This year, a number of African-American writers have been nominated for awards including the late Dr. Manning Marable, Nikky Finney, Yusef Komunyakaa, Jesmyn Ward and Carl Phillips (their books are linked below).

Congratulations and best wishes are in order for all especially given that the National Book Awards is one of the most prestigious literary ceremonies in the industry that, in the past, have given awards to the likes of  William Faulkner, Ralph Ellison, John Updike, Toni Morrison, Norman Mailer, Alice Walker and Charles Johnson… should be an incredible evening.

See Also: Black Travel: Visit Las Vegas

See Also: Welcome To The Lit Bit “Bestsellers In Fiction”

In other industry news, The Book Look, the online video segment tackling the latest in books and book news relevant to our community, has released its much-anticipated third episode – a fright night special just in time for Halloween featuring a review of Tananrive Due’s My Soul to Take and with a special appearance by Hill Harper:

Fittingly, I’ll leave you this week with Five Books by our community’s 2011 National Book Awards nominees…

Keep those pages turning,

Charisse

@CharisseCarney Follow Me on Twitter!!

Five Books by Black 2011 National Book Award Nominees

1)   Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention Manning Marable

2) The Chameleon Couch Yusef Komunyakaa

3)   Double Shadow: Poems Carl Phillips

4)   Salvage the Bones Jesmyn Ward

5)   Head Off & Split Nikky Finney

Charisse Carney-Nunes is the award-winning author of the children’s books, I Am Barack Obama, I Dream For You A World, and Nappy. She is the founder of new media publishing company, Brand Nu Words and a senior vice president of the Jamestown Project, a think tank focusing on democracy.

With recent and rapid changes in technology, getting a book published is more convenient and doable than ever before. In the coming months, along with giving you the latest on books and book news, I’ll also start sharing some resources and ideas on how you can get your book concept up and crackin’ so that, one day, I’ll be shedding some ink in this space talking about you.

In industry news, The Book Look, the online video segment tackling the latest in books and book news relevant to our community, has released its much-anticipated second episode, which I have included here:

I’ll leave you this week with five motivational books by Black authors, one of them by the recently departed environmentalist and freedom fighter, Wangari Maathai. May she certainly rest in peace…

Keep those pages turning,

Charisse

Follow her on Twitter @CharisseCarney

Five Motivational Books

1) The Black Male Handbook: A Blueprint for Life Kevin Powell

2) Unbowed: A Memoir Wangari Maathai

3) In the Spirit Susan L. Taylor

4) The Wealth Cure Hill Harper

5) Think and Grow Rich: A Black Choice Dennis Kimbro/Napoleon Hill

Charisse Carney-Nunes is the award-winning author of the children’s books, I Am Barack Obama, I Dream For You A World, and Nappy. She is the founder of new media publishing company, Brand Nu Words and a senior vice president of the Jamestown Project, a think tank focusing on democracy.

RELATED:

Black Bestsellers In Fiction

Want To Hide Something From African Americans?

Most of you are probably aware that, for the past three weeks, the most popular movie in America has been The Help; the film adaptation of Kathryn Stockett’s 2009 bestselling book of the same name about a young white woman and her relationship with two Black maids during the Civil Rights era. Amidst praise and controversy, the blockbuster has grossed over $100 million and is still going strong.

Recently, The Book Look and its host, Alexandra Morton, caught up with the film’s critically-acclaimed actress, Octavia Spencer, and its producer, Tate Taylor. We’re happy to offer clips from the interview here:

Alexandra asks Octavia her favorite scene in the movie.

More from The Help star Octavia Spencer and Writer/Director Tate Taylor.

And for those of you who missed it, I’ve included the debut episode of The Book Look here:

I’ll leave you this week with Five Books Adapted to Films featuring Cicely Tyson, award-winning co-star of The Help…

Keep those pages turning,

Charisse

charisse@brandnuwords.com

Five Books Adapted to Films featuring Cicely Tyson

1) Sounder

2) The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman

3) Roots

4) The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All

5) The Heart is a Lonely Heart

Charisse Carney-Nunes is the award-winning author of the children’s books, I Am Barack Obama, I Dream For You A World, and Nappy. She is the founder of new media publishing company, Brand Nu Words and a senior vice president of the Jamestown Project, a think tank focusing on democracy.

RELATED:

The Harlem Book Fair Revisited

The Book Look Program To Showcase Literature On NewsOne

I am excited to share with you the debut episode of The Book Look!

Hosted by Alexandra Morton, Miss Black America Baltimore 2011, The Book Look is your online video source for celebrating books and events relevant to the African-American community.

In this first episode of The Book Look, Alexandra discusses the book, The Other Wes Moore, by first-time author, Wes Moore where two young boys with strikingly similar backgrounds end up in two different worlds.

The Book Look will air on NewsOne every two weeks.

Keep tuning in…

RELATED:

Black Bestsellers In Fiction

Want To Hide Something From African Americans?

Some of you may have heard of author Booker T. Mattison or of his current book, Snitch, a top seller at a number of black book sites including the African American Literature Book Club. But what you may not know is that Mattison is also a talented filmmaker as well.

This past weekend, Mattison talked books and film at Sankofa bookstore, the legendary Washington, DC establishment owned by renowned filmmaker, Haile Gerima, who named it after his breakthrough film of the same name. At the event, Mattison’s film adaptation of Zora Neale Hurston’s The Gilded Six Bits, was screened and well received. The film opened to a packed house, and authors Dolen Perkins Valdez, Zane and Marita Golden came through to show support. Mattison wrote the screenplay for The Gilded Six Bits and directed the film which previously aired on Showtime. And his book, Snitch, is blowing up bestsellers lists all over.

Pick up Snitch online to experience some of Mattison’s multiple talents.

And make sure you check out the weekly book review below. I’ll leave you this week with five books by legendary author L.A. Banks who passed away last week.

Oh, and remember to look for The Book Look debut next week here on NewsOne.

Keep those pages turning,

Charisse

charisse@brandnuwords.com

Book Review of the Week

This week’s review comes from MahoganyBooks, and it is All Different Kinds of Free by Jessica McCann.

Five Books by L.A. Banks

1) Minion

2) The Awakening

3) The Hunted

4) The Bitten

5) The Forbidden

Charisse Carney-Nunes is the award-winning author of the children’s books, I Am Barack Obama, I Dream For You A World, and Nappy. She is the founder of new media publishing company, Brand Nu Words and a senior vice president of the Jamestown Project, a think tank focusing on democracy.

