Books

NNPA NEWSWIRE — “This hurts,” radio host and music journalist Errol Nazareth exclaimed on Twitter. “I worshipped his writing. His book, ‘Flyboy in The Buttermilk,’ hugely impacted how I approached writing about music. And ‘Everything but the Burden: What White People Are Taking from Black Culture’ is essential,” Nazareth wrote.

NNPA NEWSWIRE — A graduate of Grambling State University and holder of numerous degrees, Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq., the president of the Political Congress of Black Women said Dallas was one stop of many as she tours the country sharing the life lessons he instilled in her.

History, they say, repeats itself. Look back a few hundred years, and you can see corresponding events, world-wide and through time. Parallels are interesting to spot; some people might even take them as a warning, so that atrocities, inhumanities, and just plain...

Go left or go right? It seems that at every point in life, you need a decision: take a familiar street, or a route you rarely travel? A restaurant you frequent, or something new for dinner? Sometimes, the choices won't...

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Spurred in part by the success of general audience titles like, “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” by Lemony Snicket and “A Wrinkle in Time,” by Madeleline L’Engle (which was each produced as a film), the category also includes books by African American authors that explore themes familiar to Black teens. Following the relative success of the first part of his series for young adults, Hoover’s newest entry into the fray, "He Was My Hero, Too," shares many of the same themes.

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Chantél D. Harris's advocacy for women includes her support of the national initiative Whataboutourdaughters? The organization advances issues for daughters that are motherless, fatherless, homeless, forgotten, or hurting. Harris lost her mother at a young age and says, "After experiencing the loss of my mother and knowing the emptiness that can come from such a loss, Whataboutourdaughters? mission to help motherless daughters is a cause that is very close to my heart."

NNPA NEWSWIRE — “I’m fortunate that I had Black books in my home. It really shaped me and the ideas I want to put across. I always had a special connection to Langston Hughes and his poetry. I live in Harlem now not far from the Langston Hughes home.” Candace Hoyes also lists Sade, Anita Baker, and Billie Holiday among her inspirations.

NNPA NEWSWIRE — In the book, “Behind the Scenes or Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House,” Elizabeth Keckley, details her life as a slave who purchased her freedom and then worked in the White House for two U.S. first ladies – Mary Todd Lincoln, the wife of President Abraham Lincoln, and Varina Davis, the wife of President Jefferson Davis.

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Amber Pickens’ original illustrations honor nearly two dozen dance legends, including dancers and entertainers Alvin Ailey, Eartha Kitt, and Debbie Allen, whom she met as a fourth grader.

NEW TRI-STATE DEFENDER — Author Mia J. Davis recalled the incubator in which “The Adventures of Izzy” was born. “While our children were locked down in the midst of a global pandemic, we all watched with horror as George Floyd’s life was squeezed out of him by a policeman’s knee,” Davis said. “We want our children to know their history, and to be proud of the strides we have made as a people.” That’s where Izzy comes in.