Join us for an online conversation with Rochelle Riley, co-author of That They Lived: African Americans Who Changed the World. Joining her is Tamara Winfrey Harris, author of The Sisters Are Alright and recently released Dear Black Girl: Letters From Your Sisters on Stepping Into Your Power.

That They Lived features Riley's grandson, Caleb, and Lola (daughter of co-author Cristi Smith-Jones) photographed in timeless black and white, dressed as important individuals such as business owners, educators, civil rights leaders, and artists, alongside detailed biographies that begin with the figures as young children who had the same ambitions, fears, strengths, and obstacles facing them that readers today may still experience. This book fills in gaps in the history American children have been taught for generations. For African American children, it will prove they are more than descendants of the enslaved. For all children, it will show that every child can achieve great things and work together to make the world a better place for all.

Rochelle Riley is Director of Arts and Culture for the city of Detroit. The author, essayist, and arts advocate ended a nearly twenty-year stint in 2019 as a columnist for the Detroit Free Press, where she was an award-winning voice for children and advocate for improved education, government, and race relations. She is editor of The Burden: African Americans and the Enduring Impact of Slavery. She calls herself "a writer by trade, warrior by necessity."

Tamara Winfrey-Harris is a writer who specializes in the intersections of race and gender. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, and other media. Her first book--the award-winning The Sisters Are Alright: Changing the Broken Narrative of Black Women in America--debuted in 2015. Her latest book, Dear Black Girl: Letters from Your Sisters on Stepping into Your Power, features more than 30 feminist, anti-racist, body positive, LGBTQ+ positive, anti-respectability politics, and pro-Black letters from Black women to Black girls wrapped in the author's analysis.

We invite you to support the author by purchasing a copy of their book from Browseabout Books by clicking HERE for Riley's book and HERE for Winfrey-Harris' book. Call-in orders are accepted at (302) 226-2665 or you can stop by the store to purchase a copy. For store hours, please visit their website. Each copy purchased comes with a signed archival bookplate.

NOTE: this meeting is being conducted through Zoom. You MUST REGISTER to receive instructions for joining the meeting.

If you have need assistance with registration or getting your Zoom invitation, please email us.

Basic written instructions for using Zoom may be found here and a brief video tutorial may be found here. Closed captioning is available for this session. Information on enabling closed captioning in Zoom may be found here.