What is the National African American Read-In?

The National African American Read-In is sponsored by the Black Caucus of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and endorsed by the International Reading Association to kick off Black History Month with a celebration of African American writers and literacy. Connections Academy is among the many organizations around the country –schools, libraries, bookstores, churches, and community groups – that hosted Read-Ins on Feb. 3 and 4, 2008.

How do I get involved?

Connections Academy schools across the country participated in the Read-In through technology-facilitated author studies, live chats, and other book-related activities. Featured authors and books are listed below. Some of the work of the spotlighted authors may not suitable for all ages. While the linked items here are appropriate for most audiences, teachers and parents are encouraged to preview material before sharing it with children.

Featured Authors

Evelyn Coleman
Evelyn Coleman’s children’s books, The Riches of Oseola McCarty, To Be a Drum, White Socks Only, The Glass Bottle Tree and The Foot Warmer and the Crow have garnered much recognition including a Parents Choice Honor Book, American Booksellers Association’s Pick of the Lists for ‘96, Notable Children’s Books in Social Studies, a Children’s Book of the Year by Bank Street Child Study Committee, a Publisher’s Weekly 1996 Cuffie Award, and Smithsonian named White Socks Only as the Most Outstanding Children’s Book Title for 1996. The Riches of Oseola McCarty was named a Smithsonian Notable Book of 1999 and a Carter G. Woodson Honor Book for 1999. To Be a Drum is included on the Children’s Literature Top Choice List for 1999. Publisher’s Weekly says Evelyn Coleman knows how to keep the pages turning in her inventive, funny, assured debut thriller, What a Woman’s Gotta Do. Coleman’s adult fiction and non-fiction appears in many magazines and newspapers. She is a frequent lecturer and workshop leader on many topics for schools, universities, churches, writing groups and conferences throughout the United States. Coleman is also the original Learning Coach for her grand-daughter, Taylor, who attends National Connections Academy.

Tune into Evelyn's videos as she reads from her latest book, Freedom Train,and talks about her process of writing the book.

• Part 1: The inspiration for Freedom Train
• Part 2: Freedom Train, Chapter 1
• Part 3: Lessons from Freedom Train and the writing process

Randal C. Archibold and Lucille Renwick
Randy Archibold is a national correspondent for The New York Times based in Los Angeles. He covers a large swath of the southwestern United States and has written extensively on immigration and the border. He joined the paper in 1998 as a reporter on the metropolitan staff and has covered a range of subjects, including education and politics. He covered the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center and the aftermath and has had reporting assignments in Cuba and the Dominican Republic. His political reporting has included coverage of John Edwards’s 2004 presidential campaign and the 2005 New York City mayoral election. Before working for The New York Times, Mr. Archibold worked for five years at The Los Angeles Times as a reporter and editor. He also has worked at the Los Angeles Daily News, the San Diego Tribune, The Asbury Park Press, and other newspapers. Mr. Archibold, who is fluent in Spanish, graduated from Rutgers University and afterward spent several months in Panama studying history and Spanish.

Lucille Renwick is a communications consultant in Los Angeles, working with schools and education organizations. She previously served as senior managing editor and executive editor for Scholastic, Inc., where she helped develop and edit stories for a variety of magazines for educators. Prior to working for Scholastic, Lucille was director of the New York Annenberg Challenge, which helped create and sustain small public schools in New York City. She spent 10 years as a journalist working for The Hartford Courant and The Los Angeles Times. As a newspaper reporter, Lucille covered politics, education, neighborhoods, healthcare, and poverty issues. Her work as a reporter took her to the Mississippi Delta, Haiti, and South Africa. Lucille is a graduate of Wesleyan University and received a master’s degree in public administration, with a concentration in education policy, from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Lucille and Randy live in Los Angeles with their three young children.

Listen to Lucille’s interview with Randy about becoming a journalist, working in the news business, and what it’s like to cover the most important issues of today.

