A lifelong quest to learn, curate and share information
Happy birthday Akwaeke Emezi! Born June 6, Akwaeke Emezi is a Nigerian fiction writer and visual artist, best known for their novels Freshwater, Pet, and the New York Times bestselling work The Death of Vivek Oji. Emezi is a generalist who writes speculative fiction, romance, memoir, and poetry for both young adults and adults with mostly LGBTQ themes.
Today’s post feature a fantasy young adult author Jordan Ifueko. Jordan Ifueko is a Nigerian American writer of fantasy and young adult fiction. She is best known for her novel Raybearer, which became a New York Times bestseller, and its sequel, Redemptor. Her third novel set in the world of Raybearer, The Maid and the Crocodile, was released August 2024.
Happy birthday Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham! Born June 4, Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham is an African American academic who is professor of Afro-American Studies, African American Religion and the Victor S. Thomas Professor of History and African American Studies at Harvard University. Her most notable book is Righteous Discontent. She has co-authored From Slavery to Freedom and African American National Biography.
Belated heavenly birthday wishes Dorothy West! Born June 2, 1907, Dorothy West was an African American novelist, short-story writer, and magazine editor associated with the Harlem Renaissance, a cultural movement in the 1920s and 1930s that celebrated black art, literature, and music. She passed away in 1998. Her most notable works are The Wedding and The Living is Easy.
Belated heavenly birthday wishes Albery Allson Whitman! Born May 30, 1851, Albery Allson Whitman was egroan African-American poet, minister and orator. Born into slavery, Whitman became a writer. During his lifetime he was acclaimed as the “Poet Laureate of the Negro Race.” He passed away in 1901. Here are a few of his notable works.
Belated birthday wishes Elizabeth Alexander! Born May 30, Elizabeth Alexander is an African American poet, writer, and literary scholar who has served as the president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation since 2018. Here are some of her notable works:
Belated heavenly birthday wishes Countee Cullen! Born May 30, 1903 Countee Cullen was an American poet, novelist, children’s writer, and playwright, particularly well known during the Harlem Renaissance. He passed away in 1946. Here are some of his notable works:
Belated heavenly birthday wishes Melvin Dixon! Born May 29, 1950, Melvin Dixon was an American Professor of Literature, and an author, poet and translator. He wrote about black gay men. He passed away in 1992. Some of his notable works:
Happy birthday Aaron McGruder! Born May 29, Aaron Mcgruder is an American writer, cartoonist, and producer best known for creating The Boondocks, a Universal Press Syndicate comic strip and its animated TV series adaptation. Here are a few of his notable books:
The 2026 Mackinac Policy Conference theme was “A Quest for Common Ground.” I found the discussions fascinating and interesting on the various approaches to achieve a common ground among business, education, and government. After listening to these sessions, I then researched and found two books on the subject with a very different approach.
The CamaraIfe Maktaba 