
OUR 2019 AUTHORS

Mahogany Browne
Writer, Educator
Browne has been featured in the PBS News Hour segment Brief But Spectacular and in HBO’s Brave New Voices as the artistic director at Urban Word NYC. She is the publisher of Penmanship Books, curator of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe Friday Night Slam, founder of the Women Writers of Color Reading Room, and the director of Black Lives Matter at Pratt Institute.

Veronica Cervera
Author, Blogger

J. R. Harris
Author, Speaker, Wilderness Backpacker, Photographer, Founder & CEO of JRH Marketing Services

Dr. Randal Jelks
Professor, Editor, Author
Dr. Jelks is also the author of two award-winning books. His works include African Americans in the Furniture City: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Grand Rapids (The University of Illinois Press, 2006) and Benjamin Elijah Mays, Schoolmaster of the Movement: A Biography (University of North Carolina Press, 2012), which was awarded the 2013 Lillian Smith Book Award and the 2013 Literary Award, Black Caucus of the American Library Association. His most recent book is Faith and Struggle in the Lives of Four African Americans: Ethel Waters, Mary Lou Williams, Eldridge Cleaver, and Muhammad Ali.

Lemuel LaRoche
Author, Activist, Speaker

Chef Juan Montier
Executive Chef, TV & Radio Personality, Author
Chef Juan Montier is Co-Owner and Executive Chef of the catering and event décor company Chez Montier, Inc. For Chef Juan, presentation and artistry is as important as flavor. With a background in architecture and interior design, he views cuisine through the eyes of a visual artist. He also sketches his dishes as part of his creative process and is the author of Designing the Gift of Food.

Dr. A. J. Nuriddin
Author, Columnist, TV Producer/Host
Dr. Nuriddin has been a columnist on health matters for the international newspaper Muslim Journal for over thirty years. For twenty years, Dr. Nuriddin has been the executive producer/host of a live weekly call-in television program on Cable 8 TV aired in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Live streaming on Wednesdays at 7PM at GCTV.VIEBIT.com) Dr. Nuriddin is the author of three books on health and nutrition. He is the founder of Success By Health.

Christina Proenza-Coles
Author, Assistant Professor
In American Founders, Christina Proenza-Coles chronicles how Black people developed and defended New World settlements, undermined slavery and championed freedom throughout the hemisphere from the sixteenth century on, working in every trade and profession.

Erin Lowry
Author, Speaker, TV Personality
Author of Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together and Broke Millennial Takes on Investing: A Beginner's Guide to Leveling Up Your Money, Erin Lowry’s first book was deemed one of the best money books of 2017 by MarketWatch.
