Publications
The first full length published book Richard Long published was 1975's Ascending and other Poems, a collection of poetry written by Long. The Majority of the poems were published between the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. His close friend and Editor of the Black World Magazine, Hoyt Fuller writes the introduction to the book. In Ascending, The style of the poems are loose with the majority not following the rhyme-based patterns that many associate with poetry. The themes of the poems vary greatly, some poems honor his friends while others Long is capturing ideas and everyday events in his life.
Published in 1985, Black Americana is the book helped Dr. Long's profile as scholar and cultural historian in grow. With this book's more apporachable writing style and use of strong visual aids, Black Americana (and Dr. Long himself) reached an audience outside academia. In Black Americana, Dr. Long walks the reader through the history, culture and influence that enslaved african (later Black Americans) had on the United States. Dr. Long breaks the book up in three chatpers: 1.From Slavery to Freedom 2. The Journey Foward 3. Black America Emerges. In each chapter, Dr. Long gives a detailed and interactive look at the history of Black Americans where he explores culture, politics, art, and education.
In Richard Long's third Book The Black Tradition in Black Dance(1989), He Explores the origins, meaning, influence, current status and potential future for black dance. Similar to the his previous book "Black Americana" Richard Long uses a more universal writing style with visuals aids to detail the history of black Dance in 5 Chapters: 1. Tradition Emerges 2. Theatre, Dance Hall, Concert Hall 3. The Expanding World of Dance 4. Seizing the Gauntlet 5. Decades of Achievement. Long dedicated this book to noted black woman choreographers Kathrine Dunham and Pearl Primus for their reshaping of the narrative of black dance in the early decades of the twentith century.
In his fourth book American Africans: A Portrait (1993), Richard Long once again looks at the whole of the Black American life. This book can be seen as continued edition of Long's Black Americana where long updates his reader on the current scope of the black American condition. In African Americans, Dr. Long details the impact of the Reagans 1980s as well as the future of Black Americans under the newly elected President Bill Clinton. Dr. Long's close friend Maya Angelou writes the introduction for this book where she urges the need for black youth to understand the importance of their history.
In Honoring his friends such as Alain Locke, Beauford Delaney, and Romare Bearden, Long explores the Harlem Renaissance for the first time in full length book. In Grown Deep: Essays on the Harlem Renaissance (1998), Long explores the Harlem Renaissance through 12 essays on the Harlem Renaissance. In those essays , Long looks at the how the effects such as Pan-Africanism, Dance, Jazz Music, World War One, Literature and the West Indian culture had an influence on the Harlem Renaissance.
One More Time: Harlem Renaissance History & Historicism (2006), is the second book Dr. Long published on the topic of the Harlem Renaissance. Similar to Grown Deep, Dr. Long continues to analyze essays that capture aspects of the Harlem Renaissance. The difference between from Grown Deep and One More Time, is that One More Time shifts it's focus on the historiography of the Harlem Renaissance. Because of this, One More Time is more concerned with how the Harlem Renaissance is remembered and studied, rather than the internal and external factors that shaped the Harlem Renaissance.
