There
are many ways to share Black history: through books and film, fine and
performing arts, for-profit and non-profit work, at home, at school, by
teaching, researching, mentoring, storytelling and much more. At Just Us Books
our work is centered on sharing our history and stories. This Black History
Month we wanted to do a little more.
Every
weekday in February, we spotlighted a Black-owned business, Black-led and
centered organization, or Black creator. This was (and still is) a celebration
of the people and institutions that dig deep to research and share the many
contributions Black people have made to our world. A celebration of those who
provide programs that enrich our minds and our communities. A celebration of
those who create art that helps us learn more about ourselves, and those who
create opportunities for artists to share their work with the world.
These
are our culture carriers. Please join us in saluting them.
Ethnicitees LLC Cultural Marketplace
Sean
Romon Montague founded Ethnicitees in 1994 with the mission of “raising
educational awareness of the historical, global accomplishments of African
American/ Black people.” While working as an Art Instructor for Baltimore City
Public Schools, he saw a need for an educational product that would teach Black
history in a unique way. So he introduced the concept of “Cultural Wearables” –
apparel with portraits of Black historical figures. He started with four
designs featuring Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Marcus Garvey, and Frederick
Douglass, and quickly expanded to include many others – carving their images
out of relief print linoleum blocks then screen printing them on shirts.
Ethnicitees recently expanded further, opening a retail store at The Bowie Town
Center in Bowie, Maryland.
Learn
more, support and spread the word: https://www.ethniciteesllc.org/home
Serendipity Literary Agency
If you’ve read the
books Crown: Ode to a Fresh Cut; A Wreath for Emmett Till; Defining Moments in
Black History and Who’s Gonna Take the Weight, then you know the names Derrick
Barnes, Gordon James, Marilyn Nelson, Dick Gregory and Kevin Powell. And that
means you also know the great work of Serendipity Literacy Agency and its
founder Regina Brooks. Founded in 2000, Serendipity is the largest
African-American owned agency in the country. The company represents a diverse
base of clients in adult and young adult fiction, non-fiction, and children’s
literature – managing business representation, supporting editorial
development, and even marketing. And their success shows. Serendipity’s clients
have won some of the industry’s top honors including The Coretta Scott King
Award, Newbery Honor, Ezra Jack Keats Award, and Glaad Media Award; and have
appeared in USA Today, The New York Times, Washington Post, Oprah, BET, TV One
and more.
Learn more, support
and spread the word: https://www.serendipitylit.com/
BCP Digital
Printing
BCP
Digital Printing is a short run digital print and document processing company
based in Baltimore, Maryland. The family-run company was founded in 1995 as a
complimentary business to Black Classic Press, Inc.,
a publishing company also founded by W. Paul Coates. BCP Digital’s products
range from annual reports and magazines to banners and calendars, and its
services include binding, digital imaging, shrink wrapping, and lamination.
This full suite means not only can BCP Digital print your book, it can produce
the marketing material to help you promote your book too.
Learn
more, support and spread the word: https://www.bcpdigital.com/
The
African American Children’s Book Project
Every
year, on the first Saturday in February, thousands of children, parents,
teachers, librarians and book lovers of all kinds brave the cold in the name of
good books. To be more specific: good children’s books by and about African
Americans. The event is the African American Children’s Bookfair and it’s the
marquee initiative of The African American Children’s Book Project, a
non-profit created to promote and preserve children’s literature written by or
about African Americans.
Under
the leadership of its founder, Vanesse Lloyd-Sgambati, AACBP collaborates with
authors, illustrators, publishers, booksellers, educators, consumers,
libraries, non-profits and corporations to promote literacy programs across the
country. The bookfair is now in its 29th year, and going virtual for the first
time. So there’s no cold and no line but still lots of books!
The
African American Children’s Book Fair, held February 6, 2021, drew nearly 3,000
attendees.
Learn
more, support and spread the word: https://www.theafricanamericanchildrensbookproject.org/
Kweli TV
The
inspiration for kweliTV came when DeShuna Spencer, Founder & CEO, was while
flipping through cable channels. She was frustrated with the stereotypes, lack
of diversity, and limited content options. She wanted documentaries, global
Black history, indie films - and she couldn’t find enough of that content on
cable or streaming services. So she started her own.
