Sonya Bernard-Hollins

Sonya Bernard-Hollins is an award-winning journalist with a passion for African American history that began as a child. The excitement of reading the Jet and Ebony magazines inspired her to become a journalist. That passion, coupled with her professional career in journalism, has led to her publishing books that highlight untold stories history that shaped communities. Hollins, along with her husband, Sean, founded Season Press LLC, a self-publishing consultant firm after the debut of their book, Here I Stand: One City's Musical History. This oral-history driven book highlights the never-before-told stories of artists such as Junior Walker, Wade Flemons, Al Green, and others whose careers began at the El Grotto in Battle Creek, Michigan. As partners in Season Press LLC, the have provided professional one-on-one guidance for nearly 200 authors. Together, they have co-written and produced non-fiction children's books that inspire youth and focus on hidden figures in African American history; particularly Michigan history. These works include: Benjamin Losford and His Handy, Dandy Clippers shares the story of a three-generation family of barbers that began during slavery. Small Beginnings: The Photographic Journey Through the Life of Merze Tate, accompanies a traveling exhibition of the life of Tate, the first African American graduate of Oxford University. African American Women Firsts of Kalamazoo Coloring Book, and the partner African American Men Firsts of Kalamazoo Coloring Book. Little Eddie Goes to Carnegie Hall, a children's book about a young boy whose visit to Carnegie Hall inspires him to practice to one day take the famous stage. The Journey: My Blessings Journal, a journal to inspire women to chronicle the trials and triumphs in their lives. The Michigan native is a graduate of Kalamazoo Valley Community College and Western Michigan University where she received a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism. She has worked with such news outlets as Black Enterprise Magazine, Akron Beacon Journal, Battle Creek Enquirer, and Kalamazoo Gazette. Her work in community service through journalism has led to awards from such organizations as the Michigan Press Association, Associated Press, Boys Scouts prestigious William H. Spurgeon III Award, Mary McLeod Bethune Civic Community Service Award from Delta Sigma Theta, Sorority (Kalamazoo, Michigan), Excellence in Service Award from Zeta Phi Beta, Sorority (Kalamazoo, Michigan), Velma Laws-Clay Vanguard Award from the Sojourner Truth Institute (Battle Creek, Michigan), A. Phillip Randolph Institute, the American Business Women’s Association, and many others.