“We Should All Be Feminists” is the feminist book we needed all along

“We Should All Be Feminists” | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | 49 pages| Vintage Books | Goodreads I love TedTalks, but I very rarely fully absorb the information the way I absorb written material. With that in mind, I picked up this little 8 dollar copy of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “We Should All Be Feminists,” which is essentially the written adaptation of her viral Tedx presentation (yes, the one that Beyoncé excerpted). If, like me, you’re the sort who likes to reread poignant sentences and sticky note facts to look up later, perhaps this is the better format for you. As a text,…

Guest Post: 15 Middle School Reads by Black Authors

Two weeks ago, my 11-year-old brother asked me to help pick out some great books, and I realized that I didn’t know would be a good fit for him! Thankfully, I knew just who to ask. Hopefully some insight from Black Children’s Books and Authors‘ Stacy Ladonna will help y’all as well.  I know a lot of educators,  and the mere mention of the words “middle school” tends to elicit groans, moans, and all sorts of monosyllabic utterances. It’s that awkward developmental stage—ages 11 to 13—where a child’s physical, social, and emotional growth is all over the place. Cognitively, however, they are growing “increasingly competent at…

Book Review | The Fire This Time, edited by Jesmyn Ward

The Fire This Time |  edited by Jesmyn Ward | ECW Press | Pub: 8/02/2016 | Goodreads  Toward the end of his The Fire Next Time, Baldwin emphatically states that the inability to resolve its “racial nightmare” is a sin for which America will eventually be held accountable. Race, and whether American can ever overcome its legacy, isn’t something about which Baldwin comes to an simple conclusion. Jesmyn Ward begins her anthology The Fire This Time by pulling this specific quote from Baldwin’s meditation: “…If we do not dare everything, the fulfillment of that prophecy, recreated from the Bible in song by the slave, is upon us: God gave Noah the rainbow sigh, No…

What got me thinking in July

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these posts, which is a shame. I love keeping everyone abreast of the things that I’ve been reading around the web, because it gives you a bit of insight into the person I am outside of my book reviewing.  I’m starting with this because July 10th was Bahamian Independence Day, meaning big celebrations in my house. However, the link isn’t about our Independence Day– instead, it’s about the travel warning that urges young male citizens to “exercise extreme caution” around American police. If nothing else, that article sets the tone for the…

6 Times nayyirah waheed Embodied ‘Black Lives Matter’ in Poetry

If you haven’t already fallen in love with nayyirah waheed, now’s the time to do so. Her poetry, popularized through social media, is oftentimes short and powerful– some lines reading more like one brief self affirmations. Like Warsan Shire, she manages to talk about a long list of societal and internal struggles. Her 2013 latest book, salt., is an insightful exploration of identity that will resonate with those who have been following the troubling events of last week and beyond.

Understanding Oppression through Literature: Part 1

In undergrad, I was blessed to attend a college with courses such as Philosophy of Sex and Domination, Native American Philosophy, Refugee Issues,African Diaspora and the World, and The Sociological Imagination. These courses, and readings that accompanied them, were vital in shaping my understanding of oppression and the limitless forms it takes around the world. Here are some of the picks that have stuck with me in the years that have followed. Feel free to add some other ones in the comments. This won’t be the only list like this because I have recommendations for days. Keep an eye out, because I’ll be…

Book Review | The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead

 I clearly haven’t read enough by Colson Whitehead. Several books into what promises to be a rather prolific career in fiction, Whitehead finally came into my crosshairs with his latest book, The Underground Railroad. If you follow me on twitter, you’ll probably know that I actually finished this book on Friday, but it’s taken a solid two days to fully gather my thoughts on the book. Right now, slave narratives and historical fiction are coming from all ends of the media, from Nate Parker’s Birth of a Nation to Underground, they’re everywhere, filing in a gap that was previously unexplored….

#DiverseBookBloggers, and why we’re necessary

Last Thursday, multicultural, LGBTQIA+ and differently abled bloggers converged for an epic discussion on the state of diversity in book blogging. Started by Nazahet (the blogger behind @_diversereads) and others, the #diversebookbloggers chat sought to unify book bloggers internationally. Unexpectedly, the turnout was great, with people checking in from Singapore, Germany, Australia, and other corners of the world. With questions like “What can diverse book bloggers contribute to the book blogging community that other’s can’t?” bloggers were able to get to the heart of representation issues in the blogging community, and how this has larger ramifications on the industry at…

A Mothers’ Day Message from My Mother

For Mothers’ Day., I asked my mother to write a little something– no prompt, just whatever she’d like to say. Here’s what she gave me.

I might have just been out-written by mother on my own blog. Hopefully it speaks to you the way it did to me.

Reading Coates Back-to-Back

During the 24 Hour Read-a-thon I set out to read the end of Between the World and Me, which I followed up by reading The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, a Son, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood. Along with Woman at Point Zero, it was an intense 24 hours. For those interested in Ta-Nehisi Coates, author of The Case for Reparations— my personal favorite of his– then these books are a logical investment. Clearly, I read them in the wrong order, BTWAM being our November 2015 book club pick, and TBS a thrift store find a month or two later. Perhaps reading in the…