PBS Books

'Departure' with Cey Adams | The Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series
2022-11-04 20:00 - 21:00 (America/Halifax)
Cey Adams is a pioneer in the world of hip-hop graphic design. As the legendary Creative Director of Def Jam Recordings, he created album artwork, logos, as well as advertising campaigns for the likes of Jay-Z, Run DMC, Beastie Boys, Notorious B.I.G., Maroon 5, and many others.
Cey’s vision pushes the boundaries of art and design as it intertwines with Hip-Hop culture and society at large. His artistic practice focuses on themes including pop culture, race and gender relations, and cultural and community issues. He exhibits, lectures, and teaches art workshops at many established institutions including the MoMA, Pratt Institute, and universities nationwide. Cey lives in Brooklyn, New York where he is always creating mind-altering masterpieces.
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The Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series Fall 2022 Season
This winter, the Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series brings respected leaders and innovators from a broad spectrum of creative fields to Ann Arbor’s historic Michigan Theater for weekly in-person events.
Detroit Public Television and PBS Books, in partnership with the Stamps School, will stream each week’s event Fridays at 8pm.
See the full schedule of events livestreamed by PBS Books here.
Some programs may not be available online, depending on artist requests. Interested in receiving notifications before online videos go live? Sign up to receive a reminder before each event begins streaming.
Watch Past Penny Stamps Episodes

'The U.S. and the Holocaust' Resources Webinar for Libraries
2022-11-08 14:00 - 15:00
Join PBS Books, WETA and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the American Library Association to learn about THE U.S. AND THE HOLOCAUST, a film by Ken Burns, Lynn Novick & Sarah Botstein and free educational resources available to engage around this important topic.
In this 60-minute session, you’ll meet Sarah Botstein, one of the filmmakers, and hear about programming resources (film screeners, discussion guides, book lists, panel discussions, poster sets and more) related to the film and the topic, as well as learn about what some other libraries have done in their communities to promote connections. The presenters will also share tips to help library workers connect with their local PBS station to collaborate on a program.
REGISTER HERE

'Power and Participation in Public Art' with Paul Farber | The Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series
2022-11-11 20:00 - 21:00
Paul Farber is Director and Co-Founder of Monument Lab, a Philadelphia-based organization working with artists, students, educators, activists, municipal agencies, and cultural institutions to facilitate critical conversations around the past, present, and future of monuments, approaches to public engagement, and collective memory. He also serves as Senior Research Scholar at the Center for Public Art & Space at the University of Pennsylvania.
A highly collaborative pilot project between Monument Lab and UMMA will encompass curatorial research around the intersection of Michigan history, public art, and monuments, and will culminate in an artist commission for 2023 that explores the history of UMMA’s Alumni Memorial Hall as a monument.
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The Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series Fall 2022 Season
This winter, the Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series brings respected leaders and innovators from a broad spectrum of creative fields to Ann Arbor’s historic Michigan Theater for weekly in-person events.
Detroit Public Television and PBS Books, in partnership with the Stamps School, will stream each week’s event Fridays at 8pm.
See the full schedule of events livestreamed by PBS Books here.
Some programs may not be available online, depending on artist requests. Interested in receiving notifications before online videos go live? Sign up to receive a reminder before each event begins streaming.
Watch Past Penny Stamps Episodes

Redistricting Town Hall | Ford Policy School Speaker Events
2022-11-30 19:00 - 20:30
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Join the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy for a webinar about redistricting and the 2022 midterm election.
Michigan’s new approach to redistricting by an independent citizens commission has now come full circle, from signature gathering for the statewide ballot initiative in 2018, to strong statewide support in that fall’s election, creation of the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission, their work drawing new districts with extraordinary input from Michigan citizens, and now the new districts being used for the first time in the 2022 elections.
Join the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy for a final webinar in its redistricting series, to look back at this consequential change in state policy and to review how this new approach played out this fall, including its impacts on races and election outcomes, and how it compares to experiences in other states. We’ll hear from an expert panel covering these and related issues, including their reactions to audience questions.
REGISTER HERE
Moderator:
Matt Grossmann, Director, Institute for Public Policy and Social Research of Political Science at Michigan State University
Panelists:

Moon Duchin, MGMG Redistricting lab
Zach Gorchow, Executive Editor and Publisher at Gongwer News Service Michigan
Nancy Wang, Executive Director, Voters Not Politicians

About this webinar:
This virtual event is hosted by the Center for Local, State and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) at the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy, Voters Not Politicians (VNP), and Michigan State University’s Institute for Public Policy and Social Research (IPPSR), with support from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.
REGISTER HERE

FBI Director Christopher Wray | Ford School Speaker Events
2022-12-02 11:45 - 13:00
The Ford School presents FBI Director Christopher Wray as the 2022 Josh Rosenthal Memorial Speaker. Director Wray will give brief remarks, followed by faculty and student experts posing questions to the director on topics including cybersecurity, civil liberties, domestic violent extremism, and more.
This event is presented in partnership with University of Michigan’s Ford School.
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About Christopher Wray
Christopher Wray became the eighth Director of the FBI on August 2, 2017.
Wray began his law enforcement career in 1997, serving in the Department of Justice as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. In that role, Mr. Wray prosecuted a wide variety of federal criminal cases, including public corruption, gun trafficking, drug offenses, and financial fraud. In 2001, Mr. Wray was named associate deputy attorney general, and then principal associate deputy attorney general, in the Office of the Deputy Attorney General in Washington, D.C. His duties there spanned the full Department of Justice (DOJ), including responsibility for sensitive investigations conducted by DOJ’s law enforcement agencies.

