Amplify Black Voices: Local authors, audiobooks and cookbooks

Local authors

Alvin Brooks is a former Kansas City police officer, councilman, and mayor pro-tem, as well as the founder of the community organization AdHoc Group Against Crime. His decades of civil rights, violence prevention, and criminal justice advocacy led President George H. W. Bush to appoint him to the President’s National Drug Advisory Council and Governor Jay Nixon to appoint him to the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners. Brooks has also worked as a business consultant, motivational speaker, and lecturer, conducting hundreds of seminars about cultural/racial diversity, religious tolerance, and civil rights. He recently was named the 2019 Kansas Citian of the Year by the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, and he’s a recipient of the Harry S. Truman Award for Public Service. Brooks currently lives in Kansas City among family and friends. His book, Binding Us Together: A Civil Rights Activist Reflects on a Lifetime of Community and Public Service, is a heartfelt, inspiring narrative that is inextricably linked to the nation’s past and present, civil rights activist and public servant Alvin Brooks shares engaging, funny, and tragic stories of his life and career of advocacy. It is available in hardback and as an audiobook that Alvin narrates. To hear more from Alvin Brooks, check out this online discussion from last year between Alvin Brooks and KC Mayor Quinton Lucas. The discussion was co-presented by PNC Bank and Rainy Day Books and hosted by the Kansas City Public Library.

Calvin Arsenia is an internationally recognized singer and harpist who uses storytelling as an instrument to build bridges of empathy between seemingly disparate parties: haut-couture and grassroots, hi-fi and lo-fi, soul and folk, masculine and feminine, the sacred and sacrilege. From one of Kansas City’s most exciting singers Calvin Arsenia, comes a debut book of poetry and prose Every Good Boy Does Fine. Named for the classic mnemonic used to teach the lines of the treble clef (EGBDF), his collection speaks to his passion as a musician and also his deep and tumultuous history in the Evangelical community. Calvin composed music to accompany a selection of his poems on the audiobook.

Audiobooks

  • Unraveling by Brandon Leake
    • Brandon Leake is a Stockton, CA, native, born and raised to a single mother, Carla Gibson-Leake. He attended Edison High School, and then moved on to Simpson University in Redding, Ca receiving a degree in Psychology. There he started his non-profit entitled “Called To Move – CTM” as an artistry collective with the hopes of encouraging people to seek self actualization through art. Since then Brandon has traveled the world as a speaker, educator, and artist. He is the winner of Season 15 of America’s got Talent. What defines Brandon is his faith in Christ, his role as a father, husband, and relative; and his immense passion for Spoken Word.
  • Small Cures by Della Hicks-Wilson
    • Della Hicks-Wilson is a British poet and writer of Caribbean descent from London, best known for her short viral poems and spoken word videos which have garnered over a million likes and shares to date. Her debut collection Small Cures was originally self-published in 2020 and selected by Stylist magazine as a Best Summer Read of 2020.  She holds a BA and MA in English from the University of Cambridge, close to where she resides. Small Cures is at once a compelling reminder to anyone struggling with heartbreak, mental health, or trauma, that they are not alone, an inspirational manual on how to survive, and a stirring call to arms for self-love.
  • Every Good Boy Does Fine by Calvin Arsenia
  • Binding Us Together by Alvin Brooks

Cookbooks

  • Eggin’ by David Rose
    • Chef David Rose was raised with a diverse and curious palate. Born in New Jersey to two chef parents, his culinary interest led him to enroll in Le Cordon Bleu Culinary College (Tucker, GA), where he graduated Summa Cum Laude. Living in Atlanta for close to twenty years, Chef Rose finds inspiration in his surroundings and identifies as a southern chef. He creatively reinterprets classic southern fare by incorporating the refinement of his French culinary training, along with his signature bold flavors, and the occasional flair from his family’s Jamaican recipes.Rose regularly appears on Food Network, Good Morning America, the Today Show, Home & Family, and various national morning shows. Here’s a video of his recent segment on TODAY Online where he shares his lobster mac and cheese recipe.