When J. Marcellus Burke returned from his tour of duty as a cartographer in World War II, he was greeted with the beginnings of what would become the erasure of the Black soldier’s participation in the war. He recalls “not seeing a single Black face” in the coverage of the returning soldiers directly after the war’s conclusion. Over 2.5 million Black men registered for duty in WWII. And yet, when they returned home, they were greeted with, no thanks and underemployment. Burke

Bernard Turner is a Chicago native, born from Bronzeville with a career in teaching and educational publishing. He has been a volunteer as an interpreter at the Chicago History Museum since 2000 where he has fostered a deep knowledge of his neighborhood and its history as a professional tour guide. In his this time Turner has had a hand in publishing a myriad of books, all relating in one way or another to the rich history of Chicago. When I had the chance to speak with Turne

Hello and welcome to the 2017 Soulful Chicago Book Fair’s official blog. As we approach the day of the fair, July 16th, we wanted to create a space to speak a bit about just a handful of the amazing authors who will be at the event. To get the ball rolling, we're going to start with Darese King, author of the newly released coloring book, The Dress Goddess. Darese King is a fashion designer in the Chicago-land area who has been working professionally for the last five years.