RELATED:

Black bestsellers in fiction

Curtis Bunn sure knows how to throw a book party. The National Book Club Conference, Bunn’s popular annual creation, was held this past weekend at the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta.

The multi-talented Tyrese Gibson was there promoting his provocative new book, How to Get Out of your Own Way. Roland Martin received the Terrie Williams Inspiration Award, the key honor of the three-day conference. Other personalities and authors in attendance included Judge Glenda Hatchett, Walter Mosley, Jeff Johnson, Zane, Dolen Perkins-Valdez and many more famous authors.

The Book Look, the upcoming review program on NewsOne.com, was there as well — clips and interviews from the conference with Tyrese, Roland Martin and others will be available in upcoming episodes.

What a weekend!

On a sad note, author Leslie Esdaile Banks, aka L.A. Banks, who penned over 40 books and 12 novellas, died Tuesday morning in Philadelphia after a valiant battle with an aggressive form of adrenal cancer. She will be missed.

Make sure you check out the weekly book review below.

I’ll leave you this week with five under-the-radar Black books you should know about.

Keep those pages turning,

Charisse

charisse@brandnuwords.com

Book Review of the Week

This week’s review comes from MahoganyBooks, and it is Just Wanna Testify by Pearl Cleage.

Read the entire review right here.

Five Under-the-Radar Black Novels You Should Know About

1) Meji I Milton Davis

2) Song Yet Sung James McBride

3) The Good House Tananarive Due

4) The Savion Sequence D. Amari Jackson

5) The Chaneysville Incident David Bradley

Charisse Carney-Nunes is the award-winning author of the children’s books, I Am Barack Obama, I Dream For You A World, and Nappy. She is the founder of new media publishing company, Brand Nu Words and a senior vice president of the Jamestown Project, a think tank focusing on democracy.

RELATED:

The Book Look program to showcase Black literature on NewsOne

Major Black book events for Summer 2011

Got a real treat for those of you who were unable to make it to the 2011 Harlem Book Fair this past week — C-Span’s Book TV covered the event and has hours of incredible footage available online at their site’s video library.

The video segments from this iconic book fair include a bunch of compelling discussions on literature, politics, society, and media; and includes a fascinating panel featuring Sonia Sanchez discussing Manning Marable’s posthumous and controversial book, Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention.

Great stuff!

There are also many more festivals coming up in the next few months.

Make sure you check out the weekly book review below, courtesy of AALBC.

I’ll leave you this week with Five Black Books Adapted into Popular Movies. And remember, The Book Look is coming soon here to NewsOne.com:

The Book Look

Keep those pages turning,

Charisse charisse@brandnuwords.com

Book Review of the Week

This week’s review from AALBC.com (the African American Literature Book Club) is Scratching for Daylight by Wilbert Gibson, a book offering 13 engaging stories of human nature and self-examination.

Click here for review

Five Black Books Adapted into Popular Movies

1) The Autobiography of Malcolm X Alex Haley, Malcolm X

2) The Color Purple Alice Walker

3) Beloved Toni Morrison

4) Roots (Miniseries Movie) Alex Haley

5)   The Spook Who Sat by the Door Sam Greenlee

Charisse Carney-Nunes is the award-winning author of the children’s books, I Am Barack Obama, I Dream For You A World, and Nappy. She is the founder of new media publishing company, Brand Nu Words and a senior vice president of the Jamestown Project, a think tank focusing on democracy.

RELATED:

Best Black sellers in fiction

The Book Look

As gentrification is changing the city’s mostly Black make-up, and businesses are finding themselves catering to more upscale customers, Mumbo seems to be making its way into the mainstream.

It’s the Washington that exists in hole-in-the-wall joints owned by Chinese and Korean immigrants who long ago learned how to cater to a mostly African American clientele, down to a condiment. It’s the Washington that if you didn’t know where to look, you might never see.

Read more at The Washington Post.

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Black Atheists Gather At Conference In Washington D.C.

Brace yourself Black America ‘cuz your books will never look the same

This week, I am very excited to tell you about an upcoming and unique program that will take the written word to a whole new level. Within the coming weeks, a new online, book review show will begin airing right here at NewsOne.com, and if you think it’s going to be some boring, traditional program where two old dudes with pipes sit by a fireside and chat about War and Peace, then you are definitely in for a shock.

The Book Look is an engaging and fast-paced video segment that tackles the latest in books and book news relevant to our community. The weekly program is hosted by beautiful book-lover and 2011 Miss Black America-Baltimore, Alexandra Morton. It also features original music by talented and Atlanta-based artist/producer, Zion Birdsong.

With its music, humor and entertainment value, The Book Look is unlike any other show on the Web and remember, episodes will be available exclusively on NewsOne!  So get ready to look at books in a whole different light. As a teaser, I’ve included the show’s 30-second opening here:

Make sure you check out the weekly book review below, courtesy of AALBC. I’ll leave you this week with Five Notable Books from Oprah’s Book Club by African American Authors.

Keep those pages turning,

Charisse charisse@brandnuwords.com

Book Review of the Week

This week’s review from AALBC.com (the African American Literature Book Club) is The Central Park Five: A Chronicle of a City Wilding by Sarah Burns. The Central Park Five is the riveting story of the five African-American teens who were falsely convicted of the high-profile 1989 rape of a white, female jogger in New York’s Central Park. http://aalbc.com/reviews/central_park_five.html

Five Notable Books from Oprah’s Book Club by African Americans

1)   The Measure of a Man Sydney Portier

2) The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison

3) What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day Pearl Cleage

4)   Cane         River Lalita Tademy

5)   A Lesson Before Dying Ernest Gaines

Charisse Carney-Nunes is the award-winning author of the children’s books, I Am Barack Obama, I Dream For You A World, and Nappy. She is the founder of new media publishing company, Brand Nu Words and a senior vice president of the Jamestown Project, a think tank focusing on democracy.

RELATED:

Major African-American Book Events For Summer 2011

A few weeks back, I teased you by mentioning just a couple of upcoming book events, namely this month’s Harlem Book Fair in New York (July 23) and the National Book Club Conference in Atlanta (July 29-31). I was able to recently get some feedback from some gracious readers that were thankful I’d listed these events so, this week, I’m going to provide you an expanded list of some of the major book events of the summer.

Now how’s that for customer service?

For those of you who have never been to a book fair, you really don’t know what you’re missing — not only are you surrounded by pages of knowledge, romance, history, celebrities, fantasy and culture, but also by a bunch of fun and interesting folks who want to socialize, chat, debate, laugh and bond with you before deciding which after-party you’re going to attend. These fairs are wonderful ways to expand your mind while having a whole ‘lotta fun.