'Hope for Flowers' with Tracy Reese | The Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series
2022-12-02 20:00 - 21:00
Tracy Reese is an American designer whose signature rich, daring colors and unique prints are crafted into joyful, feminine clothing for modern women. Tracy Reese’s design philosophy is rooted in a commitment to bringing out the beauty in women of all shapes, sizes, and colors.
Tracy Reese launched her namesake fashion brand in 1998 in New York City and over the past twenty-plus years, expanded to include sub-brands Plenty, Frock! and Black Label enjoying strong partnerships Barney’s, Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, and Anthropologie. In 2012, First Lady Michelle Obama wore a custom Tracy Reese dress to address the DNC. Other notable fans of the brand include Sarah Jessica Parker, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Oprah Winfrey.
Reese is working to build an artisan studio in Detroit creating economic opportunities for women in under-served communities. Tracy launched an arts enrichment program for Detroit Public School students to broaden their cultural horizons. In this talk she will discuss the journey to responsible design and the mission of Hope for Flowers which is to create a positive social impact by empowering women and young people.
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The Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series Fall 2022 Season
This winter, the Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series brings respected leaders and innovators from a broad spectrum of creative fields to Ann Arbor’s historic Michigan Theater for weekly in-person events.
Detroit Public Television and PBS Books, in partnership with the Stamps School, will stream each week’s event Fridays at 8pm.
See the full schedule of events livestreamed by PBS Books here.
Some programs may not be available online, depending on artist requests. Interested in receiving notifications before online videos go live? Sign up to receive a reminder before each event begins streaming.
Watch Past Penny Stamps Episodes

'The Great Reset' with SHRM's Johnny Taylor, Jr. | DEC Speaker Events
2022-12-07 12:00 - 13:00
In this time of global upheaval, the greatest challenge business leaders face is access to human capital. As a global leader on the future of employment, culture and leadership, Johnny C. Taylor, Jr is a sought-after voice on all matters affecting work, workers, and the workplace. Mr. Taylor will discuss the complexities of the modern workplace amid a pandemic, fluctuating unemployment, economic uncertainty and a heightened urgency around inclusion and diversity.

Join the Detroit Economic Club and #OneDetroit THIS WEDNESDAY for a live conversation with global leader on the future of employment, culture and leadership Johnny C. Taylor, Jr.

Taylor will discuss the complexities of the modern workplace amid a pandemic, fluctuating unemployment, economic uncertainty and a heightened urgency around inclusion and diversity.

Watch the livestream right here on PBS Books, on #FacebookLive or YouTube.

'To Be Heard: Public Art Interventions' with Tatyana Fazlalizadeh | The Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series
2022-12-10 20:00 - 21:00
Artist Tatyana Fazlalizadeh is a Brooklyn based artist working primarily in oil painting, public art and multimedia installations. Her work is rooted in community engagement and the public sphere. She makes site specific work that considers how people, particularly women, queer folks, and Black and brown people, experience race and gender within their surrounding environments – from the sidewalk to retail stores, and from church to college campuses.
Currently, Fazlalizadeh is Artist in Residence at the UM Institute for the Humanities where her exhibition Pressed Against My Own Glass is on view. During her residency, she will produce a public mural To Be Heard as a community engagement project in order to hear and amplify the voices of marginalized groups on the ways that they experience race and gender on campus, exploring how others engage with them based upon their identities.
Fazlalizadeh will discuss her methodology and cover her most well known works such as Stop Telling Women to Smile, the international street art series addressing gender based street harassment, and America is Black, a series of portrait and text pieces that explore and amplify the stories of non-White people in the United States.
Learn More>>

The Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series Fall 2022 Season
This winter, the Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series brings respected leaders and innovators from a broad spectrum of creative fields to Ann Arbor’s historic Michigan Theater for weekly in-person events.
Detroit Public Television and PBS Books, in partnership with the Stamps School, will stream each week’s event Fridays at 8pm.
See the full schedule of events livestreamed by PBS Books here.
Some programs may not be available online, depending on artist requests. Interested in receiving notifications before online videos go live? Sign up to receive a reminder before each event begins streaming.
Watch Past Penny Stamps Episodes

Trailblazing Women Writers Talk: Imani Perry
2022-12-13 20:00 - 21:00
PBS Books, in collaboration with the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), is pleased to host a conversation with award-winning Imani Perry, author of South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation, winner of the 2022 National Book Award for Nonfiction. For anyone who enjoys learning about how nation, this author shares thought-provoking stories, facts, and personal narratives and takes readers on a fantastic journey throughout the South to understand our nation. Imani shares about her work with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., including her role in Making Black America: Through The Grapevine, and the important work of Zora Neale Hurston, whose new documentary will air on PBS AMERICAN EXPERIENCE in January 2023. Don’t miss this incredible conversation.
ABOUT THE BOOK
An essential, surprising journey through the history, rituals, and landscapes of the American South—and a revelatory argument for why you must understand the South in order to understand America
We all think we know the South. Even those who have never lived there can rattle off a list of signifiers: the Civil War, Gone with the Wind, the Ku Klux Klan, plantations, football, Jim Crow, slavery. But the idiosyncrasies, dispositions, and habits of the region are stranger and more complex than much of the country tends to acknowledge. In South to America, Imani Perry shows that the meaning of American is inextricably linked with the South, and that our understanding of its history and culture is the key to understanding the nation as a whole.
This is the story of a Black woman and native Alabaman returning to the region she has always called home and considering it with fresh eyes. Her journey is full of detours, deep dives, and surprising encounters with places and people. She renders Southerners from all walks of life with sensitivity and honesty, sharing her thoughts about a troubling history and the ritual humiliations and joys that characterize so much of Southern life.
Weaving together stories of immigrant communities, contemporary artists, exploitative opportunists, enslaved peoples, unsung heroes, her own ancestors, and her lived experiences, Imani Perry crafts a tapestry unlike any other. With uncommon insight and breathtaking clarity, South to America offers an assertion that if we want to build a more humane future for the United States, we must center our concern below the Mason-Dixon Line.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Imani Perry is the Hughes-Rogers Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University where she also teaches in Gender and Sexuality Studies, Law and Public Affairs and Jazz Studies. She has a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a Ph.D in the history of American civilization from Harvard University. Perry is the author of South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation, winner of the 2022 National Book Award for Nonfiction, and Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry, winner of the Bograd-Weld Biography Prize of 2019 from the Pen America Foundation. She is also the author of Breathe: A Letter to My Sons, Vexy Thing: On Gender and Liberation, and May We Forever Stand: A History of the Black National Anthem, which was a finalist for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Nonfiction. Perry, a native of Birmingham, Alabama, who grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Chicago, lives outside of Philadelphia with her two sons.

