Tayllor Johnson wrote a wonderful piece on Beyonce’s Lemonade.

Hope Wabuke of The Root spoke with Yaa Gyasi about her debut novel, Homegoing. In the interview, Gyasi discussed her inspiration to become a writer, craft, and race. Read more at Meet Yaa Gyasi, the Author of the Slavery Novel Everyone Is Talking About.

If you haven’t already read Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing, Bookriot.com has posted an excerpt from the first chapter. 

The Color Purple is on Broadway and has received the 2016 Tony Award for best musical revival. Buy your tickets at The Color Purple Tickets!

Taryn Finley of The Root recapped a panel with literary greats Sonia Sanchez, Toni Morrison, and Ta-Nehisi Coates. The panelists, who met in front of a sold out crowd at the Ambassador Theatre in New York, discussed their craft and issues of social justice. Read more at Toni Morrison, Sonia Sanchez, Ta-Nehisi Coates Discuss Art And Social Justice.

Austin Clarke, author who wrote on the black experience and one of the founders of Yale’s black studies program, died at 81. Clarke’s 2002 novel, The Polished Hoe, won the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize. His memoir, Remembering, discusses his experiences as a journalist covering the civil rights movement in Harlem in the 1960s.

The New York times highlighted the popular distillery Jack Daniel’s and a slave’s role in helping to make the famous beverage. Read more at Jack Daniel’s Embraces a Hidden Ingredient: Help From a Slave.