THE BLACK BOOK EXPO, A CONSCIOUS LITERARY FESTIVAL
February 25, 3p – 7p, and Sunday, February 26, 3p – 7p
Elegba Folklore Society will present the 2023 Black Book Expo ⦿ A Conscious Literary Festival as a hybrid event throughout the month of February. Visitors are invited to choose informing sneak previews personified in Author Chats with celebrity writers streaming on Elegba Folklore Society’s Facebook page on selected Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7p ET.
Then, come in person on Saturday, February 25 and Sunday, February 26, 3p – 7p ET. The in-person aspect of the festival invites the public to browse and buy books, experience live entertainment and meet independent authors.
The 2023 Black Book Expo ⦿ A Conscious Literary Festival will showcase a vast display of literature featuring topics including black history, social justice, science, health, African Diasporic culture, African spirituality, personal development, novels and children’s books.
Independent authors will make presentations and sign their books. Live streaming will occur from the in-person event as well via the Society’s Facebook page. Books will also be available on the Society’s website.
Masks will be available and hand sanitizer will be available and encouraged.
The public may follow Elegba Folklore Society on Facebook and Instagram for updates. They may also contact the Society at 804.644.3900 or story1@efsinc.org
The Black Book Expo, A Conscious Literary Conversation: LIVE CHAT SCHEDULE
***Streaming live Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7PM***
02/7 • Bobby Rush
https://www.bobbyrushbluesman.com
I Ain’t Studdin’ You, My American Blues Story, co-authored by Herb Powell, invites the reader to experience a revealing personal story that lives inside music history with this memoir by one of the last of the genuine Blues legends. He is a Grammy winner, Blues Hall of Fame inductee, Rhythm & Blues Music Hall of Fame inductee, Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame inductee, winner of the highest Blues Music Award honor, B.B. King Entertainer of the Year and dynamic showman, Mr. Bobby Rush.
Tune in to this Author Chat to hear how Bobby Rush found his way out of the sugar cane fields in Carquit, Louisiana in the 1940s to Chicago in the ’50s to make music with not only Earl Hooker, Luther Allison and Freddie King, but also Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed and Little Walter.
How did the prayer flow from the lips of his father — a pastor and a sharecropper —through the harmonica he played, guide the young boy, who would become Bobby Rush to Martin Scorsese’s PBS docu-series, The Blues, Eddie Murphy’s Dolemite Is My Name and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon?
What markers in his long and storied life are memorialized by Bobby Rush’s marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail? And, how did his trail lead him around the globe and onto the Grammy stage?
And, more than 400 recordings later, what is it that Bobby Rush ain’t studdin’?
Considered by many to be the greatest bluesman currently performing, this book will give readers unparalleled access to the man, the myth, the son of a preacher, the legend, Bobby Rush.
If you ask him, he’ll tell you this, “If you don’t like the blues, you probably don’t like your mama.”
02/8 • Edgar J. Ridley
http://www.edgarjridley.com/book_testimonials
As the world community continues to navigate what Edgar Ridley calls “the incessant psychosis that has enveloped society, that of white nationalism,” his work as an internationally respected behavioral scientist explains that a multidisciplinary approach is essential to accomplishing a mindset change. A renowned expert on the impact of symbolism and symbolic behavior, Ridley views decision-making processes from an entirely different angle, stating that “Most people do not understand how symbolism is used to mythologize history and manipulate behavior. In order to be creative and innovative…, [people] must be mindful of the impact imposed by symbolic thinking, typically exhibited through religious and racial prejudices.” Ridley concludes that “in order to unleash creativity and innovation, a symbolic thought process must be replaced by a Symptomatic Thought Process®.”
In his celebrated compilation, The Golden Apple: The Anthology, Changing the Structure of Civilization, Edgar J. Ridley has exploded the landscape of the behavioral sciences by presenting a body of work, researched over five decades, that examines the impact of symbolism and symbolic thought on humanity. Come to this Author Chat to dig in to understand this concept that may, indeed, address racism and restore humanity.
02/15 • Sadeqa Johnson
https://www.sadeqajohnson.net
Sadeqa Johnson is the international best-selling author of four novels and the recipient of the National Book Club Award, the Phillis Wheatley Award and the USA Best Book Award for best fiction. Her novel,Yellow Wife, was named by Oprah Magazine as one of “27 of … [the] Most Anticipated Winter Historical Fiction books” in 2021.
Eerily based on the true story of the American enslavement of African people as meted out by the perpetrators and endured by the enslaved in the repugnant enclave known as the Devil’s Half Acre in Richmond, Virginia’s Shockoe Bottom, Sadeqa Johnson reveals the inner workings of unexpected relationships, hierarchies, social organization, control and survival. For those of you who have taken Elegba Folklore Society’s compelling cultural history tour, In the Beginning… Virginia, Along the Trail of Enslaved Africans, for those who want to and for those who want to pay ancestral homage while making a way for ourselves today, this Author Chat about this well researched, fictionalized story will paint a layered picture of the domestics of urban bondage.
Ms. Johnson’s new book, The House of Eve, will be released in February, and we will also offer a a preview of this tale that explores the decisions black women in the 1950s in Philadelphia and Washington, DC make to achieve their goals.
Both books provide relatable insights on how we navigate societal frameworks that effect our lives
02/22 • Kwame Alexander
https://kwamealexander.com
Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, producer and #1 New York Times Bestselling author of 37 books, including the newly released, An American Story, where he poses the question, “How do you tell a story about copper dreams wrapped in iron chains?” And how do we help parents and teachers teach their children, their students and themselves about bondage?
This powerful picture book that tells the story of American slavery through the voice of a teacher struggling to help her students understand its harrowing history. From the fireside tales in an African village, through the unspeakable passage across the Atlantic, to the backbreaking work in the fields of the South, this is a story of a people’s struggle and strength, horror and hope. This is the story of American slavery, a story that needs to be told and understood by all of us. A testament to the resilience of the African American community, this book honors what has been and envisions what is to be.
Come to this Author Chat, and bring the family.
Kwame Alexander is the recipient of numerous awards. In January 2023, a Kennedy Center-commissioned national tour for young audiences began for Alexander’s musical Acoustic Rooster’s Barnyard Boogie: Starring Indigo Blume, which is based on two of his beloved children’s books – Acoustic Rooster and Indigo Blume. He is the writer and executive producer of The Crossover TV series, based on his Newbery-Medal winning novel of the same name, which premieres on Disney Channel and Disney+ in April 2023.