Lisa Reneé Pitts

Raising Black Teen Boys in Turbulent Times "It is always heartening to see women step up to the writer's table. When the results are as adroit and affecting as Marita Golden's work, it is more than satisfying; it is a cause for celebration." -Toni Morrison, Nobel Laureate Two decades ago, Marita was the first Black writer to address the horrifying statistic that haunts all Black mothers: the leading cause of death among Black males under twenty-one...

Black feminists remind us "that America's destiny is inseparable from how it treats [black women] and the nation ignores this truth at its peril" (The New York Review of Books).

Winner of the 2018 Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Nonfiction

"If Black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would have to be free." —Combahee River Collective Statement

The Combahee River...

When Toni Morrison died in August 2019, she was widely remembered for her contributions to literature as an African American woman, an identity she wore proudly. Morrison was clear that she wrote from a Black, female perspective and for others, who shared her identity. But, just as much as, she was an African American writer, Toni Morrison was a woman of faith. Morrison filled her novels with biblical allusions, magic, folktales, and liberated women,...

In the aftermath of a devastating plague, a fearless young heroine embarks on a dangerous and surprising journey to save her world in this brilliantly inventive dystopian thriller, told in bold and fierce language, from a remarkable literary talent. My name be Ice Cream Fifteen Star and this be the tale of how I bring the cure to all the Nighted States . . . In the ruins of a future America, fifteen-year-old Ice Cream Star and her nomadic tribe live...

"Why do you hold back?" Enneagram Nines are often asked questions like this by others who want to invite them to share their gifts. Marlena Graves describes her own experience with deciding whether to speak up: "I know what it's like to be run over and rendered invisible. I don't want to do the same to others." Nines are easy to be around because they seem to instinctively put others before themselves. In these readings Marlena reflects on what it's...

Popular author and professional certified coach Valorie Burton knows that successful women think differently. They make decisions differently. They set goals differently and bounce back from failure differently. Valorie is dedicated to help women create new thought processes that empower them to succeed in their relationships, finances, work, health, and spiritual life. With new, godly habits, women will discover how to: • focus on solutions, not...

What do you do when that voice in your head tells you you're not enough? Not smart enough, not pretty enough, not capable enough, not present enough. Where do you turn when the world's promise that you can have it all becomes a crushing expectation that you must do it all, at all times, and keep a smile fixed on your face while you wither inside? Unpacking the biblical story of Mary and Martha as she shares her own story of recognizing her unique...

What can I do? That was the question Diane Latiker asked of herself as she watched the teens in her Chicago neighborhood succumb at an alarming rate to gangs and gun violence. Her answer started small, inviting ten kids into her living room to talk about their struggles and dreams. But over the years it grew. With the help of God, her family, and many other people along the way, Diane's Kids Off the Block morphed from a personal crusade to do what...

"Set during the [era after the Civil War] and exploring the next chapter of history--the end of slavery--this ... story of love and healing is about three people who struggle to overcome the pain of the past and define their own future"-- The Civil War has ended, and Madge, Sadie, and Hemp have each come to Chicago in search of a new life. Born with magical hands, Madge has the power to discern others' suffering, but she cannot heal her own damaged...

Los Angeles incarcerates more people than any other city in the United States, which imprisons more people than any other nation on Earth. This book explains how the City of Angels became the capital city of the world's leading incarcerator. Marshaling more than two centuries of evidence, historian Kelly Lytle Hernandez unmasks how histories of native elimination, immigrant exclusion, and black disappearance drove the rise of incarceration in Los...