As the official publication of the Division on Black American Literature and Culture of the Modern Language Association, the quarterly journal African American Review promotes a lively exchange among writers and scholars in the arts, humanities, and social sciences who hold diverse perspectives on African American literature and culture.

Between 1967 and 1976, the journal appeared under the title Negro American Literature Forum and for the next fifteen years was titled Black American Literature Forum. In 1992, African American Review changed its name for a third time and expanded its mission to include the study of a broader array of cultural formations. Currently, the journal prints essays on African American literature, theatre, film, the visual arts, and culture generally; interviews; poetry; fiction; and book reviews.

AAR has received the CELJ Award for Best Special Issue, the CELJ Award for Distinguished Editor, and three American Literary Magazine Awards for Editorial Content; and grants from the National Endowment for Arts, the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses.

Contributors include renowned scholars such as Houston A. Baker, Jr., Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Trudier Harris, Arnold Rampersad, and Hortense Spillers and prominent writers such as Amiri Baraka, Gwendolyn Brooks, Rita Dove, Charles Johnson, Toni Morrison, and Ishmael Reed. A recent reviewer remarked that "what makes AAR stand out isn't race but heritage. Its rich mixture of texture and tone is a welcome antidote to the cultural amnesia that prevails in [many] magazines. . . ."