With the advent of this company, a new day has dawned on the world of urban literature. At Soulfire Books, we possess the unique attitude that you deserve a reading experience that far exceeds your expectations, one that is totally transforming and enriching. Reading should be a wonderful habit.

SoulFire Books is the direct outgrowth of our desire to reform African-American literature. We strongly feel that literature is the written lifeblood of a people, the legendary symbol of both their inspirations and aspirations as well as the catalyst for their future ambitions.

In any event, SoulFire Books is here to free urban literature of its rigid reliance on sexual gimmicks, predictable plots, and unrepentant repetitiveness, thereby producing a body of work that will quicken our desire to alter the social dynamics of our environment.

Gibran Tariq

Books

Check out some of our most recently released titles below!  Click a book cover to purchase via amazon.

Givin' The Devil His Due

Gentrification has come to Charlotte, and when twelve year old Roscoe Brown discovers that he and his family will be forced to move out of his beloved First Ward neighborhood, he feels betrayed and his world is instantly turned upside down. Roscoe is devastated that his all-black neighborhood will be razed to the ground, and when he buries his beloved cat down by the creek, just below the three-roomed, shot-gun shack where he lived, he prays that the cat will come back as a saber-toothed tiger to destroy the white people that will move into his old neighborhood. Maybe Roscoe shouldn't have prayed for that!

Grits Ain't Grocery

When Radar K Simpson is hired by The Nation of Islam to bring them proof that the white man is the devil, he learns a hell of a lot more in this profanely funny peek at white privilege.

The Fork And Spoon Diary

Trina Brown wants to be a beauty queen more than anything else in the world, but just as she prepares to participate in her first pageant for Miss Teen Charlotte, her plans suddenly change in a most dramatic way.

Without warning, she chooses to use her brains instead of her beauty to change the world, and this simple decision will not merely alter the course of her young life, but will also bring her face-to-face with a modern-day monster as she challenges the fast-food industry to save teens from unhealthy eating habits and a lifetime of obesity.

Coochie

When Supreme, an aging hustler, is released from prison, he turns to his childhood friend, Ice, a pimp, who introduces him to the fast-paced world of sex trafficking. All is well until Supreme learns of the Russians' plan to smuggle a busload of young, black girls out of the country. Supreme eventually has a change of heart, but will it be in time now that the Russians have made up their minds to introduce Eastern Europe to the world-renown, most revered, most talked about physical asset in the world----the fabled butt of the black woman!!!

The Talented Xth

A coming of age story about a young boy whose life is turned upside down by a beautiful, dominating mother, and a terrifying secret. Growing up, he has to fight the "growning pains" of knowing he is "different", and in an early effort to combat these feelings, and after he nearly kills a young, female playmate who refuses to let him play "Mommy" in the childhood game of playing house, he turns to boxing as a way to "enhance" his masculinity.

The violence of boxing, for a short time, soothes the 'feminine' beast that is rising up within him, but his prowess in the ring brings him to the attention of The Talented Xth, a secret organization of powerful gay men who groom him for the ultimate prize in sports: THE HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE WORLD!

The Talented Xth's sinister plans includes taking control of the US government and the due date for the takeover will be set into motion on the night when their client wins the heavyweight championship and stuns the world by renouncing the itle and by announcing that he is gay!

Between 2 Fires

Regina Barkley, a self-proclaimed chocolate angel, loves the thrill of getting her way. That is how it has always been, and the way she prefers it to remain, but sometimes the unexpected happens. When her only son, a wannabe thug, is arrested for drug conspiracy, and must face a white DA who has a history of being the toughest prosecutor in the state, Regina knows, without doubt, that her son is going to prison for the rest of his life unless she does what she normally does which is to bend men to her will, yet in a game where the winner takes all, Regina stumbles badly when she discover the one thing she doesn't need to know: that black women are unconsciously attracted to the power of white men! Oh my, how do you prevail against a foe who has all the cards stacked in his favor. For most women, this would present an almost insurmountable challenge. For Regina, it only makes her quest more interesting.

When I Say Jump

After graduating at the top of her law class, Elizabeth Sellers is ready to take on and conquer the legal world, but her hopes quickly fade when none of the big Washington law firms contact her. Discouraged, she returns home to work in a local firm where her first case might turn out to be her last. When she is hired to take on the case of four black toddlers injured at a day care in Charlotte NC, she stumbles upon a government conspiracy to imprison one out of every four black males born in this country. Both her life and sanity are threatened, but the ultimate question for her is simple: Are black males worth saving?!

The Columbus Day Conspiracy

Go deep behind the scenes of one the greatest conspiracies ever engineered by the US government against Black America! THE COLUMBUS DAY CONSPIRACY by Gibran Tariq & Gregory S. Jones.

The Columbus Day Conspiracy is a fact-based novel that exposes the truth about your birth certificate and how it is nothing more than a commercial "Bill of Sale."

THE COLUMBUS DAY CONSPIRACY is not merely a book. It is an Indictment against the American government for tricking black people, and a revelation for black people who need to know what the hell went on.

