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Children’s Institute
Children’s Institute Oregon Convention Center Portland Oregon Children’s Institute is an rousing three-day celebration of children’s bookselling, offering u...
Why Diversity in Children’s Literature is Important
A Keynote Address Delivered by Jewell Parker Rhodes April 30, 2015, during the American Booksellers Association’s ABC Children’s Institute 2015. ...
Cultivating Pearls: A Writer’s Retreat Comes Home
An oft used African proverb by a well-known fiction author states, “Where there is mud, there is water.” Transfer an upstate writing retreat on th...
Susan Taylor Baker King’s Memoir
An Excerpt from Susan Taylor Baker King’s Memoir:Reminiscences of My Life in Camp with the 33rd US Colored Troops, Late 1st S.C. Volunteers Reminiscences ...
Nobody Else Is Better Than You
Chapter 1: Nobody Else Is Better Than You The serious look in Daddy’s eyes told me his words were important: “You’re as good as anyone in this tow...
Gone to Where the Bong Trees Grow
The next time you pick up a picture book written by a contemporary children’s author flip through the pages. Take a few minutes to read the storyline an...
Liminal Spaces: Migration and Women of the Guyanese Diaspora
Liminal Spaces: Migration and Women of the Guyanese Diaspora Grace Aneiza Ali Down the PDF version of Liminal Spaces, which is made available free of charge by OpenBook P...
Chapters 1 and 2
Chapters 1 and 2 Chapter 1College Is Not for Everyone So your kid says he or she wants to go to college. “All my friends are going!” he/she exclai...
Can I Get An Amen?
This article was originally published on now defunct, but historically significant, The Black World Today website and is shared here for archival purposes. (Mental Hea...
Keisha-Gaye Anderson
Keisha-Gaye Anderson Keisha-Gaye Anderson is a Jamaican-born poet, creative writer, visual artist, and media professional, whose multi-platform storytelling has examined ...
A Profile of the Late Hugh Holton
Hugh Holton, passed May 18, 2001 at age 54, just eight days after his eighth novel, The Devil’s Shadow Books Behind the Badge This is a profile of t...
AALBC.com eNewsletter - August 1st 2012 - #193
Subscribe to this eNewsletter Read our eNewsletter Archives Read Our eNewsletter on Your Kindle Help AALBC.com support our literary legacy. If you find somethi...
Exercise Your Mind With a Good Book – July 29, 2014 eNewsletter
You may receive this eNewsletter directly in your email-box by subscribing. It may also be read on your Kindle ebook reader, or any device by downloading a PDF version....
The Unmaking Of The Black Man
THE OTHER END OF THE STICK The social revolution for the control of the black image had a profound impact on the sistas as well. Oppression was not solely a franchise ...
Jerry Pinkney
Jerry Pinkney Jerry Pinkney (December 22, 1939 – October 20, 2021) has been illustrating children’s books since 1964. In addition to his work on children’s book...
List of Contributors to Step into a World
The Following is the List of Contributors to This Amazing Volume Toyin Adewale is a native of Emure-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria. Born in 1969, she has absolutel...
The 5th National Black Writers Conference Report from the Field 2
Report from the Field National Black Writers Conference 2000 Part 2 of 3 “Elizabeth Nunez, the conference director and the director of t...
Karen Lynn Williams
Karen Lynn Williams Born in 1952 Karen Lynn Williams is the author of over a dozen books for children, including GALIMOTO, a Reading Rainbow Featured Book and one of the ...
April 2014 eNewsletter - Good Books, Films, Events, Articles & More
You may receive this eNewsletter directly in your email-box by subscribing. It may also be read on your Kindle ebook reader. Enjoy our previous eNewsletters. Sponso...
Character Building
Character Building Booker T. Washington Excerpt from Character Building: Being Addresses Delivered on Sunday Evenings to the Students of Tuskegee InstituteA number of yea...
