When all she wanted was to fit in, Tamika Catchings never imagined one day she'd stand out--as a basketball superstar and an inspiration. Catchings faced being set apart by her hearing loss, separation from family, living up to high expectations, and the pain and discouragement of debilitating physical injuries. Yet she reached for the stars with hard work, perseverance, and her faith in God. Through the silence, she found the way to shine. Catch a Star tells Tamika's story of overcoming: of leading the Indiana Fever to its first championship, being named to the WNBA's All Decade Team, earning four Olympic gold medals, and founding the Catch the Stars Foundation to help young people achieve their dreams. Her story will inspire readers to face their doubts and fears, encouraging them to reach for their own stars, no matter what challenges come their way.

The capital city of a nation founded on the premise of liberty, nineteenth-century Washington, D.C., was both an entrepot of urban slavery and the target of abolitionist ferment. The growing slave trade and the enactment of Black codes placed the city's Black women within the rigid confines of a social hierarchy ordered by race and gender. At the Threshold of Liberty reveals how these women--enslaved, fugitive, and free--imagined new identities and lives beyond the oppressive restrictions intended to prevent them from ever experiencing liberty, self-respect, and power. Consulting newspapers, government documents, letters, abolitionist records, legislation, and memoirs, Tamika Y. Nunley traces how Black women navigated social and legal proscriptions to develop their own ideas about liberty as they escaped from slavery, initiated freedom suits, created entrepreneurial economies, pursued education, and participated in political work. In telling these stories, Nunley places Black women at the vanguard of the history of Washington, D.C., and the momentous transformations of nineteenth-century America.

Book 2 in the Anaya's World series. Things are looking up for Anaya Goode after the deaths of her brother and mother. She is the youngest (and highest paid) executive in Alameda County. She is in an adoring relationship with the love of her life, her natural twists are on point, and she runs a six-minute mile. What else matters? When Anaya is tasked with leading negotiations for the most significant development agreement in County history, her world unravels. If the antics of inept officials and her micromanaging boss aren't enough to drive Anaya mad, she discovers that her ex-boyfriend Jeff is commissioned as a consultant on the development agreement. Anaya hasn't had contact with Jeff since their messy break-up six years ago. As negotiations for the development agreement intensify, an internal scandal threatens Anaya's reputation---and her job. Amid bureaucratic indecision and public outrage, Anaya leans on Jeff for support, and unresolved feelings resurface. As Anaya questions her steady relationship, her extended family's perception of her as Goode matriarch puts her in the middle of every aunt's and cousin's problem. She is tired of serving as supplemental income to her scripture-quoting, ever-pregnant sister, and would love to burn the imaginary pedestal her family has perched her on. Can she see her work and family commitments through and still maintain her love life---and more importantly, her sense of self? Ripe with witty dialogue and relatable characters, "Never Too Soon" offers a look into complicated relationships and haunting pasts, and shows the importance of the familial ties that bind.

Tamika finds strength in her family, her friends, and herself as she copes with the murder of her father by drug dealers.

Reveals the rhetorical strategies African American writers have used to promote Black women’s recovery and wellness through educational and entertainment genres and the conservative gender politics that are distributed when these efforts are sold for public consumption. Since the Black women’s literary renaissance ended nearly three decades ago, a profitable and expansive market of self-help books, inspirational literature, family-friendly plays, and films marketed to Black women has emerged. Through messages of hope and responsibility, the writers of these texts develop templates that tap into legacies of literacy as activism, preaching techniques, and narrative formulas to teach strategies for overcoming personal traumas or dilemmas and resuming one’s quality of life. Drawing upon Black vernacular culture as well as scholarship in rhetorical theory, literacy studies, Black feminism, literary theory, and cultural studies, Tamika L. Carey deftly traces discourses on healing within the writings and teachings of such figures as Oprah Winfrey, Iyanla Vanzant, T. D. Jakes, and Tyler Perry, revealing the arguments and curricula they rely on to engage Black women and guide them to an idealized conception of wellness. As Carey demonstrates, Black women’s wellness campaigns indicate how African Americans use rhetorical education to solve social problems within their communities and the complex gender politics that are mass-produced when these efforts are commercialized.

Tamika Walker wants nothing more but to be someone’s one and only, but unfortunately for her, that’s not likely to happen… or will it? Just when she thinks she’s met the one, he proves he’s not worth her time, but then the unexpected arrives in the form of a tall, dark, and flawlessly handsome stranger. Zayvion is like no other man Tamika has ever met – smooth, suave, and successful, but when their chance encounter is abruptly interrupted, all hopes of getting to know each other better are dashed until a strange twist of events brings them face-to-face again. Could this seemingly perfect man be the one Tamika has waited her whole life for or will he prove to be yet another troublesome mate for her to deal with? Find out what happens in part one of Only for a Boss! keywords: urban books, urban books free, urban, urban fiction, urban street fiction, urban african american, free book, freebie, free book, free ebook, freeside chick, side chick romance, african american romance, urban books, urban books free, urban, urban fiction, urban street fiction, urban african american, free book, freebie, free book, free ebook, free, urban books black authors free, african american books free

Horrified by the truth, Tamika knows she should leave Zayvion, but that’s easier said than done when her heart is telling her to stay, but her head is telling her to leave. Zayvion wants to prove that he’ll do whatever it takes to keep Tamika in his life, even if that means parting ways with parts of his life he’s grown accustomed to. But the one thing he’s not willing to lose is in danger. Can he keep her safe from harm? Find out what happens in part three of Only for a Boss: Tamika's Story! keywords: urban books, urban books free, urban, urban fiction, urban street fiction, urban african american, free book, freebie, free book, free ebook, freeside chick, side chick romance, african american romance, urban books, urban books free, urban, urban fiction, urban street fiction, urban african american, free book, freebie, free book, free ebook, free, urban books black authors free, african american books free