About Us
The Reading and Writing SISTAZ (R.A.W. SISTAZ) Literary Group was founded by Tee C. Royal in September 2000 and focuses on reading, writing, and discussing books primarily by African American Authors. We read three books a month (one is optional) as a group: the Book of the Month (BOM), an “Ole-school” book and an alternate book. Members vote via an online poll, the alternate book is selected by the founder. We usually have an online chat with the author of the BOM to further discuss the book and even offer other author chats on most Tuesday nights of the month. See the Chat Room schedule for more information.
History
The group was initially to be a small branch off of the SISTAZ (www.sistaz.org) email loop, but because of the overwhelming interest from women outside the organization, we decided on a separate entity to accommodate the incoming requests for membership. We now have the main group and RAW4ALL, our literary hang-out. The main group consists of approximately 50 women who are spread across the globe reaching as far as Japan & England. RAW4ALL has the same goal as the main group, but with fewer rules. Since the group is online, it offers more than the normal meeting once a month to discuss books. We have active email dialogue about books we’ve read, upcoming books, literary events, and we even cross over into the writing arena. Some of the members are published authors while some are aspiring to be authors and are encouraged to share their writing tips and works for critique.Â
Our Mission
To “Keep You In the Know” by providing information to the African-American Literary Community regarding books, authors, and other publishing industry news.
Vision
We offer our services and this site to promote literacy amongst the African-American Community, to encourage our authors to continue following their dreams and to encourage the open exchange of literary information.
Primary Goal
To reach EVERYONE with an interest in the African-American Literary Community
Motto
Our group is a great source of great books, following dreams of being a writer, and motivates both the Readers and Writers in the group.  However, it is also a “home” for a lot of us. We’ve established bonds with one another that allow us to call each other “Sis” thus we’ve established the main motto of “Combining Literature and Sisterhood.”
**Our other motto used by our Founder and The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers is “Keeping You in the Know Regarding the African American Literary Community.” **
Accomplishments
We publish four literary newsletters: our monthly newsletter, The R.A.W. SISTAZ Review, and our weekly reviews called: AA Books: R.A.W. Style. In addition, we publish a daily Black Book Review and most recently, a weekly newsletter for those interested in children’s literature (RAW-Kidz Review). All are packed with information geared towards the AA reader/writer and for those who are lovers of reading…despite their race.
We have our own team of reviewers, The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers, and are featured on many sites, in magazines, and have our own extensive database of reviews. With our reviewers, you’re guaranteed to get an honest assessment of a book in a constructive way that we hope assists not only the author, but also the reader as they make their reading selections.Â
RAWSISTAZ has been featured in Writer’s Digest, Essence, the Black Expressions Catalog, and other literary sites and ezines.