The “Politics: Another Perspective” Interview
Wilmer J. Leon, III is a political scientist whose primary areas of expertise are Black Politics American Government, and Public Policy. Dr. Leon has a B.S. degree in...
Dinesh Sharma “The Global Obama” Interview (February 2014)
Dinesh Sharma “The Global Obama” Interview Dr. Dinesh Sharma is a cultural psychologist, marketing consultant and an acclaimed author with a doctorate from Harvar...
Dinesh Sharma
Dinesh Sharma Dinesh Sharma (read our February 2014 interview) is a cultural psychologist, marketing consultant and an acclaimed author, with a doctorate from Ha...
Arturo Alfonso Schomburg
Arturo Alfonso Schomburg Arturo Alfonso Schomburg was born in Saturce, Puerto Rico to Mary Joseph a black woman from St. Croix, Danish Islands and his father Carlos F...
The Global Obama: Crossroads of Leadership in the 21st Century
“Barack Obama [has] garnered higher approval ratings in most parts of the world than in the United States. What a paradox. The first black president, loved b...
Grandpa! Tell Us a Story Drinking from Ancient Wells the Story of the Game Black People Play/Trilogy Book One: The Game’s Soul
If you dig deep enough into your self, You will come face to face with Black History: And if you dig deep enough into Black Histo...
Remembering Ossie Davis, With Love
“In the light of Africa, there is Ossie Davis.” —Attallah Shabazz ...
Introduction and Chapter 9 – B. C. Franklin
Introduction and Chapter 9 – B. C. Franklin “Time is an enormous, long river, and I’m standing in it, just as you’re standing in it. My elders ...
An Interview with John A. Williams
John A. Williams (right) and Dennis A. Williams Originally published in FORKROADS, A Journal of Ethnic-American Literature, Winter 1995 For me, at first, he was...
Sylvia L. Walker
Sylvia L. Walker Artist Sylvia L. Walker is a native of Pasadena, California. She has lived in Philadelphia, PA since 1981. She studied at the California Institute of the...
Building a Learning Culture in America
Building a Learning Culture in America Kevin P. Chavous Building a Learning Culture in America takes an incisive, no-holds-barred look at how America embraced and cultiva...
Johnny Ray Moore
Johnny Ray Moore Johnny Ray Moore is a poet and children’s author. His other books include Meet Martin Luther King, Jr. and But Still, We Dream (a novel in verse). John...
Julianne Malveaux: “Are We Better Off” as a Result of Obama’s Presidency?
Dr. Julianne Malveaux has long been recognized for her progressive and insightful observations. She is a labor economist, noted author and colorful commentator. Her con...
More Poetry!/Less Jam!
More Poetry!/Less Jam! by Tara Betts Bruce George’s outgoing voicemail message at Phat Farm states "Don’t leave a message unless it’s absolute...
Craig Rex Perry
Craig Rex Perry Craig Rex Perry is a native of Chicago, Illinois. He attended the prestigious School of the Art Institute of Chicago, American Academy of Art (Chicago), P...
Deloris Jordan
Deloris Jordan Deloris Jordan was born September 1941 in Rocky Point, NC and is the mother of legendary NBA Basketball player, Michael Jordan she s the coauthor of AALBC....
Sandra Pinkney
Sandra Pinkney Sandra L. Pinkney, along with her husband Myles, is the creator of the NAACP Image Award winning Shades of Black, along with A Rainbow All Around Me, and R...
Jonathan Todd
Jonathan Todd Jonathan Todd is a cofounder of the Boston Kids Comics Fest and former second-grade teacher. He was a Jacqueline Woodson Fellow in the Solstice MFA in Creat...
Black & White: The Confrontation between Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth and Eugene “Bull” Connor
Black & White: The Confrontation between Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth and Eugene “Bull” Connor Larry Dane Brimner In the nineteen fifties and early sixties, Birming...
Felicia Whaley
Felicia Whaley Felicia Whaley is a children’s book illustrator currently residing in Oak Park, IL. She obtained a BFA in illustration and design from the Art Institute ...
