Authors Discuss Black Storytelling at NAACP Convention

The 116th NAACP Convention is in town, having convened on Saturday at the Charlotte Convention Center. That afternoon, I dropped in to hear three Black authors speak at Ink & Inspiration: The Author’s Roundup, a panel highlighting the importance of Black storytelling.

Moderated by Sierra Tribble of the Charlotte-based podcast Headwraps & Lipsticks, the panel featured producer and author Steve Jones, who has worked with celebrities like Issa Rae, Oprah and Brandy; activist Tamika D. Mallory, whose memoir I Lived to Tell the Story: A Memoir of Love, Legacy, and Resilience dropped in February; and New York Times bestselling romance novelist Kennedy Ryan.

Throughout the panel, the speakers emphasized the importance of making a seat at the table in a world where folks in underrepresented demographics have to fight for one.

When asked at what point the authors felt it was important to put pen to paper, each speaker had a different though equally poignant response. 

“There’s a little bit of me in every story,” said Ryan, who began her career as a journalist. “It took me a while to understand how powerful fiction can be. A lot of people are dismissive of romance as a genre because they think it’s just something that’s fluffy. For me, I talk a lot about how romance, specifically because that’s what I do, is so digestible, is so palatable, is such a safe space to have difficult conversations and to talk about painful situations.”

Fans of Ryan’s work commend it for being so relatable, which she alluded to, saying that when writers highlight tough themes such as mental and physical health, it’s important for those who see themselves in fiction. 

“I believe in leveraging fiction to impact those people so we’re not suffering in silence,” she said.

Ryan admitted to dealing with panic attacks, suicidal ideation, and depression in her past, themes that are covered in several of her novels. 

Mallory stated that, though she had already started writing her first book at the time that Breonna Taylor was killed by police in Louisville in 2020, it was the resulting protests and the experience of seeing her son get tear-gassed that convinced her how important it was to continue on. 

“There were days when I did not know whether I would live to the next moment,” she said. “We were scared for our lives, but we’re unwilling to bend or break or to retreat from fighting for Breonna Taylor,” she said. 

She explained how she would often cry herself through writing sessions. 

“It was not easy to get out, but what I will say is that at the end of the process, I felt so much better because it was like a birthing,” she continued. “I was able to get a baby out that was relevant, it was serious.”

Mallory said her first book, State of Emergency: How We Win in the Country We Built, released in 2021, will allow future generations to see that there were people willing to stand up to the injustices that the government perpetuated.

Jones’ story is less radical than Mallory’s but no less insightful. He described his role as a “conduit” between established voices and aspiring voices. 

“I honestly believe as storytellers, we have an opportunity — whether it’s writing, whether it’s producing — to portray humanity in a way that reflects our greatest selves on the screen or on the pages,” Jones said. “I would have been remiss to allow fear, the pandemic, or anything else to stop me from putting the pen to the paper.

“It’s time to inspire the world, especially during the dark times in which we live in,” he finished. 

Much of what was discussed went along with the theme of the convention: The Urgency of Now. 

The authors commented on ways in which they feel Black literature helps preserve Black history in a time when it is under attack by those who would like to erase it.  

“We cannot wait or fight the system only,” Mallory said “We can’t wait for it to get better. We have to tell our stories and make sure that we continue to pass the truth down through the generations of our families. We have a responsibility to do the work regardless of what we may be facing, which are challenges nonetheless. 

“While we fight, we also have to educate,” she continued. “Black authors are important because we are maintaining the history and telling the stories and creating spaces where, no matter what they try to do, there will always be a place where we can pick up a book and read the truth about who we are and not allow the media to define us as whatever they want us to be, which villainizes us so that they don’t have to respect our communities.”

Jones agreed with Mallory’s sentiment.

“Representation matters and seeing is believing,” he said. “You can be the difference. We all have the ability to pick up that pen, put it to paper and depict. Historically speaking, entertainment is escapism. Reading is escapism, so we need that. Picking up that pen and paper and reading, it is a form of resistance, and we need that. [We also] need escapism. I’m just charging you to pick up that pen if you have a dream, write the vision and make it plan. Just do it. It doesn’t have to be perfect. You can perfect it later. Get started now.”

Ryan added that the goalpost for Black writers is constantly being moved, so one must be ready for such things.

“They will underestimate you,” she said. “They will demean you. They will say, ‘We’ll wait and see.’ There is no track record. We are constantly rewriting it and rewriting it and rewriting it. Give Black authors grace because we are fighting for visibility.”

Mallory said it can be a challenge to stick with the writing, but it’s a responsibility to continue.

“There’s never in history been a better time to be a writer,” Ryan said. “Bet on yourself. Be big in your own space, and they’ll come to you.”

“If you don’t want to do it for you, if you don’t believe in yourself enough, do it for your ancestors whose shoulders were standing on, and then do it for the next generation who’s coming behind us,” Jones said.

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