Here are some of the major book events on tap for the summer:

Harlem Book Fair July 23 Harlem, NY

National Book Club Conference July 29-31 Atlanta, GA

Onyx Con 3 Arts Conference August 19-20 Atlanta, GA

Los Angeles Black Book Expo August 20 Los Angeles, CA

Decatur Book Festival September 2-4 Decatur, GA

Brooklyn Book Festival September 15-18 Brooklyn, NY

Baltimore Book Festival September 23-25 Baltimore, MD

National Book Festival September 24-25, Washington, DC

Make sure you check out the weekly book review below, courtesy of AALBC.

Last week, we gave props to the sisters, so I’ll leave you this week with five landmark fiction novels by African-American males.

Book Review of the Week

This week’s review from AALBC.com (the African American Literature Book Club) is 12 Angry Men: True Stories of Being a Black Man in America Today, edited by Gregory S. Parks and Matthew W. Hughey. Reviewed by Kam Williams, 12 Angry Men is a book of compelling accounts by a dozen brothers sharing their feelings on the ugly and routine practice of racial profiling by law enforcement.

Click here

1) Native Son, Richard Wright

2) Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison

3) Cane, Jean Toomer

4) Go Tell It on the Mountain, James Baldwin

5) The Spook Who Sat by the Door, Sam Greenlee

Charisse Carney-Nunes is the award-winning author of the children’s books, I Am Barack Obama, I Dream For You A World, and Nappy. She is the founder of new media publishing company, Brand Nu Words and a senior vice president of the Jamestown Project, a think tank focusing on democracy. She can be contacted at charisse@brandnuwords.com

RELATED:

Black bestsellers in fiction

Ahh, Atlanta… the city, the music, the people… the books. There’s always something happenin’ in The ATL… let’s see what’s currently cookin’ on our Dirty Southern menu…

On Tuesday, popular author Curtis Bunn, known for his steamy romance novels – steamy, as in combustible – held a reading for his latest release, A Cold Piece of Work www.curtisbunn.com at Justin’s restaurant, Sean ‘P. Diddy’ Combs’ Atlanta-based eatery. Bunn is also the founder of the popular and annual National Book Club Conference www.nationalbookclubconference.com, which will be held July 29-31 at the Atlanta Hyatt Regency and will feature such writers and celebs as Walter Mosley, Tyrese Gibson, Terrie Williams, Roland Martin and Carl Weber, to name a few.

Little as it’s known, Atlanta also happens to be a hotspot for black Science Fiction lovers… think Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus in The Matrix trilogy; Avery Brooks as Commander Benjamin Sisko in Star Trek Deep Space Nine; Nichelle Nichols or Zoe Saldana as Lt. Uhura in Star Trek. That’s right, a substantial number of African Americans love Sci-Fi and Speculative Fiction writing as well, genres represented by the likes of the late Octavia Butler and by Tananarive Due. In fact, Atlanta is the hub for the Black Science Fiction Society, an online and active network for science/speculative fiction lovers with close to 2000 members nationally www.blacksciencefictionsociety.com.

Due, the author of my favorite book in this genre My Soul to Keep http://mahoganybooks.com/index.php/my-soul-to-keep.html, more recently collaborated with actor Blair Underwood and writer Steven Barnes on several book projects and is slated to appear with Barnes at Onyxcon 3 www.onyxcon.com , an August 19-20 arts conference at Atlanta’s Southwest Arts Center highlighting African-American science/speculative fiction, animation and popular culture. Should be a cosmic blast…

Make sure you check out the weekly book review below, courtesy of AALBC. I’ll leave you this week with Five Landmark Fiction Novels by African-American Females…

Keep those pages turning,

Charisse charisse@brandnuwords.com

Book Review of the Week

This week’s review comes from AALBC.com (the African American Literature Book Club) and it is When I Get Where I’m Going. The book, authored by Cheryl Robinson and based in her native Detroit, follows two African-American sisters through a horrific childhood event and into adulthood as they strive for wholeness and to transcend the pain of their past:  http://aalbc.com/reviews/when_i_get_where_im_going.html

Five Landmark Fiction Novels by African-American Females

1)    The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison http://www.amazon.com/Bluest-Eye-Toni-Morrison/dp/B004J02E3I/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1309894391&sr=1-2

2)    The Color Purple Alice Walker http://mahoganybooks.com/index.php/the-color-purple.html

3)    Kindred Octavia Butler http://mahoganybooks.com/index.php/kindred-25th-anniversary-edition.html

4)    Beloved Toni Morrison http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375405623/aalbccom-20

5)    Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Neale Hurston http://mahoganybooks.com/index.php/their-eyes-were-watching-god.html

Charisse Carney-Nunes is the award-winning author of the children’s books, I Am Barack Obama, I Dream For You A World, and Nappy. She is the founder of new media publishing company, Brand Nu Words and a senior vice president of the Jamestown Project, a think tank focusing on democracy.

RELATED:

The Lit Bit: Black Bestsellers In Fiction

Books, books, and more books… and precious little time to read them all. But don’t let that stop you, especially given all of the upcoming opportunities over the next month to celebrate the written word. A lot more things are popping off in July than the 4^th.

To name just a couple, we’ve got the Harlem Book Fair on July 23 http://www.qbr.com/ and the National Book Club Conference in Atlanta from July 29-31 http://www.nationalbookclubconference.com/. Both should be incredible events given their lengthy track records and the large number of celebrities, writers and book lovers they attract each year.

On Saturday, July 9^th, I’m heading over to Fire & Sage Restaurant in the Metro Center Marriott in Washington D.C. for a fundraiser featuring Daniel Black, author of the provocative novel, Perfect Peace hosted by Go On Girl! Book Club’s VIRGINIA 4 chapter. Perfect Peace is the fictional account of a young man who was raised as a girl for the first eight years of his life. Should be a LIVELY discussion. For those of you who may not know, Go On Girl! Book Club has over 30 chapters in 13 states and is the largest national reading organization in the country for black women! Its members meet face to face in their respective cities to discuss the club’s monthly reading selection, and their feedback on each book is shared with the authors and publishers. In the coming weeks, Go On Girl! members will be sharing some of their reviews right here on NewsOne.com as part of the Lit Bit!

Make sure you check out the weekly book review below, courtesy of AALBC. I’ll leave you this week with five books that can change your life. Hit me back at charisse@brandnuwords.com or in the comments below with suggestions on other life-changing books, and I may give you a shout out next week.

