Michael Eric Dyson has taught at some of the most prestigious universities in the nation, including Princeton, Brown, Georgetown and now at Vanderbilt University. As an author, he has penned more than 25 books, seven of which were New York Times bestsellers. He’s won myriad awards for his literary prowess, including the 2020 Langston Hughes Medal, which had previously been awarded to literary giants James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou and August Wilson. He’s also earned the American Book Award, a Southern Book Award

Dr. Daniel Black is an award-winning novelist, professor, activist, mentor and public speaker. His published works include They Tell Me of Home, The Sacred Place, Perfect Peace, Twelve Gates to the City, The Coming, Listen to the Lambs, Don’t Cry for Me, and Black on Black. He will be the recipient of the NBCC’s Terrie M. Williams Inspiration Award in 2025. In 2014, Daniel won the Distinguished Writer’s Award from the Mid-Atlantic Writer’s Association. The Go On Girl! National Book Club

Bernice McFadden, the award-winning author and creative writing professor at Tulane University, offers an intimate and powerful memoir exploring inherited trauma, family secrets, and the enduring bonds of love between mothers and daughters. A memoir of many threads, Firstborn Girls is an extraordinarily moving portrait of a life shaped by family, history, and the drive to be something more. On her second birthday in 1967, Bernice McFadden died in a car crash near Detroit, only to be resuscitated after her mother pulled

A’Lelia Bundles is the great-great-granddaughter of Madam C.J. Walker, the country’s first Black woman millionaire. Ms. Bundles authored the bestseller and New York Times Notable Book, On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker, a work in which she carefully researched to craft an accurate biography. It led to the four-part Netflix hit series, Self Made, starring Octavia Spencer.   Ms. Bundle’s fifth book, Joy Goddess: A’Lelia Walker and the Harlem Renaissance, is the biography of her great-grandmother, whose parties and arts patronage

Brenda Jackson, New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of over 140 books and novellas, and 15 million books in print, earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Jacksonville University.  She worked in management for State Farm Insurance where she retired after thirty-seven years.  Forty-nine years ago, she married her high school sweetheart, Gerald and they have two sons, Gerald Jr. and Brandon, ages forty-three and forty-one, respectively.  She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority,

Brian W. Smith is the award winning, best selling author of thirty-three novels to include the best-sellers: QUAGMIRE, DEADBEAT, The Delusion of Inclusion, and If These Trees Could Talk. His novels have appeared on numerous best sellers list to include: Amazon, Dallas Morning News, Target, and Black Expressions. When Brian is not writing novels and appearing at literary events, he serves as an Adjunct Professor of Creative Writing, at two colleges in the Dallas, Texas area. Brian is a native of New Orleans, La., and currently resides in the Dallas, Texas area. Visit www.authorbrianwsmith.com 

Alice Randall, award-winning professor, songwriter, and author presents “a celebration of all things country music” (Ken Burns) as she reflects on her search for the first family of Black country music. Country music had brought Alice Randall and her activist mother together and even gave Randall a singular distinction in American music history: she is the first Black woman to cowrite a number one country hit, Trisha Yearwood’s “XXX’s and OOO’s (An American Girl)”. Randall found inspiration and comfort in

ReShonda Tate is the national bestselling author of more than 53 books who has the credentials, and the passion, to bring stories to life. ReShonda writes both adult and teen fiction, as well as nonfiction. Her sophomore novel, Let the Church Say Amen, was made into a film directed by actress Regina King, and produced by TD Jakes and Queen Latifah. ReShonda made her on-screen movie debut in the film, which was one of BET’s highest-rated programs. Her book, The

Brenda L. Thomas, a proud Philadelphia native, isn’t one to shy away from giving her opinion. In 2001, she self-published her much-anticipated Essence bestselling novel, Threesome, where seduction, power, and basketball collided, and subsequently signed with Simon and Schuster, where she penned Fourplay, The Velvet Rope, and Every Woman’s Got a Secret, along with several anthologies. In 2007, Thomas departed from fiction and ventured into the complex reality of her past with a profoundly moving depiction of her 15-year struggle with domestic violence and drug addiction when she

Dwayne Alexander Smith hails from the Bronx, New York, and now lives in Los Angeles, California. Dwayne has spent 23 years as a professional screenwriter, contributing to major studios like Warner Bros., Sony, and Lionsgate. His latest project, “KINGSLAND,” a 10-part series for Audible, is set for release in 2025. Dwayne’s debut as an author came in 2014 with the thriller Forty Acres, published by Simon and Schuster, earning him an NAACP Image Award for Best Debut Novel. The book

Pamela Samuels Young was dubbed by one reviewer as “John Grisham with a sister’s twist.” An attorney, Pamela has penned more than a dozen novels. A desire to see people of color depicted in the legal thrillers she read prompted here to write her first mystery while still practicing law. Her thriller Anybody’s Daughter, a gripping tale of a teen unwittingly drawn into the world of child sex trafficking, won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Fiction. A former TV

Octavia Grant is a native of Georgetown, SC. Her passion for creative writing began in her Junior year of High School. After relocating to Jacksonville, FL, she chose to share her passion with the world and began writing professionally in 2016. As an Independent Author, Octavia has penned over 40 novels. She has spoken on the Thrilling Tales Author Panel at ESSENCE Fest, and she’s been featured in WYB Lifestyle magazine, VoyageJacksonville, Canvas Rebel, Bold Journey, and named in 160 Black

Katie Mitchell is a storyteller and bookseller. Katie lives, works, and writes in Atlanta, Georgia and is the author of Prose to the People: A Celebration of Black Bookstores. Her online and pop-up Black bookstore, Good Books, has been featured in The New York Times, NBC, NPR, PBS, and many other outlets. Katie is a Dorothy Porter Wesley fellow. Prose to the People is  stunning visual homage to Black bookstores around the country along with profiles and essays that celebrate the history, community,

Brian Copeland is an award-winning actor, comedian, author, playwright, television and radio talk show host based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He began his career in standup at the tender age of 18 performing in comedy venues in San Francisco. Soon he was traveling the country opening for such legendary performers as Smokey Robinson, Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, Ray Charles, The Temptations, Natalie Cole, Julio Iglesias, Ringo Starr and Gladys Knight. Copeland performed his brand of biting, cutting edge

Corey Minor Smith is the recipient of the 2024 Secretary’s Mission Support Excellence Award and certificate of completion from the Harvard Business School 2023 Women of Color Executive Leadership Program who moved 21 times and attended 14 different schools before graduating high school. She became a mother was a senior in college. Additionally, she has a loved one living with schizophrenia. All that, and she still emerged to become an accomplished attorney and mental health advocate–and author of the book #Driven,