The 2018 Book Fair will include book signings, talks by each featured writer, cultural vendors, food trucks, a Kids Zone, a community parade, poetry readings, writer’s circles, and art displays.

To see the full schedule, click here. 

Headquarters for the book fair is the Women’s Civic Improvement Center, 3555 3rd. Ave., Sacramento, CA 95817. Authors, volunteers, vendors and the public should go there first to pick up the free book fair program describing weekend book fair activities as well as amenities available in Historic Oak Park to enjoy during the fair.
 

Carol Borden’s Books On Parade: (named in memory of the late Carol Borden, the originator of the parade.) It will feature a short parade around the headquarters, and will kick-off the Book Fair Saturday, June 2. Assemble at the Women’s Improvement Club at 9:30am and the parade will start at 10:00. Community members are encouraged to bring books by Black authors for our Book Drive and deposit them at the WCIC registration desk. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Free and open to all.
 

The Kids Zone: Children’s Fun & Literacy Area, will be located at Brickhouse Art Gallery, 2837 36th Street, Sacramento, CA 95817 Saturday, June 2, from 11:00am-5:30pm. The Kids Zone will feature storytelling, reading, book give-a-ways, face painting, music, games, books, poetry, storytelling, computers, African drumming, bubbles and much more. Young children must be accompanied by an adult. Free and open to all.

The Fifth Annual Sacramento Black Book Fair will feature more than seventy authors of African descent, showcasing and highlighting a diverse spectrum of authors and literature, from contemporary and historical fiction, to anthologies, poetry, academic books; children’s stories and books, non-fiction to biographies, self- help, and inspirational, religious, and financial works.

• Maisha T. Winn is the Chancellor’s Leadership Professor, and the Co-director of the Transformative Justice in Education Center, in the School of Education, at the University of California, Davis. Professor Winn was named as an American Educational Research Association Fellow. In 2014, she received the William T. Grand Foundation Distinguished Fellowship, and was named with the American Educational Research Association Early Career Award. Her work is extensive. Including: “Justice on Both Sides: Transforming Education Through Restorative Justice” which will be published with Harvard Education Press in 2018
• Deborah L. Harris was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. She presently resides in Los Angeles, California. She is the author of three published titles and the CEO of Brand N Stone Publishing. Deborah was committed to following her childhood dream of becoming an author and wrote her first novel, Divine Order. In 2010 she wrote a personal memoir Trapped in a World of Silence. In this book she discusses candidly, the journey that she and her son encountered in living with autism. Her third title was Invisible Chains in 2012. In the fall, she will release In the Midst of A Storm . It is a sequel to Invisible Chains. She often speaks publicly to government about autism in relation to education. This issue is her mission.
• She is an educator and author. Her books include: ”Imagining Transit; Race, Gender and Transportation Politics in Los Angeles”, “Moral Combat: Black Atheists, Gender Politics and the Value Wars”, and the novel ”White Nights, Black Paradise (2015)”,which regarded the Peoples Temple and the 1978 Jonestown massacre. She also wrote, directed, and produced a short film”White Nights, Black Paradise” and is working on a stage adaptation.Her short play “Grinning Skull” was featured in the Robey Theatre’s 2017 Paul Robeson Festival.Her articles have been published in the Washington Post, the Huffington Post,Religion Dispatches, The Humanist Magazine and the L.A. Times. She is the founder of the Women’s Leadership Project; a Black feminist mentorying program for girls of color, and Black Skeptics Los Angeles. Her new novel, ”Rock ’n’ Roll Heretic: The Life and Times of Rory Tharpe” is due in 2018.
• Halifu Osumare has spent nearly 4 decades as a professional dancer, performing in 23 countries. Stops included being a ballerina in Oakland, a disco dancer in Barcelona and a Broadway performer. Halifu became an accompished modern dance choreographer and began her own dance company. She longed to know more of the history and meaning behind the expressive African art forms. She taught at Stanford, before becoming a full professor at UC Davis. Halifu retired from UCD, but is very active. She is the author of Dancing in Blackness. A memoir.
• Dr. Chochezi and Staajabu, also known as Straight Out Scribes, have published and performed their original poetry at numerous venues nationally. They have published 7 books of poetry, one Sci-Fi Anthology and two CD compilations. They have also produced and coordinated a number of writing, poetry and art related programs and workshops in Sacramento, since 1991. They have lent their voices to: Campaign to Save the Life of Mumia Abu-Jamal, MOVE 9, Leonard Peltier and other political prisoners. They support environmental causes, LGTB rights, Black Family Day, Women Take Back the Night, Labor Unions, Sacramento’s Thousand Man March, The Whole Earth Festival, women’s programs, and area colleges. They are members of ZICA Creative Arts and Literary Guild of Sacramento.
• Robert C. Smith, professor of political science at San Francisco State University, is an honors graduate of the UC Berkeley. He completed his Masters at UCLA, and transferred to Howard to complete his PhD in black politics, in a program that was being organized by Professor Ronald Walters. At Howard, he became Walters research assistant, beginning a near forty year period of mentorship, friendship and scholarly collaboration. Together they authored several articles, edited Reflections on Black Leadership and authored African American Leadership. Smith co-edited What Has this Got to do with the Liberation of Black People: The Impact of Ronald W. Walters on African American Thought and Politics. Also, he is the author of an undergraduate textbook in African American politics, Encyclopedia of African American Politics and ten other books, including most recently, Ronald W. Walters and the Fight for Black Power, 1969-2010 and Hanes Walton, Jr.: Architect of the Black Science of Politics

For more information, click here.