Journey through the vibrant world of the African Diaspora with this captivating exploration of movement and culture. With each letter, uncover fascinating stories of legendary dancers, iconic styles, and the powerful cultural expressions that unite us all. Perfect for young readers, educators, and dance enthusiasts, this book is a joyful celebration of movement, history, and the enduring legacy of African diasporic traditions. Get ready to step, spin, and soar through the alphabet-one dance at a time!
Search results: 215 results for “Kayla Perrin”
Not finding what you're looking for? Check out our shop on bookshop.org to order and still support us ♥
215 results
-
IRL AUTHOR TALK: Black Chameleon: Memory, Womanhood & Myth with Deborah D.E.E.P Mouton & Delita Martin- March 7@ 7PM CST
IRL AUTHOR TALK: Black Chameleon: Memory, Womanhood & Myth with Deborah D.E.E.P Mouton & Delita Martin- March 7@ 7PM CST
Sold outJoin us for the official launch event of Black Chameleon: Memory, Womanhood & Myth with author, Deborah D.E.E.P Mouton and artist, Delita Martin.
Event DEETS
When: March 7, 2023 at 7PM CST
Where: Project Row House Community Gallery (2521 Holman Street, HTX 77004)
How: Please RSVP reserve your spot. Checkout for RSVP with Book to support our store and the author/artists.
About Black Chameleon
In the literary tradition of Carmen Maria Machado’s In the Dream House, Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior, and Jesmyn Ward’s Men We Reaped, this debut memoir confronts both the challenges and joys of growing up Black and making your own truth.
Growing up as a Black girl in America, Deborah Mouton felt alienated from the stories she learned in class. She yearned for stories she felt connected to—true ones of course—but also fables and mythologies that could help explain both the world and her place in it. What she encountered was almost always written by white writers who prospered in a time when human beings were treated as chattel, such as the Greek and Roman myths, which felt as dusty and foreign as ancient ruins. When she sought myths written by Black authors, they were rooted too far in the past, a continent away.
Mouton writes, “The phrases of my mother and grandmother began to seem less colloquial and more tied to stories that had been lost along the way. . . . Mythmaking isn’t a lie. It is our moment to take the privilege of our own creativity to fill in the gaps that colonization has stolen from us. It is us choosing to write the tales that our children pull strength from. It is hijacking history for the ignorance in its closets. This, a truth that must start with the women.”
Mouton’s memoir is a song of praise and an elegy for Black womanhood. With a poet’s gift for lyricism and poignancy, Mouton reflects on her childhood as the daughter of a preacher and a harsh but loving mother, living in the world as a Black woman whose love is all too often coupled with danger, and finally learning to be a mother to another Black girl in America. Of the moment yet timeless, playful but incendiary, Mouton has staked out new territory in the memoir form.About Deborah DEEP Mouton
Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton is an internationally known writer, educator, activist, and performer and the first Black poet laureate of Houston, Texas. She was formerly ranked the #2 Best Female Performance Poet in the World (PSI). Her recent poetry collection, Newsworthy, garnered her a Pushcart nomination, was named a finalist for the 2019 Writers’ League of Texas Book Award, and received an honorable mention for the Summerlee Book Prize. Its German translation, under the title Berichtenswert, was released in Summer 2021 by Elif Verlag. The opera Marian’s Song, for which she wrote the libretto, debuted in 2020.
About Delita Martin
Delita Martin is an artist currently based in Huffman, Texas. She received a BFA in drawing from Texas Southern University and an MFA in printmaking from Purdue University. Formerly a member of the fine arts faculty at UA Little Rock in Arkansas, Martin currently works as a full-time artist in her studio, Black Box Press. Martin’s work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally. Most recently Martin’s work was included in the State of the Arts: Discovering American Art Now, an exhibition that included 101 artists from around the United States. Her work is in numerous portfolios and collections.
-
EVENT: Romance In Spring Author Panel - May 23 @ 6 PM
EVENT: Romance In Spring Author Panel - May 23 @ 6 PM
Sold outSpring is in the air, and love is on the page. Join D.W. Brooks, Alexandra Lechelle, and Zee Renee at Kindred Stories for a celebration of local romance authors.
