Arnold Rampersad

Rampersad is the author of Ralph Ellison: A Biography.  Jabari Asim of the The Washington Post says; "As Arnold Rampersad astutely observes in this fascinating, revelatory biography, Ellison's writings took careful note of his fellow blacks' creation of "certain bulwarks against chaos, including religion, folklore, stable families, and a canny knowledge of Jim Crow."

Rampersad has written for The New York Times Book Review, The New Republic, and The Washington Post, and is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society. He lives in Stanford, California.
 

Nicole Blades

Blades was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec. And ever since childhood, she has been creating stories. After graduating from York University in Toronto, Ontario, in 1994, Nicole moved to New York and launched her journalism career at Essence magazine. She went on to co-found online women's magazine SheNetworks, and later became an editor at ESPN.com. Her debut novel, Earth's Waters, was published this spring. Currently a Contributing Writer for ESPN the Magazine, her work has also appeared in Heart & Soul, Time Out New York and American Legacy. Nicole is working on her second novel. 
 

Nathanial Portis
http://aalbc.com/authors/nathanial_portis.htm

Receiving great reviews, Nathanial Portis feature Novel, Things In Between, was released in February of 2005 and will be re-released in July of 2007. His much awaited, second novel, Married To a Married Man was released April 2007 and is receiving rave reviews.  Nathanial Portis is quickly becoming the talk of the literary industry and has been featured and interviewed on some of the hottest on line reading groups including: Black men in America, Romance Readers, Rawsistaz Reviewers; just to name a few.
 

Frankie Lennon
http://aalbc.com/authors/frankie_lennon.htm

Frankie Lennon is author of The Mee St. Chronicles: Straight Up Stories of a Black Woman's Life; an extraordinarily candid memoir of Frankie Lennon's battle to claim her own life and sexual identity. Beginning with vivid stories of growing up in segregated Knoxville, Tennessee of the 1950's, we are propelled into her struggle to find freedom from the many prisons and conflicts that bind her. From Jim Crow segregation, to her hidden same sex attraction, to her eventual battle with alcoholism, we witness her turbulent life journey through page-turning stories that speak truth, no matter what, to everyone.  An �out� Lesbian of color, she currently teaches English composition and literature, and socio-cultural issues for Sociology at Mount St. Mary's College in Los Angeles at and at Los Angeles Trade Technical Community College. Several professors at both colleges have adopted her first book as a part of their required course work.
 

What a joy to hear the words "'Daddy!'" each day when I arrive home from work.  What a blessed privilege to know that my Heavenly Father entrusts me to raise three healthy sons in the midst of this dying world!  What an honor to be a "'role model'" to young sons that will soon transition into young men.  It is my behavior, lifestyle, mannerisms, and habits that they will emulate.  It is my responsibility to train them in this present time in order that they clearly understand their God-ordained roles as husbands and fathers in the very near future.  What a joy, what a responsibility, what an honor!!

Audio Books For Children by Gwendolyn E. Osborne
http://books.aalbc.com/audiobooks_for_children.htm

June is Black Music Month. It is also Audio Book Month. There is a wealth of read-along books on cassette or CD that introduce children to the richness of the African-American musical heritage.

The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Terror Bred In America by Moses Miller

"I have a couple of memories of Sha. In high school, I remember having to drop off a note for my teacher to one of their co-workers that taught the Special Ed group. What I�ll always remember is that the teacher was reading to the class from a Dr. Seuss book. This was a class full of teenagers with varying ages. The group included Sha. This stuck out to me because I knew Sha's potential. But, the system had given up on him. A kid that could memorize the supreme alphabet and mathematics was being taught nursery rhymes as preparation to go out into society. It's no wonder that he turned to a life of crime."

The Kevin M. Weeks Story 

Imagine for a moment that you can not attend book tours, book fairs, BookExpo America (BEA), or the American Library Association (ALA) conference.  Then sit back and see your finished written manuscript.  You have neither a typewriter nor a computer.  Going to OfficeMax, Staples, or Office Depot to buy the supplies you need is out of the question. All you have is your finished manuscript, large manila envelopes, stamps, and years of research on the publishing industry in your locker.  Now envision all of the rejection letters in your hand because you don�t have the tools to meet the submission guidelines of publishing houses.  What you do possess is a great attitude and the will to succeed.  You get up from your desk and begin your day by mentoring young men, telling them to follow their dreams and to �never say die; be optimistic.� 

Kevin Weeks' book The Street Life Series is the winner of 2007 New York Book Festival,  Fiction - Wildcard category (to be announced Sat. June 2, 2007 in NYC).

