Scholar. Activist. Critic. Curator.
About Salamishah Tillet
Salamishah received the Pulitzer Prize for criticism for her work at The New York Times Magazine for columns examining race, genre, and Black perspectives as the arts and entertainment world responded to the Black Lives Matter moment with new works. She is also the author of In Search of The Color Purple: The Story of an American Masterpiece, and currently working on a book on the civil rights icon, Nina Simone. She is currently a Distinguished Professor of Africana Studies and Creative Writing at Rutgers University–Newark and Contributing Critic-at-Large at the New York Times. In 2003, she and her sister Scheherazade Tillet founded the arts organization A Long Walk Home.
In Search of the Color Purple
Mixing cultural criticism, literary history, biography, and memoir, this is an exploration of the making and meaning Alice Walker’s critically acclaimed and controversial novel, The Color Purple and features interviews with Walker, Oprah Winfrey, and Quincy Jones and many others whose lives were so changed by the novel that they adapted to the big screen or Broadway stage, ensuring its reach new audiences for years to come.
In Search of The Color Purple delivers extraordinary insight into both the love and the struggle that made Ms. Walker’s exquisitely crafted novel a masterpiece. After reading Salamishah Tillet’s poignant book, neither readers nor writers will forget that it takes courage and audacity to write a novel that tells the reality of women’s lives.” -- Anita Hill, University Professor, Brandeis University
How Rihanna and Revenge Plots Inspired a Playwright to Turn Director
Aleshea Harris won acclaim for her drama “Is God Is.” When it came time for a film adaptation, she saw cinematic possibilities far beyond her play.
New Arts
Wards of Newark: Manuel Acevedo is a citywide public art exhibition featuring black-and-white photographs of Newark, taken from 1982 to 1987, by the multidisciplinary artist and Newark native Manuel Acevedo. Curated by Salamishah Tillet, Director of New Arts at Rutgers University—Newark, “Wards of Newark” is located across the five wards, West, South, Central, North, and East, and offers a new map of the city’s past vitality and current diversity.
Hosted as a partnership between Rutgers University—Newark and the City of Newark, “Wards of Newark” features large-scale billboards and murals at key sites in the city:
West Ward: Former Pabst Blue Ribbon Brewery, 588 South Orange Ave
South Ward: Soundstage Park, 450 Clinton Ave
Central Ward: Rutgers University/Halsey Street, 5 Linden Street
North Ward: Essex County Branch Brook Park (Near the Roller Skating Rink)
East Ward: Riverfront Park, 871 Raymond Blvd
A Long Walk Home
How do we build a monument that commemorates Rekia Boyd's legacy and celebrates Black girlhood?
A Long Walk Home (ALWH) is proud to announce The Rekia Boyd Monument Project, a groundbreaking public art initiative that will culminate in a monument honoring Rekia Boyd and celebrating Black girlhood in Douglass Park, located in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood.
Founded by Salamishah Tillet and Scheherazade Tillet, A Long Walk Home is a national organization in Chicago that uses art to empower young people and end violence against women and girls.
America 250: A History in Song
In this 250th anniversary year of the United States, pianist Lara Downes is traveling the country collecting conversations with scholars, searching for our history through songs. Her latest is in Tryon, N.C. to talk with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Salamishah Tillet about the revered artist who is the subject of her upcoming book.