The East Side Freedom Library invites you to a special conversation:

author Carolyn Holbrook will present her new book
Tell Me Your Names and I Will Testify
in conversation with
Zenzele Isoke, Marquita Stephens, and Najah Davis

Register here for the Zoom link or watch it live on our Facebook page

Join us for a celebration and exploration of Tell Me Your Names and I Will Testify, Carolyn Holbrook’s long-awaited collection of essays. She will be in conversation with three women who have read her book.

Carolyn Holbrook is the founder and director of More Than a Single Story. She is a writer, educator, and a long time advocate for the healing power of the arts. Her essay collection, Tell Me Your Names and I Will Testify (U of M Press) is a finalist for a 2021 MN Book Award in the Memoir and Creative Nonfiction category. She is also a co-author of Dr. Josie Johnson’s memoir, Hope In the Struggle. Her essays have been published widely, most recently in A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota (MNHS 2016) and Blues Vision: African American Writing from Minnesota (MNHS 2015). She was the first person of color to win the Kay Sexton Award for contributions to Minnesota Literature from the MN Book Awards and the Friends of the St. Paul Public Libraries 2010)

Najah Davis is a senior at DeLaSalle High School. She enjoys making fun memories with her friends and her loving family. She also finds time to discuss social issues that affect certain groups in America. She believes that any change begins with conversation.

Zenzele Isoke is a Black feminist theorist, urban ethnographer, and political storyteller. A mother of two Black women, Zenzele designs and teaches university courses that integrate mindfulness of body and breath techniques with Black feminist thought to teach about race, gender, and empire for undergraduate students. She is the author of Urban Black Women and the Politics of Resistance (Palgrave 2013). Zenzele also leads the BIPOC meditation at the Yoga Room in North Minneapolis.

Marquita Stephens is the Director of Education Programming and Policy, for the Urban League Twin Cities and the principal of Marqui Coaching and Consulting. She is an active member of the community most notably Black Women Rising, executive leadership, and League of Women Voters – Roseville. Marquita enjoys swimming and is an avid movie goer.