One of America's greatest untold stories is the migration of more than six million Black citizens from the harsh conditions in the south to the illusion of promise in the north. This journey of escape and hope is thoroughly chronicled in Pulitzer Prize winning author and journalist Isabel Wilkerson's "The Warmth of Other Suns The Epic Story of America's Great Migration."

The Bibliophiles, Inc., an African-American reading group, led a discussion about the book as they helped kick off the West Orange African Heritage Organization's Martin Luther King Celebration at The Dome Friday.

Co-founded by Joyce Wilson Harley and Montclair resident Shelia Bayne 24 years ago, the Bibliophiles, also known as the Bibs, is the oldest, continuously operating, incorporated Black book club in America.  

The Bibs were invited by the West Orange African Heritage Organization to lead the discussion and set the stage for the Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration and African Heritage Month in February. Harley is also part of the African heritage organization.
 
The stories of the real-life characters in the book came to life with the roughly 100 guests that attended the event. Nearly everyone present spoke about their own family's migration from the south — anywhere from Florida, Georgia, Texas, Mississippi, South or North Carolina.

The Bibs, too, had stories of their own — of family members that left the south to escape the oppression of Jim Crow Laws, the threat of lynchings and the lack of opportunity.
 
The event was one of many the Bibs host around the county and the state.