KweliTV’s
mission is to curate and create content that is a true reflection of the global
Black experience. It focuses on high-quality content — film, news, web shows,
kids programming, documentaries and more — produced by independent, globally
diverse and unique filmmakers and journalists. 98 percent of kweliTV’s films
have been official selections at film festivals and 60% of its revenue goes to
content creators. That means a large portion of subscription fees support the
filmmakers who create the content you watch.
Learn
more, support and spread the word: https://www.kweli.tv/
Black
History Mini Docs
Inspiring
and entertaining stories of Black trailblazers in under 90 seconds? Soon there
will be an app for that. Until then, you can find Black History Mini Docs on
social media and blackhistoryminidocs.com
The initiative was created by Producer-Director Neema Barnette, whose work
includes Women thou Art Loosed: On The 7th Day and Queen Sugar. She works with
her husband Reed R. McCants, also an award-winning filmmaker, to chronicle the
contributions and achievements of well-known people such as Harriet Tubman,
Nelson Mandela, Thurgood Marshall, James Baldwin and Angela Davis as well as
un-sung heroes in the Black community. In addition to Mini Docs, they posts
daily tributes as an extension of their work to educate people about the
contributions Black people have made to US history.
Learn
more, support and spread the word: http://www.blackhistoryminidocs.com
The Brown Bookshelf
Children’s books by
award-winning and veteran Black creators are more visible and accessible these
days, but how can you find new Black authors and illustrators or great books
that have flown under the radar? Enter The Brown Bookshelf. Formed by Paula Chase
and Varian Johnson in a collaboration with author Kelly Starling Lyons and
illustrator Don Tate, BBS promotes awareness of the many diverse Black people
creating books for young readers. Its flagship initiative is 28 Days Later, a
month-long showcase of the best in children’s and young adult books written and
illustrated by Black creators. In short, it centers Black authors and
illustrators whose work should be shared year-round.
Learn more, support
and spread the word https://thebrownbookshelf.com
The
Lighthouse | Black Girl Projects
The
web domain is LoveBlackgirls.org and
simply reading the names of their projects is enough to inspire. The Chisholm
Project educates Black girls and the community through policy analysis and by
developing policy. The Colvin Project provides a summer institute where girls
who have made difficult choices meet, fellowship and learn skills that aid them
in overcoming personal challenges while supporting their sense of self. The
Hamer Project focuses on our communities’ holistic well-being through human
rights education, including legal clinics.
These
are just a few initiatives of The Lighthouse | Black Girl Projects. The
Jackson, Mississippi based organization offers leadership development for Black
girls and women, addressing the whole person: physical, emotional, spiritual
and social wellbeing. Founder and president Natalie Collier created the
Lighthouse from her dream to see Black girls recognized. Her organization’s
work ensures that Black “girls and young women are supported and uplifted so
they, too, can dream their own dreams and realize them on their terms.”
Learn
more, support and spread the word: https://loveblackgirls.org
Say It Loud Readers
and Writers
Say
It Loud! Readers and Writers brings communities together through literature.
Educational consultant and literacy advocate Patrick Oliver founded Say It Loud
to support educational and community organizations in implementing innovative
literary arts projects and programs. Since 1997, the organization has worked
with educators and administrators across the country to decrease the literacy
achievement gap and empower students. Poetry, narrative, prose, rap, vision
boards are all tools Patrick and his team use to teach young people the power
of visualizing dreams and planning their goals early and often. Say It Loud
also features a speakers bureau that connects young Black students with authors
and illustrators who look like them. How impactful is that representation? This
testimonial from a Little Rock organization says it all: “This was one of the
most phenomenal experiences we’ve been able to bring to our students. When the
students heard the author shout out to them they screamed to the top of their
lungs with excitement and pride. The students ask everyday “what book are we
reading next and who is the author?” As Patrick often says, who got next?
Learn
more, support and spread the word: https://www.speakloudly.com/
Because
of Them We Can
It
began in February 2013 as a photo campaign where children appeared as iconic
Black history figures. Eunique Jones Gibson was inspired by her sons to teach
Black history while connecting the dots between the past, present and future.
Today, Because of Them We Can® is a full movement powered by an online platform
that reaches millions every month. Perhaps the best known project of the
movement is the Because of Them We Can (BOTWC) Box. The first Black history
subscription box for kids, it’s a curated learning experience that uses branded
apparel, educational activities, and other products to help children learn
about Black history makers, organizations and movements.
