Black History Month Shows

I feel like this month in regards of the films I watched was a bit of a cheat. I primarily watched documentaries and there were a handful that I had seen before. I know if I watched Roots or 12 Years a Slave it would have had a serious negative impact on my mental health, more so than these films did. I know the horrors that were and continue to be visited on the Black community but watching, and reading as well, stories that only highlight the negative side of their lives would have been too upsetting. I therefore decided to learn more about real lives and people who left a mark on this world and on their community. Plus this was my little project for the month and I wanted it to be a fun and interesting experiment. 

* The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks

* Olympic Pride, American Prejudice

* A Ballerina's Tale

* Summer of Soul

* The Black Power Mixtape

♥ Woman in Motion

* Everything: The Real Thing Story

Through a Lens Darkly

♥ All By Myself - The Eartha Kitt Story

♥ Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am

* Brother Outsider

* I Am Not Your Negro

* The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman

♥ John Lewis: Good Trouble 

* The 13th

* Mumia: Long Distance Revolutionary 

* Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart 

* Affirmations (short film)

* Partners of the Heart

* The Evers 

* Black Boys 

* Anita

* Ethnic Notions

W.E.B. Du Bois: A Biography in Four Voices

♥ The Gentle Giant (short film)

♥ Abbott Elementary

* Unmarked

* Freedom Flyers of Tuskegee

* - liked
♥ - loved
Any unmarked titles were, in my opinion, so-so.

Black History Month 2023 Books

As much as I wanted to branch out this month and seek out Black authors, I still must remain true to myself and select books that I will enjoy, therefore getting more out of it and learning something. I know I should read Native Son but I resist since I know how difficult it will be. Maybe I'll try it at some point, but this Black History Month I chose new-to-me books that fit in my world and what I like. I did pretty good and liked all the books I chose and feel inspired to continue reading outside my usual choices.

** The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell by W. Kamau Bell

* My Soul Looks Back by Jessica B. Harris - Good lord, but did Ms. Harris run with some pretty fantastic authors and musicians! The part that really wowed me was that James Baldwin read her - read her - his entire book If Beale Street Could Talk in the very room where he wrote it. He asked her opinion and she could only say it was an amazing story. Then she was lucky enough to have this very thing happen again but this time with Toni Morrison in the room. Toni, having been a successful editor, gave Baldwin the feedback he wanted - to be assured that his female characters rang true. Which they, of course, did.

* My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite - Bishop recommended this and I couldn't get into it at first. The sisters were narrated with American accents while everyone else had African accents (Nigerian to be exact). It threw off the set up I had in my brain and suddenly I went from seeing this as being set in Los Angeles to Lagos. Maybe I missed the part where the setting was revealed, but regardless, I don't think I would have finished the book if it wasn't only four hours long. It was good and held my interest while I drove down to Delaware and over to The Colonial Theatre. I can see it being set as a film in the future. 

* Make Me Rain by Nikki Giovanni - I normally would not have picked up a book of poems in audiobook form but I liked that the author narrated and that it was only two hours in length. I really liked Nikki Giovanni’s style of writing and saved her other audiobooks to listen to later.

* A Visible Man by Edward Enninful - I saw an episode of the Graham Norton Show where Edward Enninful was a guest and he discussed his new memoir. I added it to my list of holds for 2023 and finally got it in time for Black History Month. I don't know a ton about fashion, but I know a bit and it was interesting to hear the editor of British Vogue talk about his growing up in Ghana and then the move to London and how he fell in love with fashion. My fave part was when he walked into the British Vogue building and a "Karen" basically shouted at him that deliveries go through the back. Edward's response? "Uh-uh, not today, Satan. I'm the fuckin' editor of this magazine!" I am so working the name Satan in to all future insults. It isn't used enough. 

♥ Stuntboy, In the Meantime by Jason Reynolds with drawings by Raúl the Third - Such a fun, fun book! As I read along I could hear Kamau Bell narrating it for me. His voice is still stuck in my head from listening to his audiobook. This was a fun book with a good message and I will most definitely grab the next one in the series when it comes out.

♥ Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

¹ - audiobook

² - abridged version
* - liked
♥ - loved
Any unmarked titles were, in my opinion, so-so.