• Interview part 1 [4.1mb, MP3]
• Interview part 2 [3.9mb, MP3]

Cecil Cross II
The author of First Semester—a cautionary tale about the life of a freshman at a Historically Black University—Cecil Cross II is determined to reach a new generation of African Americans. At 24, Cross is editor-in-chief and co-owner of LOOK (Love Of Our Kind) Magazine, a nationally distributed, positive publication that he started for urban college students and young professionals. Internships as a reporter with The Seattle Times and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, in addition to exclusive journalism institutes sponsored by the New York Times and Los Angeles Times, helped Cross fine-tune his ability to vividly paint pictures with words and captivate an audience. A Seattle native, Cross graduated from Clark Atlanta University in 2004 and currently resides in Atlanta.

Listen to an interview with Cecil [1.6mb, MP3] about First Semester, the college experience, and starting out as a young writer in the 21st Century.

Monalisa DeGross
The author of children’s books Donavan’s Double Trouble, Donavan's Word Jar and Granddaddy's Street Songs, Monalisa DeGross works at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore as Project Manager of the Family Reading Circle, where she meets and observes children of all ages. Ms. DeGross lives in Baltimore, Maryland, near her children, Donavan and Nikki, and her grandchildren, Shaundrea, Annalisa, and August. In addition to her work as an author, she is also a locally celebrated playwright.

Listen to Monalisa DeGross read excerpts from her books:

• Graddaddy's Street Songs [2.4mb, MP3]
• Donavan's Word Jar [1.4mb, MP3]
• Donavan's Double Trouble [2.5mb, MP3]

Jason Moffitt
A Harrisburg, PA-based poet, Jason participates regularly in live performances ranging from appearances at local clubs to television programs to sharing the stage with the likes of Sonia Sanchez and Nikki Giovanni. Jason is also a teacher and mentor for young writers. His new book, Splash Patterns, has been released to glowing reviews.

Listen to Jason Moffitt read a selection of his poems:

• How Big Is The Word "If"? [0.2mb, MP3]
• Has anyone seen my black phone, stove or stereo? [0.4mb, MP3]
• Just Write [0.1mb, MP3]
• Through The Eyes of My Pen [0.1mb, MP3]
• Tomorrow Is Now [0.4mb, MP3]

LaTonya Richardson
LaTonya Richardson is an instructor at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff in the Department of English, Theatre, and Mass Communications. She is also a wife, a mother of five, and a children’s book author who has written a story for each of her children. Published thus far are Lirocatchamella (written for Ajia) and Mama’s Got Eyes in the Back of Her Head (written for Jasmine).

Listen to LaTonya read excerpts from her books:

• Lirocatchamella [0.6mb, MP3]
• Mama’s Got Eyes in the Back of Her Head [0.5mb, MP3]

Hear an interview with LaTonya [0.9mb, MP3], including three tips for aspiring writers.

Charles Anthony Burks Charles Anthony Burks was born in Chicago, IL, and raised in Bridgeport, CT. He is a writer for the stage, television, and films as well as an actor, director, producer, professional DJ, and gospel rap artist (EAJ Productions). Mr. Burks holds a B.A. in Mathematics and Drama from the University of Virginia, and a M.F.A. in Acting from Columbia University. He is married to Ava and has two children, Amoria and Charles II.

Credits for writing include HATER HIGH (Commissioned for TheatreWorks USA and recipient of Rockefeller Grant), co-author of film and stage plays, and Sketch Writer for THE CHAPELLE SHOW "Blackzilla" (Comedy Central, first season). His acting credits for theatre include Taming of the Shrew (Petruccio; dir. Andrei Serban), Cymbeline (Public Theatre N.Y.S.F., dir. Andrei Serban), Donkey Show, Act One Co. (Williamstown), and Bomb-itty of Errors (45 Bleecker, NYC, Royal George Theatre, Chicago, Edinburgh Theatre Festival, Scotland, New Ambassadors Theater, West End of London, England). Acting credits for TV include: Sopranos, Hack (feat: David Morse and Andre Braugher, CBS), Chris Rock Show (HBO), Conan O'Brien Show (NBC), FLing (Paramount), Celebrity Death Match (Voices: ODB, Donny Ray & James Brown, MTV), Celebrity Death Match CD-ROM Game (Voices: Dennis Rodman, James Brown and Busta Rhymes), TV Land Promo (feat. Pat Morita), Mt. Dew commercial (Crowd Control, feat. Busta Rhymes), Wendy's commercial, and Bell South commercial. Acting credits for film include: Get Rich Or Die Trying (Jim Sheridan, dir.,), For Love of the Game (Sam Raimi, dir.), Riot Act, and Luck of the Draw.