Book Review of the Week

This week’s review comes from our friends over at AALBC.com (the African American Literature Book Club) and it is Eye of the Hurricane: My Path from Darkness to Freedom. The book was penned by the legendary Ruben “Hurricane” Carter, the former boxer wrongly convicted for murder and portrayed by Denzel Washington in the 1999 movie The Hurricane. Super–reviewer Kam Williams does the honors:  http://aalbc.com/reviews/eye_of_the_hurricane.html

5 Books that can Change Your Life

1)    The Autobiography of Malcolm X Alex Haley, Malcolm X http://mahoganybooks.com/index.php/the-autobiography-of-malcolm-x-1.html

2)    Peace from Broken Pieces Iyanla Vanzant http://mahoganybooks.com/index.php/peace-from-broken-pieces-how-to-get-through-what-you-re-going-through.html

3)    Nile Valley Contributions to Civilization Anthony T. Browder

http://ikg-info.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=28&category_id=16&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=77

4)    The Alchemist Paulo Coelho http://aalbc.com/cgi/aws/apf4.cgi?Operation=ItemLookup&ItemId=0061122416

5)   The Mis-education of the Negro Carter G. Woodson http://mahoganybooks.com/index.php/the-mis-education-of-the-negro.html

Charisse Carney-Nunes is the award-winning author of the children’s books, I Am Barack Obama, I Dream For You A World, and Nappy. She is the founder of new media publishing company, Brand Nu Words and a senior vice president of the Jamestown Project, a think tank focusing on democracy.

RELATED:

Want To Hide Something From African-Americans

…put it in a book. At least, that’s how the saying goes.

And the main folks guilty of making such an allegation…?

You guessed it… Black folk themselves.

You see, many of us who say this do so not to hate on our own community, but rather to stir black folk in to understanding what we’re missing in life by not consistently reading books.

For there are many secrets contained in books. Secrets other folk don’t want you to know. Secrets of knowledge; of the world around you; on how you can succeed in life; on how you can transform a negative situation into a positive one … secrets on who you are and where you come from; or on how you are currently being lied to about who you are and where you come from. There are many secrets hidden between pages, valuable ones, holding the very keys to our economic and spiritual success, and our mental emancipation as a people.

It certainly follows that one of the most empowering things you can do as an individual is to make a commitment to find a book and read it from cover to cover each month. Even if you don’t complete it by month’s end, just make sure you complete it. And then pick up the next one… and the next one…

You see, the mind is a complex thing. It lives and thrives off of stimulation, knowledge and inspiration. We must feed it constantly or it will become parched, thirsty and weak, and begin to work against us.

So in the spirit of feeding our minds, welcome to the debut version of Charisse’s Lit Bit, a literary review forum I will host each week here at NewsOne. Charisse’s Lit Bit will pull in reviews, events and happenings in the world of books while engaging authors, reviewers, black book sites, and others relevant to the written (and digital) word. It will focus on books by or about black people, literary fiction, urban fiction and non-fiction. 

Be sure to check out Charisse’s Lit Bit here, each week, at NewsOne.com to discover incredible jewels about life, drama, mystery, success and happiness. Trust me, you don’t want to be the one who misses out.

Because these are valuable secrets we can no longer keep.

Charisse Carney-Nunes is the award-winning author of the children’s books, I Am Barack Obama, I Dream For You A World, and Nappy. She is the founder of new media publishing company, Brand Nu Words and a senior vice president of the Jamestown Project, a think tank focusing on democracy.

What a week… celebrities, New York City, crowds of thousands… and, most of all, books. I spent the week in The Empire State attending the 2011 Book Expo of America, the biggest book industry event in North America. Making the trip with me was beautiful and talented booklover, Alexandra Morton, the sister recently crowned Miss Black America-Baltimore 2011, the Baltimore title winner for the national pageant.

We spent days with a camera crew weaving our way through thousands at the massive Jacob Javits Convention Center on the city’s west side talking with and interviewing authors, celebrities and publishers. The convention floor was packed with thousands standing in line to get books signed by the likes of rapper-actor-author, Ice-T, with his new book, Ice (yes, his wife Coco was there as well dotting about the floor with a girlfriend), and by Clara Villarosa, successful bookstore owner, entrepreneur and author of Down to Business: The First 10 Steps to Entrepreneurship for Women.

The legendary Flavor Flav was in the house, clock and all, promoting his life story, Flavor Flav: The Icon The Memoir, while business mogul and Beating the Odds author, Eddie Brown, founder of Brown Capital Management, signed his own autobiography detailing his rise to lead the country’s oldest African American investment firm with more than $6 billion under management.

Alexandra did on-camera interviews with many, including legendary rapper, Prodigy, whose new tell-all book, My Infamous Life, intimately details his compelling and sometimes-sordid life, incarceration and career as half of Hip-Hop duo, Mobb Deep; with Steve Perry, that outspoken and successful Connecticut school principal featured on CNN’s Black in America series whose upcoming book, Push Has Come to Shove, will be released this September; and with celebrity biographer, Jake Brown, who has written over 30 books on stars ranging from Prince to Tupac, from Rick James to Lil Wayne.

In between, we hung out in the section of the BEA formerly known as “the African-American Pavilion” where writers like Monda Webb, Denise Bolds, Booker T. Mattison, Tamika Newhouse, Bruce Gordon and D. Amari Jackson caught up while some enjoyed wine and munchies brought in by longtime pavilion organizers, Tony and Yvonne Rose. One aisle over, Kwame Alexander entertained as he read with musical accompaniment from his soon-to-be-released, jazz-inspired children’s book, Acoustic Rooster and his Barnyard Band.

On Wednesday evening, after the day’s BEA events wrapped, the 2011 Black Pack Party was held at the Aloft Harlem hotel with over 100 people attending. The event, which this year honored the life of legendary publisher and literary agent Manie Barron who passed away earlier this year, brought prominent black publishers, best-selling authors and book professionals together under one roof with the opportunity to network, kick back and plan for the future.

Like I said, what a week…

Welcome to a new addition to our website titled “The Lit Bit.”

This will be the literary corner for Black America as we explore the best in Black fiction through reviews, interviews, and other forms.

Expect fresh content from us in this section numerous times a week.