Black History Month Playlist - Raven

Louis Armstrong - Let's Fall in Love

H.E.R. - Could've Been

The Dramatics - What You See Is What You Get

War - Summer

Sly and the Family Stone - Hot Time in the Summertime

Vanessa Williams - Running Back to You

The Sugar Hill Gang - Rapper's Delight

Ultra Naté - Love You Can't Deny

Foreign Exchange - June

The Intruders - I'll Always Love My Mama

Duke Ellington - Rent Party Blues

Frank Ocean - Novacane

Gwen McCrae - Funky Sensation

Zhane - So Badd

The Gap Band - Burn Rubber On Me

TV on the Radio - Satellite

Sunshine Anderson - Heard It All Before

Joshua Redman - Sweet Sorrow

Yazmin Lacey - Morning Matters

Zap Mama - Bandy Bandy

Hank Mobley - Recado Bossa Nova

Fugees - Nappy Head (remix)

Little Leaders - Bold Women in Black History

I am so glad that I picked up this book at one of my stops to Ida's Bookshop. II'm finally sitting down to read it and it's super cute! There are a lot of women featured that I've never heard of and it's opening me up to learning more about them.

Ethnic Notions

This film by the brilliant Marlon Riggs was really shocking. Kanopy gave the following description:

ETHNIC NOTIONS is Marlon Riggs' Emmy-winning documentary that takes viewers on a disturbing voyage through American history, tracing for the first time the deep-rooted stereotypes which have fueled anti-black prejudice. Through these images we can begin to understand the evolution of racial consciousness in America.

Loyal Toms, carefree Sambos, faithful Mammies, grinning Coons, savage Brutes, and wide-eyed Pickaninnies roll across the screen in cartoons, feature films, popular songs, minstrel shows, advertisements, folklore, household artifacts, even children's rhymes. These dehumanizing caricatures permeated popular culture from the 1820s to the Civil Rights period and implanted themselves deep in the American psyche.

"It’s nothing short of astounding." - The New York Post

Looking Through My Books

Here are the books I currently own that were written by Black authors (plus the bonus of Super Diaper Baby by Dav Pilkey, white guy, because it's one of my favourite books of all time and the main character is Black). There's not many, but I hope to continue expanding my reading of Black writers beyond just Black History Month.

Audiobooks: 

Black History Month Playlist - Obsidian

Labi Siffre - To Find Love

Minnie Ripperton - Inside My Love

Mos Def - Ms. Fat Booty

Chic - My Forbidden Lover

Deniece Williams - It's Your Conscience

The Commodores - Too Hot to Trot

Run D.M.C - It's Tricky

Kelis - Sugar Honey Iced Tea

Adrianna Evans - Seeing is Believing

Lisa Fisher - How Can I Ease the Pain?

Curtis Mayfield - Move On Up

Kool and the Gang - Hollywood Swinging

The Jones Girls - You Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else

Common - I Want You

Mary J. Blige - I Can Love You

Count Basie Orchestra - Satin Doll

Nas - Nobody

Lina - Come to Mama

Ms. Dynamite - It Takes More

L.T.D - Share My Love

N'Dea Davenport - Whatever You Want

Koffee Brown - Afterparty

Corrine Bailey Rae - I'd Like To

Monie Love - Monie in the Middle

Books to Read by Black Female Authors

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

Some of My Best Friends by Tajja Isen

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin

American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson

The 1619 Project by Nikole Sheri Hannah-Jones

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Grand Union: Stories by Zadie Smith

We Are Never Meeting in Real Life: Essays by Samantha Irby

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Becoming by Michelle Obama

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory

We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

The Book of Phoenix by Nnedi Okorafor

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay

The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

Dawn by Octavia E. Butler

Caucasia by Danzy Senna

Redefining Realness by Janet Mock

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennet

Feminism Is For Everybody: Passionate Politics by bell hooks

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo

The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams

Mrs. Death Misses Death by Salena Godden

Assembly by Natasha Brown

Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman

Swing Time by Zadie Smith

The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris

Luster by Raven Leilani

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

Washington Black by Esi Edugyan

Our Nig by Harriet E. Wilson (1859)

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs (1861)

A Voice From the South: By a Black Woman of the South by Anna Julia Cooper (1892)

Iola Leroy by Frances Harper (1892)

The Red Record by Ida B. Wells (1895)

There Is Confusion by Jessie Fauset (1924)

Quicksand by Nella Larsen (1928)

Passing by Nella Larsen (1929)

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (1937)

Tell My Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica by Zora Neale Hurston (1938)

Moses, Man of the Mountain by Zora Neale Hurston (1939)

The Street by Ann Petry (1946)

Maud Martha by Gwendolyn Brooks (1953)

Brown Girl, Brownstones by Paule Marshall (1959)

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry (1959)

Selected Poems by Gwendolyn Brooks (1963)

Funnyhouse of a Negro by Adrienne Kennedy (1964)

Jubilee by Margaret Walker (1966)

The Flagellants by Carlene Hatcher Polite (1967)

The House of Dies Drear by Virginia Hamilton (1968)

Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody (1968)

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (1969)

To Be Young, Gifted, and Black: Lorraine Hansberry in Her Own Words by Lorraine Hansberry (1969)

