Come learn the story and legacy of Washington, D.C.’s African American authors of children’s literature past and present, including May Miller Sullivan, Sterling Brown, Maxine Clair, Gwendolyn Brooks, Daphne Muse, Lucille Clifton, Eloise Greenfield, Jason Reynolds, Kwame Alexander, Jennifer Lawson, Courtland Cox, Adjoa Burrowes, E. Ethelbert Miller, Carolivia Herron, Tricia Elam Walker, jonetta rose barras, Sheila Crider, David Miller, Michelle Meadows, Leah Henderson , Lakia Wilson and others.

COME MEET THE PEOPLE AND INSTITUTIONS THAT STOOD AGAINST RACISM AND INEQUALITY TO HELP ESTABLISH AN AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERARY CANON THAT BUILT AND FORTIFIED A COMMUNITY.

The day features: Special remarks by Sidney Clifton, daughter of Lucille Clifton and founder of Clifton House. An exciting and provocative conversation between award-winning author and influencer Sharon Bell Mathis, a leader of The Golden Age of Black Children’s Literature, and Grammy nominee and literary activist poet E. Ethelbert Miller:

Panel discussions involving celebrated New York Times bestselling authors, public television and radio producers and hosts, book illustrators, bookstore owners and civil rights leaders including Kojo Nnamdi, Jennifer Lawson, Justin Johnson, Courtland Cox, Kwame Alexander, Tricia Elam Walker, David Miller, Joy Jones, Wynn Yarbough, Carolivia Herron, Brian Gilmore , Keesha Ceran, Vanessa Williams, Tiffany Mitchell Patterson, and others.