Showing results by narrator "Lynnette R. Freeman" in All Categories

… The story of usmay be over,but the story of me continues on. And what becomes of mein the chapters ahead, can only be written by me. Anyone who has lived a full life knows that their journey is certain to be filled with ups and downs that must be ridden like a wave until the seas calm again. Shelley Brown shares a look into her heart and experiences in candid reflections that address the challenges, loves, losses, and triumphs we all experience while here on Earth.

George Washington Carver was determined to help the people he loved. Born enslaved in Missouri, he left home in search of an education, eventually earning his master’s degree. When Booker T. Washington invited Carver to start the agricultural department at the all-Black-staffed Tuskegee Institute, Carver found his calling. He spent the rest of his life seeking solutions to poverty among landless Black farmers by developing new uses for soil-replenishing crops such as peanuts, cowpeas, and sweet potatoes.

Lottie Rebecca Lee is spoken into the world in Fayetteville, North Carolina, by a Black nurse who declares, “Lord Jesus, if that ain’t the blackest little baby born this side of heaven.” Later, Lottie will prove that she is the ancestors’ promise to unearth the Mississippi and Ghanaian atrocities that have tormented Benjamin Lee, her grandfather who was born during the Great Depression in Mississippi’s red clay tobacco fields, and Benjamin Junior, his son and Lottie Rebecca’s father, born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where the post Korean War GI Bill promises prosperity.

Writers are witnesses and scribes to society’s conscience but writing about social issues in the twenty-first century requires a new, sharper toolkit. Craft and Conscience helps writers weave together their narrative craft, analytical and research skills, and their conscience to create prose which makes us feel the individual and collective impact of crucial issues of our time. Kavita Das guides writers to take on nuanced perspectives and embrace intentionality through a social justice lens.

Lila Bonnard has left her island home in the Caribbean to join the faculty as a visiting professor at Mayfield College in a small Vermont town. On her way from the airport to Mayfield, Lila witnesses the fatal shooting of a Black man by the police. It turns out that the victim was a professor at Mayfield, and was giving CPR to a white woman who was on the verge of an opioid overdose. The two Black faculty and a Black administrator in the otherwise all-white college expect Lila to be a witness in the case against the police.

At only ten years old, Zaria Carter has already become a serial entrepreneur. Since overcoming her bossy bad days, she has launched several thriving businesses, proving to her peers and the world that with hard work and the right attitude, you can accomplish anything. When a major TV executive catches Zaria's news interview, he extends an offer to collaborate, making Zaria a co-creator of her very own television show. Zaria uses her new filmmaking role to document her life and the school's upcoming election. She's on top of the world until her camcorder catches some extreme dirt.

At the height of the civil rights movement, amidst an America convulsed by the 1960s, a pregnant young woman and her brash, profane aunt embark upon an audacious road trip from Chicago to Los Angeles to confront a decades-old mystery from 1920s Black Hollywood in this haunting novel of historical fiction from the author of Wild Women and the Blues.

Everyone wants a ticket to Futureland, where you can literally live out your wildest dreams. Want to step inside your favorite video game? Go pro in a sports arena? Perform at a real live concert? Grab your ticket and come right in.

The iconic Black hood, like slavery and Jim Crow, is a peculiar American institution animated by the ideology of white supremacy. Politicians and people of all colors propagated “ghetto” myths to justify racist policies that concentrated poverty in the hood and created high-opportunity white spaces. In White Space, Black Hood, Sheryll Cashin traces the history of anti-Black residential caste - boundary maintenance, opportunity hoarding, and stereotype-driven surveillance - and unpacks its current legacy....

MaVynee loved going to the beach. But in the days of Jim Crow, she couldn't just go to any beach - most of the beaches in Jacksonville were for Whites only. Knowing something must be done, her grandfather bought a beach that African American families could enjoy without being reminded they were second-class citizens; he called it American Beach. Artists like Zora Neale Hurston and Ray Charles vacationed on its sunny shores. It's here that MaVynee was first inspired to sing, propelling her to later become a widely acclaimed opera singer who routinely performed on an international stage.

A set of dice. A grandmother’s ring. The key to an old house. A child gathers keepsakes from everyday life, seals them in a jar, and buries them underground. A gift from the present day...to people of the future...that tells a story about the past. A time capsule.

What do you do if people say you are born with the “mark of the devil,” especially in Jamaica where many believe in the spirits of good and evil? If you are Isabella “Bella” Pigmore, born with a birthmark so pronounced that she faces ridicule for most of her young life, you feel bad—very bad. Growing up feeling like a freak, Bella clings to the only support she has, her mother. But when her mother dies under mysterious circumstances and she is left alone with her abusive father, Bella suffers dearly at the hands of the man who should protect her.

Three strong-willed women—Reece, a successful attorney engaged to a handsome dentist; Maxie, a former foster child turned struggling journalist desperate to find her long-lost siblings; and Charlotte, an ambitious real estate agent confronting shocking news—encounter the ups and downs of life as they search for true love and fulfillment.

After Futureland emerges from back-to-back scandals, Cam Walker and his family are ready to confront the people who keep targeting their flying park. A group called the Architects has been after them since Futureland made its Atlanta stop, and the Walkers have had enough. To settle things, the Architects propose the very first Architect Games, where the Walkers and the Architects will battle in a series of challenges. If the Walkers win, then the Architects will leave them alone once and for all.

Growing up in a Blue Ridge mountain town, little Roberta didn't have fancy clothes or expensive toys...but she did have music. And she dreamed of having her own piano. When her daddy spies a beat-up old upright piano in a junkyard, he knows he can make his daughter's dream come true. He brings it home, cleans and tunes it, and paints it a grassy green. And soon the little girl has an instrument to practice on, and a new dream to reach for—one that will make her become a legend in the music industry.

Omega Addams thought it was a typical work day until a detour on the way home changes everything. She's almost killed, but an innocent bystander, Mitchell Franklin, takes a bullet for Omega during a gas station robbery. In the aftermath, Omega has no idea that God expects her to “pray it forward” until a spiritual battle unfolds before her eyes. Another innocent bystander is in trouble; unless Omega gets her prayer life together, others will die without Christ. It's a chain reaction that highlights the responsibility of a Christian—hot, cold, or lukewarm.

Before Jesse Owens was an Olympic gold medalist, he was a poor kid in a big family. When his speed caught the eye of one of his high school teachers, he began to train seriously and his running took him all the way to the Olympics, where he was against fierce competitors and racist assumptions, breaking world records while winning medals.

Long ago, our homeland cradled us, sheltered us, fed us, and eventually sent us off, as mothers do, confident our gifts would shine. Now, she croons to us a melody of love, reminding us of our bond with her and with one another.

Black Flora is the first book to feature profiles of contemporary Black experts innovating in the world of flowers. Author and longtime gardener, Teresa Speight, offers a beautiful intersection of flowers and community. This book is a homecoming, one that unearths the floral legacies of the past and present, while providing a source of inspiration for younger generations of plant-lovers seeking examples of successful Black floral artists and entrepreneurs.

New Christian convert Tally Gilbert knows the power of prayer. She’s witnessed family and friends' healing, salvation, and deliverance. There’s one holdout, and he’s at the top of her list. Her ex-boyfriend Randall Addams. After a haunting nightmare, the Lord gave Tally His ultimatum: live the carefree lifestyle of the world or turn to Jesus, who could give her exceedingly abundantly above all she could ask or think.