2026 Our Voices Our Stories: Celebrating Black Authors

“Our Voices Our Stories: Celebrating Black Authors” is an event you won't want to miss! Join us at the Mizell Center for a morning filled with powerful narratives, diverse voices, and inspiring tales. Come together with fellow book lovers to honor the incredible works of Black authors. Mark your calendars and be part of this celebration of Black literature!

FREE to attend, but pre-registeration is required.

A Black History event presented by the Palm Springs Public Library, Brothers of the Desert, and Mizell Center. Sponsored by Friends of the Palm Springs Library and the Palm Springs Women’s Jazz Festival. With Community Partners including: The Best Bookstore in Palm Springs, Palm Springs Black History Committee, and The LGBTQ Community Center of the Desert.

The FREE event will take place from 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. (see full schedule below) at the Mizell Center with a welcome reception featuring bagels, coffee and mimosas for up to 100 registered guests.

The Best Bookstore in Palm Springs will be onsite with the book for each of our featured authors. Each title will be available for purchase at the event so that it can be autogrpahed by the authors.

Participating Authors and Moderators:

FEATURED AUTHOR:

RK RUSSELL, Former NFL Player and Author:

RK Russell is an NFL Legend, social justice advocate, and a creative powerhouse as a storyteller, multifaceted writer, producer, and artist. In August 2019, he shattered barriers and made history by becoming the first out active NFL player to identify as bisexual. A formidable defensive end, Russell has left an indelible mark on the field, playing for the Dallas Cowboys and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he faced off against Hall of Famers and the fiercest competitors with unmatched skill and determination.

Off the field, Russell has become an influential voice for equality and representation. As a Black queer man in sports, his writing has graced the pages of The New York Times, The Guardian, The Los Angeles Times, Out Magazine, and The Washington Post, where he shares his powerful narrative and insights on identity, resilience, and inclusivity. His advocacy work extends to spearheading transformative NFL Pride initiatives, including the NFL Pride panel, Night of Pride with GLAAD & the NFL, and the NFL’s National Coming Out Day PSA, cementing his role as a beacon of change within professional sports.

Russell’s achievements have been celebrated far and wide. He was honored by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and named Sportsperson of the Year by GAY TIMES (U.K.). In 2019, he earned a coveted spot on the prestigious OUT 100 List. His short documentary, Finding Free, garnered critical acclaim, earning a nomination for Best Short Documentary at the 43rd Annual Sports Emmys and winning accolades at the 2022 Webby Awards, the 60th New York Film Festival, and the 43rd Annual Telly Awards. In 2024, Athlete Ally honored R.K. Russell with the Athlete Ally Action Award. The same year Encircle also gave Russell the Icon Award for his work within and beyond sports.

Adding to his impressive repertoire, Russell’s best-selling memoir, The Yards Between Us, is a heartfelt and inspiring exploration of his journey. The memoir is being developed into a television series with Sony and Gabrielle Union, with Russell set to write and executive produce the series. Residing in Los Angeles, he continues breaking boundaries, amplifying marginalized voices, and creating a legacy transcending sports and art.

Learn more about him at: https://rkrelentless.wordpress.com/

IN CONVERSATION WITH:

Lorenzo Taylor (he, him) is a novelist, poet, playwright, and freelance journalist from Palm Springs, California and Vancouver, British Columbia. Originally from Birmingham, Alabama his early childhood was surrounded by scenes of the Civil Rights Movement. He began his writing career after retiring in 2018 from careers in international affairs, social marketing, and public health. Since then, he has authored a trilogy of gay romance novels, a volume of poetry and short stories about the turbulent year of 2020, two full-length stage plays about Black gay life, and several ten-minute plays abut historical figures. He is a member of Brothers of the Desert and teaches adult online courses in Civil Rights history and the social context of poetry.

FEATURED AUTHOR:

TONI ANN JOHNSON, Screenwriter, Playwright, and Author:

Toni Ann Johnson is the winner of the 2021 Flannery O’Connor Award for short fiction with her linked collection Light Skin Gone to Waste, released in October 2022. Roxane Gay selected the book for the prize and is its editor. Johnson’s novella Homegoing was a semi-finalist for the William Faulkner Wisdom Award in fiction. It won Accents Publishing’s inaugural novella contest in 2020 and was released in May of 2021. The novel Remedy For a Broken Angel was released in 2014 and earned Johnson a 2015 NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Literary Work by a Debut Author.

