Audiobooks narrated by Karen Chilton

HBCU: The Power of Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) play a pivotal role in promoting social and economic mobility for African Americans and in mentoring the next generation of Black leaders. In HBCU, Marybeth Gasman and Levon T. Esters explore the remarkable impact and contributions of these significant institutions. Through inspiring personal stories and extensive research, Gasman and Esters showcase how HBCUs have mentored generations of leaders and scholars, fostering a collaborative culture of success and empowerment. These schools shape and propel Black students into leadership and intellectual roles where they have a major influence on medicine, literature, law, higher education, art, sports, and business. HBCUs also have a profound effect on local communities and economic development that extends far beyond the classroom. This book sheds light on the unique cultures and identities nurtured within HBCUs while emphasizing the importance of philanthropic support and alumni engagement in maintaining these important institutions. Despite their positive contributions to society, HBCUs face specific challenges like securing adequate funding and support, small endowments, and accreditation. Gasman and Esters sound a compelling call to action and outline practical steps for sustaining HBCUs’ invaluable legacy.

Levon T. Esters, Marybeth Gasman (Author), Karen Chilton (Narrator)

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Get Off My Neck: Black Lives, White Justice, and a Former Prosecutor's Quest for Reform

A deeply revealing exposé of the American prosecutorial system and its historic and present racial inequities— and how we can transform the system to one of fairness and justice. In Get Off My Neck, Debbie Hinesdraws on her unique perspective as a trial lawyer, former Baltimore prosecutor, and assistant attorney general for the State of Maryland to argue that US prosecutors, as the most powerful players in the criminal justice system, systematically target and criminalize Black people. Hines describes her disillusionment as a young Black woman who initially entered the profession with the goal of helping victims of crimes, only to discover herself aiding and abetting a system that prizes plea bargaining, speedy conviction, and excessive punishment above all else. In this book, she offers concrete, specific, and hopeful solutions for just how we can come together in a common purpose for criminal justice and racial justice reform. Get Off My Neck explains that the racial inequities in the prosecutorial system are built into our country’s DNA. What’s more, they are the direct result of a history that has conditioned Americans to perceive the Black body as insignificant at best and dangerous at worst. Unlike other books that discuss the prosecutor’s office and change from inside the office, Hinesoffers a proactive approach to fixing our broken prosecutorial system through a broad-based alliance of reform-minded prosecutors, activists, allies, communities, and racial justice organizations—all working together to end the racist treatment of Black people. Told intimately through personal, family, and client narratives, Get Off My Neck is not only a deeply sobering account of our criminal justice system and its devastating impact on Black children, youth, and adults but also a practical and inspiring roadmap for how we can start doing better right now.

Debbie Hines (Author), Karen Chilton (Narrator)

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On the Art of the Craft: A Guidebook to Collaborative Storytelling

A writing companion, inspirational guide to the craft, and anthology featuring outstanding essays from the acclaimed nonprofit mentoring organization on its twenty-fifth anniversary helping underserved youth find their voice. We all have stories to tell, but not everyone gets the training or encouragement necessary to be great storytellers. Founded a quarter century ago, the Girls Write Now mentoring program has helped young women and gender expansive youth unleash their creative talent to gain confidence and skills that last a lifetime. When these underserved communities get to tell their stories in their most powerful voices, we all benefit from their insight, empathy, ideas, ingenuity, and ultimately hope. In celebration of the organization’s more than two decades working with youth, this hands-on guide gives aspiring young writers the tools they need to develop their own skills—including tips, insights on the writing and publishing process, critical thinking about the future of storytelling, and advice on how to become a writer—drawn from their creative workshops and one-on-one mentoring. With this handbook, readers everywhere can develop their own talents, thoughts, and ideas to become the writers—and leaders—they are capable of becoming, no matter their pathway in life. On the Art of the Craft is structured around three main themes: Creation, Combination, and Transformation. From the organization’s remarkable archive, current mentees have selected topical and resonant pieces and addressed them, crafting their own essay in conversation with the past. At the end of each piece, readers will find prompts they can use to craft their own responses. Both uplifting and practical, this book, written by young people, is meant to help the upcoming generations empower each other. Showcasing rising talents, offering fresh and welcome new perspectives, and providing hands-on tools, community, and encouragement, On the Art of the Craft will inspire change for all.

