The Antiracist

What would happen if people started moving beyond the conversation and took action to combat racism?   We are in an era where many Americans express the sentiment, “I thought we were past that,” when a public demonstration of racism comes across their radar. Long before violence committed by police was routinely displayed on jumbotrons publicizing viral executions, the Black community has continually tasted the blood from having police boots in their mouths, ribs, and necks. The widespread circulation of racial injustices is the barefaced truth hunting us down, forcing us to confront the harsh reality—we haven’t made nearly as much racial progress as we thought.   The Antiracist: How to Start the Conversation about Race and Take Action will compel readers to focus on the degree in which they have previously, or are currently, contributing to the racial inequalities in this country (knowingly or unknowingly), and ways they can become stronger in their activism.    The Antiracist is an explosive indictment on injustice, highlighted by Kondwani Fidel, a rising young literary talent, who offers a glimpse into not only the survival required of one born in a city like Baltimore, but how we can move forward to tackle violent murders, police brutality, and poverty.   Throughout it all, he pursued his Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing & Publishing Arts from the University of Baltimore, while being deeply immersed in his community—helping combat racism in schools by getting students to understand the importance of literacy and critical thinking. With his gift for storytelling, he measures the pulse of injustice, which is the heartbeat of this country.  

Kondwani Fidel, has used the power of storytelling to confront education reform and civil rights all over the world. Fidel was honored in the "Best of Baltimore" issue of the Baltimore Sun for his courage, innovative thinking, and leadership in local schools and communities. Fidel is the author of Hummingbirds in the Trenches and Raw Wounds. He received his BA in English from Virginia State University, and his MFA in Creative Writing and Publishing Arts from the University of Baltimore. Fidel was honored with the Baltimore City 2018 Civil Rights Literary Award, and his bio-film Hummingbirds in The Trenches was nominated for Amazon’s 2019 All Voices Film Festival. Devin Allen is a self-taught artist, born and raised in West Baltimore. He gainednational attention when his photograph of the Baltimore Uprising was published onthe cover of Time in May 2015—only the third time the work of an amateurphotographer had been featured. Five years later, after the death of George Floyd, Tony McDade, and Breonna Taylor, his photograph from a BlackTrans Lives Matter protest was published on the cover of Time magazine in June 2020. His photographs have been published in New York Magazine, New YorkTimes, Washington Post, and Aperture and are also in the permanent collections of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Reginald F. Lewis Museum, and the Studio Museum in Harlem. Allen is the winner of the 2017 Gordon Parks Foundation Fellowship. In 2017, he was nominated for an NAACP Image Award as debut author for his book A Beautiful Ghetto. He is founder of Through Their Eyes, a youth photography educational program, and recipient of an award from The Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture for dynamic leadership in the Arts and Activism.