Ages: 13 years - Adult

MD Libraries Together and Calvert Library are excited to present Michelle Coles to help celebrate Black History Month 2025. Ms. Coles, a civil rights attorney, wrote the award-winning young adult book "Black Was the Ink," a very readable story that brings history and contemporary issues to life in a very discussable way.

This author event will be streamed on Calvert Library's YouTube channel.  More information here.

The story features Malcolm, a Black teen from DC, whose mom is worried about his safety over the summer and sends him to stay with his father’s family on their farm in Mississippi.  Part of the farm had been taken through eminent domain for a highway some years prior and now the state is threatening to take the rest of it even though there is an option to take some of the farm across the road.  Malcolm isn’t all that worried about it until he is transported back in time to the Reconstruction Era as his ancestor Cedric, an aide to Senator Hiram Revels, one of the first Black members of Congress.  Malcolm and readers learn about the Black heroes of the period and learn how to advocate in the present. This is an entertaining and inspiring read for both teens and adults and you’ll undoubtedly learn something new, too!