You Have To Ask For What You Want by Francis RayI am a Southern girl. My parents always taught me to be respectful, to be polite and never, ever ask for anything. If it is not offered, too bad. I adhered to their teaching for twelve long years in the publishing industry, until I learned the hard [...]
And The Point Is…By Paula Chase HymanAt a recent signing at an African American bookstore, I struck up a conversation with a lady who lingered by my table too long, so I snagged her. I asked her if she had any young readers that she may need book recommendations for. She mentioned a nine-year-old granddaughter. [...]
Crabs in the Barrel By Tracy Price-Thompson I have been in this publishing game for a few minutes now, and while the industry is certainly dynamic, some things just never change. Sure, there has been a major revolution in the way publishers do business with African-American writers and I, myself, have benefited from the emergence [...]
To read a copy of the poem, No One Knows My Name, please contact the author. http://www.tinishanicolejohnson.com/
Sex, Love and All of the Above: Some Thoughts on Erotica and Romance by Gwyneth BoltonIt is a simple as the difference between love and sex and also as complex. It is the difference between senses and feelings and at the same time the way they are connected to one another. Sometimes they can exist [...]
Flashback and Move Forward by Shelia M. GossOur history is not documented in the history books. Sure the books we read in school talk about Harriett Tubman, Booker T. Washington, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and might even mention George Washington Carver. What about the other people of color who have made huge impacts on [...]
Quality Time By Earl SewellRecently I was talking with my friend, Shawn, about his son, Dean. He attended a parent-teacher conference and learned that his son was not doing well academically. Shawn explained that the school had administered a series of standardized tests designed to assess reading comprehension, vocabulary and writing skills. Dean scored very [...]
A Tribute to Tex By Niambi Brown Davis My mother reserved a good deal of her genteel contempt for certain so-called experts on the ways of black folks, especially those whose ‘findings’ were the complete opposite of her experiences as an African-American woman. ‘They wanted the stereotype and they got it. Those people knew exactly [...]
And Your Point Is? By Djuanna BrockingtonHow many times have you waited for a new release, or picked up a book that was highly recommended by a friend or the bestseller list you frequently peruse, only to find out that you cannot get into because of the pontificating? There is a message (that you may [...]
On My Terms By Gloria Mallette The minute I typed the words, On My Terms, I started singing ‘On My Own, Once Again’ by Patti LaBelle and Michael Bolton. How true this is for me. After years of rejection, in 2000, I self-published Shades of Jade because major publishers said there was no market for [...]
