ABOUT Living Out Loud
To add to the LOL experience, I have collaborated with talented artists such as David Sosa and the students from the Cicely L. Tyson Community School of Performing and Fine Arts in East Orange, NJ, and have held events at venues that included Rockland Community College, Newark Symphony Hall, and Iona College. Past and present event collaborators are Newark Symphony Hall, the Tau Gamma Zeta chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated, the Beta Psi Sigma chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated, New Rochelle White Plains chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated, Newark Alumnae chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated and the Black Health Matters organization, spearheaded by my Soror Roslyn Daniels. My goals for the series are to present compelling authors and books to various communities and showcase local talent, leaving attendees with food for the soul. This series speaks to my passions and I am blessed with this opportunity to share it with the world.
Yona Deshommes
I have been in the publishing industry for almost 20 years and have organized and attended a number of events for authors. The most compelling and interactive ones were always formatted as a conversation with Q&A’s from the audience. I was always impressed by conversation partners who were intentional with their questions, at times going beyond the book, giving the audience a meaningful view to the author and the book.
I decided to go a step further with the Living Out Loud series. My goal was to create literary experiences where I would showcase BIPOC authors and their work, authors who lived their lives and took risks unapologetically and purposefully. I look for authors who have something to say outside of the words on the page. I have hosted authors such as Eriq LaSalle, who at the age of 50 decided to return to his childhood love of writing to create a psychological thriller series, a genre that is mostly dominated by white men. I hosted my Zeta Phi Beta soror, Anita Hill whose life and work have been a testament to strength, courage and grace under fire. I also had the opportunity to host two legendary comedians, Bill Bellamy for his memoir, TOP BILLIN’ and Cedric the Entertainer for his debut novel, FLIPPING BOXCARS. Both authors stepped out of their comfort zone during the pandemic, to create work that was undoubtedly influenced by this time of uncertainty. It was an opportunity for introspection and what resulted was Bill’s story of a successful career in the entertainment industry from the 1990s to the present day and Cedric’s celebration of his beloved grandfather, presented to us as the “Babe” character in his book.