'Exploring Our Nation' with Ken Burns | Author Talk
2022-12-14 20:00 - 21:00
PBS Books is pleased to host a conversation with award-winning documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, author of Our America: A Photographic History. This stunning book explores the greatest human experiment through 261 images between 1839 and 2019 representing all 50 states including portraits, landscapes, and event photographs. This stunning book makes the perfect holiday gift to anyone who is curious and loves our nation and Ken Burns documentaries. Learn insights from the Ken Burns as his reflections on the United States as he shares insights into making the book and his

ABOUT THE BOOK
From one of our most treasured filmmakers, a pictorial history of America—a stunning and moving collection of some of Ken Burns’ favorite photographs, with an introduction by Burns, and an essay by longtime MoMA photography curator Sarah Hermanson Meister.
Burns has been making documentaries about American history for more than four decades, using images to vividly re-create our struggles and successes as a nation and a people. As much as anyone alive today, he understands the soul of our country.
In Our America, Burns has assembled the images that, for him, best embody nearly two hundred years of the American experiment, taken by some of our most renowned photographers and by others who worked in obscurity. We see America’s vast natural beauty as well as its dynamic cities and communities. There are striking images of war and civil conflict, and of communities drawing together across lines of race and class. Our greatest leaders appear alongside regular folks living their everyday lives. The photos talk to one another across boundaries and decades and, taken together, they capture the impossibly rich and diverse perspectives and places that comprise the American experience.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ken Burns has been making documentary films for over forty years. Since the Academy Award nominated Brooklyn Bridge in 1981, Ken has gone on to direct and produce some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made, including The Civil War; Baseball; Jazz; The War; The National Parks: America’s Best Idea; Prohibition; The Roosevelts: An Intimate History; The Vietnam War; Country Music; and, most recently, The U.S. and the Holocaust.
Future film projects include The American Buffalo, Leonardo da Vinci, The American Revolution, Emancipation to Exodus, and LBJ & the Great Society, among others.
Ken’s films have been honored with dozens of major awards, including sixteen Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards and two Oscar nominations; and in September of 2008, at the News & Documentary Emmy Awards, Ken was honored by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Future of Work: Author Talk with Johnny C. Taylor, Jr.
2022-12-15 20:00 - 21:00
FUTURE OF WORK SERIES: Today’s workforce and workplace have undergone massive upheaval. The Detroit Economic Club in partnership with Detroit Public Television presents a Future of Work Series that will examine the multi-faceted trends and issues every company faces.

In this time of global upheaval, the greatest challenge business leaders face is access to human capital. As a global leader on the future of employment, culture and leadership, Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. is a sought-after voice on all matters affecting work, workers, and the workplace. Mr. Taylor will discuss the complexities of the modern workplace amid a pandemic, fluctuating unemployment, economic uncertainty and a heightened urgency around inclusion and diversity.

'The Inherent Politics of Design' with Studio Safar | The Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series
2022-12-16 20:00 - 21:00
Studio Safar is a design agency and publisher with offices in Beirut and, now, Tiohtia:ke (Montréal). The studio adopts an experimental approach to design. Evoked by its name, the studio is concerned with notions of communication across cultural and linguistic barriers. Projects span different media and design frameworks such as communication strategies, publications, visual identities, exhibitions and sets, and websites. Most of the work services the extended cultural sector, and is engaged in social and political discourse.
Learn More>>

The Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series Fall 2022 Season
This winter, the Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series brings respected leaders and innovators from a broad spectrum of creative fields to Ann Arbor’s historic Michigan Theater for weekly in-person events.
Detroit Public Television and PBS Books, in partnership with the Stamps School, will stream each week’s event Fridays at 8pm.
See the full schedule of events livestreamed by PBS Books here.
Some programs may not be available online, depending on artist requests. Interested in receiving notifications before online videos go live? Sign up to receive a reminder before each event begins streaming.
Watch Past Penny Stamps Episodes

Trailblazing Women Writers Talk: Julie Andrews & Emma Walton Hamilton
2022-12-20 20:00 - 21:00
PBS Books is pleased to host a conversation with legendary Julie Andrews and award winning writer, Emma Walton Hamilton, authors of “The First Notes: The Story of Do Re Mi.” The book introduces readers to the remarkable story of the development of written music, and speaks to the beauty of music and the power of perseverance through the story of Guido d’Arezzo from one thousand years ago. For anyone who loves music, this book is the perfect children holiday gift celebrating curiosity, perseverance, and creativity. Join us for a fun evening with a mother-daughter creative team!
ABOUT THE BOOK
A stunning new picture book from beloved icon Julie Andrews and her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton, that introduces readers to the remarkable story of the development of written music, and speaks to the beauty of music and the power of perseverance. Featuring the illustrated lyrics to “Do-Re-Mi” and an author’s note about Julie Andrews’s connection to the classic Rodgers & Hammerstein song!
Centuries ago, a young Italian monk named Guido longed to find a way to write and teach music. Eventually, he created the musical scale, using the words Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Sol-La-Ti-Do…one syllable for each note. Though the other monks thought it was a waste of time, Guido’s music couldn’t be silenced. His discovery remains the foundation for learning music today, and inspired the famous song “Do-Re-Mi,” which Julie Andrews sang in the beloved movie The Sound of Music.
This richly illustrated picture book from beloved icon Julie Andrews and her daughter, bestselling author Emma Walton Hamilton, introduces readers to the remarkable story of Guido d’Arezzo’s development of musical notation. In addition to the lyrics of “Do-Re-Mi” illustrated in full color, the backmatter includes an author’s note, extensive historical notes, and a glossary.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Julie Andrews’s legendary career encompasses the Broadway and London stages, as well as multiple films, television shows, album releases, concert tours, directing assignments, and the world of children’s publishing. She was married to film director Blake Edwards for 41 years, and the couple have 5 children, 10 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren.
Emma Walton Hamilton is an award-winning writer, producer and arts educator. Together with her mother, Julie Andrews, she has written over thirty books for children and young adults, including the New York Times bestselling Very Fairy Princess series. Emma is on the faculty of Stony Brook University’s MFA in Creative Writing.

