Hopeton Hay Podcasts Hopeton Hay

Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed Ayana Mathis, author of the novel The Unsettled.  "The Unsettled is a spellbinding portrait of two fierce women reckoning with the steep cost of resistance: What legacy will we leave our children? Where can we be free? Learn more about the novel at The Unsettled — Ayana Mathis.Diverse Voices Book Review Social Media:Facebook - @diversevoicesbookreviewInstagram - @diverse_voices_book_reviewTwitter - @diversebookshayEmail: hbh@diversevoicesbookreview.comWeb site: https://diversevoicesbookreview.wordpress.com/ 

In celebration of Women's History Month, we're featuring an interview conducted by Teens Choice Book Show host Maya Hay in January of 2021 with Daina Ramey Berry and Kali Nicole Gross, authors of A Black Women's History of the United States.  The book is described as "an empowering and intersectional history that centers the stories of African American women across 400+ years, showing how they are—and have always been—instrumental in shaping our country."At the time of the interview, Dr. Berry was the Oliver H. Radkey Regents Professor of History and associate dean of the Graduate School at the University of Texas at Austin, and Dr. Gross was the Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of History at Rutgers University, New Brunswick.  Today, Dr. Gross is the National Endowment for the Humanities Professor of African American Studies at Emory University is and Dr. Berry is the Michael Douglas Dean of Humanities and Fine Arts at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Learn more about About | Daina Ramey Berry (drdainarameyberry.com).  More information on Dr. Gross is available at About — Kali Nicole Gross. 

In 2020 Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed Koritha Mitchell, author of FROM SLAVE CABINS TO THE WHITE HOUSE.  As part of our continuing recognition of Black authors for Black History this year, I'm reposting this interview that was originally posted on the podcast site on October of 2020.  In the book Dr. Mitchell argues that it is Black success that is most likely to draw the ire of white mobs. Using characters in literature by black female writers from Zora Neale Hurston to Lorraine Hansberry, and the role in the White House of former first lady Michelle Obama, she demonstrates how Blacks have pursued success not in response to the forces that oppose them so much as they are continuing community traditions of affirming themselves while acknowledging that the resulting success will attract hostility.  Learn more about Dr. Mitchell at https://www.korithamitchell.com/about/.  Koritha Mitchell, PhD is an award-winning author, literary historian, cultural critic, and professional development expert. Her research focuses on African American literature as well as violence in United States history and contemporary culture. She examines how texts, both written and performed, help targeted families and communities survive and thrive.

Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed Lisa B. Thompson, author of Underground, Monroe, and the Mamalogues: Three Plays. She was interviewed in August of 2020.  In these plays, the black feminist playwright and scholar thoughtfully explores themes such as the black family, motherhood, migration, racial violence, and trauma and its effect on black people from the early twentieth century to the present. The works showcase Thompson’s subversive humor and engagement with black history and culture through the lens of the black middle class. In addition to being an award-winning playwright, Dr. Thompson is a professor of African and African diaspora studies at the University of Texas at Austin and the author of Beyond the Black Lady: Sexuality and the New African American Middle Class. Learn more about Lisa B. Thompson at Home | Lisa B. Thompson (lisabthompson.com). Diverse Voices Book Review Social Media:Facebook - @diversevoicesbookreviewInstagram - @diverse_voices_book_reviewTwitter - @diversebookshayEmail: hbh@diversevoicesbookreview.com

Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed Peniel E. Joseph, author of THE THIRD RECONSTRUCTION.  In THE THIRD RECONSTRUCTION Joseph weaves in his personal experiences growing up in segregated neighborhood of New York City with three critical periods in history in American history he describes as reconstruction periods: 1865-1898, 1954-1968, and 2008 to the present. In the book he writes, “There is the America that we might call reconstructionist, home to champions of racial democracy, and there is the America that we might call redemptionist, a country that papers over racial, class, and gender hierarchies through an allegiance to white supremacy. Since the nation’s birth, its racial politics have been shaped by an ongoing battle between reconstructionist America and redemptionist America.”Peniel Joseph’s web site is https://penielejoseph.wordpress.com/.Twitter -@PenielJosephInstagram - @dr.penieljosephDiverse Voices Book Review Social Media:Facebook - @diversevoicesbookreviewInstagram - @diverse_voices_book_reviewTwitter - @diversebookshay

Diverse Voices Book Review contributor Amanda Moore interviewed Melissa Rivero, author of the novel Flores and Miss Paula.  Flora and Miss Paula explores the relationship between a mother and her daughter as they attempt to navigate their daily lives while coping with the loss of a loved one. Melissa Rivero is the author of the award-winning book, The Affairs of the Falcons, and she is a graduate of NYU and Brooklyn Law School.  You can learn more about Melissa at www.melissa-rivero.com.Diverse Voices Book Review Social Media:Facebook - @diversevoicesbookreviewInstagram - @diverse_voices_book_reviewTwitter - @diversebookshayEmail: hbh@diversevoicesbookreview.com