Ordinary Extraordinary African American Women: As We Mature

JEWELL JORDAN PUBLISHING ANNOUNCES THE RELEASE OF ORDINARY EXTRAORDINARY AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN: AS WE MATURE
Second Book in Series Features Women Aged 45-69

Author Hosting Conversations with the Story Tellers to Kick Off Black History and Women’s History Months

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – (January 15, 2021) – Jewell Jordan Publishing announces the release of its latest book in the Ordinary Extraordinary African American Woman quadrilogy, Ordinary Extraordinary African American Women: As We Mature, which chronicles the life-journeys of 12 women between the ages of 45 and 69, from across the country. Believing that the extraordinary is often born out of the ordinary, in sharing the journeys of these twelve women – who represent hundreds of thousands of African American women whose stories go untold – author Stephana Colbert stresses that if we do not set pen to paper and create a narrative around their stories, these women and their stories will vanish from our histories.  Were it not for the book, Hidden Figures, the people of this country and the world would never have known about the contributions that African American women – Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughn, and many others – made to NASA back in the 60s.  Similarly, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks introduced us to Henrietta Lacks and the fact that without her knowledge her cells were and are still used today to fight cancer.  Colbert is on a mission to make sure that the stories of African American women are told; thus, much like the first book – Ordinary Extraordinary African American Women: The Elders, which featured women over 60 – this second book features the life-stories of women who have experienced heartache and pain, joy, and sorrow; they fell and struggled, but were courageous, strong, got up, and persevered despite their conditions or predicaments.  The book is available at the Jewell Jordan Publishing website: www.jewelljordanpublishing.com and at Amazon.

Says Colbert, “Black women are marginalized, yet we keep getting up.  We uplift the culture—we take care of children, hold jobs, advocate for the community, yet we are not respected.  We don’t look for accolades and pats on the back for our accomplishments, but we don’t get them either.  It was Black women who rallied to get Joe Biden elected as president.  Yet, we are often an afterthought – the deaths of Breonna Taylor, Sandra Bland, Atatiana Jefferson, Natasha McKenna, Michelle Cusseaux, Eleanor Bumpers, 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones,  Alberta Spruill, and 250 other African American women were not publicized in the mainstream until the death of George Floyd. And while women such as Michelle Obama, Stacy Abrams, Kamala Harris, Viola Davis, and Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett (instrumental in developing one of the COVID-19 19 vaccines), have risen in stature in recent years, even they are not afforded the credit they deserve.  We lift each other through our stories so as not to be ignored, victimized, or stereotyped. Our lives matter if we talk about ourselves.”

The women in these pages and countless unnamed others may consider themselves “ordinary” but are the backbone of the African American community: mothers, educators, artists, entrepreneurs, corporate executives, religious leaders, grandmothers, wives, writers, activists – all trailblazers, with contributions in their own right.

Colbert “toured” with the book via a series of virtual Conversations with the women featured in the book in conjunction with Black History Month (February) and Women’s History Month (March).

As safety permits we are now planning a series of in-person book signings with the women in the book.  That schedule—including locations, dates and times will be forthcoming.

Colbert plans two more books to complete the series – the next, Ordinary Extraordinary African American Women: The Millennials, and the final book, Ordinary Extraordinary Young African American Women: As We Begin, featuring girls and women aged 12-24.

Concludes Colbert, “The message of this book and all of the books in this series is that there are so many more extraordinary Black women deserving recognition than the world knows about or is allowed to see.  Our mission is to tell the stories of these unsung SHEroes.”

Ordinary Extraordinary African American Women: As We Mature is available for purchase at www.jewelljordanpublishing.com, Amazon, and your local bookstores.

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