Below is a list of Black Bestsellers In Fiction:

Courtesy of AALBC

1.      For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf, by Ntozake Shange

2.      Farther Than I Meant to Go, Longer Than I Meant to Stay, by Tiffany L. Warren

3.      What a Sista Should Do, by Tiffany L. Warren

4.      Some Sing, Some Cry: A Novel, by Ntozake Shange

5.      The Choir Director, by Carl Weber

6.      Every Thug Needs A Lady, by Wahida Clark

7.      Getting to Happy, by Terry McMillan

8.      Somewhat Saved, by Pat G’Orge-Walker

9.      Total Eclipse of the Heart: A Novel, by Zane

10.  Breath, Eyes, Memory (Oprah’s Book Club), by Edwidge Danticat

See the whole list and get your copies today on AALBC.com, the #1 Site for African American Literature

Monday, on the Today Show, President Obama was asked if his children could receive the same high quality education at a DC public school that they were receiving at their elite private school. His answer, in nutshell “Obama speak” was bluntly, “No.” He went on to elaborate, however, that there were “terrific” schools in DC (both charters and traditional), as there are across the nation, and that DC was still struggling though we had made important strides. As I watched, I was okay with his answer, though it struck a chord of worry in my conscious. Maybe I wasn’t doing the absolute best for my children because even though E.L. Haynes and Watkins are, in my view, “terrific” public schools, I had not at least tried come up with the requisite $60,000 tuition to insure the most “terrific” future for both of them.

It is interesting to watch the “fall-out” from the President’s remarks, as local media pokes about to find out who took offense. It turns out, very few. Michelle Rhee, the hard-charging but polarizing change agent credited for improving DC schools but calling the recent election results defeating the current mayor “devastating” was apparently not offended. Vincent Gray, by all accounts the next DC mayor, was also apparently not insulted. While it is good to know that Ms. Rhee and Mr. Gray are not afraid to face the truth about current educational progress, the $60,000 question here is whether they will be able to work together to continue that progress in a Gray Administration that will purportedly focus on a type of outreach and inclusiveness that might slow-down Rhee’s expeditious nature.

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Glenn Beck ruthlessly mocks 11 year-old Malia Obama

I also don’t think that many parents were offended by President Obama’s comment. In fact, many would undoubtedly jump at the opportunity for their child to attend Sidwell over a DC public school any day. After all, parents, including the President and First Lady, have the right to send their daughters to any school – public or private – of their choosing.

Trouble is that most parents do not have such options. And many actually choose to remain in public schools while reformers like Rhee seek to expand educational success stories from isolated islands of excellence to widespread hemispheres of hope (to coin a phrase from Mayor Cory Booker of Newark, NJ).

I suppose I fall somewhere in the middle. While my government salary and extra cash I earn writing children’s books certainly would not support the cost of double tuition at Sidwell Friends, there is also something inspiring and exciting about living the educational change that we seek. As a citizen of this democracy and a personal benefactor of public-school educational opportunity, I should not expect any less.

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Perhaps what gnaws me about the President’s comments is simple – most families in DC and the nation have false choices. $60,000 tuition – not a realistic option. Winning the educational lottery – works if you’re lucky. Transferring to a new school because yours did not measure up to annualized targeted average test scores – impractical, unworkable, and what happens when we there are no more places to run?

My children won the public school educational lottery. If they (and the school) stay on track, perhaps they will meet Malia and Sasha in college. But what of those whose numbers were not called? Which of the educational choices are they left with? Will the reformers stand by them even when it’s politically untenable?

Whether we are speaking of Malia and Sasha Obama, the Carney-Nunes children, or the fictional “Johnson children” from “around the way,” all of our children are a precious resource with which we will fill the whole of this country’s future. As a nation, if we refuse to roll up our sleeves and invest in each and every one of them, then our entire country’s economic security – and indeed our whole future – most certainly is in grave peril.

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With federal financial belts tightening, state budgets bursting, and local governments left with less and less, it’s no surprise that education and children are last in line. As a staunch advocate for children, the daughter of a 45-year-careered teacher and a mom who wants her children to have everything, I am ever vigilant and a boisterous critic when our society fails to put the best interests of our children first.

But when I received my children’s school supply list this year, I had to do a double take. Maybe it’s because my household budget is tightening, right along side of governmental ones. Or maybe – dare I say it – school supply lists are a little, well, excessive.

My kindergartner’s list was comprised of 15 different items including such products as band aids, Lysol Spray, Lysol Wipes and Play Doh. My 5th grader’s list was short and sweet, with only 4 different items (though while placing the 72-pack of pencils in her backpack, I wondered, “what will the class do with 1,656 number 2 pencils for the year?”)

In the end, both of my children dutifully brought in every item that was requested. What if I had to actually pay tuition for the quality education that my children receive? Additionally, I have vivid memories of my mother and my aunts, who were also teachers, not only buying countless supplies and books with their own money, but spending countless hours meticulously preparing their classrooms – often without pay. Generations later, my children’s teachers have done the very same thing.

In my view, teaching should be the most respected profession in our society. After all, I like to say, “Children are less than 30% of our population, but are 100% of our future.”

Still, just for laughs, take a look at the kindergarten school supply list:
• 2 cans Lysol spray
• 2 boxes of Lysol sanitizing wipes
• 2 pack of paper towels
• 2 boxes of baby wipes
• 2 large bottles of hand sanitizer
• 2 black and white speckled composition notebooks
• 1 (24 pack) of Crayola crayons
• 1 large pack of Band Aids
• 1 pack of dry erase markers
• 4 pack of glue sticks
• 2 boxes of tissues
• 4 pack of classic color Play Doh (red, yellow, blue, green)
• 1 single pack Crayola colored pencils
• 1 pack of #2 pencils
• 2 hand held erasers

What do you think?

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The bedtime story is one of the most sacred of childhood rituals. We curl up on our parents’ laps, snuggle up with our blankets and velveteen bunnies, as we listen, follow along with our fingertips, and eventually sound out the words of our favorite stories.

A famous publisher and author of children’s books, Emilie Buchwald, said that “children are made readers on the laps of their parents.” We know this to be true, because for generations, this is how we learned and taught our own children to read. When it was illegal to teach Black people how to read in this country, our forefathers and foremothers got their hands on books, by any means necessary, so that their children might learn to read and have a better life. How will the next and future generations adapt to this world of iPads, electronic media, and, yes, even blogs like the one you’re reading?

A while back, I was doing a reading at a library in Alexandria, VA. The parents were really into my reading, I thought was doing a pretty good job, it seemed as if I’d engaged the children. But not long after I finished, a fifth grader ran up to me and said, “Ms. Charisse, your books are cool and all, but can I get them on my iPhone?!” Children don’t know a world without the Internet. Their brains are changing to keep up with the times, and the times are changing fast.

