MALCOLM X DAY BLACK BOOK EXPOSITION

UBUS and Elegba Folklore Society are combining forces to present the largest Black Literature Expo of the century.  After years of breakdowns in plans, by others, to put the Capital City of Richmond, Virginia on the Black Books Map, arguably the largest, most effective cultural organization is connecting to, perhaps, the largest Black publisher in the history of Black people to get the job done.

The Exposition will feature a vast, awesome display of Black literature. It will feature must-haves, Carter G. Woodson’s MisEducation of the Negro and Elijah Muhammad’s Message to the Blackman to Ivan Van Sertima’s Before the Mayflower and The Souls of Black Folk. This classic by W. E. B. DeBois may well sound of the theme, as Black writers, publisher and distributors come to Richmond for the Malcolm X Day Expo.  Attendees can also choose from a variety of novels and children’s books.

This book event happens from 10a – 8p on Saturday and 2p – 6p on Sunday at Elegba Folklore Society’s Cultural Center, downtown in the RVA Arts District at 101 East Broad Street (corner of 1st & Broad).  Live jazz and refreshments will spice the Malcolm X Day Black Book Exposition on Saturday evening.

Celebrity Guest Authors will make presentations at the Exposition, and there will be Independent Black Writers.  These writers will come, for the most part, from the publishing house of UBUS.

All Black writers are respectfully invited to send books to be sold at the Expo, or attend and participate.

Elegba Folklore Society, Richmond’s Cultural Ambassador, was founded by Sister Omilade Janine Bell, whose signature spectacular career as a cultural artist, folklorist and producer was the springboard used to form the Society in 1990.  Elegba Folklore Society is known worldwide for its three annual cultural festivals, dance theatre and music performing and teaching programs, cultural history tours along the Trail of Enslaved Africans and other notable sites and exhibits of African Diasporic art in its cultural center. www.efsinc.org

United Brothers and United Sisters Communications Systems was founded by H. Khalif Khalifah in Harlem, New York in 1975. A Master Printer, Khalifah has plied his trade into the publication of more than 600 different titles.  Fundamentally, he is the catalyst that reconstructed the book buying habits of Black people.  Without a marketplace to receive his and his colleagues’ publications, he built and grew a comprehensive Black Book Industry.

UBUS has promoted and sponsored dozens of national book events, published Your Black Books Guide and has presented the Black Book Achievement Awards for Excellence in Black Literature in 19 installments on the first weekend of June.  This event has happened in recent years at The Nat Turner Library in Southampton County. www.black-e-books.com

Among the Yoruba, Elegba is the Orisa who opens the roads, bringing clarity our of confusion.  We hope our programs and services are, indeed, road-opening experiences.  Embrace the Spirit!