How Black Stories Shaped My Own

Award-winning author Marita Golden explores her writing career and how the igniting power of storytelling is still inspiring generations of Black authors today.

A lifetime of stories to tell. Growing up, Marita would listen to bedtime stories of Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, and many other champions of Black history. Now a champion herself in the literary world, she shares her story in a motivational autobiography you will never forget. How to Become a Black Writer details Marita Golden's life, career, and the most cherished memories she made along the way. From nurturing her passions during the civil rights movement to celebrating her 40th writing anniversary in D.C., Marita shows that every dreamer can inspire others with their story.

A love letter to Black authors and readers. How to Become a Black Writer is not only just Marita's story, but can also be the start of yours. Inside, you'll find lessons and instructions based on her experiences during the renaissance of Black literature to help you cultivate your voice. Featuring timeless knowledge that helped not only Marita, but bestselling storytellers like Nzotake Shange and Toni Morrison, you, too can make a big change in the book publishing world.

Discover meaningful events and the people behind them that helped Marita Golden to become the leading icon she is today, such as:

• How she was mentored under feminist poet Audre Lorde
• Life as a groundbreaking journalist at Essence Magazine
• Co-founding and leading the Hurston-Wright Foundation to help publish Black stories
  

So if you're looking for more motivational memoirs like Dear Black Girl, Legacy, or Badass Black Girl, you'll love How to Become a Black Writer.

This book unpacks the myth of the strong black woman who is never allowed any weakness and the health impacts, both physical and mental, of living in a skewed culture.

Don't play in the sun. You're going to have to get a light-skinned husband for the sake of your children as it is.

In these words from her mother, novelist and memoirist Marita Golden learned as a girl that she was the wrong color. Her mother had absorbed colorism without thinking about it. But, as Golden shows in this provocative book, biases based on skin color persist-and so do their long-lasting repercussions.

Golden recalls deciding against a distinguished black university because she didn't want to worry about whether she was light enough to be homecoming queen. A male friend bitterly remembers that he was teased about his girlfriend because she was too dark for him. Even now, when she attends a party full of accomplished black men and their wives, Golden wonders why those wives are all nearly white. From Halle Berry to Michael Jackson, from Nigeria to Cuba, from what she sees in the mirror to what she notices about the Grammys, Golden exposes the many facets of colorism and their effect on American culture. Part memoir, part cultural history, and part analysis, Don't Play in the Sun also dramatizes one accomplished black woman's inner journey from self-loathing to self-acceptance and pride.

Healthy Habits to Become the Strong Black Women

This book is gonna save some sisters' lives. Hallelujah! ―Patrice Gaines, author of Laughing in the Dark

#1 New Release in Codependency

Marita Golden, a prominent interviewee of Oprah Winfrey, wrote this mental and physical health guide for women to learn who they are, to set healthy boundaries, and to jump into health related fitness practices to balance out their daily lives.

Know Yourself. Jump start your relationship with yourself. Renowned author Marita Golden goes in-depth on how using meditation, silence, prayer, affirmations, and reflections allows for internal trust and confidence to blossom in your daily life.

Set Boundaries. Setting boundaries can be difficult but they are necessary to living life as a strong woman in today's world. Everyone else's burdens are not yours to carry and no, you don't have to fix everyone you come across! Learn how to set emotional boundaries, physical boundaries, and other boundaries to live freely.

Inside, you'll find:

• Healthy habits to reconnect with your inner self, your body, and those around you
• An empowering book for women to learn how to take back their lives one day at a time
• A mental health guide for women, black women affirmations, and reflection points to develop holistic wellness

If you're looking for mental health books for young adults and/or the strong black women in your life, this book is for you! If you enjoyed Set Boundaries, Find Peace, How we Heal, This Is How You Heal, or You Are Your Best Thing, you'll love The New Black Woman.

A novel of impressive artistry and power. The Washington Post
Caught in the web of history, generations of an African-American family play out their parts on a world stage that constantly changes, protected always by the love of one another, which never will.

A literary rent party to benefit the Hurston/Wright Foundation of African-American fiction, with selections to savor from bestselling authors as well as talented rising stars.

