BIO

DR. MICHAEL DATCHER received his B.S. from UC Berkeley and his Ph.D. from UC Riverside in English Literature. His debut children’s book is Harlem At Four. He is the author of the New York Times Bestseller Raising Fences and the critically acclaimed Ferguson-area historical novel Americus. His book Animating Black and Brown Liberation: A Theory of American Literatures was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Datcher has made numerous media appearances, including Oprah, Today Show and Dateline. Dr. Michael Datcher teaches writing at New York University. 

HARLEM AT FOUR

Harlem at Four tells two stories about Harlem. It is the compelling story of a single father and his daughter named Harlem (named after the Harlem Renaissance) as they explore museums, music and culture in their Harlem neighborhood when she is 4 years old. The picture book also tells the story of Harlem the neighborhood in the 4th year of the 20th Century (1904), which was a pivotal year because Phillip Payton (known as the Father of Harlem) founded the Afro American Realty Company which broke restrictive racial housing covenants and rented apartments to Blacks, laying the foundation for the Great Black Migration and eventually the Harlem Renaissance.