Just like that I got another list of literary goodies waiting for you to add to you bookshelves. As always I have a nice mix for you, everything ranging from fantasy fiction to LGBTQ stories to illustrated history, and much more! And as you peruse the list make sure you also support your local bookstores!
Check out February’s List below:
Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther Party’s Promise to the People ~Kekla Magoon
Stone and Steel ~Eboni Dunbar
Rootless ~Krystle Zara Appiah
The Trayvon Generation ~Elizabeth Alexander
Illustrated Black History: Honoring the Iconic and Unseen ~George McCalman
Decent People ~De’Shawn Charles Winslow
A Ruin of Shadows ~L.D. Lewis
Trouble the Saints ~Alaya Dawn Johnson
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!!
“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” ~Harriet Tubman
Happy Valentine’s Day to all my BFF Family and Friends!! As a way of sharing my appreciation, here is a music playlist as well as film list to get you in the spirit!! Enjoy!!
Here is a playlist I created called “Black Love Through Music” on Spotify
And if you need a few suggestions of what to watch while cozied up on the couch, hanging out with that special someone, or with your crew check out this list of films to watch:
Claudine (1974)
Hav Plenty (1997)
How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998)
Brown Sugar (2002)
If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)
Rafiki (2018)
Naz & Maalik (2015)
Purple Rain (1984)
Carmen Jones (1954)
The Photograph (2020)
Breakin’ All The Rules (2004)
Nothing But A Man (1964)
Sylvie’s Love (2020)
Poetic Justice (1993)
Jason’s Lyric (1994)
Moonlight (2016)
Beyond the Lights (2014)
Really Love (2020)
I Will Follow (2010)
I Think I Love My Wife (2007)
Love Jones (1997)
Just a little something to get you in the mood for today and even for the rest of the week and month!! Happy V-Day!! Enjoy and Spread the Love!!
So much goodness, I had to share! Check out this weeks “HOT Topics”!!
On this coming Super Bowl Sunday history will be made through Autumn Lockwood!! Feb. 12 Philadelphia Eagles assistant performance coach Autumn Lockwood will stand on the sidelines as the first Black woman to coach in the event’s history.
Eagles assistant coach Autumn Lockwood will be the first Black woman to coach in a Super Bowl.
For all my gamers, check out this Humble Gaming Bundle! Humble has created a bundle of games by Black creators as well games featuring Black lead characters. By purchasing this bundle you are helping to support a new generation of game developers and tech talent.
The gaming bundle includes Mafia III and Shadow Man, along with the work of Black developers like Interabang Entertainment’s Jay & Silent Bob: Mall Brawl, Strange Scaffold’s An Airport for Aliens Currently Run By Dogs, and much more. Making a purchase will also help support Gameheads, an organization that “envisions a world where low income youth and youth of color are equipped to thrive and succeed in any field they choose, including the tech and video game industries.” To make a purchase see here!
If you want to know more about how Humble is celebrating Black History Month, check them out on their blog.
Also, in honor of Black History Month-AMC Theaters is doing a $5 Movie Ticket special for select films and participating theaters. Some of the films include:
Till (February 3-9)
The Woman King (February 17-23)
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (February 24-March 2)
As noted by AMC Theaters, “AMC Theaters is giving moviegoers the opportunity to revisit some of the most recent biographical dramas, military epics, and dramatic action movies created by or starring outstanding Black filmmakers and actors.”The offer begins on Feb. 3 and ends on March 2, with each film being shown in theaters for $5 for one week only.
Need to up your wine game, check out this list of Black-owned Wine Brands that you can purchase online:
Theopolis Vineyards: “Theopolis Vineyards is a small lot vineyard and hand-crafted winery located in California’s prestigious Yorkville Highlands of the Anderson Valley.”
Kai-Simone: “Bringing elegance and sophistication to the rustic Texas Hill Country, Kai-Simone promises a wonderful experience for everyone who visits.”
Edelheiss : “By the cultivation of traditional, precious materials, the team at Edelheiss works closely and cooperatively with well respected local winegrowers and suppliers to ensure that it makes the most of its long-term relationships.”
Flo: “FLO represents the journey through which we discover those things in life that fulfill us and make each experience a little better; for the love of life, self, happiness, passion, joy…love itself.”
Publishing Company to offer free Black History e-books!!Haymarket Books will offer 40% off of books centered around the Black Liberation struggle and the following e-books for free to download: “From Black Lives Matter to Black Liberation” by Keeanga Yamahtta, which explores why the Black Lives Matter movement is necessary; “Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising for Educational Justice,” edited by Jesse Hagopian and Denisha Jones, which details how the Black Lives Matter movement has challenged institutional racism; and “1919” by Eve L. Ewing, a collection of poems depicting the Chicago race riots of 1919.
Image Credit: Haymarket Books
Viola Davis is now a part of the EGOT club!! At the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, Davis would secure her status with a Grammy Award for the audiobook recording of her memoir, Finding Me. The exclusive [E]mmy-[G]rammy-[O]scar-[T]ony winner list only has 18 names on it. Viola is the fourth Black artist to accomplish the feat, following in the footsteps of Whoopi Goldberg, John Legend, and Jennifer Hudson. Davis’ previous awards are Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 2017 for Fences, an Emmy for Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 2015 for How to Get Away With Murder and two Tonys, one for Featured Actress in a Play in 2001 for King Hedley II and for Lead Actress in a Play in 2010 for Fences.
