New Releases by Lorenzo Pace

Locked is a play that explores an African American family''s past and the pain of slavery, racism, and discrimination in America. A young man, Jalani Pace, returns to his grandmother''s house in the South for a visit and discovers an old lock hidden in a drawer. When Jalani asks about the lock, his grandmother, Mary Alice, becomes nervous that the family''s secrets (and her pain) will be unearthed. What lessons will the old lock teach Jalani, his family, and our nation about race, the past, and our future? Locked, a full-length play in two acts, explores this question and celebrates the human spirit''s ability to overcome.

In this story based on true events, Jalani, a freed slave, gives the lock that held him in chains to his eldest child as a symbol of his enslavement. Includes information about African Burial Ground Memorial Sculpture in New York City created by Jalani''s descendent, Lorenzo Pace.

This illustrated children''s book discusses the life of the abolitionists Frederick Douglass and the founding of the anti-slavery newspaper "North Star."

Artist Lorenzo Pace participated in the civil rights movement and marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. His unique cultural perspective and first-person eyewitness account of the era is made immediate and accessible to elementary students with his artistic collages of primary source materials. About the Author/Illustrator Lorenzo Pace is the former director of the Montclair State University Art Galleries in Upper Montclair, New Jersey. He is the sculptor commissioned to create Triumph of the Human Spirit for the African Burial Ground Memorial in Foley Square Park in New York City. He is currently a Professor of Art at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

Artist Lorenzo Pace uses his grandmother''s quilts in a powerful, personal, and artistic presentation of Harriet Tubman''s heroic participation in the Underground Railroad. the Pace family artifacts are like the quilts slaves made and used for giving signals and directions to those seeking freedom. His unique narrative voice and point of view make this a brilliant, age-appropriate informational text.

With this quartet of stories and narrative non-fiction, emerging readers will come to know the important events and some of the key figures in African American history. The lives and accomplishments of the subjects are presented with clear language, primary sources, and memorable illustrations. Children are never too young to begin learning about key themes such as justice, resilience, perseverance, and

Sculptor Lorenzo Pace won the commission to create the African Burial Ground Memorial sculpture in New York City, which has at its base a replica of the lock that imprisoned his great-grandfather as a slave, passed down through the generations. Pace’s beautiful story about the fictional Jalani’s chained arrival in the United States tells an uplifting story for children about his ultimate freedom. About the Author/Illustrator Lorenzo Pace is the former director of the Montclair State University Art Galleries in Upper Montclair, New Jersey. He is the sculptor commissioned to create Triumph of the Human Spirit for the African Burial Ground Memorial in Foley Square Park in New York City. He is currently a Professor of Art at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.