Wishing you, your family, and friends and thankful and blessed day!!
What’s on your agenda and menu for the day?!!
Sending Thankful Wishes and Many Blessings!!
Tag: family
Weekly Trailer Alerts!!
It’s the last day of October but that does not mean the new trailers stop!! What better way to close the month than to showcase some HOT new trailers!! Check them out below:
Manodrome (In theaters November 10th)
The Killer (Streaming on Netflix November 10th)
Dashing Through The Snow (Streaming on Disney+ November 17th)
Stamped From the Beginning (Streaming on Netflix November 20th)
Season 5-Fargo (Streaming on FX November 21st)
Good Burger 2 (Streaming on Paramount + November 22)
Season 3-Power Book III: Raising Kanan (Streaming on STARZ December 1st)
Dr. G’s Monthly Book Recommendations-May 2023
Graduation Season is in effect! The school year is coming to a close. Travel Plans are being made! And Summer is just around the corner! With that said, it’s time for you to get your summer reading list together! And I am here to help you make some selections so that you can drift into that literary dreamstate!
Check out May’s List Below:
- Last Summer on State Street ~Toya Wolfe
- What the Fireflies Knew ~Kai Harris
- Anywhere You Run ~Wanda M. Morris
- The God of Good Looks ~Breanne McIvor
- The Three of Us ~Ore Agbaje-Williams
- Dances ~Nicole Cuffy
- Before I Let Go ~Kennedy Ryan
- You Think You Know Me ~Ayaan Mohamud
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!!
“Invest in the human soul. Who knows, it might be a diamond in the rough.”
—Mary McLeod Bethune
Dr. G’s Monthly Book Recommendations-April 2023
Closing out the month with a literary bang!! They say “April Showers bring May Flowers,” well I would like to think that these books are a version of those April Showers. As we prepare to jump into the Spring season why not add a few books to your personal shelves!!
Check out April’s List Below:
- Homebodies ~Tembe Denton-Hurst
- Summer on Sag Harbor ~Sunny Hostin
- The Wreck: A Daughter’s Memoir of Becoming a Mother ~Cassandra Jackson
- Blood Scion ~Deborah Falaye
- Black Birds in the Sky ~Brandy Colbert
- Love Radio ~Ebony LaDelle
- The Haunting of Alejandra ~V. Castro
- When We Were Sisters ~Fatimah Asghar
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!!
“Don’t sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them!!” ~Madam C.J. Walker
Dr. G’s Monthly Book Recommendations-January 2023
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
Habari Gani?! Ujamaa-Kwanzaa Day 4
Habari Gani?! What’s the good news today?
On this day we celebrate Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics),“to build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together.“ As noted on the official Kwanzaa website, Ujamaa embodies shared work and wealth, economic self-reliance, and obligation of generosity. Karenga notes, “To share wealth and work, then, is to share concern, care and responsibility for a new, more human and fulfilling future”.
Historically, Ujamaa was introduced as a socialist philosophy in Tanzania by its first president Julius Nyerere. Nyerere used “Ujamaa” as a revolutionary concept in the development of a national infrastructure centered on communal values. Everything from Black Wall Street to McKissack & McKissack to The Philadelphia Tribune to The National Business League proves that African-Americans have been resisting in the spirit of Ujamaa for centuries.
It’s about working together, making a change, and creating legacies!!
In that spirit, here are a few ways in which you can practice Ujamaa:
- Organize a buying club in your neighborhood, housing co-op or apartment building. Items such as laundry detergent, toilet paper, paper towels, socks, sanitizing wipes, water, and a variety of non-perishable goods can be purchased in bulk and the cost shared so that everyone gets these items cheaper than what they would pay buying them retail.
- Support black and local and independent small businesses or businesspersons, cooperatives, artists, practitioners and others who are community- and environmentally-minded.
- Join a city and/or community garden in your local neighborhood
- Shop at your local farmers’ markets (National Farmers Market Directory)
As each of our families celebrates Kwanzaa and the richness of African-American culture this year and every year, let us all find inspiration in the principle of Ujamaa in the development of a new global economy built through communal values and cooperatives.
Harambee!! Let’s all work together!!
Hispanic Heritage Month-Dr. G’s Bonus Book Recommendations
“We celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month to recognize the achievements and contributions of Hispanic American champions who have inspired others to achieve success.” ~National Hispanic Heritage Month/Library of Congress site
In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15th-October 15th), I wanted to offer a bonus list of book recommendations particularly for youth!! Gotta make sure the kids get their list too!! You know Dr. G always has a special place for the youth!!
A phrase that always comes to mind and that will be forever ingrained is the notion that #RepresentationMatters!! Regardless of it is popular culture, school curriculums, hiring practices, and especially the materials that read, everyone should feel as though they can and are represented. As I have noted early on, reading has always been a powerful tool for change and great way to find peace and space/place to belong.
It is so necessary that Black and Brown children/youth are able to visually see their experiences drawn and written. Knowing that they can see themselves lets them know they have value within this world. What better way to do that than through a book!! Many of these stories, as well as others, pay tribute to the author’s cultural background, tell familial and community stories and also play a role in de-stigmatizing existing stereotypes and tropes. Additionally, this visual work can inspire, educate, and motivate the next generation!!
So here is a sample of great reads highlighting Afro/Hispanic/Latinx children to add to your literary collection/bookshelves:
- Eric Velasquez– “Octopus Stew” and “Grandma’s Records”
- Yesenia Moises-“Stella’s Stellar Hair”
- Angela Dominguez– “Stella Diaz has Something to Say”
- Margarita Engle– “Drum Dream Girl” and “Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings: A Memoir”
- Charles G. Esperanza– “Boogie Boogie Y’all” and “Red, Yellow, Blue (and a Dash of White, Too!)”
Also, for more information about National Hispanic Heritage Month check out the following links:
- National Hispanic Heritage Month
- Celebration of Children’s and YA Latin American and Latinx Literature
- Hispanic Heritage Month-National Archives
- Hispanic Heritage Month-Why Start Mid-September?
~Dr. G
Conversations with Beloved & Kindred-Episode 2
As always you know I got you covered if you missed last night’s episode of “Conversations with Beloved and Kindred” check it out below:
Our second conversation discusses the Netflix film See You Yesterday!! This episode tackled everything from representation within the diaspora, high school science fairs, time travel, the importance of family, and so much more!!
Next month, we will continue our conversation and discussion of the Lovecraft Country series with Episode 3: “Holy Ghost” and Episode 4: “A History of Violence” !! And trust me you do not want to miss it!!
Black Future Feminist 