Another week of hot topics hot off the press!! Lots of goodies to get your week started!! Check them out below:
A Black Twitter docu-series is headed to Hulu!! Inspired by Jason Parham’s detailed oral history, A People’s History of Black Twitter, comes the story of “the rise, the movements, the voices and the memes that made Black Twitter an influential and dominant force in nearly every aspect of American political and cultural life.” The three-part docu-series is led by showrunner and executive producer Prentice Penny (Insecure) and will be his first project under Onyx Collective . As tweeted by Penny, “For those who know me you know how much love, respect, fear, and admiration I have for #BlackTwitter so I can’t be more excited and scared to a doc about the culture – just remember im doing this in love.”
Brown Twitter birds. Shown top left is the original illustration by Alex Eben Meyer (http://www.eben.com) that appeared in the Slate article, “How Black People Use Twitter”. The remaining birds are parodies by Twitter user @InnyVinny illustrating the diversity of the Black Twitter community. The resulting #browntwitterbird hashtag game went viral, as users adopted or suggested new Twitter birds
According to Crayola Executive James Wells, “creativity is currency” for young children!! And starting on January 23 through January 29th, teachers, children, their families can celebrate “Crayola’s Creativity Week!!” As part of the week-long celebration there will be free-virtual events, resources, and opportunities for kids to earn lots of prizes! Youth will be able to tap into their creative side whether in the classroom or in the comfort of their home.
As we prepare for the Mardi Gras season you gotta make sure you have your King Cake!! Well you are in luck I have a few places where you can order your own special “Fat Tuesday” treat online:
What do Nikki Giovanni and Sundance have in common…well a documentary titled Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project made its debut in Park City on January 20th. Directors Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson “craft a vision fit for the radical imagination of Nikki Giovanni.” The synopsis reads, through intimate vérité, archival footage, and visually innovative treatments of her poetry, Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project pushes the boundaries of biographical documentary film to reveal the enduring influence of one of America’s greatest living artists and social commentators.
And lastly, if you plan to be out in the Bay Area, you should check out the new exhibit at the ICA San Francisco!! Two Black women California artists Tahirah Rasheed and Autumn Breon “are celebrating Black beauty and relaxation ” in the exhibition Resting Our Eyes. As a new institution, the ICA San Francisco will celebrate the work of Rasheed and Breon along with work from Carrie Mae Weems, Derrick Adams, Sadie Barnette, Genevieve Gaignard, and Simone Leigh. “Focusing on the liberation and celebration of Black women through the lens of leisure and physical adornment, Resting Our Eyes features new and existing works from 20 multi-generational Black artists working across sculpture, photography, video, mixed media, painting, and textile.” Resting Our Eyes will be on display from January 21-June 25!
[The images above include Ja’Tovia Gary, Citational Ethics (Saidiya Hartman, 2017), 2020; Curators Tahirah Rasheed and Autumn Breon at “Resting Our Eyes” at the ICA San Francisco (Photo by Vikram Valluri for BFA); and the ICA-SF]
We are back for the new year!! And you know the recommendations don’t stop!! Got a fresh new slate of literary goodies to fill your book shelves!! I’m bringing you all the heat with this list!! Feel free to share with your friends!!
Check out January’s list below:
Boys Come First ~Aaron Foley
Land of Love and Drowning ~Tiphanie Yanique
On the Roof Top ~Margaret Wilkerson Sexton
American Spy ~Lauren Wilkinson
Grace ~Natashia Deón
The Keeper ~Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes
The Stars Beneath Our Feet ~David Barclay Moore
Beasts of Prey ~Ayana Gray
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!!
“Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations…If you adopt their attitudes, then the possibility won’t exist because you’ll have already shut it out…You can hear other people’s wisdom, but you’ve got to re-evaluate the world for yourself.” —Mae Jemison
With all the conversations and reactions surrounding the teaser trailer of the upcoming spring film “The Little Mermaid” myself and another colleague of mine Bethan Jones decided to put digital pen to paper and share some of our thoughts. The piece is titled, “Part of Your World”: Fairy Tales, Race, #BlackGirlMagic, and The Little Mermaid.”
Here are a few excerpts…
In 2016 Disney announced a live-action adaptation of its 1989 animated film The Little Mermaid. Loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen’s 1837 fairy tale, the animation earned critical acclaim, took $84 million at the domestic box office during its initial release, and won two Academy Awards (for Best Original Score and Best Original Song). Given Disney’s recent foray into creating live-action adaptations of some of its most successful animated films, it’s no surprise that The Little Mermaid was added to the list. Yet controversy rose when Black actress Halle Bailey was announced as Ariel in July 2019. Among the critiques was the argument that the adaptation should be as close to the original as possible, and the original featured a white mermaid; that if a Black character was re-cast as white in a remake there would be uproar; and while representation in all forms is important it shouldn’t override the history of the characters…
We even provided some history and background into the significance and importance of Black mermaids.
While the original fairy tale from Hans Christian Andersen does describe Ariel’s character as “her skin was as clear and delicate as a rose-leaf, and her eyes as blue as the deepest sea” this does not mean that there were no mermaids who were of color. In fact, water spirits and Black mermaids existed even before Christian Andersen’s 1837 fairy tale. It is important to note the global history of mermaids and water spirits due to the fact that the existence of Black characters in fantasy, magical realism, and science-fiction is often non-existent. If we think about this from an Afrofuturistic lens, these early Western tales did not see Black characters as even being a part of these narratives. The waters have always been seen as a sacred space literally and figuratively within African folklore. Housed within many African traditions, the water serves as a bridge between otherworlds, life and the afterlife. And the sea deity Mami Wata or La Sirene (which translates as Mother Water or Mother of Water) serves as the beginnings of many African mythical tales.