Cane
Introduction to Cane As it appeared in the Perennial Classic edition copyright 1969 by Arna Bontemps LOOKING back on the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920&rsqu...
Vanessa Williams - The "My Brother" Interview
Vanessa Williams The My Brother Interview with Kam Williams Vanessa Williams At the 38th Annual NAACP Image Awards Photo Date: 2 March 2007 Photo by Maury...
Death of the Black Owned, Independent, Bookstore
Editor's Note: We published an update of our bookstores in March of 2014. One of the very first things I put on AALBC.com's web site, back in 1999, was a list of indep...
Carl Patterson
Carl Patterson Carl Patterson began his writing career at the age of 45 after his now deceased wife inspired him with her unpublished poetry. He recalls her telling him, ...
Walter Rodney
Walter Rodney Walter Anthony Rodney was born in Georgetown, Guyana on March 23, 1942. He is recognized as one of the Caribbean s most brilliant minds. Rodney ...
Benny Andrews
Benny Andrews Benny Andrews was an American painter, printmaker, creator of colleges and educator. He was born November 13, 1930 in Plainview, Georgia and died November 1...
Shadra Strickland
Shadra Strickland Shadra Strickland studied, design, writing, and illustration at Syracuse University and later went on to complete her M.F.A. at the School of Visual Art...
Neely Daggett
Neely Daggett Neely Daggett is an Iranian American artist who was born in Columbia, Missouri, in July 1982. She spent her early childhood riding bikes, swimming in lakes,...
Marilyn Allman Maye, Harold S. Buchanan, Jannette O. Domingo, Joyce Frisby Baynes, Marilyn Holifield, Myra E. Rose, Bridget Van Gronigen Warren, and Aundrea White Kelley
Marilyn Allman Maye, Harold S. Buchanan, Jannette O. Domingo, Joyce Frisby Baynes, Marilyn Holifield, Myra E. Rose, Bridget Van Gronigen Warren, and Aundrea White Kelley ...
Allan Eitzen
Allan Eitzen Allan Eitzen grew up in the small town of Mountain Lake, Minnesota. He received an art education at Gustavus Adolphus College and the Institute of Art, both ...
Where You Are Is Not Who You Are (paperback): A Memoir
Where You Are Is Not Who You Are (paperback): A Memoir Ursula M. Burns The first Black female CEO of a Fortune 500 company looks back at her life and her career at Xerox,...
Where You Are Is Not Who You Are: A Memoir
Where You Are Is Not Who You Are: A Memoir Ursula M. Burns The first Black female CEO of a Fortune 500 company looks back at her life and her career at Xerox, sharing uni...
Race Man: Selected Works, 1960-2015
Race Man: Selected Works, 1960-2015 Julian Bond An inspiring, historic collection of writings from one of America’s most important civil rights leaders."Justice and equ...
The Incredible Joy of Collecting African American Art: My Journey from Frogtown, S.C. to the National Gallery
The Incredible Joy of Collecting African American Art: My Journey from Frogtown, S.C. to the National Gallery Patrick Diamond This book is a great read for beginning and ...
Double Bass Blues
Double Bass Blues Andrea J. Loney Andrea J. Loney grew up in New Jersey with a love for music—in her school band she played the xylophone. After receiving an MFA from N...
Honoring Professor William Leo Hansberry (1894-1965): An Intellectual Libation For The Architect Of America’s African Studies Department
Honoring Professor William Leo Hansberry (1894-1965): An Intellectual Libation For The Architect Of America’s African Studies Department Kaba Hiawatha Kamene The ancien...
Some of My Best Friends: A White Woman’s Journey into Racial Profiling
Some of My Best Friends: A White Woman’s Journey into Racial Profiling Jane Critchlow When President Obama asked Americans to examine their own racial biases, photo...
The Taste Of Salt
The Taste Of Salt Martha Southgate Award-winning novelist Martha Southgate (who, in the words of Julia Glass, “can write fat and hot, then lush and tender, then just pl...
