As one month gets ready to come to a close another one begins!! And with a new month comes a new set of trailers! Check them out below:
The Tourist (Streaming on HBO Max March 3rd)
Shining Vale (Streaming on STARZ March 6th)
Season 2-Bridgerton (Streaming on Netflix March 25th)
The Contractor (In theaters April 1st)
The First Lady (Streaming on Showtime April 17th)
#SuchAVibe…
On this past Saturday afternoon, I had the opportunity to participate in some real life “Black Girl Magic”!! As part of the “Black Feminist Future Series” put on by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, myself and four other AMAZING Black Afrofuturist women (Susana Morris , Tiffany E. Barber, Esther L. Jones, and Kinitra D. Brooks [moderator]) took part in a very fulfilling conversation about Black women and theories of the future!!
Nothing like sharing the “virtual” stage with a group of brilliant minds such as these Black women!! My mind, body, and soul were overflowing with Black joy and hope!!
Check it out below:
For more upcoming “Black Feminist Futures” events at the Schomburg check out the following link here!!
Yesterday morning I had the pleasure of lending my thoughts to this discussion on “Hollywood’s History of Portraying African Americans” with Black Press USA TV !!
Shout out to my amazing co-panelists Peter Bailey and Dr. David Childs!!
Check it out below:
Nothing like keeping busy and enjoying it all at the same time!! And why not share with you!! Check out some of my upcoming events!! Mark your calendars!!
*February 7th, 2022 (1 pm/ET)- “Black History Month in the Workplace”, Having Tough Conversation Series-Monthly Series (Virtual Lecture) [OCOO-Office of The Chief Operating Officer]…(Washington, DC/Richmond, VA)
*February 15th, 2022 (4 pm/ET)- “The Art of Storytelling: Black Imagining of Politics and Pop Culture”, [Featured Series Speaker], Berglund Seminar Series-Virginia Commonwealth University-Honors College (Richmond, VA)…Registration TBA
*February 19th, 2022 (12:30-2 pm/ET)-“Black Women and Theories of the Future” (virtual) [Invited Panelist], Schomburg Center-Black Feminist Future series, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture-The New York Public Library (Harlem, NY)…Register Here
Join us for Black Woman and Theories of the Future, a virtual conversation detailing and discussing Black women’s cultural and academic contributions to Afrofuturism past, present, and future. The program features Dr. Susana Morris (Georgia Institute of Technology), Dr. Kinitra Brooks (Michigan State University), Dr. Esther Jones (Clark University), Dr. Tiffany Barber (University of Delaware), and Dr. Grace Gipson (Virginia Commonwealth University).
*February 23-26, 2022-
“The Future is in Her Hands: Rewriting Black Girlhood Narratives and Experiences in Comics,” 43rd Annual Southwest Popular/American Culture Association (SWPACA) Conference, [Conference Presenter], (Albuquerque, NM)
“Teaching & Research with Critical Race Theory” 43rd Annual Southwest Popular/American Culture Association (SWPACA) Conference [Invited Panelist], (Albuquerque, NM)
Despite the fact that Critical Race Theory (CRT) has been around for over 40 years, it appears that a lot of folks – especially those who have little understanding of what it is, its history, and how it is used (and not used) – have recently discovered it exists and have formed ill-informed opinions as to its appropriateness in education. CRT originated among diverse legal scholars and led to the development of other “branches” of CRT such as LatCrit, TribalCrit, and Asian CRT. According to the American Bar Association, “CRT challenges white privilege and exposes deficit-informed research that ignores, and often omits, the scholarship of people of color.” Parents and politicians in the United States have come out in force, disrupting school board meetings, proposing legislation, and even calling for a ban on the teaching of CRT at all levels of education, calling it “indoctrination” and divisive. This roundtable attempts to do a number of things: provide historical background regarding the development of CRT, provide context for the recent public outcry regarding its supposed use in the classroom, share ideas and resources regarding CRT in the classroom and research, and discuss attempts to impose bans or legislation that misunderstand and seek to limit the use of CRT in education and how one can respond. Participants also welcome additional experiences, ideas, resources, and strategies from folks in the audience.
Starting you out with one of my faves on Netflix, a little drama, a splash of an action thriller, and closing you out with a Marvel treat! Sounds good to me!! Check them out below:
Season 2-Raising Dion (Streaming on Netflix February 1)
Limited Series-Inventing Anna (Streaming on Netflix February 11)
Severance (Streaming on Apple TV+ February 18)
Gasoline Alley (In theaters February 25)
Moon Knight (Streaming on Disney+ March 30)
It’s a new year, a new month, and I got a new set of books for you to put in your shopping cart, which will eventually make it to your bookshelf or e-reader device!! As always I am excited to share with you some literary jewels!!
