“An important part of American history told with a clear-eyed and forceful brilliance.” —National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson

“We Refuse to Forget reminds readers, on damn near every page, that we are collectively experiencing a brilliance we've seldom seen or imagined…We Refuse to Forget is a new standard in book-making.” —Kiese Laymon, author of the bestselling Heavy: An American Memoir
 
A landmark work of untold American history that reshapes our understanding of identity, race, and belonging

In We Refuse to Forget, award-winning journalist Caleb Gayle tells the extraordinary story of the Creek Nation, a Native tribe that two centuries ago both owned slaves and accepted Black people as full citizens. Thanks to the efforts of Creek leaders like Cow Tom, a Black Creek citizen who rose to become chief, the U.S. government recognized Creek citizenship in 1866 for its Black members. Yet this equality was shredded in the 1970s when tribal leaders revoked the citizenship of Black Creeks, even those who could trace their history back generations—even to Cow Tom himself.

Why did this happen? How was the U.S. government involved? And what are Cow Tom’s descendants and other Black Creeks doing to regain their citizenship? These are some of the questions that Gayle explores in this provocative examination of racial and ethnic identity. By delving into the history and interviewing Black Creeks who are fighting to have their citizenship reinstated, he lays bare the racism and greed at the heart of this story. We Refuse to Forget is an eye-opening account that challenges our preconceptions of identity as it shines new light on the long shadows of white supremacy and marginalization that continue to hamper progress for Black Americans.

Celebrate the release of Madly Driven with Tiye!

EVENT DEETS

When: Thursday, August 6 @ 7 PM CST

Where: Kindred Stories (2310 Elgin St, Houston, TX 77004)

How: RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat or RSVP WITH BOOK to grab your copy of the book, support the author and our store programming.

*Please note outside copies of the book will not be allowed in the bookstore and you will not be eligible for the signing/photo line. You must buy a book from Kindred Stories.

ABOUT THE BOOK

An addictive, enemies-to-lovers romance about fame, power, and two people fighting to stay in control, even as they fall madly, recklessly in love.

Kensie Garrett turned her worst heartbreak into a bestselling brand. As a social-media influencer and author of a hit self-help book teaching women how to find love without losing themselves, she’s built a career on staying in command. But one reckless night threatens everything she’s created when she gives in to the magnetic pull of Canaan Jackson, the infuriating race car driver she’s despised since college.

When a private video from that night leaks, Kensie’s credibility and Canaan’s shot at racing glory are suddenly on the line. To save them both, he does the unthinkable: announces their engagement during a live press conference. What begins as damage control quickly spirals into a dangerous chemistry neither can contain.

Thrown together under the scorching Miami sun in the months leading up to his first Formula One race, Kensie and Canaan must outmaneuver paparazzi, past betrayals, and a passion that refuses to stay off camera. But as lies blur into truth and old wounds resurface, Kensie has to decide whether protecting her image is worth losing her heart to the one man who may know her better than she knows herself.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tiye is a USA Today Bestselling author known for her emotional and captivating novels. She has enchanted readers with stories that offer an escape into richly imagined worlds. Professionally, Tiye works in the mental health field, providing services through her private practice and teaching. A Southern girl currently residing in Houston finds inspiration from her travels and enjoys spending time with family and friends.

ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER

Charity Shane’ is a USA Today Best-selling author. She holds a Bachelor degree and a Juris Doctor degree. She’s an Author, Higher Education Leader, Legal Expert., and Creative. 

Writing stories that create feelings through her words is her true passion. 
To date, she has published many books, traditional and indie, including a USA Today Best Seller and a number of Amazon best sellers. She has been featured in Entertainment Weekly and Woman’s World Magazine for her traditionally published book, A Novel Christmas. 

Her soul sings Black romance and Black Women’s fiction. 

How American architecture can address systemic anti-Black racism: a creative challenge in 10 case studies

A New York Times critics' pick | Best Art Books 2021

Reconstructions: Architecture and Blackness in America is an urgent call for architects to accept the challenge of reconceiving and reconstructing our built environment rather than continue giving shape to buildings, infrastructure and urban plans that have, for generations, embodied and sustained anti-Black racism in the United States.

The architects, designers, artists and writers who were invited to contribute to this book―and to the exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art for which it serves as a “field guide”―reimagine the legacies of race-based dispossession in 10 American cities (Atlanta; Brooklyn, New York; Kinloch, Missouri; Los Angeles; Miami; Nashville; New Orleans; Oakland; Pittsburgh; and Syracuse) and celebrate the ways individuals and communities across the country have mobilized Black cultural spaces, forms and practices as sites of imagination, liberation, resistance, care and refusal.

A broad range of essays by the curators and prominent scholars from diverse fields, as well as a portfolio of new photographs by the artist David Hartt, complement this volume’s richly illustrated presentations of the architectural projects at the heart of MoMA’s groundbreaking exhibition.

Celebrate Kennedy Ryan's new book, This Could Be Us!

EVENT DEETS

When: Sunday, March 10 at 2 PM

Where: Eldorado Ballroom (2310 Elgin Street, HTX, 77004)

How: Purchase your ticket here! Each ticket comes with a copy of This Could Be Us. No refunds.

ABOUT THE BOOK 

Soledad Barnes has her life all planned out. Because, of course, she does. She plans everything. She designs everything. She fixes everything. She’s a domestic goddess who's never met a party she couldn't host or a charge she couldn't lead. The one with all the answers and the perfect vinaigrette for that summer salad. But none of her varied talents can save her when catastrophe strikes, and the life she built with the man who was supposed to be her forever, goes poof in a cloud of betrayal and disillusion.
 
But there is no time to pout or sulk, or even grieve the life she lost. She's too busy keeping a roof over her daughters' heads and food on the table. And in the process of saving them all, Soledad rediscovers herself. From the ashes of a life burned to the ground, something bold and new can rise.
 