E-books are not going away. Earlier this month, Amazon announced a hard but not surprising fact – eBook are outselling hard cover books. Days later industry experts confirmed the same stats from major publishers. Electronic publishing brings up a lot of interesting considerations and possible changes: how will media change the way children learn? How will children change the way adults publish and produce new technologies? What does all this mean for the future of children’s books, which currently aren’t even available on the Kindle? Once the technology catches up with itself and with our needs, what about the costs? Will everyone be able to afford a Kindle? Will everyone be able to afford the e-books, or will they be available for free, just like at the public library? And, what will happen to the libraries? Will the digital divide grow wider at the same rate as the technology, leaving those who cannot afford to keep up in the dust? Will the book, as we know it, become obsolete?

We are just beginning to explore these newfound technologies, assessing their capabilities and challenging their limitations as well as our own. Our classrooms have gone from chalkboards, to dry erase boards, to smart boards, in order to help our children keep up with the speed of our own technological evolution. As a parent, anything that furthers my children’s education, increasing their imagination and chances of future success is something to which I can happily subscribe. As an author of children’s books, however, I cannot help but wonder about the fate of my own imagination and future successes.

I think, what matters now, is that we remember the words of Frederick Douglass: “once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” Whether we teach or learn on a paper page or multi-pixel screen, the lessons are what really matters.

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The Shirley Sherrod debacle, yet again, reveals an ugly and unfortunate truth. This country is suffering from a psychological disorder. Joy Leary calls it “Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome.”  Whatever it is, it’s clear that we have been traumatized not only by our despicable history of slavery and racism but our ongoing refusal to deal with it.

The latest chapter is the case of Shirley Sherrod.  The NAACP – the revered organization known to many as our nation’s conscience on race – now claims that it was “snookered.”  This so-called “snookering” was done by a Tea Party activist who released an inaccurate, deceptively edited and misleading video of an Obama Administration official Sherrod, allegedly admitting racial discrimination in her provision of benefits to a White farmer.

But don’t blame the NAACP as this “snookering” deceived not only those in charge of America’s conscience on civil rights, but it also apparently deceived those in charge of America itself. Whether it was the White House or a high ranking political official inside of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, some “snookered” superior was so fooled by all of this that Ms. Sherrod, who was driving at the time, was apparently asked to pull over to the side of the road and submit her resignation on her Blackberry.

There’s a whole lot of snookering going on.

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Needless to say the media talking heads all joined in; leading the charge was Fox News which touted the video as “breaking news.”  Cable networks piled on Ms. Sherrod Monday night, and yesterday morning, the experts all joined in to tell us how discrimination is wrong – even where White people are the victims.

Snookered.

Less than a day later – eons in the world of 24 hour cable news – the truth came out.  We’d been had.  The video had been edited.  The full version actually showed Ms. Sherrod bravely offering a story of racial reconciliation and healing – something most Americans – Black or White – are simply unable or unwilling to do.

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Ms. Sherrod’s full story explained that her father had been murdered by a White man in 1965 when she was only 17, which was part of why she was committed to staying in the South to fight for change.  She further explained that she admittedly had reservations about helping the White farmer in the beginning given the context of her story and the documented history of racism against Black farmers.  But ultimately, Ms. Sherrod’s story was one of race and reconciliation. She explained how her experience with the White farmer taught her an important life lesson that it was about helping poor people – no matter what their race.  And the White farmer who was the alleged victim of Ms. Sherrod’s discrimination has come out in full support calling her a friend, repudiating charges of racism, and crediting her with helping to save their family farm.

This morning, the same critics of Ms. Sherrod yesterday were all wondering how this happened, and the White House is asking the Department of Agriculture to reconsider its decision to terminate Ms. Sherrod.

President Obama, Ben Jealous, Administration officials, and cable news commentators, I guess you didn’t get the memo.  When it comes to information received from Fox News reports or conservative bloggers, you might want to check it out before acting on it.  If not, you might get “snookered.”

But wait a minute.  It’s really not their fault.  How can I blame the Administration, the NAACP, Fox News or the others when I was almost “snookered” myself?  My husband and I chatted about the video Tuesday morning before the truth came out.

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The fact is that America’s sore on the issue of race runs deep. It is an ugly gash in the body politic of this country that will not heal unless it is exposed. It sickens all of us in countless ways – even the most well-intentioned. It breeds fear whether it is fear of the browning of America, fear of the dilution of civil rights laws, or fear of a Black president.

How can America heal this sore?

It needs light, air and oxygen to breathe. It needs to be dealt with on a psychological, spiritual, economic and physical level. Healing will breathe life back into our country’s ideals and possibilities.While America has thrived as a great nation in spite of this sore, it is only through healing that we can achieve unprecedented levels of greatness and stop wounding each other.

While we now all agree that the myriad of victims of yesterday’s snookering owe Ms. Sherrod a heartfelt apology, what about all the other countless victims of our country’s sickness who exist in America

Last week I visited my sister who proudly told me that she refused to purchase any BP gas. On any other day her comment might have engendered an “Amen” chorus from my soul. But on that day, by that time, I had witnessed my 99th photograph of oil-soaked pelicans, fish slithering through sludge, and wetlands coated with black slime. The world had changed. So while her particular comment fell on deaf ears, my soul heard another message clearly: it is time to aggressively rethink our way of life—specifically our dependence on fossil fuels.
Twenty-one years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, we still have the same bad habits. Now, oil from another huge gas company, BP, is leaking its way from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic, and again, everyone is crying for a boycott.
But, will boycotting BP make a difference? The Montgomery bus boycott and the resilience of Rosa Parks taught us that the power of our voices when united in the pursuit of a cause can make a real difference in the world. We boycott because it’s a simple, yet effective, method of getting the message across: we disagree with you. Boycotts send a clear message and compel companies to change their standard operating procedures – even when it’s against their nature.

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And what is their nature? It probably can be best described by remembering that old story about the scorpion and the frog. During a flood, a kind-hearted frog lets a scorpion ride to safety on his back. But, just as they reach the middle of the river, the scorpion stings the frog. As they both sink beneath the waves, the frog asks, “Why did you sting me?”
“It’s my nature,” says the scorpion. “That’s what I do.”
But is it only BP’s nature that needs to change as a boycott might suggest? A boycott would hurt the local economy, prolong the current economic downturn and do nothing to impact other corporate conglomerates whose hands are just as unclean as BP’s. A boycott would also do nothing about the fact that my hands, my sister’s and all of ours are pretty unclean too. It’s time to face the music: we simply cannot continue living at the expense of our environment.
This country was built with strength, ingenuity, and the firm belief that we can rise above what society dictates to us. The past 250 years of building our nation in the face of great challenges both internal and external have taught us that we have the power to change our natures and our destinies. So, instead of boycotting BP, who is, sadly, just stinging us because that’s the nature of large corporations who seek speedy profit at the expense of the rest of the world, let’s do what we know works. Let’s find real, practical ways to change our culture for the better.

