Black & Published: Live Podcast Taping
Featured writers: Jabari Asim, Deborah D. Douglas, Lonnae O’Neal, and Nikesha Elise Williams
Black & Published Podcast brings you the journeys of writers, poets, playwrights, and storytellers of all kinds to discuss what it means to be a writer, dissect the writing process, and demystify the steps between concept and publication. Host Nikesha Elise Williams joins us for a special live recording episode of her podcast with guests Jabari Asim, Deborah D. Douglas, and Lonnae O’Neal.
Book signing times (all signings take place in the First Floor Lobby of the library)
🖊️Jabari Asim: 4:00 – 4:20
🖊️Deborah D. Douglas: 4:00 – 4:20
🖊️Donnae O’Neal: 4:00 – 4:20
🖊️Nikesha Elise Williams: 1:30 – 1:50
About the writers:
JABARI ASIM is the Distinguished Professor of Multidisciplinary Letters at Emerson College in Boston, where he is also the Elma Lewis Distinguished Fellow in Social Justice. He has also been a scholar-in-residence at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, an editor and columnist at the Washington Post, and editor-in-chief of the NAACP’s Crisis Magazine, founded by W.E.B. DuBois in 1910. His work has been included in Best American Poetry and Best American Essays. A Guggenheim Fellow, he is the author of 14 books for children and 8 books for adults, including Preaching to the Chickens, named a New York Times Best Illustrated Book in 2016, and Yonder, a novel, named a New York Times Notable Book in 2022.
DEBORAH D. DOUGLAS is co-editor in chief of The Emancipator, a collaboration between Boston University and The Boston Globe that centers critical voices, debates and evidence-based opinion to reframe the national conversation on racial equity and hasten racially just outcomes. She has served as the Eugene S. Pulliam Distinguished Visiting Professor of Journalism at DePauw University and a senior leader with The OpEd Project, leading fellowships and programs that include the University of Texas at Austin, Dartmouth College, Columbia University, Urgent Action Fund in South Africa and Kenya, and Youth Narrating Our World (YNOW). While teaching at Northwestern University’s Medill School, she created a graduate investigative journalism capstone on the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The founding managing editor of MLK50: Justice Through Journalism, Douglas has been working on her book, U.S. Civil Rights Trail: A Traveler’s Guide to the People, Places and Events That Made the Movement. (Moon Travel, 2021).
LONNAE O’NEAL is a senior writer for ESPN/Andscape, where she specializes in the intersection of race, sports and culture. She is a two-time winner of the National Assotiation of Black Journalists’ Salute to Excellence Award. Prior to her tenure at ESPN/Andscape, Lonnae spent twenty-four years as a reporter and columnist for The Washington Post where she won the Society for Features Journalism award for excellence in commentary and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism award for distinguished work in the coverage of race and ethnicity in America. She is an adjunct lecturer at the Georgetown University School of Continuing Studies.
NIKESHA ELISE WILLIAMS is a two-time Emmy award winning producer, an award-winning author, and producer and host of the Black & Published podcast. A narrative strategist by day and journalist always, her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Bitter Southerner, Essence, and Vox. Nikesha’s work has been supported by the Kimbilio Fiction Fellowship, the DeGroot Foundation, and the Tin House Summer Workshop. A Chicago native, she lives in Florida with her family.
Bibb Country: Unearthing My Family Secrets of Land, Legacy—and Lettuce
by Lonnae O’Neal
A deeply personal and fiercely reported exploration of several generations of Lonnae O’Neal’s family, descendants of both enslavers and enslaved, set against the sweep of American history. What began with planting Bibb lettuce seeds in her backyard led Lonnae on a five-year journey all the way back to the antebellum South—revealing ties to the Kentucky Bibb family, a complicated legacy of enslavement, emancipation, and inheritance, and a powerful connection between food, freedom, and identity. In uncovering her own roots, Lonnae transforms the stories we tell—about ourselves, our families, and our nation.
Me and Muhammad Ali
by Jabari Asim, illustrated by AG Ford
A little boy’s joyous encounter with his hero, boxing champion and poet Muhammad Ali, is everything he’s dreamed of—and more! A dream comes true for Langston that leaves him feeling wrapped in a warm glow and chanting: I’m quick and I’m strong. I’m Black and I’m free. I’m brave and I’m bold, like Muhammad Ali!
The Seven Daughters of Dupree
by Nikesha Elise Williams
The Seven Daughters of Dupree masterfully weaves together themes of generational trauma, Black women’s resilience, and unbreakable familial bonds. Echoing the literary power of The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis, Nikesha Elise Williams delivers a feminist literary fiction that explores the ripple effects of actions, secrets, and love through seven generations of Black women.
U.S. Civil Rights Trail: A Traveler’s Guide to the People, Places, and Events that Made the Movement
by Deborah D. Douglas
The U.S. Civil Rights Trail offers a vivid glimpse into the story of Black America’s fight for freedom and equality. From eye-opening landmarks to celebrations of triumph over adversity, experience a tangible piece of history. Journey through history, understand struggles past and present, and get inspired to create a better future with Moon U.S. Civil Rights Trail.
Yonder
by Jabari Asim
The Water Dancer meets The Prophets in this spare, gripping, and beautifully rendered novel exploring love and friendship among a group of enslaved Black strivers in the mid-19th century.
Black & Published Podcast
hosted by Nikesha Elise Williams
Hosted by Nikesha Elise Williams, Black & Published brings you the journeys of writers, poets, playwrights, and storytellers of all kinds to discuss what it means to be a writer, dissect the writing process, and demystify the steps between concept and publication. Find all episodes and subscribe here or wherever you get your podcasts.