Houston – On Houston Life, we celebrated the love, legacy, and a woman whose contributions helped shape American history. Hazel Scott was a jazz virtuoso, a cultural icon, and a fearless civil rights trailblazer whose name was nearly erased from the story she helped write.
Her life and legacy are now front and center in With Love From Harlem, the newest novel from award-winning author ReShonda Tate. Tate, a Houston native and former KPRC 2 reporter and producer, is celebrating her 54th book with a story that blends history, romance, and political intrigue.
Hazel Scott was more than a musical prodigy. She was the first Black woman to host her own nationally syndicated television show, bringing her talent and elegance into living rooms across America during a time when representation was rare. She also used her platform to demand change, refusing to perform for segregated audiences even when it put her career at risk.
“For a Black woman in the 1940s to say, ‘I will not perform for segregated audiences,’ and to have producers actually listen, that was phenomenal,” Tate said.
Scott’s activism came with consequences. After speaking out for civil rights and testifying before Congress during the Red Scare, she was falsely labeled a communist. The backlash effectively ended her Hollywood career and forced her to leave the United States, eventually settling in Paris. According to Tate, that exile is a major reason Scott’s story faded from mainstream history.
With Love From Harlem also explores Scott’s marriage to Adam Clayton Powell Jr., a powerful Baptist minister who became one of the most influential politicians of the civil rights era. Together, they were known as the King and Queen of Harlem, sometimes referred to as the Black Camelot. Their wedding drew more than 3,000 guests and made them one of the most famous couples in the country, Black or white.
But their relationship was complicated. When Scott and Powell met, he was still married, and their union sparked controversy. Despite the scrutiny, the couple wielded enormous influence through art, politics, and activism, even as their bold ideas made them polarizing figures.
“Adam Clayton Powell Jr. did not hold back,” Tate said. “He spoke his mind, challenged presidents, and made people uncomfortable. That kind of power always comes with pushback.”
Tate’s background in journalism plays a key role in how she tells these stories. As Managing Editor of the Defender Network, she spends her days immersed in hard news. Her nights, however, are spent in archives like the Library of Congress, where she grounds her novels in historical fact before filling in the emotional gaps with fiction.
“Everything in the book is rooted in fact,” Tate said. “I like to educate and entertain.”
Beyond the page, Tate continues to educate audiences through her popular History Tea series on Instagram, where she introduces followers to overlooked figures in Black history. The response, she says, has been overwhelming.
“I love when people tell me they had never heard of Hazel Scott or Adam Clayton Powell Jr. before reading the book,” she said. “Then they start going down rabbit holes. That tells me the work is done.”
With Love From Harlem features appearances from cultural icons, including Billie Holiday, James Baldwin, Miles Davis, and Langston Hughes, but at its heart, it is the story of a woman who refused to shrink herself for anyone.
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