This panel will focus on discussing literature by Black authors and the impact they have on our panelists. Midtown Reader is a community staple that is dedicated to creating an inclusive meeting ground for readers of all backgrounds to Read, Think, and Share together.

Our panelists for this event are:

Mallary Rawls:
Mallary Rawls is a Humanities Librarian at Florida State University and a former Children’s Librarian at the LeRoy Collins Main Library in Tallahassee, FL. Mallary is a mother of three and enjoys quiet time, movies, and being outside.

Ravi Howard:
Ravi Howard is the author of two novels, Like, Trees, Walking and Driving the King. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Atlanta, Best American Mystery and Suspense 2021, and Salon. He has recorded commentary for NPR's All Things Considered.  Ravi has received fellowships and awards from the Hurston-Wright Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.  In addition to being selected as a finalist for the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award, he won the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence.

Ameenah Shakir:
Ameenah Shakir is the Director of the Candidate Empowerment Center, a Title III funded program at Florida A&M University.  This program provides test preparation resources and programming for the Florida Teacher Certification Examinations (FTCE).  Additionally, she serves as an instructor in Florida A&M University's History and Political Science Department as well as the Women Studies Program at Florida State University.  Her research curates the ways in which African American women's professional endeavors challenged race, sex, and class discrimination during the post-World War II era.  To this end, she is revising a book manuscript entitled, Birthing Liberation:  Dr. Helen Dickens and Health Activism in post-war America. She has presented at numerous academic conferences, served on national committees for granting agencies, facilitated administrator/faculty training for the African American History Taskforce, and is the recipient of several awards and honors including the McKnight Fellowship, National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, and served as C-SPAN Lecturer in History.