Children's Book Authors Collaborate to Host Event for Minneapolis and St. Paul Students

Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson, co-founders of Just Us Books and editors of the best-selling anthology We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices, will join children’s book creators in a live, virtual event for students in Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN on Tuesday, March 10, 2026 at 11am ET/ 10 am CT. 

Hosted by PEN America, in collaboration with Just Us Books, Penguin Random House, The Children’s Book Council, The Authors Guild, The Brown Bookshelf, Red Ballon Bookshop, AMAZEworks, Hennepin County Public Library, and St. Paul Public Library, the event will share messages of hope, resilience, and activism for young people in the Twin Cities and across the county.

First published in 2018 by Penguin Random House in partnership with Just Us Books, We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices includes contributions by fifty diverse children’s authors and illustrators. Eight years later the messages shared in the anthology are as important now as they were when the book was first published, especially in light of recent events in Minneapolis.

A Jane Addams Peace Association honor book, We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices has received starred reviews from Kirkus, Horn Book and Publishers Weekly, which called it an “empowering anthology to counter today’s often-unsettling political climate for children of varying ethnicities, faiths, identities, and abilities.” “Every turn of the page is a new and different experience; the tone of the book moves seamlessly from joyful to somber to curious, and inspired, offering children of many different ages a place to land and learn, and find their own lives reflected back at them,” said School Library Journal.

Among the authors who will participate in the virtual event are Jacqueline Woodson, Kelly Starling Lyons, Sharon M. Draper, Sharon Flake, Rita Williams-Garcia, Ellen Oh, Margarita Engle, Tony Medina, Tameka Fryer Brown, Cheryl Willis Hudson, and Wade Hudson.

Ahead of the virtual event, St. Paul bookstore, Red Balloon, and educational partner, AMAZEworks, will distribute over 600 copies of We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices to students and libraries in the Twin cities. The books are donated, courtesy of Penguin Random House.

The virtual event is free. To register visit: We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices - PEN America

Founders' Reflection On 37 Years

Today marks the last day of Just Us Books’ anniversary month. We are so thankful that we have been able to do this work for 37 years! Publishing books that help our young people learn about Black history, Black culture, and Black experiences is an honor.

As with all businesses, there have been challenges to overcome and successes to celebrate. But, like our ancestors before us, Just Us Books remains committed to a mission that is bigger than us…telling our stories.

It is more important than ever that we continue to share our stories because Black history and Black institutions are under attack locally and nationally. The campaign to dominate the narrative about who we are as a country is going full throttle. This false narrative seeks to remove as much information as possible about Black people and other marginalized groups from the American story.

Just Us Books remains committed to the truth. To publishing books that center the rich and fertile history and culture of Black people who have contributed so much to this country and the world.

We truly appreciate the generous support we have received over the years from booksellers, educators, librarians, parents, and most of all from our audience of children and young people. That support is even more important now because the challenges we face — from censorship and book banning to a struggling economy — are enormous. But so is our faith. And we will continue to do all we can to push forward and help make this a better, more inclusive, and just society for all.

We encourage everyone to do the same. Be intentional with your spending; prioritize Black publishers like Just Us Books, Black Classic Press, Third World Press, Africa World Press, the community of Black writers, artists, and other institutions dedicated to telling and sharing Black stories. Borrow our books from the library, share them with friends, post about them on social media. Every action of support makes an impact.

And as always, remember,

Good Books Make a Difference!

Wade Hudson & Cheryl Willis Hudson

10 Actions to Fight Book Bans

The number of challenged and banned books in the United States has soared in recent years. According to Pen America, there were 22,810 instances of banned books in U.S. public schools from 2021 to 2025. Books have also been removed from libraries, museum shops, and even the United States Defense Department schools. The majority of titles that have been targeted contain themes about race, gender, or sexuality -- in effect erasing or decreasing access to important stories, identities, experiences, and history. We must fight this censorship! To help us all take action and make a difference, Just Us Books has created the Banned Books Pledge.

I Pledge To:

1. Read more banned children's books.

2. Introduce 5-10 different banned children's books to educators, librarians, bookstore managers and parents-anyone who has influence and/or power to help increase the number of these books within our body of children's literature. 

3. Donate banned children's books to youth organizations, literacy programs and youth community groups. 

4. Prioritize buying these books from independent publishers, independent bookstores and vendors. 

5. Support and get involved with organizations like the Banned Books Week Coalition, Authors Against Book Bans, The Kids' Right to Read Project and other efforts to fight censorship in kidlit. 