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For example, my family lives in the heart of the District. This disaster has inspired us to make a commitment to spend more time on our feet and less time in our car. The other day, instead of driving to the grocery store, my daughter and I grabbed backpacks and our bicycles. Between the two of us, we were able to bring home enough food to feed my four-person family for a week.
By trying to reduce my family’s dependence on the car, I am making a statement that goes beyond simple cause and effect. By riding our bikes, we see the world differently. We get more exercise and show our children the importance of healthy living. We make careful choices at the store so that we take what we need, rather than grab everything we want in some consumerism-induced mania. We spend more time together; we take our time rather than rush. Plus, we end up giving less money to BP and all of their competitors by buying less gas, which still gets the message across.
The human race has survived over the years because of our adaptability. It’s a unique gift, and it’s one that we shouldn’t take for granted. We aren’t bound like the frog or the scorpion to only follow our natural instincts, or to take the path of least resistance. We have the strength to challenge ourselves, and those around us, to think of new ways to live better lives. Let the government deal with BP and the civil and criminal accountability that will surely arise from this spill. And while President Obama and his team are doing what they do, we, as everyday citizens, should do what we can do. Let’s put our babies on our bikes, and start where we can make a difference. As Mahatma Ghandi said, “be the change you want to see in the world.” If families and neighborhoods link together by thousands to make these kinds of positive changes in our own lives, then BP and all the others will eventually have no choice but to live up to the name – Beyond Petroleum.

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“Big Sister Dorothy Irene Height, 1947-1956,” I shouted in unison with my line sisters. That was how I first learned her name. As an 18-year old sophomore at Lincoln University pledging Delta in 1985, I had to recite, quickly and convincingly, the names of our founders and past national presidents. It was as if calling forth their names would call forth their spirits to embody those of us striving to be like them. For our efforts went beyond rote memorization; we had to learn and even internalize our history, as we strove to follow in the footsteps of our Big Sisters and become Deltas.

Of all of the wondrous women I learned about, Dorothy Height stood out most who – at that time and still today – was the longest serving president of our sisterhood. Maybe it was because I noticed, right away, that she was my “birthday twin” since both of us were born on March 24th. I immediately wanted to know more. I learned how she had walked with giants. I learned that she, herself, was a giant. I learned how this incredible woman had witnessed history and, in fact, become history in a way that made my imagination scream, “Hallelujah!” But what I also learned was how unfortunate it was that I could grow up writing essays about Martin, reading books about Malcolm, and not even knowing her name.

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Twenty years later, when I really did grow up, I came to grips with the sad reality that few of us learn little more than four “oft-repeated” lines from the “I Have a Dream Speech” and whatever tidbits of our history we cram into special celebrations during the shortest month of the year.

These are the reasons why, in the middle of a busy work and school week, I dragged my daughter down to Shiloh Baptist Church in Washington DC to share and celebrate Dr. Height’s amazing life. I wanted to make sure that, just as Dr. Height had witnessed history, my daughter would experience the watershed moment marking the passing of this remarkable woman into the annals of a new history. We were blessed and determined, so we made it into the sanctuary – supposedly reserved for the VIPs – to witness history, in person, with our own eyes.

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The first person I pointed out to my daughter was the angelic Susan Taylor, who hosted the service, as I shared the transformational impact that Essence Magazine had on us all. And then we heard from Eleanor Holmes Norton, Charles Rangel and Al Sharpton, Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, as well as the current National President of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Cynthia Butler-McIntyre. How could I explain to my daughter, in one night, the reverence that all of these giants had for Dorothy Height? Of course, this task was not possible. However, when my daughter heard Stevie Wonder play the harmonica – someone whose musical genius and social impact we’ve shared with her from a young age – I saw in her astonished eyes a glimmer of the respect for the import of this special moment in time.

The big names kept rolling in: Soror Alexis Herman, Vernon Jordan, Rev. Bernice King, John Lewis, Andrew Young and Jesse Jackson to name a few. But it was really the stories that made the evening special. There was the one about Dr. Height being accepted into Barnard, but being denied admission upon arrival because the college had suddenly reached their quota for Black women – two! There was another, recounted by Rev. Sharpton, about a recent meeting with President Obama that the persistent Dr. Height could not attend because of a blizzard. Apparently, her assistant had to wheel her to the edge of her building, fully dressed in her hat and suit, to actually prove no taxi could take her. Nonetheless, it didn’t stop her from badgering those who could attend by cell phone since she was reluctant to let the conversation take place without a strong woman in the room. Ultimately, she was relieved to learn that Valerie Jarrett was there.

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There were more stories about big, colorful hats, about building wells in Africa, about hard work, the Harlem Renaissance, the YWCA, and the modern feminist movement. There were even ones about how Dr. Height knitted during heated civil rights meetings, and how “the boys” relented when she was forced to put down her needles and put the boys back in their places. At Charlie Rangel’s prompting, I imagined what I would have said if I’d had the chance to tell my Dr. Height story about the last time I saw her at the National Congress of Black Women’s breakfast six months ago. I sought her advice and counsel because, at that time, I was under attack by Fox News and right-wing bloggers for allegedly “indoctrinating children” through my work as a children’s book author. It was a difficult time for me, and surely this accomplished and iconic woman who had counseled world leaders could offer some poignant and comforting pearls of wisdom to inspire me and lift me through my struggles. After listening to me detail my predicament and drone on for what must have been five minutes without taking a breath, this towering figure squeezed my hand, pulled me close to her, and whispered, “Baby, I can’t hear a thing you just said… but call my assistant, Christine, and maybe we can help you!”

Perhaps the most poignant story was delivered by the legendary Cicely Tyson who described how Dr. Height loved and had faith in her. She had once asked Cicely to deliver her famous speech from her role as Ms. Jane Pittman for her… “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair. It’s had tacks in it, splinters, Boards torn up, places with no carpets on the floors, bare!” She performed it again for us right there at Shiloh. Maybe it was because we’d recently watched Sounder, but Cicely certainly got my baby’s attention. It was an awesome moment when my daughter agreed with me on how beautiful both Cicely and her performance was.