Highlights of Exploring Our Nation: Ken Burns
2022-12-21 20:00 - 21:00
PBS Books is pleased to host re-release the highlights of our digital program with award-winning documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, author of Our America: A Photographic History. This stunning book explores the greatest human experiment through 261 images between 1839 and 2019 representing all 50 states including portraits, landscapes, and event photographs. This stunning book makes the perfect holiday gift to anyone who is curious and loves our nation and Ken Burns documentaries. Learn insights from the Ken Burns as his reflections on the United States as he shares insights into making the book.
ABOUT THE BOOK
From one of our most treasured filmmakers, a pictorial history of America—a stunning and moving collection of some of Ken Burns’ favorite photographs, with an introduction by Burns, and an essay by longtime MoMA photography curator Sarah Hermanson Meister.
Burns has been making documentaries about American history for more than four decades, using images to vividly re-create our struggles and successes as a nation and a people. As much as anyone alive today, he understands the soul of our country.
In Our America, Burns has assembled the images that, for him, best embody nearly two hundred years of the American experiment, taken by some of our most renowned photographers and by others who worked in obscurity. We see America’s vast natural beauty as well as its dynamic cities and communities. There are striking images of war and civil conflict, and of communities drawing together across lines of race and class. Our greatest leaders appear alongside regular folks living their everyday lives. The photos talk to one another across boundaries and decades and, taken together, they capture the impossibly rich and diverse perspectives and places that comprise the American experience.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ken Burns has been making documentary films for over forty years. Since the Academy Award nominated Brooklyn Bridge in 1981, Ken has gone on to direct and produce some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made, including The Civil War; Baseball; Jazz; The War; The National Parks: America’s Best Idea; Prohibition; The Roosevelts: An Intimate History; The Vietnam War; Country Music; and, most recently, The U.S. and the Holocaust.
Future film projects include The American Buffalo, Leonardo da Vinci, The American Revolution, Emancipation to Exodus, and LBJ & the Great Society, among others.
Ken’s films have been honored with dozens of major awards, including sixteen Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards and two Oscar nominations; and in September of 2008, at the News & Documentary Emmy Awards, Ken was honored by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Masterpiece: All Creatures Great and Small with Ben Vanstone
2023-01-04 20:00 - 21:00
The Magic of Masterpiece﻿
Join PBS Books for a conversation with Ben Vanstone, Writer and Executive Producer of MASTERPIECE's All Creatures Great and Small.
As the writer and Executive Producer, Vanstone will discuss and examine the adaptation of All Creatures Great and Small, the timeless story written by James Herriot. Season 3 premieres Sunday, January 8, 2023, 9/8c on MASTERPIECE on PBS. All Creatures Great and Small returns for a third season filled with compassion, trials, and triumph in the Yorkshire Dales. Tag along on adventures with Siegfried Farnon, Tristan Farnon, Mrs. Hall, and more as James and Helen prepare for a wedding! Will Tristan earn Siegfried's approval? How will James fair with local farmers? More adventures, more antics, and more animals to come in Season 3!
Running 6 episodes, Season 3 of All Creatures Great and Small is slated to premiere January 8, 2023, on MASTERPIECE on PBS. Season 2 will be available to view on-air, online, and on the PBS Video app. Season 2 aired January 8 – February 19, 2021 on MASTERPIECE on PBS.

ABOUT BEN VANSTONE
Ben has created and Executive Produced All Creatures Great & Small for MASTERPIECE on PBS. He is currently writing and show-running Season 4. Prior to that, Ben wrote and was Co-Executive Producer on The English Game for Netflix. Ben created and is show-running the series adaptation of Amor Towle's novel A Gentleman in Moscow for eOne/Showtime starring Ewan McGregor, which is currently in production.

Genevieve West and Monica Miller | Trailblazing Women Writers
2023-01-12 20:00 - 21:00
PBS Books, in collaboration with the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), is pleased to host a program about Zora Neale Hurston’s latest book You Don’t Know Us Negroes & Other Essays with co-editor Genevieve West, Ph.D. in conversation with Monica Miller, Ph.D., in connection with AMERICAN EXPERIENCE ZORA NEALE HURSTON: CLAIMING A SPACE. Co-editor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. will welcome viewers to the program on January 12 at 8pm ET| 5pm PT.
Join us and learn about this important collection of Zora Neale Hurston’s work that spans more than three decades and how it came to be released in 2022. Also, you’ll hear a bit about another essay collection by Hurston–Hitting A Straight Lick with A Crooked Stick.
Don’t miss AMERICAN EXPERIENCE’s ZORA NEALE HURSTON: CLAIMING A SPACE premieres on January 17 at 9pm ET on PBS, check your local listing or stream at pbs.org.
ABOUT THE BOOK: YOU DON’T KNOW US NEGROES & OTHER ESSAYS
You Don’t Know Us Negroes is the quintessential gathering of provocative essays from one of the world’s most celebrated writers, Zora Neale Hurston. Spanning more than three decades and penned during the backdrop of the birth of the Harlem Renaissance, Montgomery bus boycott, desegregation of the military, and school integration, Hurston’s writing articulates the beauty and authenticity of Black life as only she could. Collectively, these essays showcase the roles enslavement and Jim Crow have played in intensifying Black people’s inner lives and culture rather than destroying it. She argues that in the process of surviving, Black people re-interpreted every aspect of American culture—”modif[ying] the language, mode of food preparation, practice of medicine, and most certainly religion.” White supremacy prevents the world from seeing or completely recognizing Black people in their full humanity and Hurston made it her job to lift the veil and reveal the heart and soul of the race. These pages reflect Hurston as the controversial figure she was—someone who stated that feminism is a mirage and that the integration of schools did not necessarily improve the education of Black students. Also covered is the sensational trial of Ruby McCollum, a wealthy Black woman convicted in 1952 for killing her lover, a white doctor. Demonstrating the breadth of this revered and influential writer’s work, You Don’t Know Us Negroes and Other Essays is an invaluable chronicle of a writer’s development and a window into her world and mind.
ABOUT THE EDITOR: GENEVIEVE WEST, Ph.D.
Genevieve West, Ph.D. is Professor of English and Chair of the Department of Language, Culture, and Gender Studies at Texas Woman’s University, the nation’s largest public institution primarily for women, where she teaches African American, American, and women’s literatures and serves as an Affiliate Faculty in the Multicultural Women’s and Gender Studies program. Her scholarship takes intersectional, historically situated, archival approaches to the literary productions of American women writers. She has published on Zora Neale Hurston in journals such as African American Review, AmerikaStudien/American Studies, Receptions, and Women’s Studies. Her book, Zora Neale Hurston and American Literary Culture (2005) examines the ebb and flow in Hurston’s reputation by accounting for her marginalization beginning in the 1930s and her recovery in the years following her death in 1960. Recently, West edited a volume of Hurston’s Harlem Renaissance short fiction, Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick (2020), which made available for scholars and popular readers alike a number of “lost” stories. With Henry Louis Gates, Jr., she co-edited the first comprehensive collection of Hurston’s essays and reportage, You Don’t Know Us Negroes (2022). This volume, too, restored a number of previously unpublished works to Hurston’s oeuvre. Her essay ”Subversions of Boasian Anthropology in Zora Neale Hurston’s Great Migration Fiction and Ethnography” appeared this year in African American Literature in Transition, 1920-1930. Her essay on “lost” works by Marita Bonner is forthcoming in African American Review.
ABOUT THE MODERATOR: MONICA L. MILLER, PH.D.
Monica L. Miller is Ann Whitney Olin Professor of Africana Studies and English at Barnard College, Columbia University. A specialist in contemporary African American and Afro-diasporic literature and cultural studies, she is the author of the award-winning book Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity. A grantee from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and the Institute for Citizens & Scholars, she is a frequent commentator in the media and arts worlds and teaches and writes about black literature, art, and performance, fashion cultures, and contemporary Black European culture and politics
ABOUT THE EDITOR: HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR.
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University. Emmy and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker, literary scholar, journalist, cultural critic, and institution builder, Professor Gates’s most recent books are Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow and The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song. He has also produced and hosted more than 20 documentary films, most recently The Black Church on PBS and Black Art: In the Absence of Light for HBO. Finding Your Roots, his groundbreaking genealogy and genetics series, is now in its eighth season on PBS. It has been called “one of the deepest and wisest series ever on television,” leveraging “the inherent entertainment capacity of the medium to educate millions of Americans about the histories and cultures of our nation and the world.” The recipient of 56 honorary degrees and numerous prizes, Professor Gates was a member of the first class awarded “genius grants” by the MacArthur Foundation in 1981, and in 1998, he became the first African American scholar to be awarded the National Humanities Medal. He was named to Time’s25 Most Influential Americans list in 1997, to Ebony’s Power 150 list in 2009, and to Ebony’s Power 100 list in 2010 and 2012.
ABOUT THE FILM: ZORA NEALE HURSTON: CLAIMING A SPACE
Raised in the small all-Black Florida town of Eatonville, Zora Neale Hurston studied at Howard University before arriving in New York in 1925. She would soon become a key figure of the Harlem Renaissance, best remembered for her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. But even as she gained renown in the Harlem literary circles, Hurston was also discovering anthropology at Barnard College with the renowned Franz Boas. She would make several trips to the American South and the Caribbean, documenting the lives of rural Black people and collecting their stories. She studied her own people, an unusual practice at the time, and during her lifetime became known as the foremost authority on Black folklore.
Directed by Tracy Heather Strain, produced by Randall MacLowry and executive produced by Cameo George, Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming a Space is an in-depth biography of the influential author whose groundbreaking anthropological work would challenge assumptions about race, gender and cultural superiority that had long defined the field in the 19th century.

