Alpha Kappa Alpha’s ReShonda Tate Is a National Bestselling Author of More Than 50 Books

Did you know that one of the most prolific authors in Black literature, a national bestselling novelist with more than 53 books to her name, is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.? Her name is ReShonda Tate, and she has spent her career telling stories that speak to Black life, faith and family.

ReShonda Tate, who published many of her early books as ReShonda Tate Billingsley, was born on September 7, 1969, in Kansas City, Missouri, and grew up in Houston, Texas. She earned her bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Texas at Austin in 1991. According to her official author page, she is a member of the Missouri City and Sugar Land chapters of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the first Greek-letter organization established by Black college women, which was founded in 1908 at Howard University. She is also a member of Jack and Jill of America, Inc.

Before she became a novelist, Tate built a long career in television news. As The HistoryMakers documents, she worked for more than two decades as an anchor and reporter at stations in Houston, Oklahoma City and Port Arthur, and served as a reporter and editor for the Houston Defender, one of the nation’s leading Black newspapers.

In 2001, she published her debut novel, My Brother’s Keeper, which was picked up by Simon & Schuster and launched one of the most productive careers in contemporary Black fiction. According to her official website, she is now the national bestselling author of more than 53 books, writing adult and teen fiction as well as nonfiction, and her titles have been featured in USA Today, The Washington Post, Jet, People, Essence and Ebony.

Her work has also reached the screen. Her novel Let the Church Say Amen was made into a film directed by actress Regina King and produced by T.D. Jakes and Queen Latifah, and it became one of BET’s highest-rated programs. Her book The Secret She Kept was adapted into a movie that aired on TV One, and she made a cameo appearance in it.

Tate has earned some of the most respected honors in her field. She won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work for her novel Say Amen, Again, and she received additional Image Award nominations for Mama’s Boy and The Secret She Kept. An award-winning poet and sought-after motivational speaker, she has also been inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame and honored as a Texas Top Author. In 2014, she co-founded the publishing company Brown Girl Books to help bring more Black stories to readers.

From the newsroom to the bestseller list, Soror ReShonda Tate has built a body of work that has reached readers around the country and opened doors for other Black authors.

We at Watch The Yard would like to commend Soror ReShonda Tate for her remarkable contributions to Black literature.