Girls Write Now (Author), Alice Wen, Dana Wing Lau, Elena Rey, Grace Capeless, Karen Chilton, Nicky Endres, Nikki Massoud, Rachel Perry, Reader Tbd 1, Tyla Collier (Narrator)

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Black Women, Ivory Tower: Revealing the Lies of White Supremacy in American Education

Black women are heading to college in record numbers, and more and more Black women are teaching in higher education. But these statistics don’t guarantee our safety there. Willpower and grit may improve achievement for Black people in school, but they don’t secure our belonging. In fact, the very structure of higher education ensures that we’re treated as guests, outsiders to the institutional family—outnumbered and unwelcome. In this compelling exploration of what it means to be a Black woman pursuing higher education, Dr. Jasmine L. Harris moves beyond the “data points” to examine the day-to-day impacts of racism in education on Black women as individuals, the longer-term consequences to our personal and professional lives, and the generational costs to our entire families. “I want to arm as many Black girls and women as I can with the knowledge about these spaces that I lacked,” says Dr. Harris. “By laying bare my own traumas, and those of Black women before me, I am providing them the tools to protect themselves, with an understanding of how deliberately many institutions will try to undercut them.” Trial and error have been required of Black students to navigate systems of discrimination and disadvantage. But this book now offers useful support, illuminating the community of Black women dealing with similar issues. The author’s story is not unusual, nor are her interactions anomalies. Black Women, Ivory Tower explores why.

Jasmine L. Harris (Author), Karen Chilton (Narrator)

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Serving Herself: The Life and Times of Althea Gibson

From her start playing paddle tennis on the streets of Harlem as a young teenager to her eleven Grand Slam tennis wins to her professional golf career, Althea Gibson became the most famous Black sportswoman of the mid-twentieth century. In her unprecedented athletic career, she was the first African American to win titles at the French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open. In this first full-scale biography, Ashley Brown narrates the public career and private struggles of Althea Gibson (1927–2003). Based on extensive archival work and oral histories, Serving Herself sets Gibson’s life and choices against the backdrop of the Great Migration, Jim Crow racism, the integration of American sports, the civil rights movement, the Cold War, and second wave feminism. Throughout her life Gibson continuously negotiated the expectations of her supporters and adversaries, including her patrons in the Black-led American Tennis Association, the white-led United States Lawn Tennis Association, and the media, particularly the Black press and community’s expectations that she selflessly serve as a representative of her race. An incredibly talented, ultracompetitive, and not always likeable athlete, Gibson wanted to be treated as an individual first and foremost, not as a member of a specific race or gender. She was reluctant to speak openly about the indignities and prejudices she navigated as an African American woman, though she faced numerous institutional and societal barriers in achieving her goals. She frequently bucked conventional normsof femininity and put her career ahead of romantic relationships, making her personal life the subject of constant scrutiny and rumors. Despite her major wins and international recognition, including a ticker-tape parade in New York City and the covers of Sports Illustrated and Time, Gibson endeavored to find commercial sponsorship and permanent economic stability. Committed to self-sufficiency, she pivoted from the elite amateur tennis circuit to State Department–sponsored goodwill tours, attempts to find success as a singer and Hollywood actress, the professional golf circuit, a tour with the Harlem Globetrotters and her own professional tennis tour, coaching, teaching children at tennis clinics, and a stint as New Jersey Athletics Commissioner. As she struggled to support herself in old age, she was left with disappointment, recounting her past achievements decades before female tennis players were able to garner substantial earnings. A compelling life and times portrait, Serving Herself offers a revealing look at the rise and fall of a fiercely independent trailblazer who satisfied her own needs and simultaneously set a pathbreaking course for Black athletes.

