A Recap Of The LABBX Relationship Panel

[Charles Chatmon]

I would like to thank Matt Lohr, Community Relations Manager at the Barnes and Noble at the Grove at Farmer’s Market, authors Na’Kisha Crawford, Anthony Rucker, Paulara R. Hawkins, Alimon Williams and Michael Lockwood for participating and being a part of our relationship forum inside the bookstore this past Sunday.

If you missed it- and you know who you are - shame on you! (smile) We had a great time in front of a huge audience discussing love and relationships within not only the Black community, but in all walks of life. No matter where you are, you’ve had experiences in love, positive or negative that has impacted your life in some way. This is what the forum is for, providing a healthy literary discussion amongst ourselves to find solutions to the problems facing us in committed relationships. Based on the number of people who showed up (mostly women), it seems as we approach Valentine’s Day, everyone wants to have a companion to call their own and keep for many days after.

Rather than writing about my own personal feelings about some of the topics from today’s panel, I would like to invite you to watch and listen for yourself. Empire Beat Magazine videotaped the forum and it will be available online very soon. North Bay Media Review has the audio and will be posted on a special edition of Mixed Matters in the near future. So if you missed our discussion (shame on you again, lol) but wanted to know what our esteemed panel shared with the audience, you’ll be able to hear and watch for yourself.

I think we’re off to a great start and on February 28, 2009 the expo in association with the California Writers Collective and AC Bilbrew Library will host a free writers workshop and book signing in the library’s Black Resource Center. This will be the CWC’s fifth annual writers workshop with two new authors published as a result of attending our class. So if you’ve ever wanted to write, or have a completed manuscript and don’t know which publishing option is best for you, or simply you don’t know where to start in marketing your work, then you should attend this meeting.

More updates are sure to come as we move toward the fifth annual L.A. Black Book Expo with more events in the works. Thanks for your time.

Panelists websites:
Michael J. Lockwood - www.michaeljlockwood.com
Alimon Williams - www.alimonwilliams.com
Na’Kisha Crawford - www.nakishacrawford.com
Paulara R. Hawkins - www.prhawkins.com (contact her for her movie, Fabulous)
Anthony C. Rucker - www.relationshipcookbook.com

Authors who would like to join us on August 15, 2009 - contact me at [e-mail]


Charles Chatmon
Executive Director
Los Angeles Black Book Expo