"The Life and Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr." with Jeh Johnson, Former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security | Ford School Events
2023-01-16 15:00 - 16:30
In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson reflects on the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., and what that means to him as a fellow Morehouse Man. Following his remarks, he’ll sit down for a conversation with Dean Celeste Watkins-Hayes alongside Ford School faculty experts to reflect on his work with the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense through questions submitted from the Ford School community on policy issues ranging from immigration to civil liberties.
About Jeh Johnson
Jeh Johnson is a partner in the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, LLP, who in public life was Secretary of Homeland Security (2013-2017), General Counsel of the Department of Defense (2009-2012), General Counsel of the Department of the Air Force (1998-2001), and an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York (1989-1991). As Secretary of Homeland Security, Johnson was the head of the third largest cabinet department of the U.S. government, consisting of 230,000 personnel and 22 components, including TSA, Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Services, U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Coast Guard, the Secret Service, and FEMA.
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Documenting Family History in the Digital Age | 'Finding Your Roots' National Conversation Series
2023-01-18 20:00 - 21:00
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PBS Books is pleased to partner with WETA to present Documenting Family History in the Digital Age, the first of the “Finding Your Roots” National Conversation Series, Moderated by the creator of the Family Pictures Institute for Inclusive Storytelling, Thomas Allen Harris, who you may know from Family Pictures USA!
Stream here Wednesday, January 18th at 8/7c
Two members of the Finding Your Roots production team will join as panelists: Lead Genealogist Kimberly N. Morgan and Series Producer Natalia Warchol. Kimberly and Natalia will provide perspectives and insights into how the show is created, and all the research that goes into telling the story of each guest’s family history.
In addition, Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society executive board member Taneya Y. Koonce will join the panel to help share how people watching from home can safeguard, organize and share their family documents. Taneya is a genealogy enthusiast with more than 20 years of professional expertise in information science, research, and information organization.
Season Nine of Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., will air on PBS stations nationwide on Tuesdays at 8pm ET beginning on January 3, 2023. Tune-in as Dr. Gates and his team uncover the long-buried secrets, hidden identities, and lost ancestors of today’s most compelling personalities.
To learn more visit pbs.org/finding-your-roots
About the “Finding Your Roots” National Conversation Series
Now in its ninth season, Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., continues to be one of the most popular series in public media. The program expertly uncovers the long-buried secrets, hidden identities, and lost ancestors of today’s most compelling personalities, and explores the connections that bind us together.
Join us in the first few months of 2023 for a compelling series of 4 virtual conversations on topics related to genealogy – one event each month Finding Your Roots is on the air (January-April).
Learn more about the conversation series, and see the full schedule.
Funding Credits:
Corporate support for FINDING YOUR ROOTS WITH HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR., Season Nine is provided by Ancestry and Johnson & Johnson. Major support is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Support is also provided by Ford Foundation; Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation; Candace King Weir; and by The Inkwell Society and its members Jim and Susan Swartz; Hayward and Kathy Draper; Mitch Kapor and Freada Kapor Klein; Nicole Commissiong and Darnell Armstrong; and Anne Wojcicki.