Idoleyes: My New Perspective on Faith, Fat & Fame - Reviewed by Idrissa Uqdah

Mandisa Hundley may well go down in history as the most talked about American Idol participant who did not become the season's winning entrant. From her first audition for Atlanta radio station WSTR where she was one of six finalists who were invited to come in and sing live on the air, to the night that she was eliminated as one of the top nine finalists, Mandisa journey into the American Idol world was a life changing experience for the Born-Again Christian woman. To say it was a faith walk for her and her supporters is a gross understatement. Her new book, IDOLeyes: My New Perspective on Faith, Fat & Fame succinctly tells the story.

In 2005, Mr. David delivered an Emmy-winning performance as the narrator of Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson. His distinctive, commanding sound can currently be found anywhere in the country in the Navy's new �Accelerate Your Life� recruitment campaign.

Here, he talks about his latest role as Sergeant Kilgore in Delta Farce, a comedy about three drinking buddies (Larry the Cable Guy, DJ Qualls and Bill Engvall) who are mistakenly herded onto a National Guard plane headed for Iraq only to end up in Mexico and believing that they've actually landed in the Middle East.

Charles Quinton Murphy, Jr. was born in Bushwick, Brooklyn on July 12, 1959, but raised in Roosevelt on Long Island by his mother, Lillian, and stepfather, Vernon, after the stabbing death of his dad, Charles, Sr. While his brother Eddie was breaking into show business, Charlie was serving his country in the U.S. Navy.

...he really came into his own relatively recently, as a regular on Chappelle's Show, where he contributed both as a writer and by appearing in memorable skits playing himself and such characters as Buc Nasty and Donald Rumsfeld. Here, he talks about his work in Norbit, which he co-wrote with Eddie while serving as the voice of Floyd the Dog.

Laila Ali Interview with Kam Williams
http://www.aalbc.com/reviews/laila_ali.htm

Laila Ali was born in Miami Beach on December 30th, 1977 to Muhammad Ali and his third wife, Veronica Porche. The most famous of The Greatest's nine children, Laila's the only one to follow in his footsteps into the boxing ring, On her way to the top, the statuesque, 5�10�, 175 lb. cruiserweight whupped Jackie Frazier, daughter of Joe, in the first Pay-Per-View fight featuring females in the main event.

She hoped to have a showdown with George Foreman's undefeated daughter Freeda who retired suddenly after taking a pounding from another pugilist in the first loss of her career. Laila currently reigns as the women's world title holder, having compiled an impressive 24-0 record, including 21 knockouts.

Kickin� It Old School - Film Review by Kam Williams

Not one scene of this disgusting shocksploit is either entertaining or funny, proof being its failure to elicit even one laugh out of anyone at the screening which this critic attended. Another negative is the picture's profusion of prominent placement ads for Pepsi, Nike, Apple and Pop Rocks, and equally-distracting cameos by David Hasselhoff, Erik Estrada, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Alan Ruck (Cameron of Ferris Bueller), John Ratzenberger and Emmanuelle �Webster� Lewis who has my permission to return to obscurity after embarrassing himself by calling a woman a ho before slapping her on the butt.

Kanye West in the Studio: Beats Down! Money Up! By Jake Brown � Reviewed by Kam Williams
http://reviews.aalbc.com/kanye_west_in_the_studio.htm

Like a lot of famous rappers, he comes from a middle-class background, having been raised by a single-mom who was the chairman of the English Department at Chicago State University. However, in contrast to most of the more macho gangstas in the industry who never show themselves as vulnerable in their music, Kanye revitalized the genre by �allowing the listening world to see inside the mind of hip-hop through a much more honest and sympathetic lens.�

This is the contention of Jake Brown, author of Kanye West in the Studio: Beats Down! Money Up! The book is the literary equivalent of a fanzine, being basically comprised of uncritical assessments of Kanye's career plus plenty of publicity photos and informal snapshots of its celebrated subject.

I'm African and Proud by Jwajiku Korantema � Reviewed by Kam Williams

In the wake of Don Imus� dismissal for his racist comments about the Rutgers Women's Basketball Team, it appears that some good has been coming out of the ugly incident. For many responsible leaders have pointed out that the sanctions shouldn�t stop there and that the time has arrived for the black community to purge itself of certain self-destructive elements of African-American culture, beginning with gangsta� rap lyrics.

