Belated Author News for June, 2020

[labingi]

Very belated June newsletter is out here.

It is my attempt to add something (anything) useful to the renewed call that Black Lives Matter, and in this little corner of the conversation, I'm emphasizing the richness of African diasporic creativity with recommendations for...

* Keita: The Heritage of the Griot (film)
* The Epic of Sunjata (which Keita draws heavily on)
* Octavia's Brood: Afro-Futurist anthology
* The amazing music of the Haitian band, Boukman Eksperyans.

(Links at the newsletter linked above.)

This may not seem directly relevant to police reform--and Lord knows we need that conversation--but I wanted to signal boost these works because I firmly believe that one of the most powerful long-term ways to empower a group of people to replace belittling associations about them with positive, empowering ones. African diasporic cultures do not get this positive representation nearly enough. Black Panther, I think, did a lot of good, but it'll take a lot more.

In other news, I've actually had many ideas about things I want to post on DW but, thus far, no time. My teaching term just ended, and I'm trying to catch up, catch breath, and blaze through the year's worth of creative writing I'll have the next month and a half to accomplish before school ramps up again. Hopefully, there will be some DW posting and reading in there.

Comments

[bookwyrme]

Agreed. Positive signal boosting is a must.

Have you seen this, BTW? https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-documentary/see-you-next-time-explores-the-meaning-of-the-manicure-for-black-women

[labingi]

Sorry for the late reply here! It was great to see you in person. Thanks for the link to the article. It's interesting to me that my daughter has always been so into getting manicures when I couldn't care less. Since this has been the case since she was four, it may have less to do with race than personality, but it does put her in a good position to engage with African American culture. :-)