'The Half-Life of Freedom: Notes on Race, Media and Democracy' with Jelani Cobb | Ford School Events
2023-01-24 18:00 - 19:30
Wallace House, in partnership with PBS Books, presents journalist and scholar Jelani Cobb, in conversation with Ford School Dean Celeste Watkins-Hayes, as part of the continuing series: “Democracy in Crisis: Views from the Press.”
Join Cobb, dean of Columbia Journalism School and staff writer for The New Yorker, as he examines race and the historic challenges to democracy, the impact of the media, and how these obstacles frame and inform our current moment.
Stream here or on the PBS Books Facebook page.
About Jelani Cobb
Jelani Cobb is the dean of Columbia Journalism School and a staff writer at The New Yorker, where he writes about race, politics, history and culture. He received a Peabody Award for his 2020 PBS Frontline film “Whose Vote Counts” and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Commentary in 2018. He has also been a political analyst for MSNBC since 2019.
He is the author of “The Substance of Hope: Barack Obama and the Paradox of Progress” and “To the Break of Dawn: A Freestyle on the Hip Hop Aesthetic.” He is the editor or co-editor of several volumes, including “The Matter of Black Lives,” a collection of The New Yorker’s writings on race, and “The Essential Kerner Commission Report.” He is the producer or co-producer on a number of documentaries, including “Lincoln’s Dilemma,” “Obama: In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union” and “Policing the Police.”
Dr. Cobb was educated at Jamaica High School in Queens, New York; Howard University, where he earned a B.A. in English; and Rutgers University, where he completed his M.A. and doctorate in American history in 2003. He received fellowships from the Ford Foundation, the Fulbright Foundation and the Shorenstein Center at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

"Cultural Exchange Rate - A Case Study" with Tania El Khoury | Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series
2023-01-27 20:00 - 21:00
Lebanese artist Tania El Khoury examines the universal, never-ending story of migration through a family diary of the borders, and the recognition that the cruelest of borders are invisible to the eye and present in everyday life.
“Cultural Exchange Rate” is an interactive live art project in which El Khoury shares her family memoirs of life in border villages between Lebanon and Syria. El Khoury collects recorded interviews with her late grandmother, the discovery of lost relatives in México City, and the family’s attempt to secure dual citizenship through war survival, valueless currency collection, and a river that disregards both colonial and national borders. The audience is invited to immerse their heads into one family’s secret boxes to explore sounds, images, and textures that trace more than a century of border crossings.
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The Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series 2023 Season
This season, the Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series brings respected leaders and innovators from a broad spectrum of creative fields to Ann Arbor’s historic Michigan Theater for weekly in-person events.
Detroit Public Television and PBS Books, in partnership with the Stamps School, will stream each week’s event Fridays at 8pm.
See the full schedule of events livestreamed by PBS Books here.
Some programs may not be available online, depending on artist requests. Interested in receiving notifications before online videos go live? Sign up to receive a reminder before each event begins streaming.
Watch Past Penny Stamps Episodes

Charles M. Blow | Wright Museum Speakers
2023-01-31 20:00 - 21:00
Watch the livestream presentation of the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History’s inaugural President Lecture Series featuring Charles Blow, columnist for The New York Times, political analyst and author of “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” and “The Devil You Know: A Black Power Manifesto.” Blow brings insight and a robust discussion on Martin Luther King Jr., race and culture.

Author Talk | Zora Neale Hurston and Black History Month with Ibram X. Kendi, Ph.D.
2023-02-02 20:00 - 21:00
CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY: ZORA NEALE HURSTON
AUTHOR TALK: IBRAM X. KENDI, PH.D.
PBS Books, in collaboration with the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), is pleased to host a program with Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, who recently adapted Zora Neale Hurston’s Magnolia Flower and soon-to-be-released The Making of Butterflies. The program is offered in connection with the AMERICAN EXPERIENCE’s Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming A Space on PBS. Join us to gain insights into these wonderful children’s books that introduce Zora Neale Hurston folk tales to audiences of all ages.
This program is also being offered in collaboration with ASALH’s Black History Month Festival.
ABOUT THE BOOK: MAGNOLIA FLOWER
Born to parents who fled slavery and the Trail of Tears, Magnolia Flower is a girl with a vibrant spirit. Not to be deterred by rigid ways of the world, she longs to connect with others, who too long for freedom. She finds this in a young man of letters who her father disapproves of. In her quest to be free, Magnolia must make a choice and set off on a journey that will prove just how brave one can be when leading with one’s heart. The acclaimed writer of several American classics, Zora Neale Hurston wrote this stirring folktale brimming with poetic prose, culture, and history. It was first published as a short story in The Spokesman in 1925 and later in her collection Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick (2020).
Tenderly retold by #1 New York Times bestselling and National Book Award-winning author Ibram X. Kendi, Magnolia Flower is a story of a transformative and radical devotion between generations of Indigenous and Black people in America. With breathtaking illustrations by Loveis Wise, this picture book reminds us that there is no force strong enough to stop love.

ABOUT THE BOOK: THE MAKING OF BUTTERFLIES
First Folktale from the creators of Magnolia Flower, Zora Neale Hurston and Ibram X. Kendi, about the origin of butterflies. The Creator wuz all finished and thru makin’ de world.
But soon, the Creator finds themselves flying through the sky, making gorgeous butterflies of every color, shape, and size. Find out why butterflies were made in Zora Neale Hurston’s stunning and layered African American folktale retold by #1 New York Times bestselling and National Book Award–winning author Ibram X. Kendi and illustrated by Kah Yangni. This accessible and sizable board book is perfect for introducing the youngest of readers to the beauty of Hurston’s storytelling and will spark curiosity in children about how things in our world came to be.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ibram X. Kendi, Ph.D.
Ibram X. Kendi is a National Book Award–winning and #1 New York Times bestselling author. His books include Antiracist Baby; Goodnight Racism; How to Be an Antiracist; and How to Raise an Antiracist. Kendi is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University and the director of the BU Center for Antiracist Research. In 2020, Time magazine named Kendi one of the 100 most influential people in the world. He has also been awarded a 2021 MacArthur Fellowship.
ABOUT THE SHOW: ZORA NEALE HURSTON: CLAIMING A SPACE
Raised in the small all-Black Florida town of Eatonville, Zora Neale Hurston studied at Howard University before arriving in New York in 1925. She would soon become a key figure of the Harlem Renaissance, best remembered for her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. But even as she gained renown in the Harlem literary circles, Hurston was also discovering anthropology at Barnard College with the renowned Franz Boas. She would make several trips to the American South and the Caribbean, documenting the lives of rural Black people and collecting their stories. She studied her own people, an unusual practice at the time, and during her lifetime became known as the foremost authority on Black folklore.
Directed by Tracy Heather Strain, produced by Randall MacLowry and executive produced by Cameo George, Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming a Space is an in-depth biography of the influential author whose groundbreaking anthropological work would challenge assumptions about race, gender and cultural superiority that had long defined the field in the 19th century.