Not since Terry McMillan's Breaking Ice have so many African-American writers been brought together in one volume. A stellar collection of works from more than fifty hot names in fiction, Gumbo represents remarkable synergy. Edited by bestselling luminaries Marita Golden and E. Lynn Harris, this collection spans new and previously published tales of love and luck, inspiration and violation, hip new worlds and hallowed heritage from voices such as:

- Edwidge Danticat
- Eric Jerome Dickey
- Kenji Jasper
- John Edgar Wideman
- Terry McMillan
- David Anthony Durham
- Bertice Berry
...and many, many more

Also featuring original stories by Golden and Harris themselves, Gumbo heralds the debut of the Hurston/Wright Legacy Awards for Published Black Writers (scheduled for October 2002), and all advances and royalties from the book will support the Hurston/Wright Foundation. Combining authors with a variety of flavorful writing, Gumbo will have readers clamoring for second helpings.

Empower Your Sons Against Institutionalized Racism

One of the most important pieces of literature for Black parents.--MJ Fievre, author of Raising Confident Black Kids

A powerful guide to navigate the challenges of raising families in turbulent times. In What Every Black Parent Needs to Know about Saving Our Sons, gain profound advice on how to protect and nurture Black teen boys.

Essential knowledge, practical guidance. With intimate storytelling of her own son's story and in-depth research against the chilling backdrop of racially motivated brutality, acclaimed author Marita Golden reveals alarming statistics and systemic issues affecting children of color--and remedies.

A powerful and timely resource, What Every Black Parent Needs to Know about Saving Our Sons addresses pressing issues of today with new material and updated resources. Wisdom from psychologists, writers, and young Black men initiates meaningful discussions and delves into the complexities of Black parenting. Tackle topics such as generational trauma, being Black in white spaces, institutionalized racism, gun violence and how to not get shot, supporting mental health for black men, and other problems Black kids face. Embark on a transformative journey towards raising confident, successful, and resilient kids.

Inside, find:

• Realities faced by Black families and the importance of teaching kids about racism
• Guidance to navigate, discuss, and explore the impact of fearing the black body
• Conversations and strategies to keep our kids safe and growing up great

If you liked The Light We Carry, Decoding Boys, Three Mothers, or American Carnage, you'll love What Every Black Parent Needs to Know about Saving Our Sons.

In her classic memoir, distinguished author, television executive, and activist Marita Golden beautifully recounts an astounding journey to Africa and back.

Marita Golden was raised in Washington, D.C., by a mother who was a cleaning woman and a father who was taxi-driver. For all their struggles, with life and each other, her parents instilled her with spirit and aspirations. Swept up in the heady Black Power movement of the sixties, Marita moved to New York to study journalism at Columbia--and fell in love with Femi Ajayi, a Nigerian architecture student..
Their passion led them to start a life together in Africa--a place Marita was eager to understand. Exhilarated by a world free of white racism, Marita quickly found work as a professor and embraced motherhood. But Femi's increasing expectations that she snap into the role of the submissive Nigerian wife were shocking and dispiriting. Her struggle to regain her footing and shape a black identity that was true to her spirit is suspenseful and inspiring, an uncommon tale of race, identity, and Africa.

Critically acclaimed Black writers reveal how books have shaped their personal lives--in often unexpected ways.

In these thirteen strikingly candid interviews, bestselling authors, winners of the Pulitzer Prize, and writers picked by Oprah's Book Club discuss how the acts of reading and writing have deeply affected their lives by expanding the conceptual borders of their communities and broadening their sense of self.

Edwidge Danticat movingly recounts the first time she encountered a Black character in a book and how this changed her worldview forever; Edward P. Jones speaks openly about being raised by an illiterate mother; J. California Cooper discusses the spiritual sources of her literary inspiration; Nathan McCall explains how reading saved his life while in prison; Pearl Cleage muses eloquently about how other people's stories help one make one's own way in the world; and world-renowned historian John Hope Franklin--in one of the last interviews he gave before his death--touchingly recalls his childhood in the segregated South and how reading opened his mind to life's greater possibilities.

The stories that emerge from these in-depth interviews not only provide an important record of the creative life of leading Black writers but also explore the vast cultural and spiritual benefits of reading and writing, and they support the growing initiative to encourage people to read as both a passion and a pastime.

