Last year was something else. At the end of a long, hot summer, sisters Donna and Donya Craddock were dealt quite a blow: The AC of their independent bookstore, The Dock Bookshop (6637 Meadowbrook Dr, Fort Worth, 817-457-5700), went out. Thankfully, it happened toward the end of the hot season. The Craddocks made their (quite expensive) repairs and stayed on course. None of their signature events were canceled in 2025.
Nice! Just based on The Dock’s author events and festivals from last year and the ones coming soon, you’ve got yourself a small list of books by Black authors to check out, plus the month isn’t over yet.
PAST TENSE
At An Evening with Jayne Kennedy in January, the award-winning actress and sports broadcaster chatted with moderator Dionne Anglin of FOX 4 about her new memoir. Plain Jayne chronicles her rise in Hollywood and beyond. Kennedy is best known for shattering racial and gender barriers in sports broadcasting during the late 1970s.
Alfonza Scott Jr. shared some of the stories he gathered from past and present HBCUs for his latest book. We’ve Got Something to Talk About vividly portrays life at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. As the protagonist’s identity is deliberately withheld, readers are taken on a journey of discovery, highlighting the experiences that shape many Black households.
Char Adams visited The Dock in November and signed copies of Black-Owned: The Revolutionary Life of the Black Bookstore. Adams is a former reporter for NBC News and People. Her writings on race and identity have appeared in The New York Times, The New Republic, Oprah Daily, Teen Vogue, and Vice. She is from Philadelphia but now calls North Texas home. Published by Tiny Reparations Books, Black-Owned traces the history of these establishments from their abolitionist origins to modern-day movements such as Black Lives Matter, chronicling 200 years of Black bookselling in the United States and positioning these shops as vital centers of political activism and community.
UPCOMING
The Dock recently hosted a virtual evening with acclaimed actress and novelist Denise Nicholas, who discussed her new memoir, Finding Home, in a conversation moderated by Dionne Anglin of FOX 4. Growing up in 1950s Detroit, Nicholas worked through the city’s culture and its tough segregation, which formed her early identity. The memoir follows her courageous journey as a young woman who dropped out of the University of Michigan to join the Free Southern Theater, touring the Deep South at the height of the civil rights movement. The book also covers her years in Hollywood and her personal evolution. Nicholas is best known for her trailblazing role as guidance counselor Liz McIntyre on the ABC comedy-drama series Room 222 (1969-1974). She is also recognized for her role as Councilwoman Harriet DeLong on the NBC/CBS drama In the Heat of the Night (1988-1995), for which she also wrote episodes.
Ijeoma Oluo is scheduled for a book signing at Lit Night at The Dock on Sat, Feb 28, from 5pm to 7pm, in conjunction with the Bishop Arts Theatre Center Banned Books Festival. Each chapter title of her book So You Want to Talk About Race is a question about race in contemporary America. Oluo outlines her views on the topics and offers advice on how to discuss them. The Denton native has written for The Guardian, Jezebel, The Stranger, Medium, and The Establishment, where she also served as an editor-at-large.
Authors Shelia Goss and Phyllis Dixon, who co-wrote Worth the Risk, will also be at Lit Night from 5pm to 7pm. National bestselling author and screenwriter Goss is known for her emotionally rich storytelling in romance, women’s fiction, and young adult literature. Based in Shreveport, Louisiana, she has authored 21 novels and has also established herself in the film industry as a script doctor and producer. Worth the Risk is the first book in The Women in Hollywood Collection, a steamy contemporary romance. It follows Charlotte Richards, a polished, powerful brand manager, and Sean Maxwell, a magnetic R&B star, as their high-stakes romance navigates scandals, secrets, and the intense glare of Hollywood fame.
Buried secrets, environmental disaster, and a legacy of corruption hit too close to home when a California native and her family make a fresh start in small-town Texas — and find trouble just beneath the promising surface in Dixon’s novel, Something in the Water. Before becoming a full-time author, Dixon worked as a bank regulator for the U.S. Treasury Department and also previously owned and operated Main Street Books, an independent bookstore she founded in Houston to highlight works by Black authors.
BLACK HISTORY CELEBRATION
State Rep. Nicole Collier will be at The Dock 1pm-3pm Sat for the Black History Celebration event. During family story time, Collier will read from the book Inventions to Count On by Dana Marie Miroballi as part of the Readers Are Leaders Series. There is no cost to attend, but RSVPs are requested at TheDockBookshop.com.
For info on future events at The Dock, follow Facebook.com/TheDockBookshop.
