The Robbins House, Concord’s African American History Museum, presents author Ray Anthony Shepard.

Shepard discusses A Long Time Coming, his new biography-in-verse of six impactful Black Americans from different eras, including Ona Judge, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Ida B. Wells, Martin Luther King Jr., and Barack Obama, chronicling their diverse ways of fighting racism. Shepard uses verse to draw readers into the stories behind the facts and the sacrifices made to sustain racial progress. He considers his new book “A call to celebrate the promise of America, and the grit, resilience, and intelligence still required to reach it.”

Bio

Ray Anthony Shepard, a celebrated local author, has received multiple starred reviews for his latest work of creative non-fiction, A Long Time Coming: A Lyrical Biography of Race in America from Ona Judge to Barack Obama. He is known for crafting exceptional biographies that provide young readers with an engaging and corrective understanding of race. Now or Never! The 54th Massachusetts Infantry’s War to End Slavery was named a Carter G. Woodson Honor Book and a Must Read by the Massachusetts Center for the Book. Runaway: The Daring Escape of Ona Judge was named a Jane Addams Peace Association Honor Book and a Must Read by the Massachusetts Center for the Book. Reviewers have described his highly praised new book, A Long Time Coming, as “electrifying,” “stellar and stunning,” and “An unflinching, thoughtful, instructive, and beautiful rendering of the African American journey from slavery to freedom and beyond.” For more information, go to www.rayanthonyshepard.com.

(Photo Credit: Jocelyn Finlay)

For more information on the Concord Festival of Authors, please visit www.concordfestivalofauthors.org.