The Black Woman: An Anthology by Toni Cade Bambara (1970)

We a BaddDDD People by Sonia Sanchez (1970)

The Third Life of Grange Copeland by Alice Walker (1970)

Gorilla, My Love by Toni Cade Bambara (1972)

Sula by Toni Morrison (1973)

Oreo by Fran Ross (1974)

Corregidora by Gayl Jones (1975)

Eva’s Man by Gayl Jones (1976)

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf by Ntozake Shange (1976)

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor (1976)

Meridian by Alice Walker (1976)

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison (1977)

I’ve Been a Woman: New and Selected Poems by Sonia Sanchez (1978)

Black Macho and the Myth of the Black Superwoman by Michele Wallace (1979)

The Salt Eaters by Toni Cade Bambara (1980)

The Heart of a Woman by Maya Angelou (1981)

Women, Race, and Class by Angela Davis (1981)

Ain’t I a Woman?: Black Women and Feminism by bell hooks (1981)

All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave edited by Gloria T. Hull, Patricia Bell Scott, and Barbara Smith (1982)

Zami: A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde (1982)

The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor (1982)

Sassafrass, Cypress, and Indigo by Ntozake Shange (1982)

The Color Purple by Alice Walker (1982)

Fish Tales by Nettie Jones (1983)

Homegirls: A Black Feminist Anthology edited by Barbara Smith (1983)

In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens: Womanist Prose by Alice Walker (1983)

When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America by Paula Giddings (1984)

Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde (1984)

Linden Hills by Gloria Naylor (1985)

Radiance From the Waters: Ideals of Feminine Beauty in Mende Art by Sylvia Ardyn Boone (1986)

Thomas and Beulah by Rita Dove (1986)

Blacks by Gwendolyn Brooks (1987)

Beloved by Toni Morrison (1987)

Assata by Assata Shakur (1988)

Black-Eyed Susans and Midnight Birds: Stories by and About Black Women edited by Mary Helen Washington (1989)

Invisibility Blues: From Pop to Theory by Michele Wallace (1990)

Waiting to Exhale by Terry McMillan (1992)

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (1993)

Ugly Ways by Tina McElroy Ansa (1993)

The Black Christ by Kelly Brown Douglas (1994)

The Selected Poems of Nikki Giovanni: 1968–1995 by Nikki Giovanni (1996)

Killing the Black Body by Dorothy E. Roberts (1997)

Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler (1998)

Black Picket Fences: Privilege and Peril Among the Black Middle Class by Mary Pattillo-McCoy (1999)

Where We Stand: Class Matters by bell hooks (2000)

Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks (2001)

Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision by Barbara Ransby (2003)

Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler (2005)

Directed by Desire: The Collected Poems of June Jordan edited by Jan Heller Levi and Sara Miles (2005)

Native Guard by Natasha Trethewey (2006)

African American Music: An Introduction by Mellonee V. Burnim and Portia K. Maultsby (2006)

All Bound Up Together: The Woman Question in African American Public Culture, 1830–1900 by Martha S. Jones (2007)

Blue-Chip Black by Karyn R. Lacy (2007)

A Mercy by Toni Morrison (2008)

Blood Dazzler by Patricia Smith (2008)

The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson (2010)

The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander (2010)

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward (2011)

The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton edited by Kevin Young and Michael S. Glaser (2012)

The Ethnic Project: Transforming Racial Fiction Into Ethnic Factions by Vilna Bashi Treitler (2013)

Things I Should Have Told My Daughter: Lies, Lessons, and Love Affairs by Pearl Cleage (2014)

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson (2014)

Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness by Simone Browne (2015)

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin (2015)

Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in School by Monique W. Morris (2015)

Sweat by Lynn Nottage (2015)

Unequal City: Race, Schools, and Perceptions of Injustice by Carla Shedd (2015)

White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide by Carol Anderson (2016)

Whatever Happened to Interracial Love? by Kathleen Collins (2016)

Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement by Angela Y. Davis, edited by Frank Barat (2016)

Beyond Respectability: The Intellectual Thought of Race Women by Brittney C. Cooper (2017)

How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective edited by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor (2017)

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward (2017)

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones (2018)

Race After Technology by Ruha Benjamin (2019)

Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments by Saidiya Hartman (2019)

Magical Negro by Morgan Parker (2019)

(list compiled with the help of Bishop, Natalia, and articles in MarieClaire - BooksAndBao - Zora.Medium)

The Evers

I hadn't seen this documentary on the life of Medgar Evers and his family in a couple years and felt it was time to re-watch. Available for free on the library app Kanopy, this one is must-watch. 

