Welcome to LIFTed UNITED Authors NANA EKUA BREW-HAMMOND and JAHA NAILAH AVERY.

Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond is the author of the children’s picture book Blue: A History of the Color as Deep as the Sea and as Wide as the Sky, illustrated by Caldecott Honor Artist Daniel Minter; and the young adult novel Powder Necklace. Her short fiction for adults has been included in the anthologies Accra Noir, Africa39, New Daughters of Africa, Everyday People, and Woman's Work. Learn more at nanabrewhammond.com.

Determined to avoid the pain and instability of her parents’ turbulent, confusing marriage, Kokui marries a man far different from her loving, philandering, self-made father—and tries to be a different kind of wife from her mother.

But when Kokui and her husband leave Ghana to make a new life for themselves in America, she finds history repeating itself. Her marriage failing, she is called home to Ghana when her father dies. Back in her childhood home, which feels both familiar and discomforting, she comes to realize that to exorcize the ghosts of her parents’ marriage she must confront them to enable her healing.

Tender and illuminating, warm and bittersweet My Parents’ Marriage is a compelling story of family, community, class, and self-identity from an author with deep empathy and a generous heart.

Jaha Nailah Avery is a lawyer, scholar, and reporter whose family has roots in North Carolina stretching back over 300 years. Jaha is an African American woman and proud Southerner. Hailing from Asheville, North Carolina, she received her law degree from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she studied constitutional and civil rights law. She spent several years in the startup tech space before embarking on her professional writing career, and her work can be found in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and Architectural Digest. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and a Diamond Life member of the NAACP. Her aim is to always document, celebrate, and preserve the stories of Black people, communities, and history.

The Novel is: THOSE WHO SAW THE SUN: AFRICAN AMERICAN ORAL HISTORIES FROM THE JIM CROW SOUTH

Those Who Saw the Sun is a collection of oral histories told by Black people who grew up in the South during the time of Jim Crow. Avery captures key perspectives on cultural moments by centering the voices of those who lived them. This book preserves the Black voice and lifts the wisdom they offer.

Authors NANA EKUA BREW-HAMMOND and JAHA NAILAH AVERY in conversation with Karis McPherson, BEYOND BOUNDARIES PANEL 13