Fostering Young Writers in Sierra Leone
Fostering Young Writers in Sierra Leone Jacqueline Leigh The personal experiences of teenagers from process-writing Young Writers clubs in Freetown, Sierra Leone make up ...
Dem (Black Arts Movement Series)
Dem (Black Arts Movement Series) William Melvin Kelley Originally published in 1967, dem is a classic of the Black Arts Movement. This surrealistic satire lays bare the c...
A Strange Freedom: The Best of Howard Thurman on Religious Experience and Public Life
A Strange Freedom: The Best of Howard Thurman on Religious Experience and Public Life Howard Thurman A spiritual advisor to Martin Luther King, Jr.; the first Black dean ...
Jeannette Caines
Jeannette Caines Jeannette Franklin Caines is the author o several other highly acclaimed picture books about children and their families. She is also the recipient of th...
Vanessa Brantley-Newton
Vanessa Brantley-Newton Vanessa Brantley-Newton grew up in a musical family who loved to sing. she is a self-taught illustrator, doll maker and crafter who studied fashio...
Issac J. Bailey
Issac J. Bailey Issac J. Bailey was born in St. Stephen, South Carolina, and holds a degree in psychology from Davidson College in North Carolina. Having trained at the p...
Keisha Morris
Keisha Morris Keisha Morris is an illustrator and writer, with a BFA in Illustration from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. Her work has been published in ...
Tsitsi Mapepa
Tsitsi Mapepa Tsitsi Mapepa is a Kiwi, Zimbabwean-born writer who lets her creative side stream out in poetry, short stories, and novels. She studied at Manukau Institute...
Julianne Malveaux: The “Surviving and Thriving” Interview
Dr. Julianne Malveaux is the 15th President of Bennett College for Women. Recognized for her progressive and insightful observations, this brilliant economist...
The Kevin M. Weeks Story: Never Say Die; Be Optimistic
The Kevin M. Weeks Story: Never Say Die; Be Optimistic ’Never Say Die; Be Optimistic’ ’Sounds of Blackness &rs...
Food and the City
Alexander SmallsThe Cecil Daylight floods his Harlem apartment, an eclectic space crammed with old and new mementos from a well-traveled, well-lived life. There are ...
Forest Whitaker “The Butler” Interview (August 2013) with Kam Williams
This Forest’s on Fire in Lee Daniel's Film The Butler Forest Whitaker is a distinguished artist and humanist. He is the founder of PeaceEarth Foundation, co-fou...
President Jimmy Carter The “NIV Lessons from Life Bible” Interview
President, Peanut Farmer and Sunday School Teacher President Jimmy Carter The “NIV Lessons from Life Bible” Interview with Kam Williams James Earl Carter,...
Steve McQueen - The “12 Years a Slave” Interview
Artist and filmmaker Steven Rodney McQueen III was born in London on October 9, 1969. His critically-acclaimed directorial debut, Hunger, won the Camera d‘Or...
Dr. Henry Louis Gates - The "Black in Latin America" Interview
Dr. Gates on His New PBS Series Professor Henry Louis Gates dominated the national news for much of the summer of 2009 after being mistaken for a ...
December 2016 Newsletter - Great New Books, Best Film of the Year, and More
Cerece Rennie Murphy – Our eNewsletter Sponsor for December Experience The Love of A Lifetime ~ Two Souls, One Desire, To Find Each Other...Again The journey be...
Craig Steven Wilder
Craig Steven Wilder Craig Steven Wilder began his career as a community organizer in the South Bronx. He provides curricular and professional development workshops with...
Diane Patrick
Diane Patrick For over twenty years, Diane Patrick has provided a wide range of high-quality writing, research, and editorial services to both individual and ...
Afaa Michael Weaver
Afaa Michael Weaver Afaa Michael Weaver (蔚雅風) was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1951. He attended the public schools there and gradua...
Bernice L. McFadden
Bernice L. McFadden Bernice L. McFadden is the author of the national bestsellers This Bitter Earth, The Warmest December (shortlisted for the Hurston/Wright Foundat...
