The 6th Sense Of Quality: James B. Golden

Joshua Thompson, Senses Lifestyle Magazine, December 2012

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It was an honor to share time with in my view one of the finest and sharp, sophisticated minds to ever set foot on the campus of California State University, Northridge; James B. Golden. I met him following a celebratory gala in honor of another year of cultural progress and education for the Pan-African Studies department at Cal State Northridge. Sitting in my seat, I along with student leaders and alumni gave deference to this extraordinary writer as he shared his stories of personal development, success, and his views on Black culture in the media through his poetic excerpts. His vernacular and prose is a rare find, he speaks truth to power and that power into contemporary issues and music.

 

A native of Salinas, California, James B. Golden is a poet, intellectual, and literary musician that is known throughout the literary and music world. He is the author of three books: Sweet Potato Pie Underneath The Sun’s Broiler (2009), Afro Clouds & Nappy Rain (2011), and his newest work; The Inside Of An Orange (2012) Mr. Golden received the 2012 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Poetry, for Afro Clouds & Nappy Rain. As an emerging student and writer he developed his skills earning earning his M.P.A. and a B.A. in English-Creative Writing, and Pan African Studies Arts & Literature from California State University, Northridge.

 

For the past decade, he has received notoriety for his writings in publications sch as VIBE, Los Angeles Our Weekly, Clutch Magazine, and Jazz Times Magazine. He is also an accredited editor over several academic journals including the CSUN Pan-African Studies Kapu-Sens Literary Journal and the National Hip Hop Think Tank. Golden has been invited around the nation to speak at various conferences on Hip Hop, Gender Relations, Black-Male-Feminism, and Cultural Medias. I sat down with him to discuss his third bookThe Inside of An Orange and his upcoming promotional tour.

 

Tell me briefly about your learning experiences as a young poet at CSUN?

 

“The English and Pan-African Studies duality through my majors really helped me. Familiarizing myself with the voices of the formal poets and the Black poets. It was great for getting a dual understanding of Black poets and their writings at large.”......