Clottee Hammons will present a talk about her book Indiscernibles in Arizona: On the Hope and Reality of Being Black in Arizona as part of the State of Arizona Research Library’s 2024 Arizona Author Series. The talk is at 12 p.m. MST, Thursday, January 18th, and will be held virtually on Zoom. Attendees are encouraged to register to receive the link to the presentation. After the talk, there will be time for questions from the audience.

This presentation will be recorded and made available on our YouTube channel. Registered attendees will receive a link to the recording once it is available. 

About Indiscernibles in Arizona: During the Great Migration of the 20th century, over six million African Americans left the Southeast and settled in other parts of the United States. While this migration significantly impacted the makeup of states such as Arizona, this history is often forgotten. This book is a collection of personal narratives that expand our understanding of what it means to live in Arizona. 

This anthology features the work Joyce Bailey, Marcus Sterling Campbell, Amber Doe, Christopher Hamilton, Marcia Houston, Spencer Howard, Rachel A.M. Jackson, Kathy Blaze Jefferson, Shirley Johnson, Keith Johnson, Bettie Julkes, Lillie A. Lindsay, Sean Avery Medlin, Bruce Nelson, Patsy Olivier, Jameela Pugh, Marlana-Patrice Pugh Hamer, BKR, Gloria L. Smith, Teresa Toney, Covey Whitaker, and Marcus Woodard.

You can read and listen to books about the history and culture of Arizona for free on Reading Arizona.

Clottee Hammons is a second-generation Arizona native and granddaughter of a 10th Calvary Buffalo Soldier. Respected locally as a Visual Artist, Curator, Poet, Writer, Activist, Educator and Prevention Specialist, Hammons views her special calling as a "community builder." She is the creator and ongoing facilitator of the Emancipation Marathon a literary, tradition that honors the victims of American Chattel Slavery. The Emancipation Marathon will celebrate its twenty-eighth season in July 2024 in collaboration with Changing Hands Bookstore in Phoenix. Ms. Hammons created the multifaceted The Great Migration – Indiscernibles in Arizona project. Her work has earned the following recognition: The 2021 Governor's Arts Award, the 2022 Celebration of Women-Legends Award, and 2023 Empowered Magazine Award.

This event is part of the 2024 Arizona Author Series. This program is supported by the Arizona State Library, Archives & Public Records, a division of the Secretary of State, with federal funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Arizona Center for the Book, a Library of Congress Center for the Book Affiliate.