The fourth annual San Antonio African American Book Festival (SAAABF) will be held on Feb. 25 at the Carver Library and Second Baptist Community Center from 12 pm to 5 pm. The event is free for the public. 

Last year’s event attracted 40 African American authors. The annual event was created to highlight the power of Black literature, reinforce the fact that representation matters, and to encourage Black economics. 

The Friends of the Carver Library annually seeks sponsorships to fund the free event. The organization said the goal is to promote literacy in a way that positively reflects the importance of “controlling and sharing our narrative.”

Event Schedule:

10:30 am – 8th Annual Black History for Children Book Exhibit hosted by Baba Aundar (Carver Library Meeting Room)

12- 5 pm – Browse & Buy from Participating Authors (2nd Baptist Community Center, next door to Carver Library)

1 pm – Young People’s Writing Session hosted by The San Antonio Chapter of The Links,  Inc. (Carver Library Meeting Room)

2 pm – Keynote Author: Dr. Mateen Diop (Carver Library Meeting Room)

History of the Carver Library

G.W. Carver Library opened in 1930 at the Carver Community Center as a Reading Room in the Carver Community Auditorium & Library. The Carver Community Auditorium & Library was built with funds raised from San Antonio’s Black Community. It later became the Colored Branch of the San Antonio Public Library system, and the only place in San Antonio Black people were allowed to access books. Carver Library moved to its current location at 3350 E. Commerce Street in 1972 and has been a long-standing pillar in San Antonio’s Black Community.

Carver Library is the official home of The San Antonio African American Book Festival. This annual event is held on the last Saturday of Black History Month. Carver Library is currently home to the city’s largest African American book collection, The Pan-African Festival, and many other events. There is a Children’s Library, Teen Center, LEARN Resource Center, Computer Lab, meeting room, and a Black History Photograph Exhibit.

By Ebony Huerta Wells

St. Philip’s College, Prairie View A&M University, and Texas Southern University are just three of the nine HBCUs or Historically Black Colleges & Universities in Texas. 

Many of these HBCUs will be at the Annual South Texas HBCU College Fair at Northeast Lakeview College on Saturday, Feb. 4, from 9 am to noon. The event is made possible by IMBRACE Education, which is partnering with NAACP’s San Antonio Branch Youth Council and Northeast Lakeview College. 

Last year, more than 600 families attended, and more than 40 HBCUs participated in the event.

This event will allow college-bound middle school/high school students and their parents to speak to several HBCU admissions representatives/alumni and ROTC scholarship program managers regarding the educational opportunities at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. 

There will be special performances by Sam Houston High School’s Marching Storm and Judson Early College Academy’s Step Team, including interactive college readiness workshops. 

Monique A. Cannon Broadnax, founder and executive director of IMBRACE, said the focus is on HBCUs because of their significant role in advancing the value and importance of a post-secondary education that holistically engages Black students. These institutions of higher learning are dedicated to and single-handedly responsible for ensuring that underrepresented students, low socioeconomic students, disenfranchised students, first-generation college students, and students from all backgrounds who traditionally excel academically and socially in nurturing environments attain bachelor’s, master’s, professional and doctoral degrees.

IMBRACE Education, a nonprofit organization, provides students and parents with information regarding the college application process and scholarships and conducts tours of college and university campuses with a focus on increasing enrollment at HBCUs. For 10 years, it has been devoted to preparing students for life after high school by creating experiences to expose students to post-secondary options at all HBCUs. 

All attendees (students, parents, sponsors, and community members) must pre-register, print and present or display their registration ticket at the door upon entry. The event will occur at Northeast Lakeview College’s Llano Wellness Center Building near Parking Lot 3 at 1201 Kitty Hawk Road in Universal City. Visit (ImbraceEducation.org) for more information. 

St. Philip’s College was named #4 on the Best Historically Black Colleges & Universities in Texas 2022 list by University Headquarters. SPC, the top two-year institution ranked on the state list, is the nation’s only college federally designated as an HBCU and Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI). The top three Texas HBCUs, by ranking, are Prairie View A&M University, Huston-Tillotson University (Austin) and Texas Southern University (Houston).

HBCUs are an important part of the higher education landscape. These institutions have been around for generations, with some that predate the Civil War. St. Philip’s was founded by the Episcopal Church in 1898 to educate girls who were the daughters and granddaughters of emancipated African Americans.

The college ranked #46 on the national Top 50 Best Historically Black Colleges and Universities list. On the national list, SPC is the highest-listed two-year institution.

Many HBCUs have survived years of underfunding and segregation. Initially an Episcopal school, SPC went public during the Great Depression when diocesan funding diminished. Under the leadership of Saint Artemisia Bowden, who served at the institution’s helm for 52 years, the school persisted and grew into a community college. She was named a Holy Woman by the Episcopal Church posthumously in 2015 to recognize her work in education, the church and the community.

St. Philip’s is the only HBCU in San Antonio and the most western public HBCU in the U.S.