In her long-awaited fifth novel, acclaimed writer Marita Golden takes another unflinching look into the face of family, race, love and identity.

For twelve years Carson Blake inhabited a world of his own creation. Scorned by the father who was incapable of showing him affection and nearly consumed by the mean streets of Prince George's County, Maryland, Carson did what no one else could: he saved himself.
After joining the police force and building a family with his wife, Bunny, Carson is finally in control of his life in the enclave where African American wealth and privilege shares the same zip code with black American crime and tragedy. Both Carson and his wife have great careers and three beautiful children: Roslyn, Roseanne, and Juwan. Carson is a devoted father, determined not to be the father that Jimmy Blake was to him. But while Juwan's astounding artistic talent is his father's pride, the boy's close relationship with classmate Will conjures up emotions and questions in Carson that threaten to spill over and poison the entire Blake family.
And then, one night in March, nearing the end of a routine shift, Carson stops a young black man for speeding. He orders Paul Houston to exit the car and drop to his knees. But when Houston retrieves something from his waistband and turns to face Carson, three shots are fired, one man loses his life and two families are wrenched from everything that came before and hurled into the haunting future of everything that will come after. When it is revealed that Paul, a son of educators and a teacher in Southeast D.C., was only holding a cell phone, Carson's carefully woven world begins to unravel.
After is a penetrating work of discovery for a man whose life careens more than once off the edge of disaster. Golden's astounding prose will stay with you long after you've turned the last page.

An engaging saga of unconditional friendship, love, and foregiveness...Golden's style is modern, refreshing and accurately captures a slice of African-American life. (St. Petersburg Times)

In the exciting, yet frightening days of Freedom Summer in 1963, two very different African-American women meet, each to discover in the other an elegant completion of herself. Jessie, running from her sexually abusive father and distant mother, is a born actress. In the movement she discovers an unknown world of personal freedom that could shape her into an extraordinary talent or destroy her from within. Macon, beautiful, fearless, and brilliant, knows she is too good to settle for less than she's worth, but her activism threatens the man she loves.

In a vital time of politics and passion, dedication and distress, two women struggle to recreate themselves and their world--and learn to love the fight.

The compelling story of three black women who meet at a New England college in the late sixties and form a friendship that will guide them through the changes, the joys, and the tears of the coming years

Faith, small-boned and delicate, the daughter of a strong-willed mother and a father she no longer remembers, longs for the one experience that will show her to herself. Serena, a passionate and outspoken radical, has an intense political commitment and pride in her African roots, which will lead her to find a life on a continent far away. And Crystal, a poet from girlhood, has a long love affair with words that will be put to the ultimate test when she must explain to her father her love for a man of another race.

Praise for A Woman's Place

A radical new talent . . . The poignancy invites comparison to The Color Purple.--New Woman

A book that should be bought, read, and cherished, because it is a story of hope, a story of triumph and, above all, a testimony to resilience.--The Philadelphia Tribune

First Page to Finished is a book that answers all your questions about writing and the writer's life. From how to get started to how to sustain a writing practice to how writers make money, the answers to those questions are in this book. Inspiring and practical, the book also contains writing exercises that will prompt you to write with more courage and more focus. Based on Marita Golden's forty years as an author, teacher of writing, and literary activist, First Page to Finished is a book to read again and again and to share.

Raising Black Teen Boys in Turbulent Times

It is always heartening to see women step up to the writer's table. When the results are as adroit and affecting as Marita Golden's work, it is more than satisfying; it is a cause for celebration.--Toni Morrison, Nobel Laureate

Two decades ago, Marita was the first Black writer to address the horrifying statistic that haunts all Black mothers: the leading cause of death among Black males under twenty-one is homicide. Today, police brutality rages on as millions call for the reformation of our broken law enforcement in the wake of the traumatic murders of Black teen boys like Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Daunte Wright.

Read an intimate account of a mother's efforts to save her son. Writing her son's story against the backdrop of a society plagued by systemic racism, economic inequality, and mass incarceration, Golden offers a form of witness and testimony in a time of crisis for Black Americans.

Learn how to grapple with the realities of Black America. Join Golden as she confronts the root causes of violence inflicted upon Black teen boys and reassesses the legacy of her own generation's struggle for civil rights. Explore Black boys' difficult road to adulthood in the U.S. and learn why single Black mothers are often wrongly blamed for their sons' actions.

