This week, in celebration of Juneteenth, I wanted to share a compilation or writers who contributed to our world through their words. Because, unless you haven’t heard –

Black Lives Matter.

Note: The backdrop for these images is the Pan African Flag that symbolizes freedom

Harriet Jacobs was an escaped slave who became an active abolitionist. The story of her pursuit to publish this novel is a lesson for all writers. Read more about her here.

Jessie Redmon Fauset, editor, poet, essayist, novelist, and educator, focused on portraying a true image of African-American life and history.

Writer Zora Neale Hurston, sometimes known as the “Queen of the Harlem Renaissance” grew up in Eatonville, Florida – America’s first town to be incorporated and governed entirely by African Americans. She is perhaps best known for her book, “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” (which I just bought and can’t wait to read) I noticed a movie was made from the novel starring Halle Berry.⁠

Gwendolyn Brooks was the first African American to receive a Pulitzer Prize. In 1950 she received the Pulizer Prize for Poetry for “Annie Allen”.

Nikki Giovanni Jr. (born 1943) is a poet, writer, commentator, activist and educator. She gained initial fame in the late 1960’s as one of the foremost authors of the Black Arts Movement.⁠

Margaret Walker Alexander was part of the African-American literary movement in Chicago known as the Chicago Black Renaissance. Her notable works include “For My People” (1942) which won the Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition and for her Civil War novel, “Jubilee.” ⁠