365 Black Books April Langley Tuesday

I attended a booksigning at Detroit Public Library. April C. E. Langley, Associate Professor and Chair of African American studies at the University of South Carolina and Associate Professor emerita of English and Black studies at the University of Missouri–Columbia, wrote a book titled: Depoliticizing the Word Through Poetry and Preaching. She focuses on three women, Phillis Wheatley, Maria W. Stewart, and Jarena Lee, and examines their speeches, poetry, and other written works through the lens of Afrofuturism and Sankofa. I was truly fascinated by her talk: the depth of her research and how she examined these women works through so many different lenses.

365 Black Books 2025 BCALA Best of the Best Black Books (BOTB) Saturday

The 2025 BCALA BOTB has been published and is now ready to be released.

Book 1: Prek-4: Dream A Dress, Dream a Poem by Nancy Johnson James; illustrated by Diana Ejaita

Book 2: 5-8: The True Story of Vanilla by Ann Richards; illustrated by Arden Taylor

Book 3: 9-12: Nic Blake and The Remarkables: The House of Anansi by Angie Thomas