by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)
The Pulitzer Prize winners for 2021 were announced today. Notable among them were Katori Hall for Drama for The Hot Wing King, Les Payne and Tamara Payne for Biography for The Dead Are Rising: The Life of Malcolm X,
Pulitzer gave its 2021 Special Citation Award to Darnella Frazier, the young woman who recorded the murder of George Floyd on her phone, a video that spurred protests against police brutality around the world, highlighting the crucial role of citizens in journalists’ quest for truth and justice. Past recipients in the special citation category include investigative journalist Ida B. Wells and Aretha Franklin.
Mitchell S. Jackson’s winning essay from June 2020, Twelve Minutes and a Life, offered a deeply affecting account of the killing of Ahmaud Arbery that combined vivid writing, thorough reporting and personal experience to shed light on systemic racism in America.
A formerly incarcerated person, Jackson is also a social justice advocate who engages in outreach in prisons and youth facilities in the United States and abroad.
Georgetown University professor Marcia Chatelain’s Franchise offers a nuanced account of the complicated role the fast-food industry plays in African-American communities, a portrait of race and capitalism that masterfully illustrates how the fight for civil rights has been intertwined with the fate of Black businesses.
Hall’s Hot Wing King is a deeply felt consideration of Black masculinity and how it is perceived, filtered through the experiences of a loving gay couple and their extended family as they prepare for a culinary competition.
Tania Leon’s Stride premiered at David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center, New York City on February 13, 2020, a musical journey full of surprise, with powerful brass and rhythmic motifs that incorporate Black music traditions from the US and the Caribbean into a Western orchestral fabric.
To see the complete list of 2021 Pulitzer Prize recipients and more details about them, click here.
[Photo collage: top l-r are Darnella Frazier, Wesley Morris, Tania León; bottom l-r are Katori Hall, Michael Paul Williams, Marcia Chatelain via pulitzer.org]
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