Summer Breeze…Check….Sitting Poolside…Check…Good Book…Double Check!! Alright, good people, we are back with another edition of “Dr. G’s Monthly Book Recommendations”! As always, there is a little something for everyone, even the kiddos!!
Check out July’s Monthly Book Recommendations below:
You’ve Got a Place Here, Too: An Anthology of Black Love Stories Set at HBCUs ~Edited by Ebony Ladelle
If I Could Go Back ~Briana Johnson
The Girls Who Grew Big ~Leila Mottley
Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler ~Susana M. Morris
King of Ashes ~S.A. Cosby
Toni at Random: The Iconic Writer’s Legendary Editorship ~Dana A. Williams
I Got You: A Brother’s Promise ~Derrick Barnes
Swing Time ~Zadie Smith
Lonely Crowds ~Stephanie Wambugu
As always, don’t forget to support your local bookstores!! Matter fact, for all my Chicago readers, or if you need to build out your bookstore network, check out these Black-owned bookstores in the Chi:
We are jumping right out the gate with this one!! A new documentary from Shonda Rhimes/Shondaland and Netflix tells the story of how the first Black Barbie doll came to be in 1980. Directed by Lagueria Davis and produced by Shondaland’s Shonda Rhimes, Black Barbie “shows the impact of three Black staffers at Mattel on the doll’s debut, and how they influenced generations of young Black girls and the Barbie brand as a whole.”
Want to get some fashion inspiration? Or find out just how top stylist Law Roach has created a fashion legacy… Well stylist to the stars Law Roach is dropping his first book, How To Build a Fashion Icon: Notes on Confidence. It’s available for pre-order on Banks Square Books and Amazon and will hit shelves, on September 24, 2024.
A Black Feminist icon has been immortalized with a statue in the very spot where she gave an empowering speech. On May 29th the city of Akron and the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund unveiled a plaza and statue dedicated to abolitionist Sojourner Truth. In 1851 Sojourner Truth gave the seminal speech “Ain’t I a Woman?” to a crowd gathered at the Universalist Old Stone Church in Akron for the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention. This statue and plaza represent a space to tell one of America’s inspiring story of faith, truth, justice, and freedom!
In more inspiring news, the Kenyan government has partnered with several HBCUs to help boost STEM Education across the waters. Representatives from Clark Atlanta University, Spelman College, Morehouse College, Howard University, and executives from higher education and business circles signed a framework agreement pact to establish an exchange between Kenyan universities and HBCUs. With many STEM programs on the rise here in the U.S., Kenya has established itself as the “Silicon Savannah of East Africa”and according to Kenyan president Dr. William Samoei Ruto, it has also “been a global player in shaping the growth of the technology industry.”
During an official state visit to Spelman College last week, the president of Kenya signed an agreement with the U.S. to establish an exchange between Kenyan universities and HBCUs. https://t.co/5ZxM46Ju3u
This next feature is all about food and nourishment! Whether you are going for the first time or revisiting an oldie but goodie food spot….Check out these Black-owned restaurants that can be found all across the U.S.:
As an extra bonus, with June being Black Music Month each week I will bring you the latest Tiny Desk concerts featuring some of the hottest Black musical artists!! This year’s Black Music Month-Tiny Desk Concert series features Black women artists all across the spectrum from “veterans who’ve paved the way for what we hear today in Black music, to those who are carving out their own paths.”
I know it’s been a minute but I am getting back into the swing of things. Keeping it short and sweet and to the point, check out these hot new television and film trailers!!
Based on a True Story (Streaming June 8th on Peacock)
Surrounded (Streaming June 20th on MGM+)
Season 2-The Bear (Streaming June 22nd on FX/Hulu)
In preparation for the November 11th release of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Marvel partnered with three artists across the United States and asked them to create murals to connect to the film!
