Dr. Wilson Kwamogi Okello (he/him) is an accomplished early-career transdisciplinary artist and scholar who draws on Black critical theories to advance research on knowledge production and human development. Most immediately, he is concerned with how Black critical approaches make visible the epistemic foundations that structure what it means to be human and imagining otherwise possibilities for Black being therein. He is also concerned with how theories of Blackness might reconfigure understandings of racialized stress and trauma, qualitative inquiry, critical masculinities, and curriculum and pedagogy to create conditions of possibility in the education context and society.

Dr. Okello is an assistant professor of higher education at Penn State University, where he is a research associate at the Center for the Study of Higher Education (CSHE) and director of the Black Study in Education Lab at CSHE—a research and praxis hub concerned with exploring the potentialities of Blackness in educational research, practice, and policy.

Description: Are you ready to become a published author but don't know where to begin? Join Mary Taris, founder of Strive Publishing, for an insightful and engaging workshop designed to introduce you to and demystify the world of book publishing.

Whether you're an aspiring author or simply curious about the publishing process, this session will equip you with valuable insights into what it takes to get your book into the hands of readers. By the end of the session, attendees will have a greater understanding of the publishing landscape and the steps necessary to become a published author.

About Mary Taris: Mary Taris is the founder of Strive Publishing, a company dedicated to empowering authors to bring their stories to life. With years of experience in the publishing industry, Mary has helped authors successfully navigate the journey from manuscript to published book. Her expertise spans every aspect of the publishing process, and she is passionate about helping writers achieve their goals.

Llerena is a passionate advocate for leveraging the power of marketing and technology, and is dedicated to addressing real-world challenges and creating opportunities for individuals and their communities. With over two decades of global marketing and communication expertise, Llerena leads JLLB Media, a full-service marketing agency committed to driving growth and innovation for clients.

Meet Juan Llerena and join us for the launch of his newest book, “Elev@te: Lessons to Master the Balance of Entrepreneurship, Personal Growth, and Self-care.”

Join us as we celebrate the joy of jazz music with our friends from Diversity Alive,

Diversity Alive educational institute is a year round educational traveling performing arts experience with over 30 years experience and youth programming theater and dance.

Moms, if you're looking for a Halloween theme book reading for your small children and an opportunity to get them out of the house on Halloween for such tricks, treats, and take home crafts, join us at Strive bookstore for our Frightfully Fun Book Fest—Park in the target ramp.

This is an open house type of event - stop in anytime between 2:00pm and 5:00pm.

Black actress and activist Hilda Simms was a rising star on the stage and screen in post–WWII America until accusations of un-Americanism and communist sympathies derailed her career. 

Simms was born and raised in Minneapolis and after studying at Hampton Institute (now University) moved to New York City to find success in acting. There, she struggled to land roles in which she could be taken seriously as a dramatic actress. She spoke increasingly openly about civil rights, and when she made sympathetic comments about the anti-racist policies of the Soviet Union, she gained the attention of the US Department of Justice. Her passport was revoked, forcing her to cancel plans to perform for American troops stationed in Europe. Effectively blacklisted from Hollywood, it marked the beginning of the end for her promising acting career.

Red Stained: The Life of Hilda Simms weaves primary research with a narrative style to tell the true story of Hilda Simms in the context of a nation gripped in the Cold War and a burgeoning civil rights movement. This first full biography of her life and career examines Simms’s rise to fame, her drive to be a respected dramatic actress, and her efforts to create equal opportunities for people of color on stage, on the screen, and behind the camera.

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Jokeda “JoJo” Bell is the executive director and the director of exhibitions and programming for the African American Interpretive Center of Minnesota (AAICM). Her roles within the organization have led to collaborative programming with institutions like the Minnesota Historical Society and the Minnesota Museum of American Art. She has also appeared as an expert in the Minnesota Historical Society’s documentary, Storied: African Americans in WWI. In 2019 JoJo curated The Builders exhibition for AAICM, which was named one of the top ten art exhibitions of the year by the Star Tribune. Bell is a PhD student in the history department at the University of Minnesota. Her research interests include Black women and land ownership in the Upper Midwest. 

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I’ve published my memoir. It’s titled, Out of Chaos. It covers my early childhood through adolescents when I permanently moved away from my mom. It’s not poverty porn! Besides crazy stories, it’s critical of systems, the church, and myself. Come help me celebrate. - VERNON

Strive Bookstore will open it’s doors at 11:30am to welcome guests interested in this conversation.

Book Description: In this primer on progressive, expansive, generous Christianity, writer and pastor Bruce Reyes-Chow offers his own "faith montage" and helps individuals and groups create their own. There is a more loving, more genuine vision of God than the one we see being performed around us, and this book helps us find it.