A critical aspect of reversing the mindset involves instilling a positive sense of self in the very young. With that goal in mind, Jwajiku Korantema has written a timely book entitled I'm African and Proud. Ms. Korantema, ironically, happens to be a graduate of Rutgers herself which makes this contribution to children's literature all the more significant.
 

We Gotta Have It: Twenty Years of Seeing Black at the Movies, 1986-2006 by Esther Iverem � Reviewed by Kam Williams
http://reviews.aalbc.com/we_gotta_have_it.htm

Iverem, a former staff member at the Washington Post and Newsday, is an iconoclastic film reviewer who writes from a point-of-view that is both black and female. We Gotta Have It is a collection of her insightful reviews, evocative essays and groundbreaking interviews with everyone from Spike to actors Vin Diesel and Danny Glover to author Alice Walker to director Julie Dash.
 

Supreme Discomfort: The Divided Soul of Clarence Thomas � Reviewed by Kam Williams
http://reviews.aalbc.com/supreme_discomfort.htm

Supreme Discomfort: The Divided Soul of Clarence Thomas is an unauthorized biography which seeks to set the record straight about some of the nagging questions about a man whose name alone tends to raise the blood pressure of the average African-American. Like a black version of Woodward and Bernstein, co-authors Kevin Merida and Michael A. Fletcher, both reporters for the Washington Post, left no stone unturned in search of the truth about this enigmatic political figure.

Pimps Up, Ho's Down: Hip Hop's Hold on Young Black Women by T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting � Reviewed by Kam Williams
http://aalbc.com/reviews/pimps_up_hos_down.htm

In the wake of Don Imus being fired for his insensitive comments about black women, there have been renewed complaints in certain African-American circles about gangsta rap for its similar demeaning depictions of females. Therefore, you probably couldn�t ask for a more timely release of a book than Pimps Up, Ho's Down: Hip Hop's Hold on Young Black Women by T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting.

The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography (Oprah's Book Club)

Born in Miami 1927 and raised in the Bahamas, Poitier began acting after the war, and soon made his debut in Hollywood with No Way Out. He became the first black actor to win an Academy Award for Best Actor. In 1968 he was knighted by H.M. Queen Elizabeth II and is the recipient of four honorary doctorate degrees, the last from New York University. He has starred in over forty films, directed nine, and written four. He has received three Golden Globe Awards; an American Film Institute Lifetime Achievement Award; the Kennedy Center Lifetime Achievement Award; and the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award, among many other awards and honors. In April 1997 Poitier was named the Ambassador to Japan from the Bahamas. Sir Poitier is currently president and CEO of Verdon Cedric Productions. He is married, has six daughters, four grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

Updated List of Black Owned Book Stores
http://aalbc.com/writers/aabook.htm

Special thanks goes to Jacuma of the Assata Shakur Forum for providing this list

Photos from the African American Pavilion at Book Expo America (BEA) 2007
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=hgeq7si.52u6nsji&x=1&y=7ooaju

A link to almost 200 photos from the African American Book Sellers Conference, and the African American Pavilion at at Book Expo America (BEA) 2007. Held at the Jacob Javitz Center in New York, NY March 31 through June 3rd 2007.  

Snow by Kenji Jasper
http://aalbc.com/authors/kenji.htm

From acclaimed author Kenji Jasper comes an edgy, gripping new novel that asks if family life turns a hustler soft-or just hardens his heart.

He Killed For Hate.

Life on the darker streets of D.C. can turn a clean kid grimy. Snow was one of those good kids-until a gang killed his next door neighbor and he decided to settle the score. But doing what he thought was right only plunged him deeper in a deadly game. Now he's a killer for hire, a grown man who's willing-and able-to do anything necessary to survive. But even a cold-blooded hit man has a heart.

Now He May Die For Love.

When Snow falls in love and becomes a father, he's more willing than ever to do what it takes to support his woman and his baby girl. But what that means for a hit man and what it means for a family man are two very different things. When the clash between his home life and his street life threatens to explode, Snow decides to make one last score to put his family on easy street, and get out of the game. But as much as he wants to break out, there's someone just as dangerous, and just as determined to keep Snow right where he is.

I Got Your Back: A Father and Son Keep it Real About Love, Fatherhood, Family, and Friendship
http://aalbc.com/authors/i_got_your_back_book_party.htm

Eddie Levert, lead singer of the classic soul group the O'Jays, and his son, platinum recording artist Gerald Levert, realize that African American fathers and sons have gotten a bad rap for far too long, and they want to help set the record straight.

