J. J. Phillips facts for kids

Jane J. Phillips (born April 2, 1944), known as J. J. Phillips, is an African-American poet, novelist, and civil rights activist. Her most famous book is the novel Mojo Hand. It was first published in 1966. The story is about a young woman from San Francisco, California. She hears a record by a blues musician named Blacksnake Brown. She then searches for him. Their relationship becomes very sad.

About J. J. Phillips

J. J. Phillips grew up in Los Angeles, California. She came from a family that believed in progress and equal rights. Her mother was a school teacher for 60 years. Her father was Pasadena's first African-American lawyer. He also developed real estate. Phillips has said her family was very much like white families. They did not believe in God and looked and spoke like white people.

Early Life and Activism

Phillips studied at Immaculate Heart College. In 1962, as a freshman, she became interested in black roots music. She traveled to Raleigh, North Carolina, to join the civil rights movement. She worked on a voter-registration campaign. This was for the National Student Association. Later, she joined a Congress of Racial Equality sit-in. This happened at a Howard Johnson's restaurant. She was arrested there. She spent 30 days in jail. After that, she returned to California.

Inspiration for Mojo Hand

Phillips read a book called The Country Blues by Samuel Charters. She then listened to the music of Lightnin' Hopkins. She decided she wanted to meet him. She went with a roommate to Houston, Texas, to hear him play. She was asked to leave Immaculate Heart College in January 1963. She remembered feeling very upset. She wanted to be in school, but the nuns did not want her there.

Soon after, she thought of writing a book. It would combine her interest in Lightnin' Hopkins. It would also include her love for snakes, especially blacksnakes. This snake became the first name of the blues singer in Mojo Hand.

About Her First Novel

Her first novel, Mojo Hand, came out in 1966. It was reprinted 20 years later. The new version was called Mojo Hand: An Orphic Tale. It had parts about the Greek myth of Orpheus that were cut from the first book. People have called the book a "blues lament in literary form." This means it is like a sad blues song in book form.

A reviewer for the Los Angeles Times wrote about the book in 1986. They said Mojo Hand showed lessons from many recent black women's books. In this story, the women keep things together. They often connect funny and beautiful moments. This creates a daily life that is at least okay. The reviewer said Phillips' novel is true to its African and Greek roots. It shows the strange links between music and magic. The unclear right and wrong parts of these links are shown well in the book. An excerpt from Mojo Hand was in Margaret Busby's book Daughters of Africa. This was published in the 1990s. In 2015, Nat Hentoff called the novel "the most neglected book I know of."

What Influenced J. J. Phillips

Alan Govenar interviewed Phillips for his 2010 book. The book was called Lightnin' Hopkins: His Life and Blues. In it, he talks about the wrong idea that Mojo Hand is just Phillips' own life story. Phillips spoke about how Mojo Hand started. She wanted to tell a story about someone's journey. It was about moving from a world where race didn't matter to a world where it did. This was happening to her.

She realized that her own bluesy journey was perfect for this. She developed this idea after seeing the film Black Orpheus many times. This film led her to Lightnin' Hopkins. The movie is a version of the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. It is set in the black neighborhoods of Rio during Mardi Gras. Classical myths and the study of reptiles were two things she had always loved. She was also influenced by existentialist writers. These writers explored ideas about freedom and meaning in life. She also liked "outlaw writers" like Henry Miller and Genet. She was drawn to characters who were not typical heroes.

J. J. Phillips' Family Papers

J. J. Phillips' personal papers are kept at Emory University.

Awards and Recognition

• 2008 American Book Award, Lifetime Achievement

Her Published Works

Novels

• Mojo Hand (1966)
• Revised as Mojo Hand: An Orphic Tale (City Miner Books, 1985; Serpent's Tail, 1987; New York Review Books, 2025).

Poems

• "Brautigan’s Brains" (2002). Later published online in Exquisite Corpse.
• "Lines Gleaned from the ŠÀ.ZI.GA", Exquisite Corpse.
• "Three Poems to the Eternal Beloved", Exquisite Corpse.
• "Throat Song: A Threnody for Ibrahim Qashoush", Exquisite Corpse.

Other Works

• Editor and introduction to The Before Columbus Foundation Poetry Anthology: Selections from the American Book Awards, 1980-1990 (W. W. Norton & Company, 1992, ISBN: 978-0-393-30833-4).