But then an unlikely man enters the picture—the forbidden one, the one she shouldn't want but can't seem to resist. She's lost it all before and refuses to repeat her mistakes. Can she trust him? Can she trust herself?
 
After all she's lost . . .and found . . .can she be brave enough to make room for what could be?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER

Wale Okerayi 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, writers and creative folks on a weekly basis.

As an avid reader and Kindred Stories aficionado, Wale has moderated various author talks featuring: Lyvonne Briggs, Sochil Washington, Tyriek White, Adorah Nworah, Dr. Joy, and Nicole Walters. 

Pay homage to We Will Rest: The Art of Escape with Tricia Hersey!

EVENT DEETS

When: Sunday, January 19 @ 4PM

Where: Eldorado Ballroom (2310 Elgin Street, HTX, 77004) 

How: GET TICKETS HERE! All tickets will come with a copy of the book. 

ABOUT THE BOOK

A beautifully illustrated “modern sacred object” of a book—inspired by vintage hymnals, prayer books, and abolitionist pamphlets—helping readers escape from grind culture and dehumanizing systems, by the New York Times bestselling author of Rest Is Resistance
 
Give the gift of rest and escape with this exquisitely designed volume of inspiring writings by Tricia Hersey, powerfully illustrated by award-winning designer George McCalman and featuring a silk ribbon marker.

We don’t believe we are worthy of rest unless we burn ourselves out to accomplish it. Our thinking has been limited by disconnection, sleep deprivation, and the unattainable call for perfection. The systems will never give us rest. It is something we must create for ourselves and each other. 
 
Just as the North Star guided the enslaved on their journeys to freedom, visionary artist and founder of The Nap Ministry Tricia Hersey leads us to imagine a new world: one in which we subvert the narrative of productivity at all costs and embrace rest as a healing spiritual practice. 
 
We Will Rest! is a modern sacred object, medicine for a sick and exhausted world. Weaving together meditations and poetry with storytelling and art, Hersey provokes liberation through refusal and trickster rebellion in the face of capitalism and white supremacy.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tricia Hersey is a multidisciplinary artist, theologian, escape artist and founder of The Nap Ministry. She is the global pioneer and originator of the “rest as resistance” and “rest as reparations” frameworks, and collaborates with communities all over the world to create sacred spaces where the liberatory, restorative, and disruptive power of rest can take hold. Tricia’s work is seeded within the soils of Black radical thought, somatics, Afrofuturism, womanism, and liberation theology. She is a Chicago native who believes in daydreaming, porch sitting, and poetry.

ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER

“A beautiful blend of folklore, botanical science, acquired wisdom, and spiritual guidance.”
—from the foreword by Luisah Teish
 
“If you want to learn about the reciprocal spiritual connection between humans and trees, you’re going to love this beautiful book.”
—Tess Whitehurst, author of The Magic of Trees
 
Reclaiming traditional botanical and herbal practices has never been more important than it is today. So much of our future depends on our ability to use ancient earth knowledge. In this crucially important book, author Stephanie Rose Bird recounts the story of the sacred wood: how to live in it, learn from it, and derive spiritual enrichment from it, as well as how to preserve and protect it. The Healing Tree offers functional, accessible recipes, remedies, and rituals derived from a variety of African and African American traditions to serve mind, body, soul, and spirit.

The Healing Tree celebrates the forest: its powers, spirits, magic, medicine, and mysteries. Bird shares how trees have provided her with personal healing, then allows us to share in that process for our own benefit. Bird’s book follows her own personal journey, but Africa is always her touchstone—the persistent and tenacious ancestral mother wisdom and spiritual foundation that refuses to fade away. The Healing Tree preserves this knowledge, presenting it as relevant and viable and demonstrating in intimate detail how vestiges of that knowledge took root in the Western Hemisphere, in African American culture, and more broadly in American culture in general.
 
Previously published as A Healing Grove, this updated edition includes a new preface by the author and a source guide for the botanicals discussed within.

Celebrate the release of Slices of Black American Life with MR.TOMONOSHi!!

EVENT DEETS

When: Wednesday, August 6 @ 7PM

Where: Kindred Stories (2310 Elgin St #2, Houston, TX 77004)

How: RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat or RSVP WITH BOOK to support the author and our store programming

ABOUT THE BOOK

Slices of Black American Life is a raw, electrifying yet polished articulation of Black America—its past, present, and future woven through Blaxploitation-inspired poetry and storytelling with cinematic flair.

It possesses a jazz rhythm in tone, MR. TOMONOSHi!’s words tap dance across the page—each syllable hitting like a beat, each line swinging with improvised brilliance.

Each piece offers a window into the fantastical worlds of Black American life, where reality and imagination collide—the characters breathe, move, speak, inviting you in, pulling you close, immersing you deep into the roots of the Black American experience.

A whimsical realness pulsates throughout its entirety.

This collection is more than homage—it’s an ode to the brilliance of Blaxploitation, capturing its bold aesthetics, fearless spirit, and unfiltered truth. Every poem, every story, cuts deep, speaks loud, and refuses to be forgotten.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

MR. TOMONOSHi is a prolific multidisciplinary creator whose work spans literature, animation, interactive media, fashion, photography, and music. Known for his sophisticated yet whimsical approach to storytelling and design, he transforms everyday moments into immersive, culturally rich experiences for audiences of all ages. With a background in design and a deep commitment to imaginative play, MR. TOMONOSHi builds vibrant worlds that resonate from classrooms to playgrounds to living rooms—and now, across screens.

His work blends narrative elegance with playful ingenuity, bringing cinematic voice to books, games, fashion, and experiences that blur the line between reality and imagination.