Listen to I Gotta Love, Chuck's "story in rap verse" developed for a TV pilot about two young people meeting their romantic match.

Richard Wright One of America's greatest writers, Richard Wright (1908–1960) was also among the first African American writers to achieve literary fame and fortune. He was born and spent the first years of his life on a plantation near Natchez, Mississippi, the son of an illiterate sharecropper and a school teacher. Desperately poor, his family moved to Memphis, where his father abandoned them and his mother fell ill. Later Wright, his mother, and brother moved back to Mississippi to live with his maternal grandmother in Jackson, and Wright completed junior high before ultimately leaving school and then leaving the south for good. Wright's early years in Mississippi would play a key role in his two most important works, Native Son, a novel, and his autobiography, Black Boy.

Wright's words come to life in these readings from Black Boy by John Horhn, a Mississippi State Senator, actor and storyteller:

• Reading 1
• Reading 2
• Reading 3

Recommended Readings and Activities

The Black Caucus of the National Council of Teachers of English has compiled Read-In Booklists for 2008:

• Selected “Must Read” Books by African American Authors
• Supplemental List for Young Children and Young Adults

The following information and links are provided for informational purposes. Connections Academy recommends previewing any activity or written work before sharing it with children.

Freedom Train by Evelyn Coleman
Clyde Thomason is proud to have an older brother who guards the Freedom Train. It's 1947, and the train is traveling to all forty-eight states, carrying important documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. Clyde is lucky that the train is stopping in Atlanta. In the segregated South the train will only stop at cities that agree to integrate the crowds lining up to glimpse its famous contents. Based on the real journey of the Freedom Train, this new book shares the inspirational story of a young boy's awakening to the injustices around him—and to the idea that things could change.

• Read more about Freedom Train.
• See more Read-In events with Evelyn Coleman above.

Shadows on Society Hill by Evelyn Coleman
This mystery featuring Addy of the American Girl series was just nominated for an Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America!

• Read more about Shadows on Society Hill.
• View activities for Shadows on Society Hill.
• See more Read-In events with Evelyn Coleman above.

White Socks Only by Evelyn Coleman
In the Jim Crow South, a thirsty young African American girl approaching a water fountain mistakes its "Whites Only" sign to mean that she should take off her shoes so that only her white socks will touch the step stool.

• Read more about White Socks Only.
• See more Read-In events with Evelyn Coleman above.

Donavan's Double Trouble by Monalisa DeGross
In the latest installment in this series, Donavan finds out that fourth grade is more of a challenge than he bargained for.

• Browse inside Donavan’s Double Trouble.

Donavan's Word Jar by Monalisa DeGross
Donavan's friends collect "normal things" like marbles, coins and buttons, but Donavan collects something else altogether: words. All of the words he finds — from "ballyhoo" on a billboard to "nutrition" on a cereal box — he writes down on a piece of paper and puts in his word jar.

• Browse inside Donavan’s Word Jar.

Granddaddy's Street Songs by Monalisa DeGross
Roddy loves to listen to his grandfather's tales of "long ago, when things weren't like they are today," especially when Granddaddy conjures up the special sounds of wagon peddlers like himself.

• Read more about Granddaddy's Street Songs.

New York Times articles by Randal C. Archibold
Journalist Randal Archibold covers everything from the California wildfires to the Presidential campaign.

• Read Randal's favorite articles.
• See more Read-In events with Randal Archibold and Lucille Renwick above.

Splash Patterns by Jason Moffitt
This debut poetry collection comes alive with the spoken word. Hear Jason read his work:

• Read more about Splash Patterns.

Black Boy by Richard Wright
Richard Wright grew up in the woods of Mississippi amid poverty, hunger, fear, and hatred. He lied, stole, and raged at those around him; at six he was a "drunkard," hanging about in taverns. Black Boy is Richard Wright's powerful account of his journey from innocence to experience in the Jim Crow South.

• Read more about Black Boy.