This month I got a nice selection of books ranging from historical fiction, YA psychological thrillers, LGBTQ+, urban fiction, coming of age and stories from the African diaspora.
So make sure you pre-order, add to your cart, support your local bookstores and remember sharing is caring!!
And remember you can always go back and check out the previous month’s list and my recommendations from 2021 in the “Resource” section of the website!!
~Dr. G
Did I mention I love to read…Well I DO!! Ever since I was kid I always had a book to read. Even as I hit 40 this year, I made sure I had my share of reading done. Matter fact this year I even did a Reading Challenge (on Good Reads) where I had to read at one book a month. And as I type this post I managed to get in 15 books plus a few comic books and graphic novels. It felt good to turn the pages (old school reader) of each new book and then look up what my next read would be!!
With all that said, I figure I would keep up with my tradition from last year and compile my ‘Top 21’ books from this year, and as an extra bonus for me I even got to meet some of the authors!! Pretty cool!!
Nothing like sharing some of your faves!! As I always say, ‘sharing is caring.’
So in no particular order, here is my Top 21 List of Books for 2021!!
Happy Reading!!
~Dr. G
Check out this upcoming event that Dr. G will be moderating on this Thursday!!
See the details below:
The Day the Klan Came to Town: A Comic Book Retelling of Community Resistance
November 4, 2021 from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
(This will be a hybrid event. You can attend in-person or online.)
Description: Author Bill Campbell and artist Bizhan Khodabandeh discuss their work on the acclaimed new graphic novel, The Day the Klan Came to Town, a fictionalized retelling of a community’s resistance to a violent 1923 march of thousands of Ku Klux Klan members in Carnegie, Pa. Thi Bui, author of The Best We Could Do, describes the book as “A piece of American history in all its ugliness told as an astonishing coming together of misfits to stand up against a common threat. Bill brings an international scope to the history and a concise understanding of politics to the story. Bizhan’s art is dazzling. This is a book for our times.”
The event is free and open to all and will be held in person but will also be live streamed through Zoom. The in-person location will be James Branch Cabell Library, Room 303, 901 Park Ave., Richmond, Va. 23219. Parking is available for a fee in the West Broad Street, West Main Street and West Cary Street parking decks.
Please register to attend in person or online. For questions or accommodations, please contact the VCU Libraries Events Office at applewhiteec@vcu.edu or (804) 357-7655.
To register, click here
About the book: The year is 1923. The Ku Klux Klan is at the height of its power in the U.S. as membership swells into the millions and they expand beyond their original southern borders. As they continue their campaigns of terror against African Americans, their targets now also include Catholics and Jews, southern and eastern Europeans, all in the name of “white supremacy.” Incorporating messages of moral decency, family values and temperance, the Klan has slapped on a thin veneer of respectability and become a “civic organization,” attracting new members, law enforcement and politicians to their particular brand of white, Anglo-Saxon and Protestant “Americanism.”
Pennsylvania enthusiastically joined that wave. That was when the Grand Dragon of Pennsylvania decided to display the Klan’s newfound power in a show of force. He chose a small town outside of Pittsburgh named after Andrew Carnegie, a small, unassuming borough full of Catholics and Jews, the perfect place to teach immigrants a “lesson.” Some thirty thousand members of the Klan gathered from as far as Kentucky for “Karnegie Day.” After initiating new members, they armed themselves with torches and guns to descend upon the town to show them exactly what Americanism was all about.
The Day the Klan Came to Town is a fictionalized retelling of the riot, focusing on a Sicilian immigrant, Primo Salerno. He is not a leader; he’s a man with a troubled past. He was pulled from the sulfur mines of Sicily as a teen to fight in the First World War. Afterward, he became the focus of a local fascist and was forced to emigrate to the United States. He doesn’t want to fight but feels that he may have no choice. The entire town needs him—and indeed everybody—to make a stand.
You can also purchase the book through the publisher PM Press!
With Spring in full effect, I also got another list of books to add to your library!! See this month’s recommendations below:
And remember you can always go back and check out the previous month’s recommendations in the “Resource” section of the website!
Till next month!!
~Dr. G
Black Future Feminist 