Presenting Kadir Nelson

The story of America and African Americans is a story of hope and inspiration and unwavering courage. But it is also the story of injustice; of a country divided by law, education, and wealth; of a people whose struggles and achievements helped define their country. This is the story of the men, women, and children who toiled in the hot sun picking cotton for their masters; it’s about the America ripped in two by Jim Crow laws; it’s about the brothers and sisters of all colors who rallied against those who would dare bar a child from an education. It’s a story of discrimination and broken promises, determination and triumphs.

Kadir Nelson, one of this generation’s most accomplished, award-winning artists, has created an epic yet intimate introduction to the history of America and African Americans, from colonial days through the civil rights movement. Written in the voice of an “Everywoman,” an unnamed narrator whose forebears came to this country on slave ships and who lived to cast her vote for the first African American president, heart and soul touches on some of the great transformative events and small victories of that history. This inspiring book demonstrates that in gaining their freedom and equal rights, African Americans helped our country achieve its promise of liberty and justice—the true heart and soul of our nation.

To learn more about Kadir visit him at: www.kadirnelson.com 

Listen to him speak HERE

Lis

Tell The Truth - Shame the Devil

The truth has been buried more than one hundred years . . .

Leading a small army of slaves, Nat Turner was a man born with a mission: to set the captives free. When words failed, he ignited an uprising that left over fifty whites dead. In the predawn hours of August 22, 1831, Nat Turner stormed into history with a Bible in one hand, brandishing a sword in the other. His rebellion shined a national spotlight on slavery and the state of Virginia and divided a nation’s trust. Turner himself became a lightning rod for abolitionists like Harriet Beecher Stowe and a terror and secret shame for slave owners.

In The Resurrection of Nat Turner, Part 1: The Witnesses, Nat Turner’s story is revealed through the eyes and minds of slaves and masters, friends and foes. In their words is the truth of the mystery and conspiracy of Nat Turner’s life, death, and confession.

The Resurrection of Nat Turner spans more than sixty years, sweeping from the majestic highlands of Ethiopia to the towns of Cross Keys and Jerusalem in Southampton County. Using extensive research, Sharon Ewell Foster breaks hallowed ground in this epic novel, revealing long-buried secrets about this tragic hero. Listen to synopsis HERE.

To learn more about the award-winning, best selling Ms. Ewell-Foster and her many works, visit her online at: http://sharonewellfoster.com/ 

If Sons Then Heirs

If Sons Then Heirs chronicles the life of Rayne Needham South, the heir to generational property in South Carolina he originally has no interest in. Life for the young construction businessman begins to radically change when the mother who abandoned him suddenly reappears and circumstances surrounding his inheritance opens the door to carefully held secrets.

Lorene Cary’s words paint a vivid picture of lives shrouded in secrecy that threaten the future.  

POWDER NECKLACE - NANA EKUA-BREW HAMMOND

ENJOY AN EXCERPT: HERE



RECOGNIZING HIV/AIDS AWARENESS DAY

THE OTHER CITY 

FREE SCREENING
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2011Reception and Lab tours begin @ 5:30PM
Screening @ 6PM
PELTON AUDITORIUM (MAP)
1100 Fairview Avenue
FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTER

WNBA STAR CANDICE WIGGINS IN ATTENDANCE
.The Langston Hughes African American Film Festival TM is pleased to join the HIV Vaccine Trials Unit of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in presenting a  free public screening of the new documentary, THE OTHER CITY, directed by Susan Koch and produced by BET founder Sheila C. Johnson. In every city, there’s another city that visitors rarely see. But this other city isn’t just anywhere—it’s in Washington, D.C. The very city that is home to the capitol of the most powerful country in the world has an HIV/AIDS rate that is not only the nation’s highest, but rivals some African countries.


Candice Wiggins, a guard for the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx and former All American basketball player for Stanford University, will provide opening remarks. Wiggins lost her father, former Major League Baseball player Alan Wiggins, to AIDS when she was 4 years old and today is outspoken about HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention.
 The screening will take place the evening of Wednesday, Feb. 2 in honor of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day later in the month. It will be preceded by a reception, lab tours and opening remarks by Wiggins and will be followed by a community discussion. The event takes place at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Pelton Auditorium (Thomas Clinical Research Building), 1100 Fairview Ave. N., downtown Seattle. Seating is limited. For free tickets, information about transportation and directions, please contact James at  206-667-1979 or info@seattlevaccines.org.
The screening of this 90-minute documentary is sponsored by the HIV Vaccine Trials Unit of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in collaboration with the Langston Hughes African American Film Festival ™.
 Schedule of events:
·         Reception and lab tours from 5:30 to 6 p.m.
·         Opening remarks at 6 p.m.
·         Screening of “The Other City” from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
·         Community discussion from 8 to 9 p.m.

Please visit the LHAAFF website for more information: langstonblackfilmfest.org 

Survival of the Fittest

Surviving Chadwick by debut author Phillip Wilhite is a reminder of sacrifices worth making. Too young to understand the bondage of Jim Crow, young Isaiah Issacson does not agree with his parent’s decision for him to enroll into Chadwick, an elite boarding school.

This work, although familiar in many ways, gives the reader something new through Isaiah’s narrative voice. With strong prose the author invites the reader inside the mind of the searching teen as he struggles with the mindsets of classmates, instructors and the real and imagined drama that comes with being fifteen. Added to his state of dissatisfaction are his lingering thoughts of Jenaye Gardner. Fifteen years later a request for him to attend a Chadwick reunion includes a note from Jenaye.  At this pivotal point in his life he reflects upon those bittersweet times, that whether he admits it or not, helped to shape who he has become.

This is a period piece that reaches beyond its past tense era to become a relevant conversation for today.

Learn more about the author and his works at: http://survivingchadwick.com/

Lest We Forget

Online Product Description - "We've got some difficult days ahead," civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr., told a crowd gathered at Memphis's Clayborn Temple on April 3, 1968. "But it really doesn't matter to me now because I've been to the mountaintop. . . . And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land."

These prophetic words, uttered the day before his assassination, challenged those he left behind to see that his "promised land" of racial equality became a reality; a reality to which King devoted the last twelve years of his life.

These words and other are commemorated here in the only major one-volume collection of this seminal twentieth-century American prophet's writings, speeches, interviews, and autobiographical reflections. A Testament of Hope contains Martin Luther King, Jr.'s essential thoughts on nonviolence, social policy, integration, black nationalism, the ethics of love and hope, and more.