Beth a RobertsBeth "Batyah" Roberts is a Author, Publisher, Speaker and humanitarian. Her work in criminal justice has won national awards with programs she helped to establish serving populations in the largest county jail system in Michigan. It is during that tie that she published her first book, "Batyah's Real Ease - One Woman's Journey Out" an autobiographical book of poems and prose about the personal experience of a mixed race child born in the sixties to a white mother who marries a man in the KKK when the child is five years old. The book details the author's life of love, hell, healing and restoration and was adopted as mandatory reading in local substance abuse treatment centers and incorporated in the jails by request from counselors working with men sentenced for domestic violence related crimes and women sentenced for street-level prostitution. Her written work helped these men learn and understand intrinsically, true love, which is not violent, and truth, which is liberating and empowering. The universal messages in the stanzas crossed all barriers, particularly religions. After presenting a piece before a large body to include multiple faith leaders from various religious sects, all stood in line to share with me how deeply her work touched them. Her work speaks to the hearts and minds of her readers, who uniquely and intimately identify with her and find solace in her words. Batyah established Batyah and Associates Publishing in 2004 to self-publish. It wasn't until she attended Full Sail University, graduating with awards, with a BS-Creative Writing for Entertainment in 2016, that she decided to publish the work of others and establish a platform for ethnic, disenfranchised writers who seek true representation of their written work in graphics and cover designs. Her first opportunity came in April 2018 when she was approached by Lawrence, Baba Kenyatta to publish his book, and here we are partaking in the first (of many) bonafide projects published by Batyah & associates publishing. Having worked with Lawrence Kenyatta in the past, seeing her own children grow up in prevention programs under his guidance, she was honored when she was asked to work with him on this project. "Once I got in and started editing, I knew it was a hit, I was becoming emotionally involved. Then, one night Baba and I were on the phone discussing the main character. Having somehow fallen in love with the boy, I saw a better outcome for him and pleaded with Baba to allow me to write a better ending where he learns his lesson and still comes out on top. Baba wasn't hearing it. He raised his voice at me and sternly said, "TYREE MADE A DECISION, HE KNEW WHAT HE WAS DOING WHEN HE MADE IT! HE HAS TO FACE THE CONSEQUENCES OF HIS DECISION! It was though we were his parents, Baba his father and I the coddling mother. The emotional involvement was the true indication that this book will definitely connect with readers, for which I am eternally grateful." The Editor/Publisher seeks to publish works that are designed to uplift and inspire humanity, with special focus on writers of color who write with for and on purpose. Read More Read Less