“Climate Change and the Importance of the Urban Landscape” with Martha Schwartz | Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series
2023-02-03 20:00 - 21:00
As Founding Partner of Martha Schwartz Partners, Landscape Architects, Martha Schwartz is a world-renowned designer. She has over 40 years of experience designing and implementing large scale masterplans, mixed-use developments, urban regeneration projects, as well as civic plazas, parks, institutional landscapes, corporate headquarters, installations, and gardens. Martha Schwartz Partners works with city leaders, planners and builders at a strategic level so as to advocate for the inclusion of the public landscape as a means to achieve environmental, economic and social sustainability.
Learn More>>

The Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series 2023 Season
This season, the Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series brings respected leaders and innovators from a broad spectrum of creative fields to Ann Arbor’s historic Michigan Theater for weekly in-person events.
Detroit Public Television and PBS Books, in partnership with the Stamps School, will stream each week’s event Fridays at 8pm.
See the full schedule of events livestreamed by PBS Books here.
Some programs may not be available online, depending on artist requests. Interested in receiving notifications before online videos go live? Sign up to receive a reminder before each event begins streaming.
Watch Past Penny Stamps Episodes

Finding Your Roots: Genealogy & The Next Generation
2023-02-08 20:00 - 21:30
Wondering what’s on the minds of youth when it comes to genealogy? Join the virtual conversation with Student Reporting Labs on Wed. Feb. 8 at 8/7c.
This event, Genealogy & The Next Generation, is the second of a 4-part National Conversation Series in connection with Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and presents an intergenerational conversation about family trees. The conversation will be moderated by PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Lab alumna Sonal Prakash and feature Finding Your Roots lead genealogist Akosua E. Moore, filmmaker and scholar Thomas Allen Harris, and college sophomore Naima Blanco-Norberg who is delving into genealogy research.
Season Nine of Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., will air on PBS stations nationwide on Tuesdays at 8pm ET beginning on January 3, 2023. Tune-in as Dr. Gates and his team uncover the long-buried secrets, hidden identities, and lost ancestors of today’s most compelling personalities.
To learn more visit pbs.org/finding-your-roots
About the “Finding Your Roots” National Conversation Series
Now in its ninth season, Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., continues to be one of the most popular series in public media. The program expertly uncovers the long-buried secrets, hidden identities, and lost ancestors of today’s most compelling personalities, and explores the connections that bind us together.
Join us in the first few months of 2023 for a compelling series of 4 virtual conversations on topics related to genealogy – one event each month Finding Your Roots is on the air (January-April).
Learn more about the conversation series, and see the full schedule.
Funding Credits:
Corporate support for Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Season Nine is provided by Ancestry and Johnson & Johnson. Major support is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Support is also provided by Ford Foundation; Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation; Candace King Weir; and by The Inkwell Society and its members Jim and Susan Swartz; Hayward and Kathy Draper; Mitch Kapor and Freada Kapor Klein; Nicole Commissiong and Darnell Armstrong; and Anne Wojcicki.

Author Talk | Music as Resistance with Jonathan Abrams
2023-02-15 20:00 - 21:00
CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY: MUSIC AS RESISTANCE
AUTHOR TALK: JONATHAN ABRAMS
PBS Books, in collaboration with the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) and WTTW/Chicago PBS, is pleased to host a program with award-winning New York Times staff writer Jonathan Abrams, who is the author of The Come Up: An Oral History of the Rise of Hip-Hop. This program is offered in connection with Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World, which just premiered on PBS earlier this year and can be streamed at PBS.org (check your local listing). Join us to learn more about the birth of Hip Hop culture and its impact on society.

This program is also being offered in collaboration with ASALH’s Black History Month Festival, which is focusing on Black Resistance. The program will explore Hip Hop as music as resistance.
ABOUT THE BOOK: THE COME UP: AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE RISE OF HIP HOP
The music that would come to be known as hip-hop was born at a party in the Bronx in the summer of 1973. Now, fifty years later, it’s the most popular music genre in America. Just as jazz did in the first half of the twentieth century, hip-hop and its groundbreaking DJs and artists—nearly all of them people of color from some of America’s most overlooked communities—pushed the boundaries of music to new frontiers, while transfixing the country’s youth and reshaping fashion, art, and even language.
And yet, the stories of many hip-hop pioneers and their individual contributions in the pre-Internet days of mixtapes and word of mouth are rarely heard—and some are at risk of being lost forever. Now, in The Come Up, the New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Abrams offers the most comprehensive account so far of hip-hop’s rise, a multi-decade chronicle told in the voices of the people who made it happen. In more than three hundred interviews conducted over three years, Abrams has captured the stories of the DJs, executives, producers, and artists who both witnessed and themselves forged the history of hip-hop. Masterfully combining these voices into a seamless symphonic narrative, Abrams traces how the genre grew out of the resourcefulness of a neglected population in the South Bronx, and from there how it flowed into New York City’s other boroughs, and beyond—from electrifying live gatherings, then on to radio and vinyl, below to the Mason-Dixon Line, west to Los Angeles through gangster rap and G-funk, and then across generations.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: JONATHAN ABRAMS
Jonathan Abrams is an award-winning staff reporter for The New York Times. He is the bestselling author of two previous books, Boys Among Men and All the Pieces Matter. A graduate of the University of Southern California, Abrams was formerly a staff writer at Bleacher Report, Grantland, and the Los Angeles Times.
ABOUT THE MODERATOR: ANGEL IDOWU
Angel Idowu currently serves as the JCS Fund of the DuPage Foundation Arts Correspondent for WTTW’s Chicago Tonight, Black Voices and Latino Voices. A Chicago native, she is also VP of Archives for the National Association of Black Journalists Chicago Chapter, a mentor with LINK Unlimited, a developing screenwriter, runs her own production company, FoomiLOLA Media, and heads a nonprofit geared toward art education resources. . She received her Master’s in Journalism from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism.
ABOUT THE SHOW: FIGHT THE POWER
“Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World” is an incredible narrative of struggle, triumph and resistance that will be brought to life through the lens of an art form that has chronicled the emotions, experiences and expressions of Black and Brown communities: Hip Hop. In the aftermath of America’s racial and political reckoning in 2020, the perspectives and stories shared in Hip Hop are key to understanding injustice in the U.S. over the last half-century.