In 1998 Johnson won the Christopher Award and the Humanitas Prize for her screenplay “Ruby Bridges,” the Disney/ABC movie and true story of the young girl who integrated into the New Orleans Public School system. In 2004 Johnson won a second Humanitas Prize for her screenplay “Crown Heights” (Showtime), also a true story. The film examined the relationship between a Hasidic Jewish teen and an African-American teen that came together to form a hip hop group in the wake of the 1991 Crown Heights Riots. In 2000, Johnson wrote the Lifetime movie “The Courage to Love,” starring Vanessa L. Williams, based on the life of Henriette Delille, a free woman of color in mid-19th Century New Orleans, who became one of the first nuns of African descent. In 2002, she wrote the television pilot “Save The Last Dance,” produced for Fox Television and based on the hit feature film, on which she was a participating writer. Johnson also co-wrote the 2008 feature, “Step Up 2: The Streets,” the second installment of the international Step Up franchise.

The Fountainhead Theater Company produced Johnson’s stage play Gramercy Park is Closed to the Public in Los Angeles in 1994 with Johnson in the lead role of Luna. The play subsequently received a main-stage production by The New York Stage and Film Company at Vassar College in 1999 and starred Nicole Ari Parker, David Warshofsky, and Eddie Cahill. She co-wrote the play “Here In My Father’s House” along with Leslie Lee, Ellen Cleghorne, Cheryl Lane, Zelda Patterson, and Jewel Brimage. It was directed by DouglasTurner Ward, produced Off-Broadway by the Negro Ensemble Company, and starred, James Pickens Jr. and Samuel L. Jackson. Johnson, along with the other participating women writers also appeared in the production.

In 2013, Johnson began publishing short stories based on her experience as a person of color, growing up in Monroe, New York, which at the time was a conservative town with few people of color. The stories examine race and class and have appeared in Callaloo, Hunger Mountain, Vida Review, The Coachella Review, The Emerson Review, Aunt Chloe: A Journal of Artful Candor, Elohi Gadugi Journal, Arlijo Journal, Red Fez, Serving House Journal, Soundings Review, Xavier Review, the Reading Out Loud podcast, and The Missouri Review’s Miller Aud-Cast. She won the 2021 Miller Audio Prize for prose with her reading of her short story “Time Travel.”

Johnson holds a BFA in Drama from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and an MFA in creative writing from Antioch University Los Angeles. She’s an alumna of the Sundance Screenwriter’s Lab and the Prague Summer Program For Writers. She was a 2016 Callaloo Writer’s Workshop Fellow, and in 2018, Johnson was a participant in the One Story Summer Conference.

In 2017, Johnson joined the University of Southern California faculty, where she taught screenwriting to undergraduates and graduate students in the School of Cinematic Arts through 2020. In the spring of 2022, she joined the faculty of Antioch University Los Angeles where she teaches fiction and screenwriting.

Learn more about her at: https://www.toniannjohnson.com/

IN CONVERSATION WITH:

Marilyn F. Solomon During her 25-year television career in Los Angeles, Marilyn F Solomon produced and hosted a variey of public affairs, news analysis, documentaries and children’s programs. She received 5 EMMY awards, the national CEBA award for Communications Excellence to Black Audiences. the DuPont-Columbia Award for Journalism, and the CINDY documentary award. These programs include, “Whatever Happened To Childhood”, “Down for the Count-An Inside Look at Boxing”, Black Angelenos-The True Story”, “Ain’t Misbehaving Comes to Los Angeles”, “SpeakEasy with Marilyn Solomon”, and "News In Review”. In addition to her program production duties Solomon was the principal company executive responsible for corporate and community relations. She was appointed to Re-Build LA after the civil unrest in 1992 and to the LA City Commission on the Status of Women. Upon her retirement she was granted Honorary Officer of the Civil Division of the British Empire (OBE) with a congratulatory resolution from the Mayor and City Council of Los Angeles.

Info: Browse the books of our featured authors and buy early from the Best Bookstore in Palm Springs. Enjoy a selection of bagels with a variety of spreads, coffee, and mimosas.

Info: Opening Remarks followed by the discussion of Russell’s best-selling memoir, "The Yards Between Us", a heartfelt and inspiring exploration of his journey as he shattered barriers and made history by becoming the first out active NFL player to identify as bisexual.

Info: Discussing Johnson's soon to be released book "But Where's Home?" A Novella and Short Story Collection (to be released February 10, 2026). The author of other books including "Light Skin Gone to Waste" "Gathering: A Women Who Submit Anthology", "Accolades: A Women Who Submit Anthology" and "Remedy for a Broken Angel"

Info: Closing remarks and last chance to buy our featured authors books and have them autographed!

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Host or Publisher Palm Springs Public Library, Mizell Center, and Brothers of the Desert