LeVar Burton to Release 2 New Books: 'It's Time for Me to Speak' (Exclusive)

The beloved 'Roots' and 'Star Trek' actor and host of 'Reading Rainbow' is bringing his powerful voice to the page

LeVar Burton has been a fixture on our screens for decades, and two new books will allow him to share his story and literacy advocacy in a new way — and you won't have to take our word for it.

The actor, director and host of the LeVar Burton Reads podcast has exclusively announced with PEOPLE that he will release an inspirational memoir on how to be your authentic self in 2026. A second book on the importance of reading will follow in 2028, according to publisher Pantheon.

"This is my opportunity to go on record, to weigh in, as it were," Burton tells PEOPLE. "I have earned the respect of this nation and I've earned the right to speak my piece. Not simply because of what I've done, but simply because I am here. But I do know that which I have accomplished in this life causes people to pay attention when I speak. So it's time for me to speak."

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Burton, 67, first found fame as Kunta Kinte in the seminal miniseries Roots. He also played Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation and hosted the PBS Kids educational television series Reading Rainbow for 23 years, for which he's earned 12 Daytime Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award as performer and executive producer. He considers those three roles the tentpoles of his decades-long career.

"LeVar Burton has been our teacher, our advocate and our friend for five decades and counting — whether rendering the horrors of American slavery real in Roots, lovingly showing children how to love books for 22 years on Reading Rainbow, or breaking boundaries on Star Trek," says Lisa Lucas, publisher of Pantheon and Schocken Books. "Burton is both an icon and a beacon and Pantheon is beyond proud to publish books both on his exceptional life and career, and his unparalleled work as a champion and defender of the written word."

Related: How LeVar Burton's Finding Your Roots Journey Made Him Feel Closer to the Father He Hadn't Seen 'in Decades'

His upcoming books will enable him to honor those who came before, the actor says. And he stands on the shoulders of giants, particularly where literacy is concerned. His late mother, Erma Gene Christian, was a high school English teacher whom Burton has previously credited for his love for reading and the primary reason he initially took on Reading Rainbow.

Both his grandfather, Aaron C. Burton, and great-grandfather, Pearl B. Burton, were school superintendents. Pearl helped to open a public school for Black children in Osceola, Arkansas, at a time when approximately 20% of the state’s Black population was illiterate. His great great-grandfather on his dad’s side also served as a representative in the Arkansas General Assembly, thanks to the Reconstruction Act of 1867, which gave Black men in former Confederate states the right to vote.

"I feel a tremendous responsibility because of [my ancestors'] sacrifices, because of the pain and the suffering that they went through in order for me to be," Burton explains to PEOPLE. "I feel a responsibility and an excitement to share those stories as a part of my story. None of us get to be here through our singular efforts alone.

He adds, "If we are going to take a full accounting of who we are as individuals, those stories need to be honored too and included in the narrative."

Related: LeVar Burton Calls Out Moms for Liberty at National Book Awards: ‘Books Are Under Attack’

Many children grew up watching Burton, and he's been a champion of reading all his life. And at a time when book bans are in the news across the country, he's looking forward to impressing upon his own readers the importance of the written word.

"As a Black man who comes from people for whom it would have been illegal to have the facility of literacy, to have grown up and become a symbol of literacy, an acknowledged advocate for literacy, especially childhood literacy in this country, that's no small thing in my view," Burton says. "I think it's worthy of noting and talking about in a memoir what that means to me, what that means to America."

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