Marketing Tip: Business cards are a key part of being a successful writer. Not only do they provide a means of presenting both your website and contact information, but they can also be used to market your book. One side should contain all of your contact information, while the other side should have a full-color version of your book cover on it.

Pacific Raven Press
P.O. Box 678
K`a`a`awa, HI 96730

Telephone:
1-808-276-6864 USA

Fax Number:
1-808-237-8974 USA

Email:
pacificravenpress@gmail.com

Find us on: Facebook

Our Upcoming Events

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Our Past Events

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Ayin Adams & Kathryn Waddell Takara traveled state-wide, reading, signing, and presenting awards to those African Americans who have made significant contributions to Hawai`i and in their fields:

• "Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient: Retired Judge Sandra Simms (Oahu)
• "Civil Rights & Education Award Recipient, Attorney Andre S. Wooten (Oahu)
• "Civil Rights & Education Award Recipient, Attorney Daphne Barbee-Wooten (Oahu)
• "Community Service Award Recipient, Ms. Jewel McDonald (Oahu)
• "Beth Charlton accepts the Frank Marshall Davis Leadership Award in Writing, Human Rights & Labor
• "Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient, Kathryn Waddell Takara, PhD., for her early pioneering work in African American History, Culture, Politics, and Education. (Oahu)
• "Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient, Helene Hilyer Hale (Big Island) for early pioneering work in Politics.

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For Immediate Release: Saturday March 27, 2010
Contact: Pacific Raven Press, 808-276-6864

A new book, "Tourmalines: Beyond the Ebony Portal" written by Kathryn Waddell Takara is being released by its publisher Pacific Raven Press on Sunday, April 11, 2010 at Borders, Ward Center, at 2 pm. Dr. Kathryn Waddell Takara, former professor at the University of Hawai`i will read from and sign her new book.

Tourmalines: Beyond the Ebony Portal, is a collection of poems with a focus on Black history and African Americans, named and unnamed, represented by various colorful gemstones, with a variety of characteristics, properties and histories, and reflecting their unique experiences in their worlds.

The themes include: African origins, myths, nature, spirituality, music, identity, color and politics, contemporary issues, courage, growth and transformation written in lyrical poetic style.

From the ebony of rich and lustrous old world trees and ancient tourmalines, these poems represent the world of a colorful, durable, ancient people still standing in modern times, weathered survivors of cyclones of racism, earthquakes of power, floods of oppression, and cruel sandstorms of history.

Darkness presents the riddle of how to see. On close observation of ebony, one sees the fine and intricately grained surface, as things dark or unknown require a new way of looking and seeing depth, finding light, shadows and perhaps a soul of essence.

Like humans, every tourmaline is essentially different. The reader can experience tourmalines as a metaphor for the complexity of African Americans, mixed with people of various origins: different Native American groups, Europeans and euro Americans, Caribbeans, South Americans, Asians and different African ethnic groups. The result is a collection of richly colorful poetic gemstones.

"The jewels of Africa shine through the poetry of Kathryn Waddell Takara." -Daphne Barbee-Wooten, Esq.

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BASICALLY BOOKS

Author Event

Saturday, April 3rd, 2010 - 2pm

106 Kamehameha Avenue - Downtown Hilo - 961-0144
www.basicallybooks.com

"The reader of this book will be left with fresh new images of and respect for blacks in Hawai'i, after learning of their 19th century migrations, leadership roles, successes and contributions to the whaling industry, medicine, business, education, science, civil service, the arts, social work, the military, and politics,' says Adams.





Our special guest of honor, Helene Hale, is the first person of African descent to be elected to office in Hawaii.  Join her as she is presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award for her work in Politics and Education.







Ayin Adams is a performance artist, inspirational teacher and spiritual healer and has been published in numerous magazines, e-zines, and on-line publications.  Author of more than five volumes of poetry books, including the acclaimed, "The Woods Deep Inside Me," Adams was chosen as 'Teacher of the Year 2008' by the International Peace Poem Awards Committee.  She is the winner of the Pat Parker Poetry Award, the Audre Lorde Memorial Prize Winner, Award Winner for Literary Excellence 2001, and the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Award.

Download the flyer

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BASICALLY BOOKS

Author Event

Saturday, April 3rd, 2010 - 3:30pm

106 Kamehameha Avenue - Downtown Hilo - 961-0144
www.basicallybooks.com

Tourmalines: Beyond the Ebony Portal, is a collection of poems with a focus on Black history and African Americans, named and unnamed, represented by various col- orful gemstones, with a variety of characteristics, properties and histories, and reflecting their unique experiences in their worlds. The themes include: African origins, myths, cosmology, colonialism, nature, spirituality, music, family, color and politics, oppression, courage, resistance, growth, modern issues, and transformation.





Meet the Author: Kathryn Waddell Takara, born and raised in Alabama, has recently retired as an Associate Professor from the University ofHawai'i at Manoa. She also taught in the Ethnic Studies Department, where she developed courses in African American and African politics, history, literature, and culture beginning in 1971. Her poetry and essays have been published in a variety of publications. Takara holds a Ph.D. in Political Science and an M.A. in French and has taught, advised, and mentored innumerable students. She has read and performed herpoetry and lectured extensively in many venues. She enjoys her family, friends, pets, meditation, qi gong, gardening, raising orchids and interior design.

Download the flyer

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Sponsored by Maui Peace Action and the Peace Club
Contact: Chuck Carletta 984-3305

UH Maui College - Wed. March 17th
Ka Lama 103 - Free - Public Welcome
Film 7:00 pm followed by Book Talk

Mighty Times: the Legacy of Rosa Parks

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks sparked a revolution by sitting still. Her simple act of de- fiance against racial segregation on city buses inspired the African American community of Montgomery, Alabama, to unite against the segregationists who ran City Hall. Over the course of a year, the Montgomery Bus Boycott would test the endurance of the peaceful protesters, overturn an unjust law and create a legacy that continues to inspire those who work for free- dom and justice today.

African Americans in Hawai'i: A Search for Identity Ayin Adams, Ph.D Rosa Parks

Following the film, Ayin Adams, Ph.D., and Adesina Ogunelese will read from and discuss Adams' new book, African Americans in Hawai'i: A Search for Identity, which will be available for sale and signing by the author. The essays and interviews in the book document the difficulties and challenges as well as the contributions and successes of African Americans in Hawai'i.

© Pacific Raven Press 2010

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