Did you know that the US government went bankrupt and put the American citizens up as collateral to pay down U.S. debt? Did you know that black people are not real citizens of the US? Did you know the 14th Amendment is bogus?

One Foot in the Grave

When bad-boy, ex cop, John Edwards, is released from prison, he is immediately recruited by a group of powerful, white men who run a secret organization called The Successors who spearhead a government conspiracy to exterminate the black race.

The Successors literally offers Edwards the chance to live like a black king. He can have anything he desires, and all The Successors want in return is his treachery!

Black Pearl

When Princess "Pearl" Washington, all of a sudden, decides that the church is cheating her out of a social life, she convinces herself that the grass is greener on the other side of the church’s door. When she leaves the comfort and security of the church, she immediately begins to discover the realities of life on the streets.

Snapshots

A daily dose of inspiration for African-Americans each day of the year.

The Unmaking of the Black Man

A searing commentary on image and the negative impact it has has on black people in this country.

Breakfast in America

Tolly Evans gets the biggest case of his life.

UNFINISHED BIZ’NESS

By Gibran Tariq | March 1, 2019 |

It has happened before. In fact, it has happened quite a few times, but this morning it felt somewhat surreal. I still want to rob an armored truck! Not that I would, but yeah, the thrill of the heist still lingers in the depths of my soul. And this morning when I stumbled upon a…

A NEW DAY HAS DAWNED IN URBAN LIT

By Gibran Tariq | February 23, 2019 |

A New Day Has Dawned In The World Of Urban Literature With Soulfire Books! CHARLOTTE, N.C. – January 2019— At SoulFire Books, our mission is to elevate and to evolve African-American literature by being fundamentally committed to being at the forefront of a new direction in our literary progression. At SoulFire Books, we acknowledge the…

gibran-tariq_big

About Gibran Tariq

For most of my life, I was the guy most wannabe thugs wished they could be. Officially declared a "menace to society", I was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for my role as mastermind of a series of daring bank robberies in the 70s. Two involved shootouts. One with the police. The other with a citizen in a bank parking lot where I narrowly missed being killed. While confined, I took part in an even more daring prison escape. Despite this seeming penchant for violence, I consoled myself with the notion that I was merely a poet trapped in a gangsta's body and oddly enough, this wasn't far from the truth as I had evolved from a family of teachers, four of whom taught English. As such, I learned, early on, to respect and to appreciate language since my grandmother was very strict and would not tolerate improper grammar under her roof.

From the start, there appeared to be a household conspiracy to convert me into a writer. By the time I was ten, I possessed a private library fit for a scholar, had a new typewriter, a big desk, and plenty of blank paper. By 11, I had mastered the dictionary, was a whiz at Scrabble, and was a honor roll student in school. At twelve, I had completed my first novel. By my 13th birthday, I had discovered hustling and I immediately dropped out of school and adopted "the streets" as my home. By 14, I was in reform school for assaulting a police officer. While there, I was a star journalist, the first black deemed smart enough to work in the print shop. I served one year and a day. Upon my release, with hardly any delays, I embarked on a personal crime spree, and at the age of 15 years-old, I was sent to prison where I was the youngest convict there. While in the Youth Center, I acquired my high school diploma at 16 years-old, wrote my first play, turned militant, and when released at 19, went to New York to join the Black Panthers. In New York, I discovered heroin. Writing and the revolution would both have to wait as a drug habit left little room for anything else. When I tired of being a junkie, I kicked my fascination with getting high, but years later would emerge as the "alleged" kingpin of a notorious heroin distribution ring. Finally brought down by the FBI and DEA in 1997, I again was sent to federal prison. This time I would be gone for another decade, but once more I turned back to what I had turned my back on: writing.

I studied journalism, started a writer's colony, mentored other aspiring prison writers. I edited and founded various newsletters, performed freelance editorial services for outside writers while quietly perfecting my craft. Hailed by some as one of the greatest prison writers ever, I was interviewed by numerous TV and print outlets. My writings have even been studied in an English class at a university where I was invited to lecture. While in the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, I published two novels, but soured on traditional publishing after a deal gone bad with a well-known publisher. I also developed two programs. One, PROJECT UPLIFT, which deals with drug-dealer addiction. The second, GIRLSMART, a community service program concerned with at-risk, teenaged, black girls. This program is a counter to the video vixen syndrome where sistas opt to employ their booties rather than their brains. Lastly, I have finally gone from wrong to "write!"

Click here to buy my books on amazon.

Testimonials

"Mr. Tariq keeps the reader turning the page. Well written, and great read. His words paint the pictures for you. "

"A very good read I didn't put down until I had finished."

"Great read with all the twists in this book had my on the edge of my seat would recommend this to all readers first time reading work from this author will look forward to more keep up the good work"

"I like to get into a book and stay with it until I'm finished, picking it up whenever I have a free moment. This is that kind of story. I will read more of this author."

Soulfire Books