Learn
more, support and spread the word https://www.becauseofthemwecan.com
The HistoryMakers
Before
2000, there was only one large-scale project during the 20th century project
that chronicled African-American history from a first-person perspective: the
WPA Slave Narratives. The HistoryMakers changed that. Founded to address the
lack of documentation and preservation of the African American historical
record, The HistoryMakers shares a century of African-American history one interview
at a time. To date, the non-profit has conducted more than 3,000 interviews,
sharing many previously unrecorded stories that educate the world about African
American life, history, and culture. The interviews are housed permanently at
the Library of Congress and are available in the organization’s digital
archive.
Learn
more and spread the word: https://www.thehistorymakers.org/
Vanguard Theater
Company
Its productions focus
on racial literacy, social justice, and color-conscious casting. The latest,
premiering this Thursday, Feb. 18, is “How Black Performers Peeled the Tar off
Blackface: Setting the Stage for American Musical Theater,” which explores the
history of minstrelsy and how Black producers, playwrights, and composers used
this form of entertainment as a catalyst to change the narrative and begin
telling their own stories.
The organization
presenting this critical work is Vanguard Theater Company, whose mission is to
change the narrative through theater dedicated to DREAM: Diversity,
Reciprocity, Education, Activism & Mentorship. The Company’s presented its latest
work on February 18 during a video presentation and conversation featuring
Vanguard's Founding Artistic Director, Janeece Freeman Clark; singer-filmmaker
and founder of the Living Heritage Foundation, Susheel Bibbs; and Professor of
English and Director of the African American Studies program for Boston
University, Louis Chude-Sokei. Preview the production here: https://vimeo.com/512715482
Eyeseeme
Their mission is to
be a resource to parents, teachers and schools who need children’s books that
promote a positive reflection of African-American culture and history. And
Pamela and Jeffrey Blair achieve that mission through their bookstore:
EyeSeeMe.
EyeSeeMe is the only
children’s bookstore devoted exclusively to African American centered books.
Based in University City, MO, the family owned and operated business is a full
service bookstore with both a retail location and online store. Their selection
is diverse; they have classroom sets and book bundles, a subscription service,
and audio books. They also go beyond traditional book sales, offering community
bookfairs, a reading mentorship program, and cultural presentations. If you
follow them on Facebook, you’ll can catch live storytime featuring Ms. Tracey
reading one of thousands of books in EyeSeeMe’s collection.
Learn more, support
and spread the word: https://www.eyeseeme.com/
GirlTrek
GirlTrek
is walking inspiration. The nation’s largest public health nonprofit for
African-American women and girls it was founded by best friends, Vanessa
Garrison and Morgan Dixon, and encourages women to use walking as a practical
first step toward healthy living, families, and communities. Their vision is a
health movement “grounded in civil rights history and principles through
walking campaigns, community leadership, and health advocacy." They make
that grounding easy and accessible through projects like the Black History
Bootcamp. The series challenges participants to walk for 30 mins a day for 21
days while listening to podcast episodes dedicated to a Black person or moment
in history. They produced three podcast seasons in 2020 — each focused on a different
theme but all leaving listeners with new insight and inspiration.
Learn
more, support and spread the word: https://www.girltrek.org
Dare
to Be King
Author
David Miller founded the Dare to Be King Project to inspire Black boys and men
by supporting the organizations that serve them. David recognized that some
organizations had the passion to do good work, but did not have the
programmatic expertise to realize their vision. So he structured Dare to Be
King to focus on strong partnerships, strategies, and solutions-oriented
approaches that would help organizations create effective, high-impact
programming. The organization has four focus areas: academic success/growth,
emotional development, healthy notions of manhood/masculinity and familial
reconciliation. Services include after school program design, mentorship
transformation, curriculum design, and administrative consultation; support
materials range from books to curricula to workshops. Community partners have
called the organization’s work essential and a game changer: “From positive
identity to decision making and problem solving, [Dare to Be King] helps
African American boys successfully navigate their way into adulthood.”