EVENT DEETS
When: Saturday, May 23 @ 6PM
Where: Kindred Stories: (2310 Elgin St, Houston, TX 77004)
How: RSVP WITH BOOK to support the authors and our store programming. There are four options available: you can choose to support an individual author or select the Romance In Spring Bundle, which includes one book from all participating authors.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
D. W. Brooks
D. W. Brooks is an author who has independently published three romantic suspense books and two contemporary romance novels. In addition to writing books, D. W. is also a retired ophthalmologist and a kidney transplant recipient of over eight years. She is originally from Alabama but now lives in Texas with her husband and daughter.
Alexandrea LeChelle
Alexandrea LeChelle is a contemporary romance author whose stories explore love, grief, healing, and the complicated beauty of human connection.
Her novels unfold between Houston and Louisiana and center Black characters navigating family legacies, emotional vulnerability, and the quiet courage it takes to love deeply and unapologetically.
Through rich, emotional storytelling and cinematic detail, Alexandrea writes the kind of love stories she rarely saw growing up and entering adulthood. Stories where Black characters are allowed to be flawed, passionate, and deeply human.
What began as a way to process emotions and channel creativity through her own healing journey, slowly evolved into something much bigger: an urge to create and share stories about love, healing, and the complicated paths of life that bring people together.
Her stories often explore themes such as emotional healing, family dynamics, grief and growth, healthy Black love, the courage to begin again. Every story is planted in the belief that love, in all its forms, has the power to change us for the better.
When she’s not reading, Alexandrea can be found working her way through her own TBR, journaling or planning new creative projects, adding recipes to her personal cookbook, and listening to playlists that eventually inspire new stories.
At the heart of everything she creates is a simple hope: That readers will find pieces of themselves in her stories.Zee Renee
Writing is where Zee thrives, finding peace and purpose. Her journey began at thirteen with a black-and-white composition book, later blossoming on Wattpad, where she captivated over two million readers. In December 2023, she released her debut novel, All In, and was nominated for the 2023 Black Girl Who Writes Best New Author award. By November 2024, Zee became a National Best-Selling Author with the release of When He’s Not There, her third book.
Crafting urban fiction and romance, Zee transforms raw emotions into powerful stories. Her characters are deeply personal, each carrying a piece of her spirit. She is grateful for the opportunity to share her God-given talent and hopes readers will feel the same passion in her words as she does in writing them. -
IRL Author Talk: Did Everyone Have an Imaginary Friend (or Just Me)? with Jay Ellis + Kendrick Sampson - August 6 @ 7 PM CST
IRL Author Talk: Did Everyone Have an Imaginary Friend (or Just Me)? with Jay Ellis + Kendrick Sampson - August 6 @ 7 PM CST
Sold outCelebrate the release of Did Everyone Have an Imaginary Friend (or Just Me)? with Jay Ellis!
EVENT DEETS
When: Tuesday, August 6, 2024 @ 7PM (Doors Open at 6PM)
Where: STAGES (800 Rosine St, HTX, 77019)
How: Grab your ticket today! Each ticket come with a signed copy of Did Everyone Have an Imaginary Friend (Or Just Me)?: Adventures of Boyhood. Books will be available for pick up at the event.
*NO REFUNDS*
ABOUT THE BOOK
What to do when you're the perpetual new kid, only child, military brat hustling school-to-school each year and everyone's looking to you for answers? Make some shit up, of course! And a young Jay Ellis does just that, with help from every child's favorite co-conspirator—their imaginary best friend. Born in the perfect storm of especially ferocious rain and a sugar-fueled imagination, Mikey, his imaginary best friend, steps in to figuratively hold Jay's hand through various youthful shenanigans.
A testament to the importance of imagination, trusting oneself, and making space for your creativity, Did Everyone Have an Imaginary Friend or Just Me? is a story of a 90s kid who confided in his imaginary sidekick to navigate everything from parallel pop culture universes, like watching Fresh Prince alongside John Hughes movies or listening to Ja Rule and Dave Matthews, to a lifetime of birthday disappointment (being a Christmas season Capricorn will do that to you) and hoop dreams gone bad. Mikey also guides him through greater tragedies, like losing his teenage cousin in a mistaken-target driveby and the shame and fear of being pulled over by cops almost a dozen times the year he got his driver's license.
