Black Reads: Issue 010

Back with another list of Black writers writing for Black writers reading, most importantly, curated by a Black writer and reader.

It’s been a while since I provided a list of reads that have triggered my thoughts, and I want y’all to share this experience with me. I had a little help with curating this week’s “Black Reads”. The paragraph below is from my daughter, who read a couple of these essays with me, and wanted to make sure y’all did too.

These are a collection of Black reads that have been living rent-free in my mind since I read them. I hope you enjoy and maybe go read them!

---

When

Ri

first published this piece, I had to sit with it for a moment. Have you ever read something that has you nodding your head, wanting to quote damn near every line? That’s what “To Hell With Forty Acres” did for me.

To Hell With Forty Acres

---

By now, I’m sure you know who

Sasadya Jayde

is, and the important work she is doing to make sure our community knows not just our history, but how to apply it to bring forth the change we want to see.

Academia is crushing Black women's spirits

---

The way that

Faithe Joy Day

tied in the icon, Tina Turner, with bell hooks, with the term theodicy was mastery. The title had me hooked, but then after reading the opening that this piece came to life from a prompt from Blackstack Salon truly just added another layer to this piece for me. However, I think it will hit you too in its own way.

Teaching Tina Turner: On Centering Healing as Justice in Black Communities

---

I don’t know about you, but I am in an era where I love to see folk in their journalism bag, and

Alyssa Co

was definitely in hers with this one. She said long waited, but babygirl delivered! As someone who spent most of their adult life in Durham, NC - this one hit home for me. It is a very “let me set the record straight” type of piece, and I love that for us!

Sinners in the Sugar Shack

---

For my old school Blackstack community members, the ones who remember “Sunday Service Announcements” every week, this read feels like those days. The way

Damien Reuel Rucker

shares the story of his Grandfather’s Chapel and his perspective of his father will truly warm your heart.

My Grandfather's Chapel: Where Black Men Learned to Build and Breathe

---

---

Next in Queue

• Sunday, September 7th: A new “Black Recipes” install is dropping with featuring

  catherine emmanuella
  and that peach cobbler recipe from my Note on Monday.

• Tuesday, September 9th: A new “Beta Reads”, exclusive for paid subscribers, will be published featuring the author

  KC Oconner
  .