These Black and Blue Red Zone Days Special Text Edition of Black & Blue Letters from the Red Zone
In the compelling stories, letters, and poems which comprise These BLACK AND BLUE RED ZONE DAYS, author and artist Aberjhani presents readers with portraits of what has it has meant to confront, and survive, different facets of the great pandemic of the 21st Century. Through observations which combine the intimacy of journal-writing with the objectivity of journalism and scholarly documentation, the celebrated creative explores how and why COVID-19 and its different variants have represented only one plague which America and the world are still battling. A pandemic of social, racial, and political imbalances and injustices--despite many wishing it otherwise--has proven just as deadly and costly. As a self-styled "Seeker of Beauty with Beauty," (borrowing from a quote by W.E.B. Du Bois), the author brings to life mesmerizing moments of recognition revealing the startling depths and vulnerabilities of our shared humanity. Readers experience as well instances of unexpected grace, such as when encountering two physically challenged people attempting to return home after venturing out on foot, and in a wheelchair, to find food during lockdown in Savannah, Georgia. There are acknowledgements of absurdities like simultaneously risking one's life to appear in court to argue the urgency, or non-urgency, of painting a back-yard shed. Letters to Homeless Friends of the Library, to his own 14-year-old self, and diverse public "essential" servants capture the sorrow of heartbreaking choices and the unexpected beauty of astonishing compassion. The digital painting by Aberjhani on the front cover of the book is titled "From the Weeping Time to the Weaving Time," and the artwork on back titled "Blue Miracle Nebula." Both demonstrate the author's creative strategy for utilizing cross-medium approaches to address factors impacting the human condition. If the peeled-back layers of the pandemic have magnified societal flaws and weaknesses in modern-day America and elsewhere, it is possible the pages of These Black and Blue Red Zone Days reveal clues to reserves of hope and potentials yet to be discovered. Or claimed.
Biography & AutobiographyPersonal MemoirsSocial Science
RELEASED2023
PUBLISHERBlack Skylark Singing
LENGTH222
LANGUAGEEN
A former editor for the U.S. Air Force and a native of Savannah, Georgia (USA), [Aberjhani][1] has authored and/or edited more than 2 dozen books and journals in multiple genres, including educational reference, biography, fantasy, mystery, poetry, history, literary reference, and memoir. He is a winner of the Thomas Jefferson Award for his journalism, the American Library Association Choice Academic Title and Best History Book Awards for his historical writings, the Creative Loafing Critic’s Pick Best Savannah Author Award for general authorship, and the Connect Savannah 2006 Poet and Spoken Word Artist of the Year Award for his poetry. In addition, he is an acclaimed visual artist whose works have been noted for their creative documentation of environmental, social, and spiritual concerns. The author is also the founder of the former [Creative Thinkers International][2] creative artists community and has served as a member of the [PEN American Center][3] and Academy of American Poets. In 2009, Aberjhani emerged as one of the pioneers of online [interpretive journalism][4]. In his position as the National African-American Art Examiner, he has logged informative and entertaining stories on such era-defining issues as: the case of Georgia death-row inmate Troy Anthony Davis; the life and death of Michael Jackson; the presidency of Barack Obama; and the legacy of Nelson Mandela. He introduced the social criticism concept of Guerrilla Decontextualization in 2010 and initiated the 100th Anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance initiative in 2011. In 2014 he joined the ranks of members on the [LinkedIn][5] website invited to publish a blog on the popular platform. His books, five of which have Kindle editions, include Democratic Dilemmas and Divine Inspiration (2025), These Black and Blue Red Zone Days (2023), Greeting Flannery O'Connor at the Back Door of My Mind (2020), Dreams of the Immortal City Savannah (2019), [Songs from the Black Skylark zPed Music Player][6] (2016), *Journey through the Power of the Rainbow: Quotations from a Life Made Out of Poetry* (2014); *The River of Winged Dreams* (2010, Bright Skylark Literary Productions); *ELEMENTAL, The Power of Illuminated Love* (2008, with artist Luther E. Vann); *The American Poet Who Went Home Again* (2008); *The Bridge of Silver Wings 2009*; *Christmas When Music Almost Killed the World* (2007/2008); *Visions of a Skylark Dressed in Black* (2012); *Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance* (2003, Facts On File), which won the New Jersey Notable Book Award; *The Wisdom of W.E.B. Du Bois* (2003, Kensington Books);and *I Made My Boy Out of Poetry* (1997, Washington Publications/iUniverse). He has also edited a number of titles for both independent authors and academic institutions such as Mountain State University. Most recently he served as editor for [Savannah: Immortal City][7], and [Savannah: Brokers, Bankers, and Bay Lane - Inside the Slave Trade][8], the first 2 published volumes in the Civil War Savannah Series by Barry Sheehy, Cindy Wallace, and Vaughnette Goode-Walker. *ESSENCE Magazine* listed his *Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance* among its “recommended gift items” and *Black Issues Book Review* listed it among their “Recommended Titles for the Home Library.” Grits.com selected his *ELEMENTAL* gift book of art and poetry as one the featured recommended titles for its online book club. * * * * * [1]: https://www.author-poet-aberjhani.info/ [3]: https://www.pen.org/aberjhani [4]: https://aberjhaniauthorpoet.contently.com/ [5]: http://www.linkedin.com/in/aberjhani [6]: https://openlibrary.org/books/OL25892104M/Songs_from_the_Black_Skylark_zPed_Music_Player [7]: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL15597590W/Savannah [8]: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL16533264W/Savannah