Ashley Brown (Author), Karen Chilton (Narrator)

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Black Earth Wisdom: Soulful Conversations with Black Environmentalists

A soulful collection of illuminating essays and interviews that explore Black people’s spiritual and scientific connection to the land, waters, and climate, curated by the acclaimed author of Farming While Black Author of Farming While Black and co-founder of Soul Fire Farm, Leah Penniman reminds us that ecological humility is an intrinsic part of Black cultural heritage. While racial capitalism has attempted to sever our connection to the sacred earth for 400 years, Black people have long seen the land and water as family and understood the intrinsic value of nature. This thought-provoking anthology brings together today’s most respected and influential Black environmentalist voices —leaders who have cultivated the skill of listening to the Earth —to share the lessons they have learned. These varied and distinguished experts include Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning author Alice Walker; the first Queen Mother and official spokesperson for the Gullah/Geechee Nation, Queen Quet; marine biologist, policy expert, and founder and president of Ocean Collectiv, Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson; and the Executive Director of the North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers, Land Loss Prevention Project, Savi Horne. In Black Earth Wisdom, they address the essential connection between nature and our survival and how runaway consumption and corporate insatiability are harming the earth and every facet of American society, engendering racial violence, food apartheid, and climate injustice. Those whose skin is the color of soil are reviving their ancestral and ancient practice of listening to the earth for guidance. Penniman makes clear that the fight for racial and environmental justice demands that people put our planet first and defer to nature as our ultimate teacher. Contributors include: Alice Walker • adrienne maree brown • Dr. Ross Gay • Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson • Rue Mapp • Dr. Carolyn Finney • Audrey Peterman • Awise Agbaye Wande Abimbola • Ibrahim Abdul-Matin • Kendra Pierre-Louis • Latria Graham • Dr. Lauret Savoy •Ira Wallace • Savi Horne • Dr. Claudia Ford • Dr. J. Drew Lanham • Dr. Leni Sorensen • Queen Quet • Toshi Reagon • Yeye Luisah Teish • Yonnette Fleming • Naima Penniman • Angelou Ezeilo • James Edward Mills • Teresa Baker • Pandora Thomas • Toi Scott • Aleya Fraser • Chris Bolden-Newsome • Dr. Joshua Bennett • B. Anderson • Chris Hill • Greg Watson • T. Morgan Dixon • Dr. Dorceta Taylor • Colette Pichon Battle • Dillon Bernard • Sharon Lavigne • Steve Curwood • and Babalawo Enroue Halfkenny Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

Leah Penniman (Author), Janina Edwards, Karen Chilton, Landon Woodson, William Andrew Quinn (Narrator)

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Giving The Devil His Due: A Charity Anthology

What if a young girl had the power to stop her tyrannical father from battering her mother ever again? What if a student had a secret weapon to end sexual assault by her predatory professor permanently? What if a housewife had unusual means to get back at her controlling husband and walk away from her marriage alive? In Giving the Devil His Due, The Pixel Project's first charity anthology, sixteen acclaimed fantasy, science fiction, and horror authors take readers on an unforgettable journey to alternative worlds where men who abuse and murder women and girls meet their comeuppance in uncanny ways. Featuring stories from Stephen Graham Jones, Christina Henry, Peter Tieryas, Kelley Armstrong, Linda D. Addison, Hillary Monahan and more which are read by some of today’s finest audiobook narrators including Edoardo Ballerini, Robin Miles, Christina Moore, Nancy Wu, Erin Moon, and Karen Chilton, Giving the Devil His Due presents sixteen stories that will make you think about the importance of justice for the victims of gender-based violence, how rare this justice is in our own world, and why we need to end violence against women once and for all.

Angela Yuriko Smith, Christina Henry, Dana Cameron, Edited By Rebecca Brewer, Errick Nunnally, Hillary Monahan, Jason Sanford, Kaaron Warren, Kelley Armstrong, Kenesha Williams, Leanna Renee Hieber, Lee Murray, Linda D. Addison, Nicholas Kaufmann, Nisi Shawl, Peter Tieryas, Stephen Graham Jones (Author), Alyssa Bresnahan, Brian Nishii, Christina Moore, Cynthia Farrell, Edoardo Ballerini, Erin Moon, Karen Chilton, Kate Forbes, Nancy Wu, Narrated By A Full Cast, Robin Miles, Samuel Roukin, Stephanie Cozart (Narrator)

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Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop: The Sanitation Strike of 1968

For nine-year-old Lorraine Jackson, the Sanitation Strike of 1968 hit close to home. Lorraine marched with her daddy and other sanitation workers through the streets of Memphis fighting for equal rights and safer working conditions. With her mother, she boycotted stores. Lorraine’s life was forever changed when she heard Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preach his famous sermon “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” to the tired and frustrated strikers. Dr. King was tragically killed the next day, and hope seemed shattered. But Lorraine, her family, and the people of Memphis pushed through those difficult times, because dreamers never quit. Author Alice Faye Duncan based the character of Lorraine Jackson on a teacher who participated in the Memphis Sanitation Strike as a child. Using a riveting combination of poetry and prose, Alice Faye reveals the inspiring story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s final stand for justice.