As imaginary friend morphs into adult consciousness, Ellis charts an unforgettable story of looking within yourself for guidance to some of life’s biggest (and smallest) challenges, told in the roast-you-with-love voice of your closest homie.ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born in Sumter, South Carolina, to a military family, Jay Ellis spent his childhood inventing new personas for every town he landed in. Too many to count. After college, he realized the NBA wasn’t good enough for him and he didn’t want to crush other players’ dreams as he dominated the league so he decided to take his one-man show to Hollywood, where he got his start on BET’s The Game. Now an accomplished actor, philanthropist, and entrepreneur, Ellis is best known for his role as Lawrence on HBO’s Insecure, for which he won an NAACP Image Award. He appeared alongside Tom Cruise, flying jets through the skies, in the Oscar-nominated film in Top Gun: Maverick. When he’s not on set filming he spends the majority of his days cleaning up the messes that his daughter’s imaginary friend “Jack” made. Karma.
ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER
Kendrick Sampson is an actor, producer and activist who leverages his platform and storytelling to shift culture for good.
Growing up in Houston and Missouri aka “Mo City”, Texas, Kendrick Sampson was dropped into a unique and deeply rooted culture of music and art.
His most acclaimed and notable characters from "Nathan" on HBO's Emmy-nominated comedy series, Insecure, to "Ethan" in Prime’s popular romantic comedy Something from Tiffany’s and his personal favorite, the surrealist satire I am a Virgo from Boots Riley - Kendrick has been achieving his lifelong goal of shifting culture through storytelling and uplifting nuanced, diverse, and authentic portrayals of Black men.
He uses his platform to amplify transformational grassroots work in intersectional mental health justice, sexual health and liberation and fighting state violence. Kendrick co-founded BLD PWR which includes a production company and social impact (501c3) arm whose mission is to “Reimagine and Realize the liberated future we know our people deserve” by organizing Hollywood and shifting the culture toward nourishing and protecting nuanced Black, Indigenous, and marginalized leaders and everyday people, especially our storytellers and their stories.
-
IRL STORYTIME: D is for Dance with Stacey Allen + Brynne Henry - August 2 @ 1 PM
IRL STORYTIME: D is for Dance with Stacey Allen + Brynne Henry - August 2 @ 1 PM
Sold outCelebrate D is for Dance: Dancing Through the Diaspora with Stacey Allen and Brynne Hentry! Come meet the author and illustrator, hear a beautiful story about dance and culture, and enjoy a dance demonstration by Nia's Daughters Movement Collective!
EVENT DEETS
When: Saturday, August 2 @ 1 PM
Where: Kindred Stories (2310 Elgin St #2, Houston, TX 77004)
How: RSVP ONLY to let us know you're coming or RSVP WITH BOOK to secure your copy of D is for Dance: Dancing Through the Diaspora.
ABOUT THE BOOK
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stacey Allen is an award-winning dancemaker, curator, and advocate for arts education, equity, and reproductive justice. She is the Founder and Artistic Director of Nia’s Daughters Movement Collective, a professional dance company committed to creating and supporting art and wellness initiatives through the lens of Black women and girls. Stacey is the author of two children’s books, A Little Optimism Goes a Long Way—recipient of the 2024 Children’s Publication Award from the National Association of Multicultural Education—and D is for Dance: Dancing Through the Diaspora. She also created The Fairytale Project, a touring dance-theater production inspired by Texas Freedom Colonies.
Stacey lives in the Greater Houston area with her husband, Chase Allen, and their three children: Chase Jr., Zora, and John. Learn more about her work at www.niasdaughters.com and follow her on Instagram at @theblackartsymom and @niasdaughters.
ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR
Brynne Henry is a Houston-based illustrator, mixed-media artist, researcher, and K-12 instructor. She graduated from the University of North Texas with a B. F. A. in Art Education and has held multiple positions in research spanning across the African-American arts and humanities. Her interest in African-American humanities was sparked in her college art history classes and fueled by a research fellowship she received from the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the New York Public Library. Her love for art was passed down generationally and she sincerely hopes to inspire the next generation of artists to continue using art as a vehicle for information exchange and self-expression. View more of her work at www.brynnehenry.com
-
IRL Author Talk: Guide Me Home with Attica Locke - September 11 @ 7 PM
IRL Author Talk: Guide Me Home with Attica Locke - September 11 @ 7 PM
Sold outCelebrate the final installment of Attica Locke's Highway 59 Series, Guide Me Home!
EVENT DEETS
When: Wednesday, September 11, 2024 @ 7 PM
Where: Holy Family HTX (3719 Navigation Blvd, HTX, 77004)
How: RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat or RSVP WITH BOOK to support Attica Locke and the bookstore!
ABOUT THE BOOK
Texas Ranger Darren Mathews isn’t sure he’s been a good cop, but believes he’s got a shot at being a good man—if he manages to dodge the potential indictment hanging over his head and if he, from here on out, pledges allegiance to the truth. It’s a virtue the country appears to have wholly lost its grip on, but one Darren sees as his salvation. He is in the midst of remaking his life with the woman he loves, hoping for the peace of country living at his beloved farmhouse, when he is visited by someone who couldn’t hold the truth on her tongue if it was dipped in sugar, a woman who’s always been bent of tearing his life apart. His mother. Armed with a tall tale about a missing Black college student, Sera (whose white sorority sisters insist she isn’t missing at all). Darren must decide if his can trust his mother is telling the truth—and what her ulterior motive may be, and what if that motive has to do with a grand jury deciding his fate.
Darren gets his hooks into the investigation, along the way discovering things about Sera’s family and her hometown that are odd at best, vaguely sinister at worst. Hamstrung by local law enforcement and the Texas Rangers who likewise doubt the account of a missing girl, if Darren wants answers, he’ll need help from the person whom he swore to never trust again—his mother.
In this emotionally stirring conclusion to the singular Highway 59 series, set three years after the events of Heaven, My Home, Darren reckons with his life’s purpose as he’s forced to choose between his own peace and the higher call to do good.ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Attica Locke is a NY Times best-selling author of six novels, including Guide Me Home. She is also a winner of an Edgar Award and the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction, the Ernest Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, and she has been short listed for the Women’s Prize for Fiction and nominated for an LA Times Book Prize and an NAACP Image award for her work as a novelist. Locke is also a screenwriter and TV producer, with credits that include Empire, When They See Us and the Emmy-nominated Little Fires Everywhere, for which she won an NAACP Image award for television writing. She co-created and executive produced an adaptation of her sister Tembi Locke’s memoir From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home for Netflix. A native of Houston, Texas, Attica lives in Los Angeles, California
ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER
ReShonda Tate is the national bestselling author of more than 50 books, including her latest The Queen of Sugar Hill, based on the life of Hattie McDaniel. Her novel, Let the Church Say Amen, was made into a film directed by actress Regina King, and produced by TD Jakes and Queen Latifah. Her book, The Secret She Kept, was also made into a TV One movie starring Kyla Pratt. ReShonda made appearances in both movies. She wrote a movie, Christmas with my Ex, which will run on TV One this winter. A well-respected journalist and former TV News Anchor, ReShonda is currently Managing Editor for the Defender Newspaper and also works as a professional editor, ghostwriter, and literary consultant. A highly sought-after motivational speaker and award-winning poet, ReShonda is the recipient of the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literature.
-
Virtual Author Talk: Good Morning Love with Ashley M. Coleman & Pauleanna Reid-June 22 @ 6:30 CST
Virtual Author Talk: Good Morning Love with Ashley M. Coleman & Pauleanna Reid-June 22 @ 6:30 CST
Sold outKindred Stories, Solid State Books, Cafe Con Libros, and Shelves Bookstore presents Good Morning, Love with Ashley M. Coleman & Pauleanne Reid.
Event Deets
When: June 22 @ 6:30PM CST
Where: Virtual via Crowdcast
How: Register on this page or head over to register on Crowdcast directly using this link. If you register using our website (with or without purchasing the book) and not Crowdcast, you will register a Crowdcast watch link at least 24 hours before the start of the event.
