Yvonne McBride
Storyteller
About
Yvonne McBride is a literary artist, freelance writer, and oral historian based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Her work explores the identity, culture, and collective memories of African American communities in her hometown and those of the diaspora & has recently appeared in Essence, The Fire Inside II: Collected Stories & Poems from Zora's Den,
and The Future of Black: Afrofuturism, Black Comics, & Superhero Poetry.
An awardee of The Pittsburgh Foundation's Inaugural Exposure Artists Program, McBride has also received fellowships and support from the Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh fund, MacDowell, The Martha's Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing, Hurston/Wright Foundation, Callaloo, Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation, and Sewanee writing communities.
Fever
Wearing an ordinary long-sleeved black dress and her hair done up in Victory rolls like his little sisters back home, she didn’t look much like a witch. Nor a root or gypsy woman or any of the other things he’d heard people call her. They said she and Jim Grays were hot and heavy a few months back. That the two of them were seen arguing in outside of Kelly’s Stable one night. Said Grays woke up two days later and couldn’t play his guitar. Couldn’t remember a tune or play one. Then he was gone. No one had seen high nor hell of him since.
You've Heard of Harlem and NOLA's Legendary Jazz Scenes - but Don't Forget About Pittsburgh
When most people think about the history of jazz, images of a young Louis Armstrong blowing his cornet through the Storyville streets of New Orleans spring to mind, or maybe they imagine sitting in the Apollo audience being serenaded by Billie Holiday’s melancholy rendition of “Fine and Mellow.” But there’s a city often left out of this conversation. A city that played a major part in building the jazz landscape of America. A city so full of talented musicians that they fell from the sky like fallen stars.
Beyond Urban Renewal: Fighting for the Future of the Hill District
There’s a spirit of resilience that runs through the streets of the Hill District. A hardness that outsiders shy away from but residents embrace. An undeniable mask of determination that don our elders faces from decades of being overlooked and fighting back. One need only glance at the images in Teenie Harris Photographs: Civil Rights Perspectives to understand the magnitude of this grit.
"Anyway, the force from somewhere in space which commands you to write in the first place, gives you no choice. You take up the pen when you are told, and write what is commanded. There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside you."
~ Zora Neale Hurston
Lit Life Travel Stories
I Got Your Black Is Exposing Travelers To Afro-Indigenous Mexico
There’s a coastal region in Mexico that you’ve probably never heard of called La Costa Chica. It’s the bedrock of small towns like Puerto Escondido, Chacahua, and Cuajinicuilapa, scattered between Oaxaca and Guerrero. Home to communities dripping with traditions rooted in African-Indigenous culture.
You won’t find these towns listed on any mainstream “top ten tourist” lists, but if you’re someone who’s interested in exploring parts of Mexico that are rarely seen, or if you prefer making cultural connections while trapsing these travel streets, then consider joining I Got Your Black for “an immersive, local led, and intentional travel experience through Afro-Indigenous Mexico,” says Diva Green, CEO and founder of the budding travel community. “Our goal is to use travel as a medium to connect the African diaspora worldwide.”