Showing results by author "Courtney B." in All Categories

In America, we teach that strength means holding back tears and shaming your own feelings. In the Black community, these pressures are especially poignant. Poor mental health outcomes-- including diagnoses of depression and anxiety, reliance on prescription drugs, and suicide–have skyrocketed in the past decade. In this book, actor Courtney B. Vance seeks to change this trajectory. Along with professional expertise from famed psychologist Dr. Robin L. Smith, Courtney B. Vance explores issues of grief, relationships, identity, and race through the telling of his own most formative experiences

No one knows the struggle of the inner-city youths until you’ve walked in their shoes. Choyce and Chance are twin brothers with a unique story. Although they lived two different lifestyles, one had to choose between following his own dreams, or his brother’s nightmares. Cold Summer: My Brother’s Keeper is an epic tale that will leave you speechless behind how things really transpire when trying to survive in the ghetto.

After finding the killer of his brother, Brice finds out that all the revenge in the world didn’t bring his brother back. It made matters worse. Brice was up against the fight of his life as he made plans on leaving the Manzano family for good. ​ But with his team falling apart, Brice could feel the weight of the world on his shoulders. Not only did Brice have to get himself away from the mob, but also those he kept close to his heart. ​ But when lines get crossed, people turn their backs on each other, and betrayal is honored over loyalty. Who can be trusted? Will Brice find a way of...

The message is simple but powerful: Turn your view of fulfillment and contentment upside down and discover the deeper joy God is already offering you - now. Learn how to release the frustration that comes when our expectations go unfulfilled and, instead, learn to experience the fulfillment of walking with God in friendship every day.

Four friends who grew up together in the same inner-city neighborhood help each other navigate their struggles, dreams, and relationships into adulthood. At the heart of the story is Soraya, a 39-year-old Black woman striving to lead a legitimate life while facing constant challenges and betrayals. As she grapples with her ambitions, her ex, Malik, re-enters her life, presenting himself as the missing link to her longing for true fulfillment. Soraya finds herself in a dilemma, torn between wanting a future with the man she loves and her attraction to a bad boy.

Major Key Publishing presents its first anthology featuring four authors who are all gifted with the literary genius of penning amazing stories. Loving You Was Not For Me is a collection of drama-filled, urban short stories about any and everything that comes from loving the wrong one.

Imagine you are in prison for a crime you did not commit. You cannot believe what has happened to you and you're certain the system will correct the error - yet years later you're still behind bars. In Pruno, Ramen, and a Side of Hope those who have been wrongfully convicted tell stories of hope, redemption, and how they continued to believe that the system that put them behind bars would eventually find them innocent.

After the death of his parents at an early age, Julius Payne Jr. (Juju) finds himself lost and alone in a world full of hate and pain. While serving five years, due to an act of heartless jealousy, Juju finds out his parents’ death wasn’t an accident. After being locked up since the age of eighteen, he emerges from the penitentiary like the rose that grew from the concrete. As he re-enters society, he’s expected to take the torch from the legacy his parents left behind. That only leads to another unexpected turn in his troubled life. After being taken in by an old friend who quickly ...

After completing a ten-year prison sentence, Brice was released with high hopes and expectations of turning his life around. He planned to use the degrees he earned while he was in, to lead a quiet and peaceful lifestyle. He never could imagine the trails he would face after his release, when he found out his past was looming to haunt him as soon as he stepped foot from behind the prison gates. Not even twenty-four hours later, his older brother and only sibling, was killed. Seeing that his brother’s murder had no leads and was being treated as a cold case, he decided to take matters into...

Although Azure, Cutty and Raja were able to elude the penitentiary threats posed against their empire, they’re still not in the clear yet. Azure finds himself in for the fight of his life after his infidelity issues costs him his family. Not only has he lost his focus when it came to his life in the streets, but despite his efforts to try to get his wife back, he doesn’t realize everything he’s fighting so hard for is collateral damage as far as Latimore’s plan is concerned. Once Raja catches wind of Latimore’s plan, he decides to put his own life on the line in order to put an ...

