Godmother's Price, How Zora Neale Hurston Taught Me About the Sacrificial Bargain

The General's Briefing · Apr 15, 2026 · 22m

A few weeks ago, I received an email that changed everything. The subject line read: "Oxford Handbook of the Harlem Renaissance - Chapter Acceptance."

I had to read it three times before I believed it. My chapter, "Godmother's Price: Zora Neale Hurston and the Sacrificial Bargain of Patronage"—had been accepted to the Oxford Handbook of the Harlem Renaissance, published by Oxford University Press.

Out of an overwhelming number of submissions, my work was selected. I am now a published Oxford scholar. And I'm in my first year of my PhD program at Clark Atlanta University.

But this episode is…