NBC broadcast journalist and co-host of “Jenna and Sheinelle” was featured in the National Association of Black Journalists’ Authors Showcase on Aug. 14, 2026 during the organization’s annual convention in Atlanta. Jones discussed her new book, “Through Mom’s Eyes: Simple Wisdom From Mothers Who Raised Extraordinary Humans.” Photo by Cedric Brooks
NABJ’s 2026 Authors Showcase that recently took place in Atlanta featured more than 25 authors whose work spans family, journalism, media, hip hop, politics, military service, religion and more. This signature event of the National Association of Black Journalists’ annual convention gives members up-close and personal access to fellow journalists who aspire to write books or who simply enjoy reading the work of their peers. It also offers authors a platform to showcase their storytelling and writing skills beyond the newsroom.
Notable authors this year included Sheinelle Jones of NBC’s “Jenna and Sheinelle” talk show; Nikole Hannah-Jones, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of “The 1619 Project”; Lee Hawkins, formerly of The Wall Street Journal; and Marion Orr, a Brown University professor whose new book, House of Diggs, explores the life of the late Michigan congressman Charles C. Diggs Jr.
Village Books, a Black-owned bookstore based in Atlanta, was onsite to stock and sale our authors’ books. They were wonderful to work with!
Below is a look at this year’s Authors Showcase participants and the journalists who interviewed them over a three-day period.
–Bonnie Newman Davis, Chair and Producer, NABJ Authors Showcase
NABJ26 Authors Showcase
Photography by Cedric Brooks
Lee Hawkins, Author of “I Am Nobody’s Slave.”Robin Washington, Editor, Forward, interviews Lee Hawkins, author of “I Am Nobody’s Slave.”Tiffany Cross, author of “Love, Me” with Erin Stanley, Authors Showcase assistant. NABJ President Errin Haines, who is writing a book about growing up in Atlanta,
Raps of Resistance: Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole – Authors Earl Hopkins and Dr. Jeremy McCool
Literary agent Laini Brown JemisonFaith Deconstruction For Dummies – Mashaun D. Simon, M.Div. with Bonnie Newman Davis and Delano MasseyThe Price of Exclusion: Healthcare in a Segregated Nation – Nicole CarrFireside chat – Through Mom’s Eyes – Simple Wisdom From Mothers Who Raised Extraordinary Humans – Sheinelle Jones. Presenting award is Bonnie Newman DavisNABJ President Errin Haines, journalist author and podcaster Tiffany Cross, and journalist, talk show host and author Roland Martin.Building Critical Race Media Literacy – Christine McWhorter, Ph.D.
Pro Wrestling’s Black World Champions – David Shabazz
The Longest Four Years of My Life – Deric Gilliard, interviewed by Vincent McGraw
The Noise War: How to Fight Disinformation and Find Truth When Everything is Lying to You – author JJ Green. Interviewer, Jasmine Styles, broadcast journalist, Washington, D.C.
Sheinelle Jones, NBC talk show hostessAtlanta’s Village Books bookstore onsite at the NABJ26 Authors Showcase.The Financial GPS: Navigating Your Path to Prosperity – author Sonia White (right), and Eva Coleman (left)Atlanta’s Village Books bookstore onsite at the NABJ26 Authors Showcase.Nikole Hannah Jones greets guests during the Authors Showcase.A Protest History of the United States – Gloria J. Brown-Marshall, AuthorWe’ve Been Here Before: How Rebellion and Activism Have Always Sustained America – authors Michael I. Days and Angela P. DodsonBibb Country: Unearthing My Family Secrets of Land, Legacy–and Lettuce – author Lonnae O’Neal and Ernie Suggs, reporter, Atlanta Journal ConstitutionTouchdown In Brazil – Omar Tyree, author, interviewed by Sam Ford, retired broadcast journalist.The Black Shield: An American Memoir of Family/Power – Wilbert L. Cooper, author, with Daphne Duret, The Marshall Project
Forgotten Souls: The Search for Lost Tuskegee Airmen – Cheryl W. Thompson, author, with Ron Nixon.
Black and Golden: Fifty Years of NABJ, 1975–2025 – Presented by editor Wayne Dawkins, with contributor Gayle Pollard Terry.
Pitch Session with Laini Brown Jemision and Angela DodsonHouse of Diggs: The Rise and Fall of Charles C. Diggs, Jr. – Marion Orr, (right), interviewed by Randall Pinkston, former correspondent, CBS News.
Booked and Visible: How Black Authors Build Buzz—With or Without a Publisher – Presented by Wayne Dawkins, Curtis Bunn, Jessica Tiles and Tanya Mitchell. Pictured, Curtis Bunn , founder, National Black Book Club.
Surviving Paris: A Memoir of Healing – Robin Allison Davis
One-Sixteenth: My Journey to Racial Identity – Randye Bullock
BND Institute of Media & Culture 