"Sister Josepha", "Titee", "Tony's Wife" and "By the Bayou St. John" by Alice Dunbar Nelson

It's February, and all month long, we bring you African American authors in honor of Black History month. Our first author is Alice Dunbar Nelson, born Alice Ruth Moore. Moore was the daughter of an African American seamstress and former slave, and a white seaman. Her parents were middle-class people of color and part of the traditional multiracial Creole community in New Orleans. She recalls the isolation felt as a child, and the sensation of not belonging to or being accepted by either race. Both black and white individuals rejected her for being "too white."  Much of Dunbar-Nelson's writing was rejected because she wrote about the color line, oppression, and themes of racism. Few mainstream publications would publish her writing because it was not marketable. She was able to publish her writing, however, when the themes of racism and oppression were more subtle. I hope you enjoy these 4 short stories by Alice Dunbar Nelson.