Saint James, Synthia (1949– )
Born in Los Angeles, California, self-taught artist
Synthia Saint James, who sold her first commis-
sioned painting at age 19, is today recognized in-
ternationally as a major African-American artist.
In addition to being the first African American to
be commissioned to design a holiday stamp, the
Kwanzaa stamp, by the U.S. Postal Service, Saint
James is also an illustrator of children’s books, an
author, and a songwriter. She has been commis-
sioned to provide original artwork by Ontario
International Airport, Coca-Cola USA, the Girl
Scouts of the USA, and ESSENCE magazine, among
many others. Her work has decorated the covers
of more than 50 books, including works by Iyanla
Vanzant, Julia Boyd, ALICE WALKER, and TERRY
MCMILLAN.
Although Saint James has published original
collections of her prose and poetry, Girlfriends
(1997) and Can I Touch You: Love Poems and Affir-
mations (1997), she is best known for the 13 chil-
dren’s books she has written or illustrated. Among
her best-known illustrated works are Tukama Toot-
les the Flute (1994); Snow on Snow on Snow (1994);
How Mr. Monkey Saw the Whole World (1996);
Neeny Coming... Neeny Going (1996); Greetings,
Sun (1998); No Mirrors in My Nana’s House (1998);
Girls Together (1999); written by SHERLEY ANNE
WILLIAMS; To Dinner, To Dinner (2000); Hallelu-
jah: A Christmas Celebration (2000); and Enduring
Wisdom (2002), her first Native American book.
Her best-known single-authored children’s works
are The Gifts of Kwanzaa (1995), Sunday (1996),
and It’s Kwanzaa Time (2001). Saint James is often
praised for her solid blocks of color and for her
success in introducing the concepts of Kwanzaa to
young readers.
Saint James, whom MAYA ANGELOU has lauded
for her “heart and art,” is the recipient of several
major awards and honors, including the Coretta
Scott King Honor Award for Illustration, an Op-
penheim Gold Award, a National Parenting Pub-
lications Gold Award, a Parent’s Choice Silver
Honor, and the History Maker Award.
Michael Alain Fikes-SamuelsSalaam, Kalamu ya (1947– )
A poet, fiction writer, dramatist, activist, essayist,
music and literary critic, journalist, and producer,
Kalamu ya Salaam is a dynamic cultural worker
whose literary art addresses politics, love, music,
and the wide spectrum of black life and history
in general. His abilities to blend various expres-
sive forms and work in several mediums allow
him to create multifaceted artistic productions.
Kalamu ya Salaam was born Vallery Ferdinand III
on March 24, 1947, in New Orleans, Louisiana. He
attended Carleton College in Minnesota, South-
ern University in Louisiana, and Delgado Junior
College and served in the U.S. Army from 1965
to 1968.
During the late 1960s, Salaam became active in
a number of community-based political and cul-
tural organizations, including the World Black and
African Festival of Arts and Culture, Free South-
ern Theater (which changed its name to BLKART-
SOUTH in 1969), and Ahidiana (a Pan-African
Nationalist Organization). He was a founding
editor of the Black Collegian and worked for the
publication from its inception in 1970 until 1983.
Salaam was also an active participant in the BLACK
ARTS MOVEMENT of the 1960s and 1970s, his writ-
ings appearing in several publications associated
with the movement. Over the years, Salaam has
organized cultural events and artistic productions
and collaborated with veteran writers. In addition,
he has led writers’ workshops and is the founder
of the NOMMO literary society, serving as a men-
tor to developing writers.
Although Salaam traveled extensively over the
course of his career, the South has remained his
main base of operation. In an exhaustive bibliog-
raphy of Salaam’s publications, literary critic Jerry
Ward wrote, “The breadth of his work marks him
as the most prolific African-American writer and
thinker of his generation in the South” (106). Sa-
laam’s writings address a range of issues, includ-
ing family, interpersonal relationships, music, the
South, African-American liberation, history, and
black culture in general. Salaam’s literary art con-
sistently addresses what he envisions as social and
political imperatives for black people. As he once444 Saint James, Synthia