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Beyond K Street: Journey to Redemption
By: Dr. Nicole A. Jones
The rough and violent areas of K Street were no place a kid should be left alone, but for fifteen-year-old Micah Tate, it was home. It was never a fit for him, but he fought to survive in it as long as he could. He maneuvered through its courtyards and learned to live in it. When Micah's only options in life became to go to prison for a long time, or become the property of the state, he willingly submitted to a new life and direction. Still reeling from the sudden passing of his wife, Mr. Rudolph Pfeiffer, a seventy-seven-year-old fearless, no-nonsense leader hesitantly took in the teen. Micah was tough, but Mr. Pfeiffer was tougher. Micah was not afraid to stand up for himself nor speak his mind, but neither was Mr. Pfeiffer. When their toughness clashed, Mr. Pfeiffer never backed down, and his hardness prevailed over Micah every time. But when their roughness matched, it was the perfect element to build a solid bond between the two of them. Although Mr. Pfeiffer greatly missed and longed to be with his late wife of five decades, he focused on Micah. Despite the infuriating meddling from Micah's past, Mr. Pfeiffer never gave up on him. Despite threats to Micah's future, Mr. Pfeiffer was a shield for him. Micah moved away from K street, but it was Mr. Pfeiffer's guidance, patience, and lessons on unfairness, economic disadvantages, and broken relationships that taught Micah how to live beyond K Street. Beyond K Street: Journey to Redemption reveals the journey of Micah and the young man he became as a result of Mr. Pfeiffer.
The Voiceless Stories of Miss Ada
By: Dr. Nicole A. Jones
In 2019, a decades-old photo surfaced of an elected public official wearing a Klu Klux Klan costume. When he was confronted by the media regarding it, rather than displaying remorse, the official made light of the situation.
As I watched the interview, an inferno of anger was ignited within me, because in 2015, my aunt and I embarked on a family genealogy project, and we could not trace back our ancestors beyond the first freed slaves. I felt robbed of my family history!
Nonetheless, in that moment, instead of emptying my feelings on social media, I began to fill in the missing pieces of my family's history and created my ancestors' stories. I used the names of my foremothers: Caroline, Ada, and Lucille, and incorporated some of the true events I discovered during my ancestral research to give my ancestors an identity and a proper story. Since I had the pen to create their characters, I made them dignified, articulate, and full of wisdom.
The Voiceless Stories of Miss Ada is an engaging, historical fiction tale that unveils the true story of African American history in the United States without replanting seeds of hatred.