Happy birthday Ethel Morgan Smith! Born April 11, 1952, Ethel Morgan Smith is an author and professor. She was also the 2023 Eudora Welty Prize Scholar for her book, Path to Grace Reimagining the Civil Rights Movement.




Happy birthday Ethel Morgan Smith! Born April 11, 1952, Ethel Morgan Smith is an author and professor. She was also the 2023 Eudora Welty Prize Scholar for her book, Path to Grace Reimagining the Civil Rights Movement.




Happy birthday Nnedi Okorafor! She celebrates her 52nd birthday today, April 8! She is the award author of several science fiction, fantasy, and Afrofuturism books. Here are just a few of her award winning titles!




Happy 98th birthday Eugenia Collier! Eugenia Collier is a writer and critic best known for her 1969 short story “Marigolds”, which won the first Gwendolyn Brooks Prize for Fiction in 1969; it was Collier’s first published story. She was born in Baltimore, Maryland. Collier’s collection, Breeder and Other Stories, was released in 1993. More of her works:





Blessed heavenly birthday Booker Taliaferro Washington! Born April 5, Booker T. Washington was an educator, author, founder and first president of what is now Tuskegee University. Known for Up From Slavery, Booker T. Washington wrote several books. Here are just a few:




Happy heavenly birthday Dr. Maya Angelou! Born April 4, Dr. Angelou was a poet, activist, professor and more. Her iconic/classic poem, “Still I Rise”, is as relevant today as it was when it was first written and published.





Also born April 1, is Samuel R. Delany, an award winning author. Although he may be known primarily for science fiction and fantasy, Samuel R. Delany writes about many subjects.





Happy birthday Jesmyn Ward! Born April 1, 1977, Jesmyn Ward won the 2011 National Book Award for Fiction for her second novel Salvage the Bones. Other books are:





Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins was born in Portland, Maine in 1859. She was a playwright, journalist, novelist, historian, editor, feminist, public intellectual, supporter of the arts, and an outspoken crusader for African American rights. She is considered a pioneer in her use of the romantic novel to explore social and racial themes and is best known for her 1900 novel Contending Forces: A Romance of Negro Life North and South.



Born March 24, 1896, John Mason Brewer was an African American folklorist, scholar, teacher, and author. He was a pioneer in the field of folklore and most of his folklore was centered around Texas.




Happy birthday Kalamu ya Salaam! He celebrates his 79th birthday today! Kalamu ya Salaam is a poet, author, filmmaker, and teacher from the 9th Ward of New Orleans. A well-known activist and social critic, Salaam has spoken out on a number of racial and human rights issues. Here are a few of his works:





