Afro Reads Culture Corner 004

Black History Month has been really lit! I could not let it pass us by without curating a list of children’s books from the Afro diaspora. Included in the post was a giveaway where two people received one copy of a vintage Black History Month Magazine — the winners are: Alyssa Reynoso-Morris , Jessica Berry , & Rachael T 🎉

When: Saturday, February 28th, at 3 pm EST.

Where: Zoom

How: Register here

By the way, to eliminate Zoom bombers, unregistered attendees will not be granted access to the Zoom room!

• Civil Rights pioneer, Claudette Colvin, passed away January 13th

• We can thank mathematician, Gladys West, for the GPS system we use today; she passed away Jan. 17th

So far, I’ve read and reviewed three African novels: the classics, When Rain Clouds Gather and Women at Point Zero, and the short story collection Obligations to the Wounded. My next read is Ugandan, Kintu (pronounced Chin-tu).

I’ve also listened to two audiobooks: ‘A House for Miss Pauline’ and ‘Dominion’.

• Jesmyn Ward is Prix Montluc Résistance et Liberté 2026 Finalist

• Ohio celebrated Toni Morrison for a year, from Feb. 18th, 2026 until Feb. 18th, 2027

• On Jan. 26, the American Library Association awarded Watson’s book All the Blues in the Sky the 2026 John Newbery Medal, which goes to “the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature.”

• Center of Black Literature presents the 18th National Black Writers Conference

• The Africa Caribbean Literary Exchange, a new initiative of the Jamaica Book Festival, will take place in Kingston, Jamaica, from February 25–28, 2026.

  

• RIP Ghanian guitarist/singer/songwriter Ebo Taylor

• Fela Kuti becomes first African to get Grammys Lifetime Achievement Award

I remember when this movie first came out, yet I never watched it. It’s on Disney+ so I watched it with my kids — a true, impactful story and a book too!

On an empty road in the middle of the night, Shula stumbles across the body of her uncle. As funeral proceedings begin around them, she and her cousins bring to light the buried secrets of their middle-class Zambian family

A powerful documentary on the life, fearlessness, and poetic endeavors of Nikki Giovanni, who became an ancestor in 2024

The weapons we chose to survive in life can make us or break us. Some of us use the mic, the pen, for Gordon Parks, he chose the camera

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November 21, 2025

News Ghana — is bringing native languages such as Twi, back to the classroom