Black History in Literary Color

Step into the words and paintings of award-winning writers and artists as we celebrate black history in literary color.

Award-winning artist Michele Wood’s work reflects a deep sense of history and place. As a painter, illustrator, designer and writer, she has gained wide recognition and has earned multiple awards including the prestigious American Book Award for her first book, Going Back Home.  Michelle is also a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award recipient from the American Library Association.  Michele’s artistry continues to explode in her other works, I See the Rhythm and I See the Rhythm of Gospel.

Fond memories of swimming with “Uncle Martin” is how a small Paula Young-Shelton recalls many days with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  As the daughter of former United Nations Ambassador and former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, Paula offers a human side to the icons of the civil rights movement through her young eyes.  Paula’s accounts are colorfully shared in her children’s book “Child of the Civil Rights Movement.”

Pulitzer-Prize winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles America’s Great Migration of African-Americans in her epic novel, The Warmth of Other Suns.  Isabel shares many accounts of African-Americans who left the south between 1915 to 1970 in search of freedom and opportunity and, in doing so, changed a nation and the world.  The Migration of over 6 million black folks from the south not only transformed society, politics, economics and culture, these events also changed the course of history.