Emma Jackson Ford

Bern has been called to authenticate the long-lost musical masterpiece of Frederic Delaney, lauded by some as the most prolific composer since Beethoven.  Bern believes he knows everything about Delaney-- the man and his music.  But, he soon learns otherwise:  That the g... Read more

E. Ethelbert Miller is a writer, poet and literary activist.  His album, "Black Men Are Precious,"  was a 2023 Grammy Nominee Finalist for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album.   He is the author of two memoirs and several books of poetry including The Collected Poems of E. Eth... Read more

We're celebrating contemporary and historic Black women whose lives have enriched the community and the world.  First time guest, Dr. Carmen P. Thompson is a historian and author of The Making of American Whiteness: The Formation of Race in Seventeenth- Century Virginia.... Read more

Described by the Los Angeles Times as "a voice for the struggles of Black women in novels and short stories prized for their folksy wisdom and original voices," J. California Cooper died last week at 82 years old. The Times continued with a quote from Pulitzer Prize-winn... Read more

“I wrote Mermaid Kenzie: Protector of the Deeps to help show young (and older) readers we can all pitch in to protect the beauty of our oceans and marine life,” said Sherman. After researching environmentalism and seeing the effects of pollution, Sherman was inspired to ... Read more

COVID-19 ravaged many small businesses, but Third Eye Books, opened in 2019, weathered the storm.  Hannah discusses the current business climate and how it affects his and other small bookstores.   He discusses the services this Southeast Portland literary center offers.... Read more

The 1619 Project, Nikole Hannah-Jones (2019)  - Banned as part of broad efforts to stamp out "critical race theory” in schools.  I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou (1969)  -  Challenged frequently and banned, ostensibly for vulgarity and sexually explicit mat... Read more

Everybody knows vampires have been vanquished, right?  Welllll, maybe no..... Twelve-year-old Malika “Boog” Wilson and her best friends have grown up idolizing The Vanquishers, a group of masked vampire hunters who wiped out the last hoard of the undead decades ago. For... Read more

     Ryan Hart is caught in the middle. She has an older brother and a new baby sister, and she's in a friendship tug-of-war with two friends who both want to be her best best friend. How can Ryan think about being kind to a classmate who is relentless with his teasing? ... Read more

     In Sister Resisters: Mentoring Black Women on Campus, authors Janie Victoria Ward and Tracy L. Robinson-Wood describe a mentorship model designed to advocate for Black women college students.      Ward and Robinson-Wood, experts in the developmental and identity ch... Read more