About the Book
Carlisa “Carli” Henton is a musician and songwriter hoping to follow in her father’s musical footsteps. But, biding her time until she makes it big in the music industry, she works as a junior account manager at a big-name media company to cover her New York City rent. Carli meticulously balances her work with her musical endeavors as a songwriter—until a chance meeting with rising star Tau Anderson sends her calculated world into a frenzy. Their worlds collide and quickly blur the strict lines Carli has drawn between her business and her personal life, throwing Carli’s reputation—and her burgeoning songwriting career—into question.
About the Author
Ashley M. Coleman is a freelance writer and music executive from Philadelphia. Working in the music industry for over ten years, she has also written for Essence, The Cut, Apartment Therapy, and GRAMMY.com among others. In 2017, she launched a writing community for BIPOC writers entitled Permission to Write.
About the Moderator
Pauleanna Reid is a celebrity ghostwriter who helps high-profile leaders and doers turn their personal stories into powerful brand assets. She founded The WritersBlok, a full-service ghostwriting agency composed of a team of content ninjas responsible for some of the most talked-about pop culture moments, books and noteworthy speeches. Pauleanna is Senior Contributor at Forbes and Business Insider where she reports on female leaders who are shaping the future. Pauleanna penned her debut novel, Everything I Couldn’t Tell My Mother, a loose adaptation of her life story. If she isn’t holding a pen or fostering next-generation leaders, Pauleanna is re-imagining a new world and crafting an exciting one of her own.
-
Virtual Author Talk: Nobody's Magic with Destiny O. Birdsong - Feb 23 @ 6:30 PM CST
Virtual Author Talk: Nobody's Magic with Destiny O. Birdsong - Feb 23 @ 6:30 PM CST
Sold outJoin us as we celebrate the release of Nobody's Magic by Destiny O. Birdsong.
EVENT DEETS:
When: Wednesday, February 23 at 6:30 PM CST
Where: Virtual via Crowdcast. You can register using this event page or directly through Crowdcast.
How: Registration is required. You can RSVP with a book purchase or without a book purchase. We appreciate your support of our store by purchasing the book with us. This empowers us to continue bringing amazing author programming to Houston and beyond.
Like Barry Jenkins' Moonlight, Nobody's Magic is set against a backdrop of complicated social and racial histories, and it explores the region’s culture and its relationship to Blackness and Black womanhood. It is also a testament to the power of family—the ones you're born in and the ones you choose. And in the three narratives of Nobody’s Magic, among the yearning and loss, each of these women finds a seed of hope for the future.
Debut author, Destiny O. Birdsong’s writing has appeared in The Paris Review Daily, African American Review, and Catapult, among other publications. She has received the Academy of American Poets Prize and the Richard G. Peterson Poetry Prize. Her critically‑acclaimed debut collection of poems, Negotiations, was longlisted for the 2021 PEN/Voelcker Award and published by Tin House Books.Hailin and Hollin, Kadiedre Henderson is a Black, Queer, Lesbian, and Houston native. She is most precious about the care she brings to herself and others. Through deep listening to the world and stars, Kadie extends care by providing space for folks to tell their own stories. A lover of stories and storyteller at heart, Kadie started working with books back in 2019 and hasn't left since. A self-proclaimed optimist, Kadie loves Queer YA, Romance, Biographies, and Magic! She is especially excited by stories that speak to navigating grief, trauma, and Black Femme Eroticism. They are so happy to be a team member of the Kindred Stories staff.
-
IRL AUTHOR TALK: Black Girls Breathing with Jasmine Marie - February 6 @ 7PM CST
IRL AUTHOR TALK: Black Girls Breathing with Jasmine Marie - February 6 @ 7PM CST
Jasmine Marie
Sold outCelebrate the release of Black Girls Breathing with Jasmine Marie!