The cities featured include Los Angeles, Chicago, and Harlem. Check them out below:
Looking for your next adventure, family vacation, or weekend getaway, check out these exhibition and museum openings, art installations, cafes and markets below:
Regeneration: Black Cinema, 1898-1971(On view at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures now through April 9th, 2023): An exhibition spotlighting Black artists who shaped American filmmaking from 1898-1971. Some of the things that you will be able to see include one of Louis Armstrong’s trumpets, screenings Oscar Micheaux’s silent films, Lena Horne’s gown from the 1943 Stormy Weather musical, the Nicholas Brothers’ tap dancing shoes, and so much more!!
The Sphere at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in March 2021
Representin’ for the Midwest… Carver 47 Food & Wellness Market a casual cafe and market that serves the greater Chicago community through “a well-crafted menu of healthy and soulful offerings.” The cafe and market which reflects upon the life of George Washington Carver also includes a greenhouse bar, art gallery, farm table, and outdoor garden.
LEGO is celebrating 90 years of fun and joy with a new installation called, “Fly Away Isles” (The Brotherhood Sister Sol) designed by Harlem community Black and Latinx childred in collaboration with artist Hebru Brantley.Fly Away Isles serves as a dual space of both an art installation and fun play space for children. It’s located at 140 Hamilton Place in Harlem, NY. The installation will remain on display to the public through November 5th, 2022 with a street mural on display through July 2023.
Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial (Washington, DC) [Artist: Robert Berks] This is the first statue erected on public land in Washington, DC to honor and African American and woman. The bronze statue was unveiled on the anniversary of her 99th birthday, July 10, 1974. It is located in Lincoln Park (East Capitol Street and 12th Street NE, Washington, DC)
Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Statue (Riverfront Esplanade, Daytona Beach, FL) [Master Sculptor Nilda Comas]…This is a bronze replica of the marble one which is housed in Statuary Hall in Washington DC.
The Jackie Robinson Museum : “The Jackie Robinson Museum seeks to bring people from all walks together to commune and appreciate each other’s humanity and diverse experiences. We create a forum for debate and discussion, reflecting the ways in which we as a society can make progress by working together to solve difficult social issues and by appreciating how one life can make a difference”(TJRM Mission Statement). The museum will include a series of interactive exhibits, rare artifacts and memorabilia. It is set to open to the public on September 5th.
To All My Chefs & Mixologists (novice and professional) out there, this is for you!
Who doesn’t love a mouth-watering, soulful meal or a delightful spirit to cap off the night?!! Well I wanted to add to your “must-see and must-try” lists by highlighting the spirit and culinary world with a few cookbooks, wineries, breweries, creators and organizations that are making Black History!!
Not surprisingly, Black Americans have contributed significantly (and still do) to the culinary world and cocktail/wine/brewery culture. We have been tastemakers and drink-makers since the beginning of time :-). Cooking and feeding the soul is in the DNA of African Americans (check out Netflix’s High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America if you don’t believe me)!
As it relates to the spirit world, I recently learned that there was a Black Mixology Club that was founded in 1898 by R. R. Bowie and J. Burke Edelin that was a “marquee professional association,” and a gathering place for African Americans who were trying to move up the ladder of social mobility within professional bartending [Check out these pioneers as well: Cato Alexander, John Dabney, Tom Bullock, and Dick “Uncle Dick” Francis].
Now let me say this…. the following below is by no means the only folks that have been and are in the game just a few to wet your palette (literally and figuratively), because I know there are tons of Black folks making history!!
So get ready to pop some bottles, plan your next couple or friends getaway, pull out those pots and pans, turn on your ovens, and make some magical memories!!
Atlantucky Brewing, Owned by Fish Scales, Skinny DeVille, B. Stille, and Ron Clutch aka ‘Nappy Roots’
Moor’s Brewing [Founders/Owners-Jamhal Johnson and Damon Patton], Funkytown Brewery [Founders/Owners-Richard Bloomfield, Zachary Day and Gregory Williams], Turner Haus Brewery [Founders/Owners-Steven Turner, Blair Turner-Aikens and Nathaniel Aikens], Black Horizon Brewery [Co-owner Charles St. Clair] (All based out of Chicago, IL)
Black Future Feminist 