Sonia Sanchez

Poet, Mother, Activist, Professor, National and International lecturer on Black Culture and Literature, Women's Liberation, Peace and Racial Justice. Sponsor of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.

Sonia Sanchez is the author of 16 books including We a BaddDDD People, Love Poems, Does Your House Have Lions and Like The Singing Coming Off the Drums.

A recepient of a National Endowment for the Arts, the Community Service Award from the National Black Caucus of State Legislators and several honors and awards.

Sanchez has lectured at over 500 universities and colleges in the United States and has traveled extensively, reading her poetry in many countries like Africa, Cuba, England, Australia and Canada. She was the first Presidential Fellow at Temple University and she holds the Laura Carnell Chair in English at Temple University.

Trina Stackhouse

Trenton Makes..The World Takes! This statement holds true as Trina Stackhouse has taken the slogan that graces the bridge of her hometown, Trenton New Jersey, and turned it into the flame that lights her dreams. Stackhouse left a small town with a dream and the drive strong enough to knock down any door. She has taken that determination and planted the seeds as a Producer, Author and Actress. She co-produced the Documentary Film, Against All Odds (2006) starring NBA All-Star, Jerry Stackhouse. She’s taken her acting skills to the airwaves on New York’s 98.7 Kiss FM Morning Show with Jeff Foxx with her comedic sketches which have gotten over 10,000 hits per show. Not only did she take New York by storm but her magnetic voice created an email phenomenon which swept across the nation. The world has taken another one of her gifts as she self-published her first book, The Point:Observations of Life and her highly anticipated sophomore book and CD, Pillow Talk (due in stores January 2008).

Stackhouse began her journey as a beaming star at the age of five. She won her first Spelling Bee, Science Fair and Poetry Contest at a tender age when dolls were the highlights of little girls play time. Although she was a book worm, Stackhouse developed a passion for the Arts after watching the movie, “Sparkle” starring Irene Cara and Phillip Michael Thomas. >From that day on, she decided she no longer wanted to be a doctor. So she traded in the stethoscope for lights, camera, action. And thus the saga began… Stackhouse pushed the envelope to see how far she could go with her dream. She stole every talent show, commuted to New York City for modeling, worked three jobs after school and still managed to graduate at the top of her class.
Stackhouse known for putting her all into everything she did, decided to put her modeling and acting career on hold until she graduated from Delaware State University. With a degree in Fashion Design and Administration, she moved to the city of dreams, New York City. After landing a job at the public relations firm, The Terrie Williams Agency, Stackhouse began to bump heads with some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry. She left the agency to pursue her dream as an actress. She landed roles on New York Undercover, All My Children, Pfeizer Commercials to name a few.

On the road to stardom, Stackhouse was sidetracked after the attacks on the world Trade Center. Affected like most Americans across the nation, she chose writing to get her out if the depths of depression which clouded her vision leading to her destiny, Acting. So she began writing, THE POINT: Observations of Life. Not realizing that she had written a book, after a year following the attacks, she compiled a bunch of poems, philosophies and thoughts she had jotted down in a journal. She wrote about everything that she observed from the smallest thing like a baby’s cry to the death of a woman who committed suicide by throwing herself in front of an Amtrak train.

Stackhouse seized Life’s moments. She felt like writing so she wrote. She wanted to act so she performed. Who knows what she will do next. But with the faith of a mustard seed, she will accomplish it all!

Omar Tyree
NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLING AUTHOR

NAACP IMAGE AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING LITERATURE FICTION

Omar Rashad Tyree is an author, publisher, lecturer and poet who graduated in print journalism (cum laude) from Howard University's School of Communications in 1991.

In his senior year, Tyree was the first student in Howard University's history to become a featured columnist in the Hilltop (Howard University's award winning, campus newspaper) He later served as the assistant editor for the oldest black-owned weekly newspaper in Washington, DC - The Capital Spotlight.

President and founder of MARS Productions Tyree self - published three books, FLYY-Girl, Capital City and Battle Zone. After his self - publishing success, he was later picked up by Simon & Schuster, for a two-book contract in 1995 which included the reprinting of Flyy Girl and the publication of A Do Right Man, Single Mom and Sweet St. Louis.

Tyree's future goals include lecturing, book writing and movie making to educate African-Americans as well as other cultures on the present, past and future struggles of African Americans in America and throughout the world.

Nicole Bailey-Williams


is a teacher of English with the Ewing Township Board of Education.

She is also a freelance writer and co-host of "The Literary Review," a book review show which airs on WDAS (1480 AM).

She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Hampton University, where she authored a cum laude thesis entitled The Grotesque in Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye and Beloved.