Gain invaluable advice and knowledge from trustworthy sources. In Saving Our Sons, Golden documents her conversations with psychologists, writers, and young Black males themselves.

This book is designed to help you:

• Discuss and unpack generational trauma with loved ones
• Gain deeper insight into the injustices Black children face in the U.S.
• Recognize the importance of community for the success of Black teen boys

If you liked Decoding Boys, Mother & Son: Our Back & Forth Journal, The Boy Crisis or Boy Mom, you'll love Saving Our Sons.

You just can't plan for this kind of thing.

Moving and illuminating....It is through stories like these that we begin to understand people living with Alzheimer's, and maybe--through empathy and compassion--we can heal what can't yet be cured.--Lisa Genova, author, New York Times bestselling Still Alice

This groundbreaking multicultural anthology shares moving personal stories about the impacts of Alzheimer's and dementia.

An estimated 5.7 million Americans are afflicted by Alzheimer's disease, including 10 percent of those over sixty-five, and it is the sixth leading cause of death. But its effects are more pervasive: for the nearly 6 million sufferers, there are more than 16 million family caregivers and many more family members. Alzheimer's wreaks havoc not only on brain cells; it is a disease of the spirit and heart for those who suffer from it but also for their families.

This groundbreaking anthology presents forty narratives, both nonfiction and fiction, that together capture the impact and complexity of Alzheimer's and other dementias on patients as well as their caregivers and family. Deeply personal, recounting the wrenching course of a disease that kills a loved one twice--first they forget who they are, and then the body succumbs--these stories also show how witnessing the disease and caring for someone with it can be powerfully transformative, calling forth amazing strength and grace.
The contributors, who have all generously donated their work, include Edwidge Danticat, Julie Otsuka, Elizabeth Nunez, Meryl Comer, Greg O'Brien, Dr. Daniel Potts, Sallie Tisdale, and Nihal Satyadev. Reflecting the diversity and global nature of the dementia crisis, this anthology is published in collaboration with UsAgainstAlzheimer's.

A collection of essays that comprise a literary memoir, how Marita Golden became a successful author and the personal and professional influences on her writer's journey.

A Miracle Every Day takes an illuminating and intimate look at flourishing single-mother families. Single motherhood and the children of single mothers have been the subject of overwhelmingly negative statistical analysis. But, asks Marita Golden, where are the studies that analyze the strengths of single mothers, the positive adaptive skills learned by their children, the support systems that help these families work?

In A Miracle Every Day Golden, once a single mother herself, and several other single mothers and their family members share their success stories with great honestly and insight. Golden identifies the coping characteristics these families have in common and organizes them into guiding themes, making A Miracle Every Day a book that single mothers and their support networks can turn to for wisdom, comfort, and inspiration.

When Marita Golden decided to write her personal account of the challenges of raising a black son in today's world, she didn't intend to write more than her own family's story. But through the story of raising her son against the backdrop of a racially divided society, Golden discovered she was also confronting the causes of the violence that surrounds African-American men.

In the fierecely lyrical and revealing narrative of Saving Our Sons, she has created a work of profound and lasting importance-one that sensitively and uniquely addresses the problems of boyhood and emerging manhood. It is a book that issues a clarion call: The survival of our cities, if not our society, depends on our finding a way to save our sons.

Candid, poignant, provocative, and informative, the essays and stories in Skin Deep explore a wide spectrum of racial issues between black and white women, from self-identity and competition to childrearing and friendship. Eudora Welty contributes a bittersweet story of a one-hundred-year-old black woman whose spirit is as determined and strong as anything in nature. Bestselling author Naomi Wolf recalls her first exposure to racism growing up, examining the subtle forms it can take even among well-meaning people; bell hooks writes about the intersection between black women and feminist politics; and Joyce Carol Oates includes a one-act play in which racial stereotypes are reversed. Among the other writers featured in the collection are Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Susan Straight, Mary Morris, and Beverly Lowry. A groundbreaking anthology that reveals surprising insights and hidden truths to a subject too often clouded by misperceptions and easy assumptions, Skin Deep is a major contribution to understanding our culture.