These Black and Blue Red Zone Days Special Text Edition of Black & Blue Letters from the Red Zone
In the compelling stories, letters, and poems which comprise These BLACK AND BLUE RED ZONE DAYS, author and artist Aberjhani presents readers with portraits of what has it has meant to confront, and survive, different facets of the great pandemic of the 21st Century. Through observations which combine the intimacy of journal-writing with the objectivity of journalism and scholarly documentation, the celebrated creative explores how and why COVID-19 and its different variants have represented only one plague which America and the world are still battling. A pandemic of social, racial, and political imbalances and injustices--despite many wishing it otherwise--has proven just as deadly and costly. As a self-styled "Seeker of Beauty with Beauty," (borrowing from a quote by W.E.B. Du Bois), the author brings to life mesmerizing moments of recognition revealing the startling depths and vulnerabilities of our shared humanity. Readers experience as well instances of unexpected grace, such as when encountering two physically challenged people attempting to return home after venturing out on foot, and in a wheelchair, to find food during lockdown in Savannah, Georgia. There are acknowledgements of absurdities like simultaneously risking one's life to appear in court to argue the urgency, or non-urgency, of painting a back-yard shed. Letters to Homeless Friends of the Library, to his own 14-year-old self, and diverse public "essential" servants capture the sorrow of heartbreaking choices and the unexpected beauty of astonishing compassion. The digital painting by Aberjhani on the front cover of the book is titled "From the Weeping Time to the Weaving Time," and the artwork on back titled "Blue Miracle Nebula." Both demonstrate the author's creative strategy for utilizing cross-medium approaches to address factors impacting the human condition. If the peeled-back layers of the pandemic have magnified societal flaws and weaknesses in modern-day America and elsewhere, it is possible the pages of These Black and Blue Red Zone Days reveal clues to reserves of hope and potentials yet to be discovered. Or claimed.
Biography & AutobiographyPersonal MemoirsSocial Science
RELEASED2023
PUBLISHERBlack Skylark Singing
LENGTH222
LANGUAGEEN
A former editor for the U.S. Air Force and a native of Savannah, Georgia (USA), [Aberjhani][1] has authored and/or edited more than 2 dozen books and journals in multiple genres, including educational reference, biography, fantasy, mystery, poetry, history, literary reference, and memoir. He is a winner of the Thomas Jefferson Award for his journalism, the American Library Association Choice Academic Title and Best History Book Awards for his historical writings, the Creative Loafing Critic’s Pick Best Savannah Author Award for general authorship, and the Connect Savannah 2006 Poet and Spoken Word Artist of the Year Award for his poetry. In addition, he is an acclaimed visual artist whose works have been noted for their creative documentation of environmental, social, and spiritual concerns. The author is also the founder of the former [Creative Thinkers International][2] creative artists community and has served as a member of the [PEN American Center][3] and Academy of American Poets. In 2009, Aberjhani emerged as one of the pioneers of online [interpretive journalism][4]. In his position as the National African-American Art Examiner, he has logged informative and entertaining stories on such era-defining issues as: the case of Georgia death-row inmate Troy Anthony Davis; the life and death of Michael Jackson; the presidency of Barack Obama; and the legacy of Nelson Mandela. He introduced the social criticism concept of Guerrilla Decontextualization in 2010 and initiated the 100th Anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance initiative in 2011. In 2014 he joined the ranks of members on the [LinkedIn][5] website invited to publish a blog on the popular platform. His books, five of which have Kindle editions, include Democratic Dilemmas and Divine Inspiration (2025), These Black and Blue Red Zone Days (2023), Greeting Flannery O'Connor at the Back Door of My Mind (2020), Dreams of the Immortal City Savannah (2019), [Songs from the Black Skylark zPed Music Player][6] (2016), *Journey through the Power of the Rainbow: Quotations from a Life Made Out of Poetry* (2014); *The River of Winged Dreams* (2010, Bright Skylark Literary Productions); *ELEMENTAL, The Power of Illuminated Love* (2008, with artist Luther E. Vann); *The American Poet Who Went Home Again* (2008); *The Bridge of Silver Wings 2009*; *Christmas When Music Almost Killed the World* (2007/2008); *Visions of a Skylark Dressed in Black* (2012); *Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance* (2003, Facts On File), which won the New Jersey Notable Book Award; *The Wisdom of W.E.B. Du Bois* (2003, Kensington Books);and *I Made My Boy Out of Poetry* (1997, Washington Publications/iUniverse). He has also edited a number of titles for both independent authors and academic institutions such as Mountain State University. Most recently he served as editor for [Savannah: Immortal City][7], and [Savannah: Brokers, Bankers, and Bay Lane - Inside the Slave Trade][8], the first 2 published volumes in the Civil War Savannah Series by Barry Sheehy, Cindy Wallace, and Vaughnette Goode-Walker. *ESSENCE Magazine* listed his *Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance* among its “recommended gift items” and *Black Issues Book Review* listed it among their “Recommended Titles for the Home Library.” Grits.com selected his *ELEMENTAL* gift book of art and poetry as one the featured recommended titles for its online book club. * * * * * [1]: https://www.author-poet-aberjhani.info/ [3]: https://www.pen.org/aberjhani [4]: https://aberjhaniauthorpoet.contently.com/ [5]: http://www.linkedin.com/in/aberjhani [6]: https://openlibrary.org/books/OL25892104M/Songs_from_the_Black_Skylark_zPed_Music_Player [7]: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL15597590W/Savannah [8]: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL16533264W/Savannah