EVENT DEETS:
When: Thursday, February 6th @ 7PM
Where: Hogan Brown Gallery, 2310 Elgin St, HTX, 77004
How: RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat or RSVP WITH BOOK to support the author and our store programming
ABOUT THE BOOK:
As a Black woman, Jasmine Marie knows the impact that intergenerational trauma and systemic racism have had—and continue to have—on her community. Those experiences, along with her own journey through chronic stress, are why she created black girls breathing®, a movement dedicated to helping Black women understand the power of the mind‑body connection and its impact on their holistic health, one breath at a time.
In Black Girls Breathing, Jasmine Marie offers you the power of breathwork, and the revolutionary nature of slowing down and turning inward. With each intentional breath, you’ll learn how to sink deeper into your body to begin to undo the trauma that’s long been stored. Sharing exercises from her unique somatic philosophies proven by data and utilized by tens of thousands of participants to date, Jasmine Marie will also help you:- Connect more fully to your body
- Give yourself permission to rest
- Heal the chronic stress you carry in your body and nervous system
- Address emotional pain
- Rebuild your sense of self and your community
This is a long-overdue resource for every Strong Black Woman—the woman ready to break cycles of trauma, heal the internalized beliefs of perfectionism and conditional self‑worth, and follow the wisdom of her inner voice.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jasmine Marie is a speaker, breathwork practitioner, and founder of black girls breathing®, a wellness platform that provides Black women with tools to heal trauma in the body and reduce chronic stress and anxiety. An alum of NYU Stern School of Business, Jasmine Marie’s work has been featured in Good Morning America, VOGUE, Forbes, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, Glamour, Nylon Mag, Black Enterprise, Oprah Magazine, Well + Good, Wall Street Journal, Bust Magazine, Goop, MindBodyGreen, Refinery29, Pix11 NY, The Cut, FoxSoul, Cosmopolitan, and PopSugar Fitness, among others.
ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER:
Raveen Johnson is a Wellness Writer, Registered Yoga Teacher, Journaling Workshop Guide and a deep advocate for Mental/Emotional Health.
Raveen has been hosting journaling workshops in Houston since 2016, and has since expanded the offering locally and internationally. She offers the practice of journaling as a form of expression that supports mental, emotional and even physical healing. The intention is to be able to use our words in ways that compassionately support the lives that we desire for ourselves.
Raveen's yoga journey began in 2016 as a student. The practice re-introduced her to herself in way that was more empowering, strong and gracious than before. Raveen knew she wanted to effectively share the practice with others so she received her 200HR-RYT certification in 2020 at BIG Power Yoga in Houston, Texas. Four years later in 2024, Raveen received another 200HR certification under the guidance of Sarah Montross and Gioconda Parker so that she could further expand her knowledge and practice of yoga.
Journaling and yoga offer a relationship with ourselves and others that is loving, accepting and trustworthy; these are important ingredients in the recipe of following your gut and being present to your life. Raveen is delighted to use these tools to support the mental, spiritual and physical aspects of your personal healing journey. -
IRL Author Talk: Gabrielle Union discusses You Got Anything Stronger? - September 17at 7:00 PM CST (TICKETS VIA EVENTBRITE)
IRL Author Talk: Gabrielle Union discusses You Got Anything Stronger? - September 17at 7:00 PM CST (TICKETS VIA EVENTBRITE)
Sold outJoin us for a girl's night out with Gabrielle Union as she discusses her newest book, You Got Anything Stronger?
Please use the Eventbrite link above to secure your ticket for this event!
Event Details:
When: Friday, September 17 at 7:00 PM CST
Where: The Fountain of Praise, 13950 Hillcroft Ave, Houston, TX 77085
How: Ticket required for entry. Every ticket includes a copy of Gabrielle Union’s book, You Got Anything Stronger?, which will be available for pick-up when checking in at the venue.
Cost: $35 via Eventbrite (includes book)
We hope to see you there!
About the Book:
Over the years Gabrielle Union has been a tireless advocate for the marginalized and the victimized, and fans around the world have watched her both on and off-screen stand up to and speak out against injustice, in its myriad forms.
With her newest book, You Got Anything Stronger?, Gabrielle is at her most vulnerable. Life happens with all its plot twists, and Gabrielle is opening up about everything from her surrogacy journey to navigating married life to aging and leveling up in your career. This will be a memorable evening of conversation that will leave guests feeling empowered and inspired.
