African American Drama

Doing Time: For the prison writers whose work is included in this anthology, it means more than "serving a sentence"; it means staying alive and sane, preserving dignity, reinventing oneself, and somehow retaining one's humanity. For the last quarter century the prestigious writers' organization PEN has sponsored a contest for writers behind bars to help prisoners face these challenges. The contest honors the best short stories, plays, essays, and poems among hundreds submitted annually by men and women nationwide.

NYC, 2013. During late night trips on the A train, we get snapshots of Tyrone's life - his close relationship with his mother, his attempts to flirt with a coworker, Niesha, his job as a bouncer, and his dreams of going back to school. As new traumas accumulate, Tyrone's world becomes as claustrophobic as the subway car, with as few opportunities to exit or change course.

In this first scholarly biography of Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965), the author of A Raisin in the Sun, theater professor Soyica Diggs Colbert considers the playwright's life at the intersection of art and politics, with the theater operating as a "rehearsal room for [her] political and intellectual work". Colbert argues that the success of Raisin overshadows Hansberry's other contributions, including the writer's innovative journalism and lesser-known plays touching on controversial issues such as slavery, interracial communities, and Black freedom movements.

In Baby Momma Drama, sisters Jasmine and Stephanie struggle to understand the complicated relationships they have with the men in their lives. Luckily, they’ve got each other to turn to when the going gets tough.

Small-town lawyer Bocephus Haynes comes home late one night to find District Attorney General Helen Lewis waiting for him. Her ex-husband has just been killed. She’s about to be arrested for his murder. And she wants Bo to represent her. There’s a lot working against them. Just before his death, Helen’s ex-husband threatened to reveal a dark secret from her past. Bo has been in a tailspin since his wife’s death.

Teen pop star Brittany Crutcher is found dead in small-town Tennessee. For attorney Bocephus Haynes, it’s just another night in Pulaski. Bo swore off criminal work after his last case, but the beloved singer’s murder demands answers. The prime suspect is local high school football hero and the victim’s boyfriend, Odell Champagne. However, this fallen athlete is one of Bo’s son’s best friends. Bo knows this young man and does not believe him capable of the crime. When Odell is charged with murder, Bo reluctantly takes the case, sparking outrage throughout the town.

Drama Queen features Kayla Hopkins, a woman who finds herself in a complicated situation. Kayla is in love with a man, but the matter is complicated by the fact that the man she's in love with isn't the father of her unborn baby. Now she's got some serious juggling to do before all her hopes for the future come crashing down.

When Keyshia and Clyde meet, they are instantly drawn to each other. Forced to pay back a large sum of cash to one nasty Harlem kingpin or risk the lethal consequences, Keyshia and Clyde use their tight game and their loyalty to pull off the impossible. And when Clyde is falsely accused of a bank hit, Keyshia vows to stick by her man - no matter the cost.

Former "player" Terrell thinks he's got it going on. Then the past comes calling, and suddenly his best prospects are endangered.

Tressie faithfully prays every night that God will send her a thug. It isn't long before her prayers are answered, and she meets a handsome ex-convict named Payce Boyd. He is a fine roughneck, everything Tressie imagined and more - that is until Tressie experiences firsthand the reality of being a thug's girl. Seeking solace and comfort in the sanctuary, Tressie soon learns valuable lessons and shocking truths about herself and others.

Regardless of how wealthy or poor their parents are, all black boys must confront and surmount the "achievement gap": a divide that shows up not only in our sons' test scores, but in their social and emotional development, their physical well-being, and their outlook on life. As children, they score as high on cognitive tests as their peers, but at some point, the gap emerges. Why? This is the question Joe Brewster, M.D., and Michele Stephenson asked when their own son, Idris, began struggling in a new school.

Tressie faithfully prayed every night that God would send her a thug. It wasn't long before her prayers were answered and she met a handsome ex-convict named Payce Boyd. Payce is a fine roughneck and everything Tressie ever imagined and more. That is until Tressie experiences firsthand the reality of being a thug's girl. Seeking solace and comfort in the sanctuary, Tressie soon learns valuable lessons and shocking truths about herself and others.

Have you ever been in that "chapter of your life", where everything that could possibly go wrong does, so you just wanted to curse God and die, or questioned if God even really exists? What would you do if you simply wanted to live the blessed life of a devoted Christian, to excel in school, make your family proud, find true love and live happily ever after, yet everything comes crashing down when evil interrupts.

Lina Henry is a wife and mother who likens herself to a pretty paper doll. She lives in a beautiful home in the Atlanta suburbs. Her husband, David, is a well-to-do investment banker. She’s raised two wonderful teenagers. To the outside world, the Henry family is perfect. What no one knows is that Lina’s paper doll life is being torn apart in a controlling and abusive marriage. Then Lina develops an unexpected friendship with another man, and reconnects with her former best friend. But as David senses his loss of control, he becomes more dangerous.

The collection contains 12 provocative tales that explore the emotional and mental terrain of a diverse cast of characters, from the innocent to the insane. In each, Jones displays her unflinching ability to dive into the most treacherous of psyches and circumstances: the title story examines the identity and relationship conundrums of a Black man who can pass for white, earning him the name “White Rat” as an infant; “The Women” follows a girl whose mother brings a line of female lovers to live in their home.

In Drama 99 FM, Janine Morris delivers a sizzling tale about three bodacious women who are living life to the fullest - and running the risk of crashing and burning. Naomi is a rising star in the music industry. Sereeta has a special talent for hooking up NBA ballers with luscious ladies. And Madison makes careers as the music director of the Big Apple’s hottest radio station. Each is on top of the world, but affairs of the heart have a way of turning everything upside down.

The love/hate relationship between Diane and Kendra Williams takes mother-daughter drama to entirely different level. Diane is a single mother who prides herself on being a master manipulator. She has no problem using anything or anyone to get what she wants. Whether it’s treating her sister, Celia, as her personal ATM or seducing unlikely, unsuspecting men, she will do whatever it takes to get ahead.

Inexplicable.

As usual, death will always bring family back together. And with death, there are almost always secrets. Anika and Ebony find themselves on a journey that takes them from mourning to discovering that it’s “their time” with an ensemble of family and friends: a loving, sweet Geechee grandma, frenemies, and a not-so-endearing family. From Ravenwood’s own King of Rap and his wifey the Mouth of the South to a love that will never die, Bloodstone’s Jinx will have you questioning your own existence.

Most men barely survive one mother, but Terrance Ellis has three: his aunts. His grandmother Essie's sisters - Eva, Dorothy Mae, and Mamie - lovingly raised him after Essie died in a tragic accident. They made sure that troubled young Terrance got on the right path and made something of his life. And now that he's all grown up and the rising pastor of Houston's Lily Grove church, the endlessly argumentative sisters agree on one thing: Terrance needs to find a wife.