In I Got Your Back, which will tie into an album of the same name, Eddie and Gerald put their hearts and souls on the line and talk about their failures, concerns, fears, and triumphs as father and son. With a powerful message of reconciliation for broken families, Eddie and Gerald explore the themes of fatherhood, male bonding and male-female relationships. 

Follow the link above to see photos and videos from the book launch Party in Harlem, New York.

Homegirls and Handgrenades

A reprint of Sonia Sanchez's award-winning collection, which contains some of her seminal work. Winner of the American Book Award.

This book is another expression of the continuing creativity of Sonia Sanchez. Some pieces are plaintive and poignant, others are tough and militant, but all are significant, brilliant and original. Here again is another example of Black speech, a vernacular familiar to all who know and love this author's previous work. -Margaret Walker

Convict's Candy by Damon "Amin" Meadows, Jason Poole

Ever wonder if the man in your life who's been incarcerated, turned to another with an alternative lifestyle for comfort? Meet Candy Sweets, a teenaged, pre-op transsexual who gets arrested and sent to federal prison, exactly one week before �her� scheduled sex-change operation. Still having male organs, Candy is housed with strong, masculine, handsome male inmates who haven�t touched a woman in years. Candy soon finds herself being caught in several love affairs with men having families, girlfriends and wives at home�waiting for them to be released. Yet, Candy doesn�t kiss and tell, she understands the code of silence: what happens in prison stays in prison.

Convict's Candy deals with sexual identity, prostitution and homosexuality within the prison system, the interactions and relationships between the inmates and officers, infidelity and most importantly, explains how the HIV/AIDS virus spreads rampantly within the prison. It also reveals how the dangerous and deadly disease is transmitted within society, when infected inmates are released to go home.

A Panther is a Black Cat by Reginald Major
http://www.blackclassicbooks.com/servlet/Detail?no=22

Reginald Major provides a vivid eyewitness account of the conditions leading to the formation of the Black Panther Party. Major knew these conditions first hand�unemployment, poor housing, police brutality and a Black community held in bondage by white business leaders and politicians. He also knew the young Black men and women of the Panthers who, armed with guns, challenged those conditions. Writing from this vantage point, Major captured events as the Panther challenge set the example for Black resistance across the country. A Panther Is A Black Cat records the birth, growth and early years of the Panthers, and offers a valuable context for understanding the Black Power Movement as a national phenomenon.
 

The Caribbean International Literary Festival, Antigua, November 2nd - 4th 2007

Elizabeth Nunez, author of six novels, including her latest Prospero's Daughter, describes the 2006 festival:

"I am no novice. I've been to more than my share of literary festivals and I directed a national one for sixteen years. I can say without hesitation that this festival was one of the best I have ever attended. If you missed it, you missed a major event..."

"...I loved everything about this festival. Mostly, I loved that its focus never veered from the celebration of books. Mostly, I loved that there were no stars, no divas, no dons. Everyone shared the stage and the limelight. The much celebrated writer Jamaica Kincaid read alongside Akilah A. Jardine, a young Antiguan novelist, who is only sixteen and was fourteen when she wrote her first novel. Emerging writers, among them the very talented Black British writer Courttia Newland and the Antiguan writers Yvonne Weekes and Marie-Elena John, read on the same panels with established writers, including Nalo Hopkinson, Christopher John Farley, Marita Golden, Tananarive Due..."

Julie Gibson, author of Daughters of the Diaspora Get Ready, was the lucky winner of a free trip to this year's festival.  Her name was drawn at the AALBC.com booth during Book Expo America.
 

The Urban Book Expo (U.B.E.) debuts in Chicago August 17-19th. http://www.urbanbookexpo.com

The Urban Book Expo (U.B.E.) will debut on August 17, 2007 at the Illinois Institute of Technology's (IIT) Herman Hall located at 3241 S. Dearborn. This exciting weekend event will feature dozens of aspiring authors in a venue to expose their works of self-help, children's stories, urban fiction, mystery, science fiction, biographies and poetry.

http://www.newyorkbookfestival.com

The 2007 New York Book Festival will take place on Sat. June 23 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. near the Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park. The event is free and open to the public and includes author readings, live music, children's storytelling, clowns performing children's face-painting and twisting balloon animals, book signings, vendor demonstrations and food, all in the graceful confines of the world's greatest park!