Frank Yerby
Frank Yerby Frank Garvin Yerby (September 5, 1916 – November 29, 1991) was a writer, best known for his historical novel The Foxes of Harrow, which was the first no...
Camille Yarbrough
Camille Yarbrough NANA CAMILLE YARBROUGH Ms. Yarbrough, a multi-talented veteran of theater, film, dance, and song is, like her article-mates, enjo...
Frederick Price
Frederick Price Frederick K.C. Price is the Founder of Crenshaw Christian Center (CCC) in Los Angeles, California. He began CCC in 1973. In 1978, Price began Ever Incr...
Kadir Nelson
Kadir Nelson Kadir Nelson is an award-winning American artist whose works have been exhibited in major national and international publications, institutions, art gallerie...
Quraysh Ali Lansana
Quraysh Ali Lansana Quraysh Ali Lansana is author of 23 books of poetry, nonfiction, and children’s literature. Lansana is currently a Tulsa Artist Fellow and serves as...
Regina Brooks
Regina Brooks Ms. Regina Brooks is the founder and President of Serendipity Literary Agency LLC. Equally at home in the technical world of engineering as in the lit...
Tina McElroy Ansa
Tina McElroy Ansa Tina McElroy Ansa (November 18, 1949 – September 10, 2024) stories and essays have appeared in several anthologies. She lived with her husband, Jo...
Laban Carrick Hill
Laban Carrick Hill Laban Carrick Hill (1960 – 2021) has written two young adult novels: A Brush with Napoleon, based on the life of the French Romantic painter Davi...
Ash Cash
Ash Cash Ash Exantus aka Ash Cash is a banking executive, personal finance expert, motivational speaker, and the author of six books, including three Amazon.com bestselle...
Christian Robinson
Christian Robinson Christian Robinson is an illustrator, author, animator, and designer based in Oakland, California. He was born in Los Angeles and grew up in a small on...
Lesa Cline-Ransome
Lesa Cline-Ransome Lesa Cline-Ransome is the writer of many picture books. Her picture book biography titles include Satchel Paige, Major Taylor, Champion Cyclist, Young ...
John S. Mbiti
John S. Mbiti Canon John Samuel Mbiti, an Anglican priest who was born in Kenya, November 30, 1931. Mbiti taught Theology and Religion for many years at Makerere Univer...
Ruth C. Taylor
Ruth C. Taylor Journalist and nurse Ruth Carol Taylor, was born December 27, 1931 and became the first African American airline flight attendant in the United States when...
Brett T. Brown
Brett T. Brown Brett Tyler Brown was born in Chicago, IL in 1997. At the young and impressionable age of three, Brett became fascinated with tall buildings and gained ins...
Charly Palmer
Charly Palmer Charly “Carlos” Palmer was born in 1960 in Fayette, Alabama and raised in Milwaukee. He relocated to Chicago to study Art and Design at American Academy...
Jacqueline Leigh
Jacqueline Leigh Jacqueline Leigh is an author of children’s books and poetry that primarily focus on Sierra Leone. Her short 2015 history of the founding and developme...
Barbara A. Seals Nevergold
Barbara A. Seals Nevergold Dr. Barbara A. Seals Nevergold, a native of Louisiana, is a lifelong resident of Buffalo, New York. She is a retired educator, counselor, and c...
Deborah Juniper-Frye
Deborah Juniper-Frye Deborah Juniper-Frye has 20 years of professional expertise and knowledge in the care and compassion for the Bereaved. She is an Executive Assist...
Gerald McDermott
Gerald McDermott Gerald McDermott’s (January 31, 1941 – December 26, 2012) was a filmmaker, creator of children’s picture books, and an expert on mythology. Th...
Floyd L. Griffin Jr.
Floyd L. Griffin Jr. At different times in his life, Floyd L. Griffin Jr. has been a cadet, Vietnam helicopter pilot, army colonel, football coach, professor, businessman...