Went to the ceremony last Friday. Shook Morgan Freeman’s hand and told him that, to me, he’d always be Easy Reader  from “The Electric Company.”  🙂

So the Foundation (based in my adopted hometown of Hyattsville! Woo-woo!) gave out its Legacy Awards for Black literary excellence.

Emcee S. Epatha Merkerson (yep, the sister from NBC’s “Law And Order”) could not have been funnier. 

The physical award was especially cool—a beautiful statue of Djhuiti.  No joke, bay-bee!

Here’s the winners, most of whom were there to pick up their awards and speechify:

NONFICTION: John Hope Franklin (for “Mirror To America: The Autobiography of John Hope Franklin”)

First Finalist: Donald Bogle (for “Bright Boulevard, Bold Dreams”)

Second Finalist: Lisa Farrington (for “Creating Their Own Image: The History of African-American Women Artists”)

CONTEMPORARY FICTION: Clyde W. Ford (for “The Long Mile” )

DEBUT FICTION: Denise Nicholas (for “Freshwater Road” )

FICTION: Nancy Rawles (for “My Jim”)

First Finalist: David Anthony Durham (for “Pride of Carthage”)

Second Finalist: Tayari Jones (for “The Untelling”)

The Madam C.J. Walker Award went to Yao Hoke Glover III and Simba Sana, founders of Karibu Books. W. Paul Coates and Bill Cox were the individual recipients of the North Star Award. Those non-competitive awards acknowledge outstanding contributions to the world of Black books.

Meanwhile……..

While we’re talking about Black writers, thought I’d also add this article. The Sister Elder is the editor of this, the compilation of the “little magazine” she helped launch.