Women’s History Month’s Feature: bell hooks, Author, Educator, and Social Activist

Hello book lovers! In celebration of Women’s History Month, I would like to present to you author, educator, and social activist, bell hooks (birth name – Gloria Jean Watkins). Her pen name was adopted from her maternal great-grandmother, Bell Blair Hooks. She graduated from Stanford University (BA), University of Wisconsin-Madison (MA), and University of California, Santa Cruz (PhD).

Most of her work centered on intersectionality of race, capitalism, and gender and addressed love, class, sexuality, mass media, and feminism. Her work spans around 40 books, ranging from essays, poetry, and children’s books. She published a number of scholarly articles, appeared in documentary films and engaged in public lectures.

In 1976, she began her academic career teaching English and ethnic studies at several academic institutions before joining Berea College in Berea, Kentucky in 2004. While there, she founded the bell hooks Institute in 2014 along with professor Dr. M. Shadee Malaklou to provide underrepresented students, especially black and brown, femme, queer, and Appalachian individuals to develop their activism, education and other work. She was inducted into the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame in 2018.

Throughout her writing career, she won several awards including the American Book Awards/Before Columbus Foundation Award (1991), The Writer’s Award from the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund (1994), Happy to Be Nappy: NAACP Image nominee (2001), Homemade Love: The Bank Street College Children’s Book of the Year (2002) and the most recent TIME 100 Women of the Year (2020). Although she is gone, she will definitely not be forgotten for the trailblazer that she was (1952 – 2021).

Writing Tip: I will focus on bell hook’s writing of children’s books. When writing such books nothing beats including affirmations and positive messages that resound with children so they can learn to love themselves. Illustrations filled with colorful and lively images help to draw the children into the stories and make reading a fun experience.

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Interview with Jacqueline Seewald, Author of THE INHERITANCE

Author’s Bio: Multiple award-winning author, Jacqueline Seewald, has taught creative, expository and technical writing at Rutgers University as well as high school English. She also worked as both an academic librarian and an educational media specialist. Sixteen of her books of fiction have previously been published to critical praise including books for adults, teens and children. Her short stories, poems, essays, reviews and articles have appeared in hundreds of diverse publications and numerous anthologies. What inspired you to write your book? I enjoy writing romantic mystery fiction. The idea for this particular novel just seemed to evolve organically from my imagination. Is there any particular author or book that influenced you in any way either growing up or as an adult? I would have to say reading the Bible was influential. As far as regular books go, I’m a big fan of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Is this your first book? How long did it take to start and

National Poetry Month’s Feature: Poet Jahi Trotter

Poet’s Bio: Jahi Minkah Trotter was born in Atlanta, GA, and moved to Alabama when he was six years old. He has been writing poetry since he was 11 years old. He has written two poetry books: It Was Already Written (2016) and Adapting To Life: Poems and Quotes by Jahi Minkah Trotter (2020). He developed a love for filmmaking while receiving his bachelor's degree in social science. Jahi decided to continue his quest for filmmaking at Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta, GA. During his final two years at SCAD, Jahi was encouraged by his professors to go into acting while continuing to work behind the camera as well. This was a crucial time for Jahi. He lost his father in 2019 a month before taking an elective acting class that lead him into acting. He lost his mother in 2021 and continues to act and create films, including his thesis film "The Last Job," in which he acted and starred in. Jahi graduated with a master's degree in film and television from S

It’s A Book Thing Presents: An Interview with Debbie Stokes, author of The Stranger He Knew

Author’s Bio: Debbie Stokes was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. She has always had a desire to be a published author of a fiction novel, but fear stopped her. She often shares how her story ideas come to her in her dreams, and how she jumps up to write them down. Finally, one day, she pushed past her fear and allowed her vision to come to past. She is now a published author, and The Stranger He Knew is her first book. Debbie is a former CEO, blogger, and interviewer for her previous women's empowerment blog called, 3 Women Voices, where she shared empowering stories of how people overcame odds to live their best lives. She is also a former contributing writer for FEMI Magazine, a cultural lifestyle magazine, where she interviewed and shared people’s stories. When not writing, she enjoys singing, dancing, inspiring others, and spending time with family. Deliah Lawrence: What inspired you to write your book? Debbie Stokes: That is a funny story. One day, I went

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