"With Care" with Nicole Marroquin | Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series
2023-02-17 20:00 - 21:00
Nicole Marroquin is an interdisciplinary artist, researcher, and teacher educator whose work explores spatial justice and Latinx history. Marroquin works with youth and communities to decenter dominant narratives and to address displacement and erasure. Her current work explores belonging through histories of student rebellions in Chicago Public Schools from 1968 to 1980. Through research and creative practice, she aims to recover and re-present histories of Black and brown youth and women’s leadership in the struggle for justice in Chicago.
Learn More>>

The Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series 2023 Season
This season, the Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series brings respected leaders and innovators from a broad spectrum of creative fields to Ann Arbor’s historic Michigan Theater for weekly in-person events.
Detroit Public Television and PBS Books, in partnership with the Stamps School, will stream each week’s event Fridays at 8pm.
See the full schedule of events livestreamed by PBS Books here.
Some programs may not be available online, depending on artist requests. Interested in receiving notifications before online videos go live? Sign up to receive a reminder before each event begins streaming.
Watch Past Penny Stamps Episodes

Author Talk: 'Freewater' with Amina Luqman-Dawson
2023-02-22 20:00 - 21:00
PBS Books, in collaboration with the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), is pleased to host a conversation with the 2023 Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Author Award winner Amina Luqman-Dawson, author of “Freewater.” This is Luqman-Dawson’s debut novel for middle-grade students in which she creates an imaginary world in the Great Dismal Swamp’s Freewater, pulling in and captivating the reader. She shares her research, provides insights into her characters, and her thought-provoking story, and takes readers on a fantastic adventure. Don’t miss this incredible conversation.
ABOUT THE BOOK: “Freewater”
Winner of the John Newbery Medal
Winner of the Coretta Scott King Author Award
An Indiebound Bestseller
Award-winning author Amina Luqman-Dawson pens a lyrical, accessible historical middle-grade novel about two enslaved children’s escape from a plantation and the many ways they find freedom.
Under the cover of night, 12-year-old Homer flees Southerland Plantation with his little sister Ada, unwillingly leaving their beloved mother behind. Much as he adores her and fears for her life, Homer knows there’s no turning back, not with the overseer on their trail. Through tangled vines, secret doorways, and over a sky bridge, the two find a secret community called Freewater, deep in the swamp. In this society created by formerly enslaved people and some freeborn children, Homer finds new friends, almost forgetting where he came from. But when he learns of a threat that could destroy Freewater, he crafts a plan to find his mother and help his new home. Deeply inspiring and loosely based on the history of maroon communities in the South, this is a striking tale of survival, adventure, friendship, and courage.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Amina Luqman-Dawson
Amina Luqman-Dawson is the author of the pictorial history book “Images of America: African Americans of Petersburg” (Arcadia Publishing) and “Freewater.” Her op-eds on race and popular culture have appeared in The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicleand more. A proud mother of a 13-year-old son, she and her family reside in Arlington, VA.

Celebrating National Reading Month: Grace Lin and Kate Messner
2023-03-01 20:00 - 21:00
PBS Books celebrates National Reading Month with Caldecott and Newbery honoree Grace Lin and bestselling author Kate Messner as they discuss their new book: “Once Upon A Book.” This story is a modern folktale about the joy of reading. Inspired by “Alice in Wonderland,” this book helps young readers explore their creativity on a fun adventure. Paired with vibrant illustrations, this lyrical story invites the reader to savor each page and indulge in the power of imagination. Join us to learn insights about the book and the significance of Alice’s white rabbit. Plus, you will learn about how Chinese symbols and traditions are woven into the story.
ABOUT THE BOOK: Once Upon A Book
Once upon a time, there was a girl. She went to a place alive with colors, where even the morning dew was warm. Alice loves to imagine herself in the magical pages of her favorite book. So when it flaps its pages and invites her in, she is swept away to a world of wonder and adventure, riding camels in the desert, swimming under the sea with colorful fish, floating in outer space and more! But when her imaginative journey comes to an end, she yearns for the place she loves best of all.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Grace Lin
Grace Lin is the recipient of the Children’s Literature Legacy Award and is the bestselling author and illustrator of over 30 books, including “A Big Mooncake for Little Star” (a Caldecott Honor), “A Big Bed for Little Snow, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon” (a Newbery Honor), “The Year of the Dog,” and the “Ling & Ting” series. She is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design and lives in Massachusetts. She invites you to visit her online at www.gracelin.com.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Kate Messner
Kate Messner is a New York Times bestselling author of more than 50 books for young readers. Her award-winning titles include picture books like “Over and Under the Snow” and “The Brilliant Deep;” novels like “Breakout and Chirp;” engaging nonfiction like “The Next “ and the “History Smashers” series; the “Ranger in Time” adventures; and the “Fergus and Zeke” easy readers. She lives on Lake Champlain and invites you to visit her at www.katemessner.com.

Finding Your Roots: The Science of Genealogy
2023-03-08 20:00 - 21:00
WETA’s third national conversation of this free four-part series explores how advancements in science have impacted genealogy research. Critically acclaimed, interdisciplinary artist Thomas Allen Harris moderates this conversation with panelists including Finding Your Roots Lead Genetic Genealogist CeCe Moore, Dr. Carla Easter from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, and Athina Ramphal, a participant in the 2017 Finding Your Roots: The Seedlings genetics and genealogy camp.

Chris Wallace in conversation with Governor Gretchen Whitmer | Wallace House
2023-03-10 20:00 - 21:30
Wallace House Presents CNN Anchor Chris Wallace and Governor Gretchen Whitmer as part of the continuing series “Democracy in Crisis: Views from the Press.” Join this hour-long special event with Mr. Wallace and Governor Whitmer as they discuss politics, public service, the media, and the state of our democracy, with opening remarks by the University of Michigan President Santa Ono.
PBS will stream this event Friday, March 10 at 8 p.m., 2 days after the live recording. Learn more on OneDetroit and Wallace House.
About Gov. Whitmer
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is a lifelong Michigander who is focused on getting things done that will make a real difference in people’s lives. As governor, she has signed over 900 bipartisan bills and four balanced, bipartisan budgets to deliver on the kitchen-table issues, grow the economy, and create good-paying jobs in every region of the state.

About Chris Wallace
Chris Wallace is an anchor for CNN and host of “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?: with new episodes available weekly on HBO Max, and featured interviews from the show airing on CNN at 7 PM ET every Sunday. Praised as an “equal opportunity inquisitor” by The Boston Globe and “an aggressive journalist,” “sharp-edged” and “solid” by The Washington Post, Wallace interviews CEOs and media moguls, Hollywood legends and newsmakers across politics, business, world affairs, sports and culture.