With clarity, vulnerability, and wit, Reyes-Chow helps us learn a grammar of faith about God, Jesus, and the Spirit that breathes fresh meaning into old words like sin, confession, salvation, baptism, communion, and gratitude. He doesn't shy away from calling out the hateful and hurtful dogmas of many churches, but he also turns our attention toward essential questions: What if God created humans to be beautifully complex? What if the Spirit calls us to lament and repent and also beckons us toward pathways of

healing, wholeness, and hope? And if Jesus equips us for lives of justice and kindness, how might our imaginations expand for what the world could be?

Join us to share your work and/or listen to others share.

ABOUT THE BOOK

In a collection of wide-ranging essays, Leon takes readers from his upbringing in the Bronx to his life raising two little girls of his own, unraveling those narratives to arrive at a deeper understanding of who he is as a son, friend, partner, and father. Traversing both the serious and lighthearted, from contemplating male beauty standards and his belly to his decision to seek therapy to the difficulties of making co-parenting work, Joél cracks open his heart to reveal his multitudes.

Crafted like an album, each essay is a single that stands alone yet reverberates throughout the entire collection. Pieces like “How to Make a Black Friend.” consider challenging, delightful and absurd moments in relationships, while others like “Sensitive Thugs All Need Hugs” and “All Gold Everything” ponder the collective harms of society's lens.

With incisive, searing prose, Everything and Nothing at Once deconstructs what it means to be a Black man in America.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

With echoes of Audre Lorde’s The Cancer Journals and Susan Sontag’s Illness as Metaphor, an extraordinary debut collection from a prize-winning poet that chronicles a Black woman’s journey through disability, the byzantine healthcare system, life-giving, taking, and sacrifice.

With breathtaking lyricism and a vulnerability that pierces the heart, April Gibson journeys through the emotional abysses, the daily pleasures, the frustrations, and the joys of being a Black woman living with chronic illness. 

Gibson offers a unique perspective on “the body,” viewing disability and healthcare through both feminist and socio-economic lenses filtered by race and faith. Through gorgeous sensory language that migrates memories, from carefree innocence to the ravages formed in its absence, Gibson bears witness to grief, courage, and resistance to redefine herself on her own terms.  

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

A former resident of MInneapolis, April Gibson is a poet, writer, and professor whose work has appeared in The Kenyon Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, Rhino Poetry, Prairie Schooner, and elsewhere. April has won The Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Award and the Sustainable Arts Foundation Award. She has been awarded residencies from Write On, Door County and the Vermont Studio Center. She is a fellow of the Poetry Incubator (Poetry Foundation), the Callaloo Creative Writing Workshop, and The Watering Hole Poetry Retreat. April is also a Tin House and VONA Writing Workshop alum, and her research has received support from the National Endowment of the Humanities. She teaches in the Department of English, Literature, and Speech at Malcolm X College in Chicago. 

Join us to share your work and/or to listen to others share.

Schwartz-Chaney is also a former STEM research coordinator for the Black Male Initiative at New York City College of Technology. She teaches writing at New York State’s Queensboro Correctional Facility, a minimum-security prison in New York City.

A critical researcher, critical race theorist, and social activist scholar, she co-edited Race, Education, and Reintegrating Formerly Incarcerated Citizens: Counterstories & Counterspaces, published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2015. She is the co-author of Gifts from the Dark: Learning from the Incarceration Experience, published in 2021, and also co-authored Learning to Disclose: A Journey of Transracial Adoption published by Peter Lang in 2020. 

In Spring 2024, Joni Schwartz-Chaney and her husband, John R. Chaney, will begin work on a new program funded by the U.S. Department of Justice called the “Second Chance Act Improving Reentry Education and Employment Outcomes.” The $900,000 grant over three years (beginning in Oct. 2023) will fund the development of college credit bearing classes in prison for mainly men of color returning home.  

Joni Schwartz-Chaney lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband, John R. Chaney, a City University of New York associate professor, whose background includes practicing law and criminal justice administration.

Join us for an interactive workshop where you'll learn the art of crafting captivating graphic novels tailored for young adult audiences. From character development to visual storytelling techniques, we'll explore the essential elements that bring graphic novels to life. Dive into the creative process, discover tips for effective narrative pacing, and unleash your imagination as we delve into the world of graphic storytelling. Whether you're an aspiring illustrator or a seasoned writer, this workshop offers valuable insights to help you create compelling narratives that resonate with young readers.

Heather Plett Author of Where Tenderness Lives Presents Workshop

In support of the launch of her book, Where Tenderness Lives: On healing, liberation, and holding space for oneself, Heather Plett will offer a free workshop in which she will teach participants to develop their own tenderness practice. This practice will resonate with anyone who does trauma healing work, who is working on developing a more loving relationship with their own body, and/or who struggles with self-criticism or self-sabotage. Participants will leave with practical tools for an embodied, self-reflective, self-honouring practice that they can use every day.

Learn more about author at her website: https://heatherplett.com/media/