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This episode features our conversation with Desiree Cooper, which was live-streamed on September 8, 2026.

Desiree Cooper is a 2015 Kresge Artist Fellow, Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist, former attorney, and editor of the groundbreaking 2026 anthology, Black Summers: Growing up in the Urban Outdoors. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Oprah Daily, MSNBC Daily, Flash Fiction America 2023, Michigan Quarterly Review, The Rumpus, River Teeth, and noted in The Best American Essays 2019. Cooper is the author of the award-winning flash fiction collection, Know the Mother. Her children’s picture book, Nothing Special, is a 2023 Paterson Prizewinner and one of the New York Public Library’s “10 Best Children’s Books of 2022.”

During this episode, we talked about Black Summers: Growing Up in the Urban Outdoors (Wayne State University Press, 2026), an anthology edited by Desiree Cooper.

Remember frolicking outside during the long, jubilant days of summer? This vibrant collection invites readers to breathe deeply and return to that "carefree" season. From riding bikes with friends through the neighborhood, to hopping the ferry to Boblo Island, catching catfish along the river, dancing on warm nights to Afrobeats and jazz music, and cooling off in the Swimmobile, those sun-drenched memories were often clouded by racism for the Detroiters in this evocative anthology. These emerging and award-winning creators of all ages recount the struggles and triumphs of staking their claim to public spaces. Ranging from poetry to essay, creative nonfiction to comics, this collection blends nostalgia with struggle and resilience. Arising from the iconic city of the African American experience comes this exploration of Black joy in the urban outdoors.

To learn more about Desiree, her work and this anthology, please visit descooper.com.

Check out Desiree's last visit with us to chat about her children's book, Nothing Special.

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Welcome to Season Seven! Check out this trailer to get a sneak peek of the upcoming season.

Black Writers Read showcases, celebrates, and elevates the words, work, and traditions of the African Diaspora. Launched on Juneteenth in 2020, we've hosted over 100 authors representing over 20 genres from six countries and 28 states.

Lucky #7! This season, we're focusing on the work of public intellectuals. As Nicole embarks on her first year as a tenure-track professor at a community college, she has invited colleagues from across higher education from various types of institutions, including Research I, community colleges, and teaching institutions, to talk about books that melt the divide between the Ivory Tower, community activism, legislation, and social change.

On October 17, 2026, National Black Poetry Day, Nicole will be live-streaming two episodes on YouTube that will feature authors who write about Black women's experiences with endometriosis. *In the trailer, Nicole references the date as National Black Reading Day, which is actually February 14.

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Thanks again for your support and see you on the other side!

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This episode features our conversation with Dr. Rachel Laryea, which was live-streamed on June 26, 2026.

Dr. Rachel Laryea is a thought leader who specializes in race and money, ethical entrepreneurship, and social good. After cutting her teeth on Wall Street at Goldman Sachs, she went on to receive her dual Ph.D. in African American Studies and Sociocultural Anthropology at Yale University. Her ethnographic research aims to understand nuanced forms of Black participation in capitalist economies.

Dr. Rachel is the recipient of the National Science Foundation Research Fellowship award, and she received an honorable mention from the Ford Foundation for her research. She has held Adjunct Professor appointments at NYU Stern Business School, and worked as a racial equity investment strategist and Asset Wealth Management researcher at JPMorgan Chase.

Dr. Rachel is the founder of Kelewele, a lifestyle brand based in Brooklyn, New York, that creates bespoke African travel experiences and vegan, plantain treats. Kelewele has partnered with The James Beard Foundation and Black Entertainment Television (BET), and has been featured in several global publications and media platforms, including The New York Times, Forbes, MarketWatch, and CBS. She is the recipient of the Ghana UK-Based Achievement (GUBA) award.

During this episode, we talked about Dr. Laryea’s book, Black Capitalists: The Blueprint For What Is Possible (Crown Publishing Group, 2025).

To many, the term “Black Capitalists” is oxymoronic. Black people were the labor force that built the infrastructure of American capitalism through the violent enforcement of legalized slavery, so they cannot, and should not, aspire to be the beneficiaries of it. But Wall Street professional and Yale-educated anthropologist Dr. Rachel Laryea poses a provocative question: What if there was a way to thrive within capitalism without diminishing someone else’s life chances through exploitative practices? There is—and Black Capitalists are showing us how. Told through Dr. Laryea's own compelling narrative—growing up the child of a single mother who immigrated to the United States from Ghana and rose to the Ivy League and on Wall Street—with original on-the-ground reporting and rigorous historical analysis, Black Capitalists challenges readers to reconsider who gets to be the beneficiary of capitalism and reckons with the responsibility that comes with using the tools of our imperfect economic system to advance social good.

To learn more about Dr. Laryea and her work, please visit rachelllaryea.com.

Purchase Black Capitalists from our Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/a/114101/9780593735046

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