Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to each of you!!
May it be filled with lots of good tidings and joy!!
We’re you Naughty or Nice this year??!!
Merry Christmas Black Future Feminist Family!!
#BlackHistory365 in the Workplace Guide
New Social Media Project Alert!!
Launched on November 17th, 2022 myself and a few VCU student-staff members student staff members Sanaa Banks, Raiat Haque, and Asia Heath launched a new virtual project, “Black Girl Magic in Media”!
With the release of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the anticipated FX series Kindred, the emergence on online Black & Brown shopping directory (Harlem Fashion Row) created by a Black woman Brandice Daniel , and so much more Black Girl Magic is in full effect…I would even say overload!!
Black Girl Magic in Media is a “curated site that shows the vast, creative representations of Black girls and women in media.” This project was launched in response to the many reactions after “The Little Mermaid” trailer dropped. While there were numerous reactions of excitement and joy, sadly (but not surprisingly) there were quite a few visceral reactions. Thus, the light bulb went off and I wanted to make sure I played a part in changing the narrative of how Black girls and women in the media are truly magic!!
Through out the week this space will provide an array of features including: spoiler-free television and film reviews, “Black Girl Magic” Highlights, monthly staff picks, recommended book, television, and film lists!!
So if you want to hop on the ride, check us out on Instagram at @blackgirlmagicinmedia !! And if you would like to contribute your thoughts on Black Girl Magic, please feel free to share here! You never know we might feature you :-)!
~Dr. G
Dr. G’s Weekly Hot Topics!!
As we walk into December let’s check out some new and exciting things happening in the world!! Check out this week’s goodies below:
A new children’s book that discusses grief and healing, the Many Shapes of Clay: A Story of Healing by Kenesha Sneed.
SNEAK PEEK-First images of the upcoming Luther film from Netflix!! I am SOOOO ready!! Luther is set to be released in March 2023. #LutherFan
As archaeologists recover remains from the “Clotilda,” visitors can now prepare to visit the forthcoming Africatown Heritage House in Mobile, Alabama. As described by Mobile County commissioner Merceria Ludgood, the museum is “a collaborative effort to share the long-doubted, inspirational story of the Clotilda, its captives, and their unique place in the history of this country.” The Africatown Heritage House is set to open in the Spring of 2023. In the meantime, to learn more about Africatown and the Clotilda, check out the Netflix documentary “Descendant” .
Running, the arts, and Philadelphia…Mural Miles is a nonprofit running and art curation group, running (pun intended) on a “mission to inspire human potential through community fitness and art.” And their inaugural mural “Equilibrium,” was unveiled this past Thanksgiving weekend. The piece depicts two local runners, Aaron Leon Nixon and Valentina Viana, in stride alongside birds and a dog. Through this mural and other it is sure to spark a movement. To see the mural you can access it at 638 Christian St. in South Philadelphia.
Lastly, a new exhibition featuring photographs and artifacts from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture collection will be on display (opening December 2nd), Spirit in the Dark: Religion in Black Music, Activism, and Popular Culture. Visitors can check out the exhibition until November 2023 in the Earl W. and Amanda Stafford Center for African American Media Arts (CAAMA) gallery. As noted by NMAAHC, “The exhibition spotlights the presence of religion in African American popular culture through three sections [Blurred Lines: Holy | Profane, Bearing Witness: Protest | Praise, Lived Realities: Suffering | Hope], providing a visual exploration of religion’s shadow in both the sacred and secular through images and artifacts.”
Weekly Trailer Alerts!!
Last day of the month and I’m bringing you a few goodies!! Getting you ready for your Holiday binging sessions and a few new year treats!! Check them out below:
Riches (Streaming December 2 on Prime Video)
Kindred (Streaming December 13 on FX/Hulu)
1923 (Streaming December 18 on Paramount +)
Babylon (In theaters December 23rd)
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Streaming on Netflix December 23rd)
Magic Mike’s Last Dance (In theaters February 10, 2023)
John Wick: Chapter 4 (In theaters March 23rd, 2023)
Dr. G’s Monthly Book Recommendations-November 2022
One more month and we will be closing out 2022….but hold tight!! Got another list for you to stock your bookshelves. Check out this month’s recommendation below:
- The World We Make ~N.K. Jemisin
- Extraordinary Women with Cameras ~Darcy Reed
- Concentrate: Poems ~Courtney Faye Taylor
- Someday Maybe ~Onyi Nwabineli
- The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times ~Michelle Obama
- Making Happy ~Sheetal Sheth
And remember you can always go back and check out the previous month’s list and past recommendations in the “Resource” section of the website!!
“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” ~Alice Walker
Happy Thanksgiving!!
