Underground Books Band 1

Community Event

Author Talk featuring Charlene Johnson
Underground Books Presents

Join us at Underground Books for a powerful and uplifting author event with Coach Charlene Johnson, featuring her latest book When the Moment Chooses You. Through a live reading and discussion, Charlene will share her journey of resilience, purpose, and leadership in the face of adversity. Attendees will have the opportunity to engage in meaningful conversation, ask questions, and get their books personally signed. This event is perfect for anyone seeking inspiration to rise, speak out, and make an impact.This FREE event is open to all—come celebrate, connect, and honor Black h

Community Event

2025 Juneteenth Block Party at 40 Acres
St. HOPE Academy

Join us on June 14, 2025, from 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM at the historic 40 Acres Complex for a dynamic celebration of freedom, culture, and community.

Enjoy live performances by Lucky Witherspoon, Sol Development, and Digital Underground, along with food trucks, local vendors, and a Black-owned business marketplace.

Experience the Stylistics Car Show, craft beer tasting from Oak Park Brewery, and a fun-filled kids’ play space hosted by St. HOPE Public Schools at Esther’s Park.

Event

Let’s Read Oak Park
Underground Books

CONFIRM YOUR ATTENDANCE 

Elementary school aged children explore books and participate in hands on activities with an emphasis on cultural themes. Students will engage in interactive book readings, and select a free book of their choice to take home and encourage reading together as a family!

Space is limited to 12 per event so sign up today!

Let’s Read Oak Park is presented by St. HOPE and in sponsorship with the Sacramento Region Community Foundation.

Event

Let’s Read Oak Park
Underground Books

CONFIRM YOUR ATTENDANCE 

Elementary school aged children explore books and participate in hands on activities with an emphasis on cultural themes. Students will engage in interactive book readings, and select a free book of their choice to take home and encourage reading together as a family!

Space is limited to 12 per event so sign up today!

Let’s Read Oak Park is presented by St. HOPE and in sponsorship with the Sacramento Region Community Foundation.

Event

Kathy Marshall “Finding Otho: The Search for Our Enslaved Williams Ancestors”
Discussion and Book Signing

Kathy Lynne Marshall’s lifelong infatuation with African culture was challenged when a DNA test revealed just how much European cream was in her African coffee. That sent her on an intensive search to find out more about her family’s diverse ancestry. Focusing on her maternal great-great-grandfather, Otho Williams, Kathy only knew he was born a slave in 1834 in Maryland. But who were his parents and his owner? Exactly where was his home?

Event

Joey Garcia’s “When Your Heart Breaks, It’s Opening to Love”
Discussion and Book Signing

Turn your heartbreak into happiness… Joey Garcia matches true stories of broken relationships with warm, wise advice that offers unexpected insights and prescriptions for healing. If you have been cheated on and you want to move forward, but don’t know how; if you feel like your world is disintegrating because the person you love has left you, or if you want closure, reading this book will help you emerge stronger and happier than you thought possible.

Event

Matt De La Pena / Christian Robinson “Last Stop on Market Street”
Discussion and Book Signing

Every Sunday after church, CJ and his grandma ride the bus across town. But today, CJ wonders why they don’t own a car like his friend Colby. Why doesn’t he have an iPod like the boys on the bus? How come they always have to get off in the dirty part of town? Each question is met with an encouraging answer from grandma, who helps him see the beauty—and fun—in their routine and the world around them.
 

Event

Patricia A. Saunders “There Is Sunshine After the Rain: Making It Through Life’s Struggles”
Discussion and Book Signing

Sitting there with the pieces of your life around you, there seemed to be a pattern. There was faith, love, deceit, lust, and loss―in that order. You didn’t think you were deserving of love. That is why everything was being taken from you, and you were ready to give up on life.Through your poetry, faith, and learning from your past, you can rewrite the story. It was after coming through all the experiences and being stronger, you realized there is always a new chapter.

Event

Joy Elan: “Life is a Canvas”
Discussion and Book Signing

Allegra Johnson is a young, vibrant entrepreneur with dreams. From the outside, she seems to have all the things that she dreamed of… except love. Her motto is the expression, “The best way to predict your future is to create it.” As she paints the things that she wants in her life, she learns that not everyone will see her big picture.

Event

Discussion and Book Signing with P. M. Don

Join us on Saturday, November 19 from 2 – 4 p.m.

“Capital of California”

Everyone is welcome to participate in this discussion on P.M. Don’s work of fiction about three men and the role they play in the violent streets of the capital of California.