Honorée Fanonne Jeffers Discusses Misbehaving At The Crossroads

MahoganyBooks and the DC Public Library in partnership with the DC Public Library Foundation are excited to welcome New York Times bestselling author Honorée Fanonne Jeffers as she makes her nonfiction debut with Misbehaving at the Crossroads. We are thrilled to host Honorèe along with our conversation host and author, Jamise Harper of Spines and Vines.

This personal and thought-provoking book explores the journeys and possibilities of Black women throughout American history and in contemporary times.

A big thank you to our partners and co-hosts at the DC Public Library and the DC Public Library Foundation for your generous support of this event.

ABOUT THE BOOK: Misbehaving at the Crossroads

The New York Times-bestselling, National Book Award-nominated author of The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois and The Age of Phillis makes her nonfiction debut with this personal and thought-provoking work that explores the journeys and possibilities of Black women throughout American history and in contemporary times.

Honorée Fanonne Jeffers is at a crossroads.Traditional African/Black American cultures present the crossroads as a place of simultaneous difficulty and possibility. In contemporary times, Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the phrase "intersectionality" to explain the unique position of Black women in America. In many ways, they are at a third crossroads: attempting to fit into notions of femininity and respectability primarily assigned to White women, while inventing improvisational strategies to combat oppression.In Misbehaving at the Crossroads, Jeffers explores the emotional and historical tensions in Black women's public lives and her own private life. She charts voyages of Black girlhood to womanhood and the currents buffeting these journeys, including the difficulties of racially gendered oppression, the challenges of documenting Black women's ancestry; the adultification of Black girls; the irony of Black female respectability politics; the origins of Womanism/Black feminism; and resistance to White supremacy and patriarchy. As Jeffers shows with empathy and wisdom, naming difficult historical truths represents both Blues and transcendence, a crossroads that speaks.Necessary and sharply observed, provocative and humane, and full of the insight and brilliance that has characterized her poetry and fiction, Misbehaving at the Crossroads illustrates the life of one extraordinary Black woman--and her extraordinary foremothers.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Honorée Fanonne Jeffers is a fiction writer, poet, and essayist. She is the author of the acclaimed New York Times bestseller and Oprah's Book Club Pick, The Love Songs of W. E. B. Du Bois, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award in Fiction and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize and was nominated for the National Book Award, as well as five poetry collections, including the NAACP Image Award-winning The Age of Phillis, also nominated for the National Book Award. She teaches at the University of Oklahoma, where she holds the Paul and Carol Daube Sutton Chair in English.

ABOUT OUR CONVERSATION HOST: Jamise Harper is an avid reader, wine enthusiast, literary influencer, and passionate advocate for amplifying marginalized voices. Her love for diverse stories inspired her to create the #DiverseSpines hashtag and the Diverse Spines® book community, a vibrant online space celebrating literature by Black women and women of color. She is the co-author of Bibliophile: Diverse Spines (Chronicle Books, 2021) with Jane Mount and the founder of Spines & Vines®, a social media platform that elevates the reading experience through curated book and wine pairings.

As the host of Literary Wine Down, an Instagram Live series blending books and wine, Jamise has featured engaging conversations with acclaimed authors and has lent her expertise to marquee events, including the Essence Festival (Essence Authors), National Book Foundation programs, and the Well-Read Black Girl Festival.

• 6:30 PM - Doors Open | 7 PM Conversation Begins
• Event guidelines are subject to change.
• Non-refundable but tickets can be transferred.
• Only books purchased at MahoganyBooks will be signed.
• For reasonable accommodations, please contact the Center for Accessibility at 202-727-2142 or DCPLaccess@dc.gov. For ASL or tactile interpretation, please allow at least seven (7) days notice.
• Parking is limited. Ridesharing highly encouraged.
• Masks optional.
• Photographs may be taken during the event WITHOUT FLASH.
• Please note, books not picked up at the event can be retrieved at our National Harbor location for two weeks after event day. Afterwhich, they will be donated to a local organization.
• Please tag us and use #mahoganybooks, #blackbooksmatter #misbehavingatthecrossroads on social media.
  
  -- Let's have an amazing evening,

The MahoganyBooks Team