writing "Hattie Mae's Harvest" an essay that appears in the most recent issue of Midnight and Indigo, I was inspired to create an accompanying collage.  It's been years since I've felt inspired to create something that falls within the realm of the fine arts.  I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm kind of rusty, but the feeling that I got while I was in the throes of putting it together was nothing short of WONDERFUL.  

The following is a snippet from the essay . . . 

An old black and white photograph of seven smiling Black women is one of my favorites.  I discovered it in 2017 on a visit with my now ninety-some-year-old Aunt Rubylene.  I don't know who took the picture; what year it might have been taken, or for what occasion.  Even though my Aunt Rubylene is in the photo, she blames her failing memory for her inability to offer any of the pertinent details.  My aunt has always been gracious and forthcoming with me, so I want to take her at her word.

You can read the rest of the work here . . . HATTIE MAE'S HARVEST.

And if you look closely at the artwork below,  you will notice that a couple of the photos described in the essay are featured in the collage.

Hattie Mae's Harvestby Lori D. Johnson

THE BROOKS AVENUE SCHOOL REUNION (August 28, 2022 / MEMPHIS, TN) & Lori D. Johnson's "Johnson Sub Research"

 

I'm still marveling that my research on the Johnson Sub community in Memphis, TN played a role in making this happen.  Wish I could have been there, but from all reports, the event was a smashing success!  The organizer, George R. Williams, Sr., gave a nice presentation at Riverside Missionary Baptist Church.  The folks at the National Civil Rights Museum were wonderful hosts and treated the Brooks Avenue School crew as honored guests.  According to my parents, the tour of the Rosenwald exhibit, the luncheon and the hospitality were all top-notch.

George R. Williams, Sr.

Brooks Avenue Reunion Organizer

Riverside Missionary Baptist Church

Brooks Avenue School Reunion

August 28, 2022

Brooks Avenue School Reunionat National Civil Rights Museum(August 28, 2022)

If you'd like to learn more about Brooks Avenue School and its designation as a Rosenwald School, as well as how a portion of my research on Johnson Sub contributed to the reunion, click on the link below for the  Commercial Appeal newspaper feature (dated Aug. 24, 2022) about the event.
"Celebrating The Impact of Rosenwald Schools"

THE BROOKS AVENUE SCHOOL REUNION (August 28, 2022 / MEMPHIS, TN)

 

I'm still marveling that my research on the Johnson Sub community in Memphis, TN played a role in making this happen.  Wish I could have been there, but from all reports, the event was a smashing success!  The organizer, George R. Williams, Sr., gave a nice presentation at Riverside Missionary Baptist Church.  The folks at the National Civil Rights Museum were wonderful hosts and treated the Brooks Avenue School crew as honored guests.  According to my parents, the tour of the Rosenwald exhibit, the luncheon and the hospitality were all top-notch.

George R. Williams, Sr.

Brooks Avenue Reunion Organizer

Riverside Missionary Baptist Church

Brooks Avenue School Reunion

August 28, 2022

Brooks Avenue School Reunionat National Civil Rights Museum(August 28, 2022)

If you'd like to learn more about Brooks Avenue School and its designation as a Rosenwald School, as well as how a portion of my research on Johnson Sub contributed to the reunion, click on the link below for the  Commercial Appeal newspaper feature (dated Aug. 24, 2022) about the event.
"Celebrating The Impact of Rosenwald Schools"