January 1981
Events
- 1981bell hooks publishes Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism
hooks' first book, written while she was an undergraduate, challenged the white mainstream feminist movement's erasure of Black women and laid groundwork for intersectional analysis before the term was coined. Her subsequent 30-plus books made her the most widely read Black feminist thinker of the late twentieth century.
- 1981Luther Vandross Releases Debut Album 'Never Too Much'
Luther Vandross releases his debut solo album 'Never Too Much,' which reaches number one on the R&B charts and establishes him as the defining voice of contemporary soul music in the 1980s.
- 1981Grandmaster Flash Perfects and Demonstrates Turntable Techniques
Grandmaster Flash, already renowned in the Bronx for his cutting, backspinning, and punch-phrasing DJ techniques, achieves broader recognition as his crew Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five record 'Adventures on the Wheels of Steel' — considered the first great DJ showcase record.
- January 1981Toni Morrison Publishes Tar Baby
Toni Morrison's fourth novel, Tar Baby, is published and becomes an immediate bestseller, reaching number one on the New York Times bestseller list and cementing her status as a major American literary figure.
- January 1981Toni Morrison Publishes 'Tar Baby'
Toni Morrison publishes 'Tar Baby,' her fourth novel, which immediately reaches the New York Times bestseller list — a rare achievement for a Black literary author — and cements her position as one of America's foremost novelists.
- 1981August Wilson's 'Jitney' Receives First Production
August Wilson's play 'Jitney,' the first installment of his Pittsburgh Cycle chronicling Black American life decade by decade, receives its initial production at the Allegheny Repertory Theatre in Pittsburgh.
- c. 1981Black Churches Mobilize Voter Registration in Response to Reagan
Black churches across the South and urban North launch intensive voter registration drives in response to Ronald Reagan's election and his administration's civil rights rollbacks. Black church-based political mobilization lays the grassroots foundation for Jesse Jackson's 1984 presidential campaign.
- 1981Congressional Black Caucus Publishes Alternative Budget
The Congressional Black Caucus publishes its first alternative federal budget in response to the Reagan administration's fiscal year 1982 budget, proposing to protect social programs and challenge supply-side economics. The practice becomes an annual tradition establishing the CBC as a policy force.