She received her Master of Education degree from Temple University. Mrs. Bailey-Williams is active in many national and community organizations. They include her beloved sorority, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, the National Association of University Women, and the National Hampton Alumni Association.

In addition to writing for national publications like Publishers Weekly, Black Issues Book Review, and QBR (Quarterly Black Review), she was a contributing writer in the Notable Black American Men reference book, which was edited by Jessie Carney Smith of Fisk University.

She is also the author of A Little Piece of Sky (Sugarene's Press), a novel which spent September and October in the #1 best selling position for coming-of-age novels on Amazon.com.

Mrs. Bailey-Williams was born in Philadelphia and raised in the neighboring suburb of Elkins Park. She currently resides in Mercer County, NJ with her husband Gregory.

Karen E. Quinones Miller


Born and raised in Harlem, Karen dropped out of school at the age of 13. At age 22, Karen joined the Navy, and after spending five years in the military, Karen married, had a child, and divorced -- all within a two-year period.

She moved to Philadelphia at age 29, and got a secretarial job with The Philadelphia Daily News but, after three years of complaining about media coverage of people of color, she enrolled at Temple University and began work as a correspondent for The Philadelphia New Observer. Karen graduated magna cum laude from Temple with a B.A. in journalism, confirming her belief that the only thing she missed by skipping high school was the senior prom.

In 1994, Karen started her first permanent job at The Virginian-Pilot Norfolk, Va. Less than a year later she left to join the staff at The Philadelphia Inquirer. She has also worked as a correspondent for People Magazine.

Karen wrote "Satin Doll" in 1999, and after many unsuccessful attempts at finding a publisher, she decided to publish it herself. With the support of her brother, Joe Quinones, and her daughter, Camille, she started with an initial printing of 3,000 copies most of which were housed in her living room. (There wasn't enough room for the couch and the books, so the couch wound up on the front porch, and was later stolen.)

She and Camille posted flyers all over Philadelphia promoting "Satin Doll," and physically visited dozens of bookstores in the area to convince them to carry her novel. A self-published book is considered successful if it sells 5,000 copies in a year, and wildly successful if it sells 10,000 copies in a year. Karen sold her initial run of 3,000 copies in six weeks, and ultimately sold 24,000 copies nationwide in a period of eight months. Satin Doll wound up on the Essence Bestseller's List for two months.

The same publishers who had rejected her in 1999 were beating down her door in February 2000 trying to purchase the rights to "Satin Doll." Karen obtained a literary agent, and a publishing auction was held, on June 7th. Simon & Schuster won the bidding war -- six figures for "Satin Doll" and a then unnamed second novel.

In October 2000, Oshun Publishing Company, Inc., the company Karen created to publish Satin Doll, published Yo Yo Love, by 23-year-old Temple University Daaaimah S. Poole. Yo Yo Love became an Essence Bestseller, and Kensington Publishing Co. purchased the rights in 2001.

Satin Doll was released in hardcover by Simon & Schuster in July 2001, and once again hit the Essence Bestseller's List. Her second book, "I'm Telling" was published by Simon & Schuster in July 2002, and also landed on the Essence Bestseller's List. Her third novel, "Using What You Got," was published by Simon & Schuster in July 2003.

Karen is presently working on a coffee-table book entitled "I've Known Rivers," which will profile thirty-five African-American elders who have surpassed the age of 100. She is also working on a fourth novel, "Ida B.," and a biography on Harlem gangster, Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson.
Karen currently lives in the Mount Airy Section of Philadelphia with her daughter Camille.

Nikki Giovanni


Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr., born in Knoxville, Tennessee, is a world-renowned poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator. Over the past thirty years, Nikki's outspokenness, in her writing and in person, has brought the eyes of the world upon her. One of the most widely read American poets, she prides herself on being "a Black American, a daughter, a mother, a professor of English."
Giovanni remains as determined and committed as ever to the fight for civil rights and equality. Always insisting on presenting the truth as she sees it, she has maintained a prominent place as a strong voice of the Black community. Her focus is on the individual, specifically, on the power one has to make a difference in oneself, and thus, in the lives of others.

Nikki Giovanni has written more than two dozen books, including volumes of poetry, illustrated children's books, and three collections of essays. Her book Racism 101 includes bold, controversial essays about the situation of Americans on all sides of various race issues. She has received nineteen honorary doctorates and a host of other awards, including "Woman of the Year" awards from three different magazines as well as Governors' Awards in the Arts from both Tennessee and Virginia. Her two most recent volumes of poetry, Love Poems and Blues: For All the Changes, were both winners of the NAACP Image Award, in 1998 and 2000, respectively.

Since 1987, she has taught writing and literature at Virginia Tech, where she is a University Distinguished Professor. As a devoted and passionate writer, teacher, and speaker, she inspires not only her students, but also readers and audiences nationwide.