The evening wasn’t without its challenges. In the truth-telling cries of a 10-year old girl, I frequently heard, “Why is this taking so long?” And it really wasn’t the time or place to explain to a child growing up in this must-have-it-now, attention-deficient world that some things, my dear sweet child, just take time. At one point, I even caught her Googling on my cell phone, but she was looking up photos of Dr. Height and Langston Hughes, so I pretended not to notice. Quiet as its kept, sometimes our folks can be a wee bit long-winded when given a microphone in a church full of wonderful women in hats, sharp brothers in suits, and glorious gospel music filling the air.

Even so, my daughter persevered until the fascinating yet seemingly-endless evening was over. And despite the customary impatience of childhood, I’m positive that one day I will look into her eyes and see Dr. Height’s undying spirit flying high. For, like Big Sister Dorothy, she now was an in-person witness to history. And because of Dr. Dorothy Height, she has now learned that history itself is hers for the making.

Charisse Carney-Nunes is the author of the award-wining children’s books, I Am Barack Obama, I Dream for You a World, and Nappy. She is a Harvard Law schoolmate of President Obama and was recently at the center of a national controversy pitting alleged school indoctrination against children’s expressions of civic engagement. Charisse is also the creator of “Nappy Narratives,” a companion video weblog series to Nappy that connects hair and women’s history. Watch them online at www.BrandNuWords.com.

I recently watched a television show about standards of beauty around the world. I sat in awe as little Chinese girls went ga-ga for White Barbie, and their mothers and sisters stood in a drive-thru line to have a surgeon slice away the fat from their eyelids to make them more Euro-chic. On one level, it felt good to know that African-American women are not alone in the emotional struggle to love ourselves enough to call ourselves pretty.  But that feeling quickly vanished as the show then focused on Nigerian women who loathed their natural locks, opting for lye to straighten them out and a needle and thread to weave in wigs of women’s hair from places like India.

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It reminded me of that scene in the movie, Good Hair, where Chris Rock took bags of African hair all over town trying to “sell” it to beauty aficionados who turned up their noses and, in some cases, were even afraid to touch it.  Sadly, Chris would not even have been able to sell that African hair in the Motherland amidst an emerging Euro-centric redefinition of beauty.  Even without a social scientific interpretation of the now-infamous “Doll Test” – a 1950s experiment where the majority of Black children tested preferred White dolls and attributed positive characteristics to them – my anecdotal evidence convinced me that little Nigerian girls and little Chinese girls were no different from little African-American girls.

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Last month, at a signing for my book, Nappy, one African-American girl asked me, “What does Nappy mean?” I explained to the audience that Nappy was a strong word used to describe the kink and the curl in our hair.  In the book, I use it as a metaphor to for strength, explaining that Black women in history were strong just like the kink and curls in our hair.  Women like Harriet Tubman, Mary McLeod Bethune and Ella Baker endured unfairness in our society but rose above it because they were strong. Nappy.  Women like Rosa Parks and Josephine Baker may not have had hair that was as tightly coiled as mine, but Nappy represents them too because it is about strength, self-esteem and standing up for yourself and your community.

Not convinced, the girl’s mother later asked me if Nappy was a word that could really be “reclaimed” as something positive.  Unlike the other controversial “N” word that most of us believe cannot, I told her “Nappy” is a word that is nowhere close to needing a funeral. Social scientists have written tomes about the power of language and word choice on our minds. Clearly, if we are to have any hope of winning the war for our children’s minds being waged by Barbie and the mass media, we need a word with superpowers to let our girls know that they are beautiful and strong.  Nappy means that we must always remember to love our history, our hair and ourselves.  It is a message that I hope Nigerian, African-American and even Chinese mothers will bring home to their children.

Charisse Carney-Nunes is the author of the award-wining children’s books, I Am Barack Obama, I Dream for You a World, and Nappy. She is a Harvard Law schoolmate of President Obama and was recently at the center of a national controversy pitting alleged school indoctrination against children’s expressions of civic engagement. Charisse is also the creator of “Nappy Narratives,” a companion video weblog series to Nappy that connects hair and women’s history. Watch them online at www.BrandNuWords.com.

This week marks the 35^th commemoration of International Women’s Day (Monday), celebrated by the United Nations. This year’s theme is “Equal Rights, Equal Opportunities, Progress for all.” As a woman, I am grateful that for one day out of 365, women are recognized for our achievements. But outside of this special day and month – March is also Women’s History Month – I find myself humming Sojourner Truth’s tune, asking Ain’t I A Woman and questioning where I fit in popular culture, and even in my own community.

It is no secret that women are the backbone of the African-American community. Our women know this; our children know this; and our men know this. Our history is bursting with examples of women such as Coretta Scott King, Betty Shabazz, Myrlie Evers and Michelle Obama who literally knit the fabric of a family, community or country together with their strength, courage, love and hope, and who could have easily stood in their husband’s shoes if they hadn’t spelled their name w-o-m-a-n.

Sure, some women have used their names to spell unparalleled success as well, like Oprah and Cathy Hughes. But where are the women who look like me in the U.S. Senate, at the upper echelon of government and corporate America, in the Black media and on major Black blogs and as the so-called leaders of our community? Forget about justice and fairness. If the United States does not take full economic advantage of all of its citizens equally – men and women – black, brown and white – then our changing demographics will ensure that we lose our status as the last remaining superpower in the world.

This week is the perfect time for us all to reflect. Teach our children about women in history like King, Shabazz, Evers, Sojourner Truth and Ida B. Wells who fought long ago for “Equal Rights, Equal Opportunities, Progress for All.” Reflect forward on women like Obama, Oprah, Hughes, Marion Wright Edelman or even yourself as shining examples of the strength, perseverance, and love that are needed to achieve such progress. And in the 364 days between now and next year’s International Women’s Day, be sure to reach for the stars with a sledge hammer and crack open that proverbial glass ceiling to rise above it and uplift our community, while letting the broken glass fall where it may.

Charisse Carney-Nunes is the author of the award-wining children’s books, I Am Barack Obama, I Dream for You a World, and Nappy. She is a Harvard Law schoolmate of President Obama and was recently at the center of a national controversy pitting alleged school indoctrination against children’s expressions of civic engagement. Charisse is also the creator of “Nappy Narratives,” a companion video weblog series to Nappy that connects hair and women’s history. Watch them online at www.BrandNuWords.com.