May/June's celebrations, gatherings and observances.

While hip-hop culture continues to be a magnet for controversy, it's hard to deny that hip-hop lyrics at their best can be sharply observant, witty and even wise. And that's how I'd characterize the work of Kanye West. From the profound reverence of "Jesus Walks" to the teasing, self-mocking cheek of "Golddigger," West's rap narratives, with their incisive one-liners, contemplate both the sacred and profane in a wholly fresh way. And that's art.

Yes, he has freely used the dreaded N-word, but never in any way that shows contempt or self-hatred. Nor does his work grant anyone permission to use the crudest vernacular to put down our people--and especially not women. Where do Kanye West's values and abilities to handle subtleties and fine distinctions in language come from?

Black Issues Book Review greeted the publication of Raising Kanye: Life Lessons From the Mother of a Hip-Hop Superstar by Donda West as an opportunity to explore the very best uses of hip-hop as black cultural expression--to entertain, to inform, to tell our stories in ways that inspire positive action, even to educate. The recently retired head of Chicago State University's English department, Dr. Donda West has mastered this terrain by virtue of her experience as an educator and scholar. We asked a similarly credentialed hip-hop mom, Dr. Brenda M. Greene, the mother of Talib Kweli, and a long-time English professor and scholar herself, to interview Dr. West. And for a related special report, we sent our News Editor Felicia Pride into urban classrooms where hip-hop expression has been incorporated into the curriculum in ways that engage students in refining their reading and writing skills.

Tapping into this hip-hop mom network of educators is also our unique way of observing Mother's Day. But we have so much more to celebrate in this May/June 2007 issue: The end of May also marks the annual publishing industry trade show known as BookExpo America, and May 31 in particular is dedicated to the annual African American Publishing Professionals seminars organized by book retailing veteran Clara Villarosa (who has worked with BIBR for the past year as director of new business development). This is also the fourth year black publishers are joining together to form the African American Pavilion on the BEA convention floor at New York City's Jacob Javits Convention Center. And we invite everyone attending BEA through June 3 to come visit BIBR at Booth No. 227.

June is also Caribbean Heritage Month, so we explore how Caribbean women writers are enhancing the Caribbean literary canon in companion essays by BIBR Managing Editor Clarence V. Reynolds and award-winning journalist Kenneth ]. Cooper. We have a special RHYTHM & BOOKS column to observe Black Music Month, and an OUT column expanding the landscape of black pride through June's LGBT Pride Month.

Finally, we celebrate the life and work of the late author Janet McDonald in a TRIBUTE essay "Make Some Noise for the Project Girl" by Retha Powers. I also must sadly acknowledge the passing of a member of the BIBR extended family, Judy Dothard Simmons, who died on May 6 of congestive heart failure in her hometown of Anniston, Alabama. A poet, radio personality and longtime magazine journalist, Judy was a frequent contributor to BIBR in its early years. Many of her East Coast colleagues and friends are gathering on June 22 at 7 P.M. for a memorial service at St. John's Episcopal Church in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

We invite readers to join us later this summer for a much happier occasion on August 24-25, 2007, when Black Issues Book Review presents the National Book Club Conference--Chicago. Check our Web site bibookreview.com for the exciting author lineup and registration information. Meanwhile, Happy Father's Day!

Susan McHenry

BIBR Editorial Director