Learn
more, support and spread the word: http://daretobeking.net
AALBC.com
“I don’t sell books
just sell books and make money. It’s because what I want to is share our story,
make sure our story gets out and doesn’t get distorted.” Troy Johnson, founder
& webmaster, AALBC
AALBC is the oldest,
largest, and most popular online bookstore dedicated to African-American and
Black literature from around the world. Founded in 1997 by Troy Johnson, AALBC
maintains a curated and growing collection of more than 14,000 books covering a
century of Black literature. It also provides a variety of resources and
services to authors and publishers to help them understand and reach the
marketplace. Looking for reviews, bestsellers, awards lists, author
information, discussion forums? You’ll also find it all on AALBC.
Learn more, support
and spread the word: https://aalbc.com
Sesi Magazine
“Sesi”
means “sister” in Sotho, a Bantu language spoken mainly in Southern Africa.
It’s also the name of the only teen magazine for Black girls published today.
Editor-in-Chief/Publisher Andréa Butler founded Sesi with her friend Shannon to
fill a void. “As a teen, I had what my mom called, “an intense obsession” with
magazines. But I got sick of reading mags I couldn’t relate to.” One day she
thought “If there’s still not a teen magazine that speaks to Black girls by the
time I’m done with school, I’ll start one myself.” And she did. Sesi’s first
issue was published in 2012. It now has more than 20,000 readers and cover
stars who have included Chloe x Halle, Assante Black and Marsai Martin.
Subscriptions for the quarterly print magazine are $15 a year.
Learn
more, support, and spread the word: https://sesimag.com
Bisa
Butler
Her
subjects are African Americans from ordinary walks of life. Their photographs
may have been captured during a family portrait or taken by a passing
photographer. Either way, their often untold stories inspire artist Bisa Butler
and she takes that inspiration to her fabric to create art quilts.
Bisa
graduated from Howard University, where she says professors taught students to
be proud of their African heritage and that they had a responsibility to
document and correct the misinformation that had been told about their people.
That’s precisely what Bisa does using fabrics from Ghana (where her father is
from), batiks from Nigeria, and prints from South Africa. All of her pieces are
done in life scale, which she says invites the viewer to engage in a dialogue.
“I am inviting a reimagining and a contemporary dialogue about age old issues,
still problematic in our culture, through the comforting, embracing medium of
the quilt.”
In
2020, her portrait of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai was featured
as a cover for Time Magazine’s special issue honoring the 100 Women of the
Year. “Bisa Butler: Portraits” is currently on exhibit at the Art Institute of
Chicago. Learn more about Bisa and her work at: https://www.bisabutler.com
Third World Press Foundation
The
year was 1967. Haki R. Madhubuti, then known as Don L. Lee, took a $400
honorarium he received from a poetry reading and a used mimeograph machine, to
found what would become one of the most influential Black institutions in the
nation: Third World Press. One of his goals was to cultivate a broader
readership of individuals who wanted to gain greater insight into African
American cultural traditions. He had the support of luminaries like Margaret
Burroughs, Dudley Randall, Gwendolyn Brooks and others who were committed to
Black Arts and empowerment movements. For more than 50 years, the Press has
been dedicated to publishing a rich tradition of African American writing, with
a list that includes work by Gwendolyn Brooks, Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez,
Mari Evans, Margaret Walker, Sterling Plumpp, John Henrik Clarke, Useni Eugene
Perkins, Pearl Cleage, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, Marc Lamont Hill, Tony Medina,
Wade Hudson, and of course its founder Haki Madhubuti. Today, Third World Press
Foundation is the oldest independent publisher of Black thought and literature
in the U.S.
Learn
more, support and spread the word: https://thirdworldpressfoundation.org
Pan-African
Connection
The
“shortest trip to Africa without getting on a plane" - Pan-African
Connection is a bookstore, art gallery and resource center that specializes in
the history, health and forward movement of African people. Founded in 1989 by
Bandele Tyehimba, the Dallas-based store has one of the largest online retail
African art galleries in the world. When Bandele died in 2012, his wife Akwete
stepped up to keep the business running and daughter Adjwoa Tyehimba later came
on board serving as the CFO. In addition to books and art, the Center also
sells clothes, learning materials, jewelry and natural hair care products all in
support of its vision: Connecting African people scattered globally with our
great history, culture and collective strength, uniting Africa and African
Peoples, and the upliftment of humanity worldwide.
Learn
more, support and spread the word: https://www.panafricanconnection.com
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