Sending many thankful thoughts and wishes to you on today!!
Enjoy the day!!
~Dr. G
#BlackPanther:WakandaCelebration Week!!
Just wanted to drop a few new goodies that I picked up in honor of the new film!!
Nothing like adding to the collection!! #WakandaForever
Dr. G’s Weekly Hot Topics!!
Nothing like some mid-week goodies!! Check out this week’s Hot Topics, see below:
Preparing for Spring 2023 Festival Season … “Something in the Water” festival is coming back to Virginia Beach, VA in 2023!! On Saturday November 5th, VA Beach native Pharrell Williams along with VA Beach mayor Bobby Dyer made the announcement during Williams inaugural Mighty Dream Forum.
In a statement made by Williams, “The demand for the festival in Virginia Beach and The 757 – among the people – has never wavered. If anything it has only intensified.” Well folks will not have to wait long!!
The full line up and details will be announced soon. Tickets have gone on sale starting Saturday, 11/5.
This is for you Sneakerheads!! … Need some new sneakers…Going to be visiting New Orleans (NOLA) well I have a spot for you!! Check out the only Black-owned sneaker shop in Kenner (a suburb of the crescent city-New Orleans), Peddlers Ave. Birthed out of a hustle and love for shoes, owner Lawrence Wilright launched the sneaker shop in 2010 with a brick-and-mortar building in 2017.
There’s Power in a Name …One of my favorite authors Octavia E. Butler is getting a school named after her, matter fact, it’s her alma mater. Washington STEAM Multilingual Academy in Pasadena, CA will be renamed “Octavia E. Butler Magnet,” the only school in the nation named after the late author. Adding to the excitement, fellow sci-fi and horror author Tananarive Due exclaims, “It feels like a prophecy fulfilled almost…I mean, here she was learning to dream when she was a child attending the school, and now it’s turned into a school that would have been something beyond her dreams.” The decision to rename the school was first made this spring and comes the same year as the new FX television series based on Butler’s 1979 novel “Kindred” is set to debut (December 13th on Hulu).
New Postage Coming Soon in 2023!!… It was announced late October two Black literary giants Toni Morrison and Ernest J. Gaines will be honored with USPS stamps!! Both trailblazers used their craft and literary gifts to amplify stories that provided a lens into the Black experience in America. The “Toni Morrison” stamp features a photograph of Morrison taken in 2000. Art director Ethel Kessler designed the stamp with photography by Deborah Feingold. And the stamp of “Ernest J. Gaines” features an oil painting of Gaines, based on a 2001 photograph. Mike Ryan designed the stamp with art by Robert Peterson. Greg Breeding served as art director.
Broadway Legacy!!… Broadway has something new to celebrate!! The former Mansfield Theater in New York City will now grace the name of the legendary actress and civil rights activist Lena Horne. Horne becomes the first Black women in American history to have a Broadway theater named in her honor. As noted by her granddaughter Jenny Lumet, “My grandma’s a Bed–Stuy girl, and we’re a New York family. So to have her always be in New York City in the theater district, it means everything.”
New Exhibition in Oakland, CA… A new exhibition project “Angela Davis—Seize the Time” is on view at the Oakland Museum of California. The exhibition provides a lens into Davis’ revolutionary quest for change, her incarceration, and the “Free Angela Davis” movement that followed. It will compose of of artwork, sketches, literature, stickers, buttons, postcards, and letters from the “Free Angela and All Political Prisoners” campaign, Davis’ writings, and other multi-media elements to encapsulate her story. The exhibition was cultivated by the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University, and curated by Donna Gustafson and Gerry Beegan of Rutgers University and Lisa Silberstein and Peggy Monahan of OMCA. “Seize the Time” is on view now through June 11, 2023.
#BlackPanther:WakandaForever Celebration Week-In Their Own Words!
Today’s celebration is about showcasing various interviews with the director and cast members…Nothing like hearing the thoughts and feelings from those involved. Check them out below:
Tune in tomorrow for the next #BP:WF goodie!!
Weekly Trailer Alerts!!
With one holiday down and two more on the way, film and television is prepping us for what we will be soaking up next! This week I have a few trailers for you to put on the calendar to prep you for your Thanksgiving and Christmas viewing pleasures! Check them out below:
The Santa Clauses (Streaming on Disney + November 16)
Disenchanted (Streaming on Disney+ November 18th)
Fantasy Football (Streaming on Paramount+ November 25)
Season 3-Blood & Water (Streaming on Netflix November 25)
Three Pines (Streaming on Prime Video December 2)
Season 3-His Dark Materials (Streaming on HBO Max December 5)
Black Future Feminist 