Alice Faye Duncan (Author), Karen Chilton (Narrator)

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$Mayo Clinic on Osteoporosis: Keep your bones strong and reduce your risk of fractures Audiobook$

Mayo Clinic on Osteoporosis: Keep your bones strong and reduce your risk of fractures

“No matter your age or bone health, you can take steps to prevent future breaks. The best time to start is now.” Your skeleton is a busy system of living tissue. Every day, bone is being broken down and replaced. But with osteoporosis, this process causes your bones to become weak and fragile. The disease often goes undetected until you have a fall or a painful fracture. However, having osteoporosis doesn’t have to mean sitting on the sidelines. A healthy diet, the right kind of exercise and modern medications can help you manage osteoporosis effectively. In this book, you’ll find clear, practical information on: • Factors that affect your risk of osteoporosis • Bone density tests to detect weak bones before a break • Treatments to help stop bone loss and encourage new bone growth • The best food and nutrients for strong bones • Ways to reduce your risk of fractures and falls • Exercises for building bone—and some to avoid with low bone mass • And more! From doctors at the top-ranked U.S. hospital, Mayo Clinic on Osteoporosis offers the latest guidance in treatment and prevention. Learn how to take control of your bone health, lower your risk of fractures and continue the activities you enjoy.

Ann E. Kearns (Author), Karen Chilton (Narrator)

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The Community: A Memoir

An arresting and emotional memoir about a family’s indoctrination into a religious cult, a daughter coming to terms with a parent’s devastating choices, and the trials ahead in post-9/11 New York. In 1978, when Jamiyla was two years old, her mother, Ummi, quit her job, converted to Islam with her husband, and moved into an exclusive Muslim society in Brooklyn. Once inside the Community, the family was separated by its powerful and charismatic leader, Dwight York, who was hiding behind the name Imam Isa. Instead of the devotional refuge they’d imagined, the Community was a nightmare of controlled abuse and unspeakable secrets. Forty years later, Jamiyla was ready to excavate and understand a past buried in bad dreams, disturbing memories, and inexplicable rage. It was a place Ummi never wanted to return to. Jamiyla had to. Jamiyla’s emotional memoir tells her family’s story of life inside and outside the cult, and of escaping into new challenges as conservative Muslims in the secular Brooklyn they left behind. A harrowing and deeply personal history fraught with racial tension and devastating personal betrayals, The Community is also a hopeful story brimming with Black pride, justice, and the long-overdue healing between a daughter and mother.

N. Jamiyla Chisholm (Author), Karen Chilton (Narrator)

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The Voices of Martyrs

We are a collection of voices, the assembled history of the many voices that have spoken into our lives and shaped us. Voices of the past, voices of the present, and voices of the future. There is an African proverb, “Se wo were fi na wosankofa a yenkyi,” which translates as “It is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten.” This is why we continue to remember the tales of struggle and tales of perseverance, even as we look to tales of hope. What a people choose to remember about its past, the stories they pass down, informs who they are and sets the boundaries of their identity. We remember the pain of our past to mourn, to heal, and to learn. Only in that way can we ensure the same mistakes are not repeated. The voices make up our stories. The stories make up who we are. A collected voice.

Maurice Broaddus (Author), Julian Elfer, Karen Chilton, Leon Nixon (Narrator)

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Garvey and Garveyism

Like all great dreamers and planners, Marcus Garvey dreamed and planned ahead of his time and his peoples' ability to understand the significance of his life's work. A set of circumstances, mostly created by the world colonial powers, crushed this dreamer, but not his dreams. Due to persistence and years of sacrifice of Mrs. Amy Jacques Garvey, widow of Marcus Garvey, a large body of work by and about this great nationalist leader has been preserved and can be made available to a new generation of Black people who have the power to turn his dreams into realities. Written as a participant and confidant, Amy Jacques Garvey's perspective continues to provide an intimate and first-person narrative of the Garvey movement and this important nascent period of Black Nationalism.

Amy Jacques Garvey (Author), Beresford Bennett, Karen Chilton (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Karen Chilton