About the Author:
Gabrielle Union is an actress, executive producer, activist, best-selling author and most recently, a Time100 cover honoree. Union formed her production shingle “I’ll Have Another” in 2018 with the goal of telling stories that center marginalized communities with their specific point of views in an authentic manner. In August of 2020, she relaunched her haircare brand “Flawless by Gabrielle Union” for women with textured hair. The new and improved collection includes an array of options, affordably priced between $4 - $10, that empowers consumers to customize a regimen specific to their texture and style preferences. Prior to relaunching Flawless, Union learned of the disparities in the food space and joined Bitsy's as a cofounder with the goal of making healthy, allergen-friendly, school-safe snacks that are accessible and affordable for all families regardless of their socioeconomic or geographical status. Her first book, We’re Going To Need More Wine: Stories That Are Funny, Complicated and True, was released in 2017 and instantly became a New York Times bestseller. Union serves as a leader and advocate for inclusion in the entertainment industry. She is also a champion of breast health and combating sexual violence.
Event guidelines subject to change.
-
IRL Author Talk: Sensual Faith with Lyvonne Briggs & Wale-April 5 @7PM CST
IRL Author Talk: Sensual Faith with Lyvonne Briggs & Wale-April 5 @7PM CST
Sold outLearn about the art of coming home to your body with Lyvonne Briggs!
EVENT DEETS
When: April 5 @ 7PM CST
Where: 3719 Navigation Blvd, HTX 77003 (Holy Family HTX)
How: RSVP ONLY to grab your free ticket or support our programming, author, and store by RSVP WITH BOOK.
ABOUT THE BOOK
An invitation for women to discover a healthier approach to spirituality and sexuality that centers pleasure rather than shame, from body- and sex-positive preacher and author Lyvonne Briggs
“Home is not an address. Home is where you feel safe. And your body is aching to be your home.”
How you view your body and your sexuality is informed and strengthened by spiritual practices, but how many of us can say that religion has drawn us closer to our bodies? That’s because worship spaces that are intended to be spiritual safe houses have not historically been welcoming to our bodies, forcing us to leave our flesh at the door. This ideological amputation is at best a disservice and at worst a sin. The remedy? Radical self-hospitality.
In Sensual Faith, Lyvonne Briggs charts a path for us to practice spiritual wellness that aligns and harmonizes our bodies with pleasure and sexuality. By centering the rich traditions of ancient West African spirituality, Sensual Faith offers a radically inclusive model of companioning one’s self. Filled with wellness rituals, journal prompts, affirmations, and practices, Sensual Faith shows us how to celebrate our bodies as our very homes.
“Pleasure is your birthright,” writes Briggs, so whether it’s accepting your flesh, nurturing your intuition, learning the language of consent, or sumptuous self-care, let radical self-hospitality guide you to healthy sexuality.ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lyvonne Briggs, MDiv, ThM, an Emmy Award winner, is a body- and sex-positive womanist preacher, speaker, coach, and creator. Briggs is the host of the Sensual Faith podcast and the founder of beautiful scars, a healing- centered storytelling
agency focused on fostering pleasure and resiliency; visionary of The Proverbial Experience; and now curator of Sensual Faith Sunday, a series of virtual spiritual gatherings to nourish your soul. She has been featured in Essence, Cosmopolitan, Rolling Stone, and The Washington Post, and Sojourners named her one of “11 Women Shaping the Church.” Briggs, a New York City native and proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, is currently based in New Orleans, Louisiana.ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER
Wale (@theehotgirlbooks)is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor working with folks in New York and Texas. She has a double masters degree in mental health counseling from Teachers College Columbia University. After practicing in New York for a few years, Wale moved back to her hometown Houston and started her own therapy practice in 2020. Wale currently works with individuals and couples on a weekly basis.
-
IRL Author Talk: Black Roses with Harold Green III & Sherhara- March 22 @ 7:00 PM CST
IRL Author Talk: Black Roses with Harold Green III & Sherhara- March 22 @ 7:00 PM CST
Sold outJoin us as we celebrate the release of Black Roses by Harold Green III at the Houston Museum of African American Culture.
