Black Reads: Issue 034
This week I wanted to put the spotlight on a few Black authors that y'all may not know yet, Tania, Andria, DaMarkis, and Aaliyah. Y'all really be writing y'all Black asses off.
For the past two weeks every Tuesday I’ve attended class discussing how artist must take a side. Exploring how Black artists through history have centered their work around the liberation of our people.
I feel for us as Black writers, the time is now more than ever for us to start documenting our reality and preserve our stories.
Y’all know I will go on a full TedTalk rant about this, so I’ll save my speech for another day—today let’s get into this good ass Black reads by Black authors who understand the mission of preserving Black stories.
Enjoy!
“Everyone is anointed. Life is not a competition.” When I read those words, curated together my whole body relaxed instantly. I am not a person who looks at life as a competition consciously either, but the way my body responded to that sentence made me stop for a second and reflect. Somebody Somewhere stretches us as readers to reclaim our power in our physical reality. I love this layering of this read!
Call me a hopeless romantic, male-centered, or a pick me—I will always stand ten toes down when it comes to encouraging Black people to hold space for Black men to be vulnerable and finally have the conversations to break us all free from this narrow lens of masculinity. These are in the house conversations, and andria shawneise broke this one down so good you ain’t got no choice but to sit with it and ponder. I love when y’all make the connections through your pen as this one does.
Let me tell you something, I love me a good storytime and DaMarkis🔥 is a storyteller who is going to keep you hooked from start to finish. The connections that were made throughout the essay are what really took a funny story to the next level to leave us, as the reader, like, “damn.”
Black women, this one is for us. Aaliyah Taylor said it so well, just read it please.
Blackstack Family Reunion
The ticket sale ends on Friday, May 1st, at midnight Pacific Time. Here’s a little breakdown on what’s going down in Oakland, California, the weekend of Juneteenth. We are celebrating Blackstack operating now for two years, and this event feels right; it truly makes sense.
Here’s the plan for the weekend: I have a Black Book Fair event, some workshops for the music lovers throughout the weekend, an archival workshop, a gardening seed swap event, an art exhibit showcasing the first Blackstack print magazine issue hosted at the residency, and to wrap everything up, on Sunday, we are having the family reunion-style cookout at Lake Merritt.
Kissel Hotel sponsored the event, so there are still some discounted rooms available. The cutoff to book is May 19th. Once you purchase your ticket, I’ll email you with the booking link, or you can call the hotel and let them know you are with the Blackstack Family Reunion.
Thank for sharing my latest article! It makes me feel so connected when the words resonates with others.