Meet and Greet Happy Hour

About Black Lives American Love:

BLACK LIVES AMERICAN LOVE is a new book of essays by cultural anthropologist D.B. Maroon. The essays are powerful first-person accounts of how racial conflicts and rising white nationalism play out in the lives of individuals and communities across America.

Stories told in this collection cover the challenges of racialized inequality and the possibilities of transformation in hard times. These essays probe questions of race and reconciliation in America. What does it feel like for a Black woman to have White Nationalist neighbors? How do new laws preventing teachers from telling true stories of American history affect children and communities? What does it take for victims of police brutality to overcome their trauma? How can anti-racist activists balance self-preservation while pursuing social justice? The golden thread of each essay in BLACK LIVES AMERICAN LOVE is a call to greater truth as the first step toward racial reconciliation.

About D.B. Maroon:

D.B. Maroon: D.B. Maroon is the author of Black Lives, American Love, a book of hard-hitting essays on American culture, race, and the path to reconciliation within. She is the CEO of a social research institute and holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from UC Santa Cruz. Previous essays by DB Maroon have been published in Her work has been published in Spirit and Flame: An Anthology of Contemporary African American Poetry; Spirited: Affirming the Soul and Black Gay Lesbian Identity; and Publics, Politics, and Participation.

About Of School and Women:

Enter 80s Florida, a world before smartphones and computers, when information traveled via television, radio, jukeboxes, and pay phones. Showing up was the only way to make friends and find jobs. The news was filled with the Iran Contra Affair and the War on Drugs. Airports had no Transportation Security Administration (TSA). And college students completed assignments on paper with typewriters.

This is the world of Lynette Autry and Marie Martinez, two badass undergrads – one cautious, one impulsive, both a mix of grit and vulnerability. They’re learned that life is messy, and they’re determined to clean it up by finishing school. Whether their affirmations come from Shakespeare and Einstein – or maybe even prayer and clergy -, they are under the influence of pop culture, nature, and their own snappy catchphrases. A favorite? If you can’t be good, be careful.

Their freewheeling experiences, almost farce but grounded in reality, are the heart of this near-miss narrative that not only entertains, but intimately sheds light on serious women’s issues, working student issues, and the trials of adulting and finding love. This book reminds us about the importance of friendship and laughter, and especially about how anyone can be one weak moment away from falling victim to scams or a life-altering mistake.

About D.S. Marquis:

D.S. Marquis grew up and was educated in the United States. She moved a lot while growing up, living on the East Coast, West Coast, and down South. She earned her BS in English education from Florida State University and is a current member of The Authors Guild. Marquis has worked as a property manager, teacher, paralegal, military reservist, and a variety of odd jobs, while raising a family, and writing and researching Of School and Women, based on her days as an undergrad at FSU and bartender at the Tallahassee Airport Lounge. Marquis will be donating a portion of the book profits to a charity that supports survivors of human trafficking.