6. When visiting a bookstore or library, encourage managers to include more banned children's books. Take the initiative to purchase or borrow from the library at least one banned book to show my commitment to supporting these books. 

7. Encourage educators and administrators to include banned books among their classroom resources. 

8. Encourage book reviewers and bloggers to include banned books among the titles they spotlight. 

9. Publicly celebrate banned books, including sharing them on social media, book review sites and through personal recommendations.

10. Encourage others to take this pledge.

RESOURCES
PEN America Banned in the USA. The Normalization of Book Banning
AuthorsAgainstBookBans

BANNED BOOK LISTS

Jane Addams Peace Association
BooksandAuthors Freely We Read: Picture Books Middle Grade Books Young Adult

PEN America

HuffPo

Black Business Month - A Time for Action

 

Black Business Month (August) is almost here, and it’s not only a time for celebration, it’s a time for action. Black-owned businesses are a vital component of society — driving innovation, creating jobs, contributing to the community, and in the case of publishing — sharing and preserving important stories, history, and culture. When Frederick E. Jordan and John William Templeton founded Black Business Month in 2004, their goal was not only to recognize Black-owned businesses and their contributions but to “drive the policy agenda” given the unique challenges Black business owners face.  For Jordan, one of those big challenges was lack of access to capital, which continues to be a hurdle today. Add to that budget cuts, book bans, growing opposition to inclusive books and history, and a strained economy and indeed it’s a challenging time. To continue making an impact, Black businesses need sustained investment. As we navigate this climate as entrepreneurs at Just Us Books, we’re also doing all that we can to uplift our fellow Black businesses, including: -More intentional spending. We prioritize Black, small and local businesses for everything from printing for our books to catering for our events. -Growing our networks. We want to be able to find the businesses we need and recommend them to others, even if we don’t require their products or services at the time.  -Use our platforms to amplify. We post businesses on social media, highlight them in every newsletter, and use our events and other channels to spread the word. What’s an action you’re taking to invest in Black owned businesses? We’d love to hear your ideas. For more suggestions, check out: 9 Ways to Support Black-Owned Businesses  Pictured above: Just Us Books founders Wade and Cheryl Hudson with fellow publishers, Haki Madhubuti, founder of Third World Press Foundation and Paul Coates, founder of Black Classic Press, at the Havana International Bookfair in Cuba.

Remembering Tony Rose

We remember fellow book publisher, Tony Rose, who passed away at the age of 74. 

Following a successful career in the music industry, Tony founded Amber Books with his wife Yvonne in 1996, specializing in self-help and music biographies. Amber went on to publish more than 1,000 titles, including African Americans and the Future of New Orleans: Rebirth, Renewal and Rebuilding. Under Tony’s leadership it also won numerous honors such as an NAACP Image Award for Literature and the Harlem Book Fair Wheatley Book Awards “Publisher of the Year.”

In addition to publishing, Tony wrote several books including A Guy Named Maurice Starr and America: The Black Point of View. For years, he led the African American Pavilion at Book Expo America, ensuring a much-needed platform for Black publishers in the leading industry conference. 

“Tony brought boundless energy and a deep commitment to the Black book publishing community,” says Wade Hudson, CEO and cofounder of Just Us Books. “At Just Us Books, we had the opportunity work with him on numerous initiatives focused on building the Black book ecosystem. He will be missed.”

We extend our love and condolences to Yvonne, Tony’s entire family and his loved ones. 

Read more about Tony and his work here.

Whose Story Are You Sharing?

It’s Women’s History Month, a celebration dedicated to learning about and sharing women’s many — and often untold — contributions to society. We honor women who have played, and are playing, an important role in leading, healing, teaching, advocating, and blazing trails to make our world better. Women like Susie King Taylor.  

Born into slavery in Georgia, she learned how to read and write in secret as a child. At the age of 14, she founded a school for Black children. She soon expanded her talents to nursing, caring for Black troops during the Civil War and teaching many of them how to read and write. Years later she wrote her own story — the only firsthand account of the lives and experiences of Black Civil War soldiers written by a Black woman. This amazing leader’s story is told for young readers in Susie King Taylor: Destined to Be Free, and it’s just one. There are so many more women whose stories deserve to be told, not only this month, but all year long.  

Whose stories are you sharing?

Recommended reading:

Great Women in the Struggle

Brave. Black. First. 50+ African American Women Who Changed the World

Susie King Taylor: Destined to Be Free