Event Deets:
When: Tuesday, March 22 at 7:00 pm CST
Where: Houston Museum of African American Culture (HMAAC)-4807 Caroline Street, Houston, Texas, 77004
How: Limited in-person tickets are available. Book purchase required with entry.
About the Book
Black Roses is a love letter to the underrepresented women that inspire and uplift author and poet, Harold Green III. After going viral on Instagram for these beautiful poems, Green assembled BLACK ROSES, a stunning collection of his odes and artist Melissa Koby’s stunning, full-color illustrations.
With poems on figures such as Ava DuVernay, Janelle Monae, Issa Rae, Kamala Harris, Lizzo, Misty Copeland, Robin Roberts, Roxane Gay, and Simone Biles, BLACK ROSES reflects the diversity of Black female excellence. Divided into five sections—dedicated to advocates, curators, innovators, luminaries, and trailblazers—Green’s odes and Koby’s portraits highlight a range of women.
About the Author
Harold Green III is an ever-evolving and internationally admired artist. Using poetry as his central art form, he is a highly sought-after talent, bandleader, and event producer. He earned the prestigious Carl Sandburg Literary Award for his self-published debut poetry collection From Englewood, with Love. He has created commissioned work in partnership with major brands and organizations, including Nike, Lululemon, Jordan, and Go
About the Moderator
Sherhara Downing the CoFounder and Chief Visionary Officer of SpeakHaus, a training and professional development company dedicated to transforming business and thought leaders into confident and bold speakers. SpeakHaus is the first in the public speaking industry to provide mobile in-person group coaching that goes directly to the homes of leaders, jumpstarting speaking transformation in one workshop.
With over 16 years of coaching and corporate training experience, Sherhara has elevated the speaking skills of leaders from companies like Under Armour, Capital One, Toyota, AT&T and more.
She has a deep passion for facilitating human connection and cultivating community! She loves tacos and remains the world-leading subject matter expert of the cult classic, Coming to America!
-
GRIEF WRITING WORKSHOP: All the Blues in the Sky with Renée Watson - Feburary 11 @ 7PM
GRIEF WRITING WORKSHOP: All the Blues in the Sky with Renée Watson - Feburary 11 @ 7PM
Renée Watson
Sold outAttend a grief focused writing workshop with award winning author, Renee Watson in honor of the release of All the Blues in Sky!
EVENT DEETS
When: Tuesday, February, 11 @ 7PM
Where: 2310 Elgin Street, HTX, 77004
How: RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat or RSVP WITH BOOK to support the author and our store programming
ABOUT THE BOOK
Sage's thirteenth birthday was supposed to be about movies and treats, staying up late with her best friend and watching the sunrise together. Instead, it was the day her best friend died. Without the person she had to hold her secrets and dream with, Sage is lost. In a counseling group with other girls who have lost someone close to them, she learns that not all losses are the same, and healing isn't predictable. There is sadness, loneliness, anxiety, guilt, pain, love. And even as Sage grieves, new, good things enter her life—and she just may find a way to know that she can feel it all.
In accessible, engaging verse and prose, this is a story of a girl's journey to heal, grow, and forgive herself. To read it is to see how many shades there are in grief, and to know that someone understands.ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Renée Watson is a #1 New York Times bestselling author. Her novel, Piecing Me
Together, received a Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Award. Her books include
the Ryan Hart series, Some Places More Than Others, This Side of Home, What Momma
Left Me, Betty Before X, cowritten with Ilyasah Shabazz, Watch Us Rise, cowritten with
Ellen Hagan, and Love Is a Revolution, as well as acclaimed picture books: Maya's Song,The 1619 Project: Born on the Water, written with Nikole Hannah-Jones, A Place Where
Hurricanes Happen, and Harlem's Little Blackbird, which was nominated for an NAACP
Image Award. Renée splits her time between Portland, Oregon and New York City.
http://www.reneewatson.net | @harlemportland (Instagram) | @reneewauthor (X)
Stay Informed. We're building a community committed to celebrating Black authors + artisans. Subscribe to keep up with all things Kindred Stories.