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Title: Claretta Street
Author: Colette Barris
Genre: Historical Fiction
Claretta Street by Colette Barris is a novel of a generation, which follows four young girls affectionately known as the “Babies” as they weave through the turbulent sixties and Civil Rights, coming of age in the decadent and destructive eighties.
Claretta Street is set in the small Los Angeles suburb of Pacoima, a bustling Black-Pride filled town during the Civil Rights era. Pacoima, California, was one of the few places in California where racial covenants were non-existent, allowing African Americans to buy property and businesses without repressive laws working against them. African Americans flocked there to live the “American Dream.” Claretta Street is the complete tale of the African American fate.
Colette Barris brings a fresh voice to the plight of Black experience in America. Claretta Street is clear, concise, yet layered with the complexities that encompass the Black experience in a way not articulated in American literature in years.
Purchase Claretta Street from these retailers
Amazon.com, Vroman’s Bookstore, and Book Soup.
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Why Claretta Street is Needed…
Today countless discussions on the peril of Black America proliferate in the media, academia, and among social scientists, propelling this continuous Greek tragedy into the main view of America and the world. However, the incendiary foundation and epoch of this unfolding disaster must be told and the veil of destruction exposed-the eighties. Claretta Street takes the reader on a ride of unbelievable clarity and cause, as Denise, in ancient griot form, becomes the voice of the diaspora both prophetic and naïve, stripping down in plain view the causes and emotions of a time of great hope and sadness to preserve through decadence and decline.
Claretta Street is the story of hope and change coupled with the unfortunate forces and juxtaposition of man’s inhumanity and struggle all the while seeking hope and love.
Praise for Claretta Street
“Claretta Street is a classic in the making which depicts the voice and soul of Africans in America. Claretta Street by Colette Barris is a novel of a generation; gut wrenching, it leaves a knot in your throat wanting more.”
—Jackie Ferguson, daughter of famed Pan African nationalist Herman Ferguson
“Check out Claretta Street an amazing read needed now.”
—Kenya Barris, creator of Black-ish, Peabody winner and Emmy nominee.
Author Bio
Writer Colette Barris is a graduate of the University of Southern California, a native of Pacoima, and the older sister of Emmy and Golden Globe nominated Black-ish creator/writer and 2017 Peabody winner Kenya Barris.
Colette Barris brings a fresh voice to the plight of Black experience in America. Claretta Street is clear, concise, yet layered with the complexities that encompass the Black experience in a way not articulated in American literature in years.
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