Juwan "Chosen" Bagwell, is a man whose heart was made of gold. He was loved by many but had gotten betrayed by the one’s that he loved most. He did his dirt once upon a time but was better known by the people for building up the neighborhood he helped tear down. Although he still had his flaws, he saw the error in his ways and made moves that would transition him from a kingpin to a beacon in his community. His partners became jealous of him and after a few failed assassination attempts, his partners decided to give him over to the Feds. What the streets call “threw a cross on him”. ...

Malik finds himself entangled in the sinister web of Mason's twisted identity crisis, while Soraya struggles to keep herself and her friends afloat, all the while ensuring her thug boyfriend doesn’t go back to the penitentiary. Malik and Soraya stick together to weather the storm brought by their nemesis, Mason. Facing constant threats to their health, wealth, and well-being, they prove that against all odds, nothing can stop true love from prevailing.

**A STANDALONE** Some people look at the life of a stripper and idolize it, and some shun it. Well, after Makayla aka Temptation and Kamiah aka Lust share their story, one would never look at that lifestyle the same again. ​ Faded Mascara is a heartfelt story about the secret life of a dancer, the loss of loved ones, the abuse that led them to choose that profession. Also, the heartache of being betrayed by the ones closest to them, mixed with the art of getting to the bag. ​ Come laugh and cry with Lust and Temptation, as they take you on the wild journey, through their eyes, of being ...

As Chance fought for his life, Choyce had a rude awakening. Was his hunger for money, more important than his brother’s future? Was the fact that his own twin was on his death bed, enough for him to wake up and get his life together? Or will he remain blind to the fact, that the money, he chased so hard after, was the cause of all the hurt, harm, and danger that laid at front doorstep of those he loved the most? This is the end of the story of Choyce and Chance. The tale of a love that not even the troubles of the world could separate. Let’s see if Chance could pull through as well as ...

Chevonne Lynn Ellis, better known as Che, had just finished a twenty-year prison sentence for a coverup to a murder that her little brother, Rico, had committed at the age of nine on her then abusive boyfriend Tully. Faced with all types of adversity that started on the day of her release, Che was determined to get her life on track once she left those prison walls, only to find out that her little brother Rico was adopted into a family that was filled with mob ties.​ Rico and his adopted sister, Lil’ Litty, wreak havoc on the city streets under the rule of SC, their connect. Once Che ...

With the threat of the Feds looming their dark cloud of crooked justice over Azure, better known as AZ, Cutty, and Raja - the three put up a tenacious fight for their freedom, family, and most of all, to keep their legacy relevant with their backs against the wall. Breanne, the savage queen and wife of AZ, fears for the worst as she notices that her husband is being unusually secretive about what he has going on. In his attempt to dodge a federal indictment, which left her imagination to wildly entertain negative thoughts, she starts her own investigation to bring justice to her mind and ...

“Rich Off Pain” 2 Expensive Pain is a thrilling story that follows the protagonist, Juju, as he strives to secure a position as the 25th Council member, just like his father. However, his path is hindered when he discovers that Brasi Jr. is also running for the same chair, creating opposition and competition. Meanwhile Nay, another key character, finds herself in trouble with the authorities. The Federal agents are relentlessly pursuing her, aiming to build a case against her. This puts her in a dangerous position and adds to the tension of the story. The brotherhood, consisting of King...

Each episode we take a deep dive into Black television shows and films to give our clinical opinion on characters, behaviors, and just kick it with you to help expand the conversation around mental health.

As the old saying goes, a man never knows what he would do until he’s faced with adversity. Carmelo Davis AKA Big Mel was the owner of one of the hottest Record labels in the industry Black Money Empire. At the peak of his success an advisory from the past that came back with intentions of seeing his empire crumble. What was all good just a week ago turns into a total nightmare… ​Big Mel and his BME family found themselves in a fight until the death. As lives are lost and lines get crossed, witness the true definition of love and loyalty as they help each other survive by any means ...