(photo kidnapped from rottentomatoes)

Vivien Thomas

I first heard of this man years ago when I saw the Alan Rickman/Mos Def HBO film Something the Lord Made. More recently when seeking out more documentaries for Black History Month and every other month, I stumbled on Partners of the Heart on Tubi. I so adore this genre of film because it delves in to the truth and shows the nitty gritty parts of a life. I wanted to know more about Vivien Thomas and this doc delivered. Next chance I get, I'm looking to pick up his autobiography, Partners of the Heart.

(photo kidnapped from blacklivingknowledge)

Black History Month Playlist - Jet

Phylis Hyman - You Know How to Love Me

Stephanie Mills - Feel the Fire 

Dinah Washington - This Bitter Earth

Sarah Vaughan - Jim

The Roots - Seed 2.0

Nancy Wilson - The Nearness of You

Oscar Peterson - Triste

Rick James - Bustin' Out

A Tribe Called Quest - Find A Way

Prince - Let's Work!

Betty Roche - Jim

Serpent With Feet - Malik

Dwele - Find A Way

Macy Gray - I've Committed Murder

Loose Ends - Watching You

Slum Village - Tainted

Res - Golden Boys

Les Nubian - Taboo

Matronix - Got to Have Your Love

Homegoing

Natalia raved about Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi and so I added it to my Libby holds. I finally got it, instantly downloaded, and was able to hit play last night. Natalia was right, the beginning few chapters are a bit rough and difficult to get through, primarily due to the subject, but the writing is superb and I am hooked! I also wasn't sure if I'd like the narrator being male while the main characters are sisters, but Dominic Hoffman does an absolutely stunning job. 

13th

I've been putting off this film for so many years because I knew it would make me very very angry. It did. The United States possesses only 5% of the world's population, yet also possesses 25% of that same world's incarcerated people. TWENTY FIVE PERCENT. That means that one in four people in the world are imprisoned in the US. These are some of the shocking statistics that the film stated:

US Prison Population:

1970 - 357,292

1980 - 513,900

1985 - 759,100

1990 - 1,179,200

2000 - 2,015,300

2014 - 2,306,200

Black Prison Population in 2001: 878,400

Lifetime likelihood of imprisonment for Black men: 1 in 3

Black men make up 6.5% of the US population and 40.2% of its prison population.

To fully understand how the above is even possible, see the film 13th. It is upsetting and will make you unbelievably enraged but it is so important. Warning: they do show clips with audio of several executions of Black men by cops. Thankfully I was able to mute it in time and look away.

(photo kidnapped from ceu)

Black History Month Playlist - Pitch

The Brothers Johnson - Strawberry Letter 23

Al Green - Still In Love With You

Tina Turner - Private Dancer

Barry White - Never, Never Gonna Give You Up

John Coltrane - The Night Has a Thousand Eyes

Lauryn Hill - Everything is Everything

Labelle - Isn't It a Shame

Bill Withers - Make Me Smile

The Time - Walk

Neneh Cherry - Sassy

Sade - Every Word

First Choice - Let No Man Put Asunder (Frankie Knuckles 12" Remix)

Aaliyah - 4 Page Letter

Living Colour - Cult of Personality

TLC - Creep

Alexander O'Neil - Fake

Lalah Hathaway - Let It Go

The Veldt - Wanna Be Where You Are

Missy Elliott - The Rain

Ledisi - Alright

Alex Isley - Too Bad I Forget

Lenny Kravitz - Thinking of You

Bad Brains - Pay to Cum

John Lewis: Good Trouble

Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Do not become bitter or hostile. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble. 

(photo kidnapped from cnn)

Black History Month Donations 2023

I Love Thy Hood

Our mission.

I Love Thy Hood seeks to educate the community on the importance of keeping our cities and streets clean. With the splash of an orange trash can, we strive to enrich residents and neighborhoods alike with more options of recycling and waste management while bringing everyone together to help those in their hood.

(photo kidnapped from whyy)

From Founder/Chief Executive Officer Matthew George:

My whole life, I grew up in a neighborhood where it was cool to throw your trash on the ground, where there was no one telling us to respect the area we called home. In a city where the budget in certain sections is forgotten and citizens are left to fend for themselves, the downtown area remains clean. It’s hard to even find a candy wrapper on the sidewalk. To put it simply: my city is not helping the litter problem in my section, and I get it. The people that are making the issue are people like me, who'd rather throw something out of the window instead of waiting until they can throw it into a trash can - but we are humans, and we mimic our environment.

But, we, at I Love Thy Hood, have found a simple solution that will solve a big problem, and this was all discovered when a neighbor of mine put one trash can on a block that didn’t have one on it already. He wrote “street trash” on it. One day, I saw this can empty, and the next day, half full. By the end of the week, trash was piled to the brim!! It was then that I realized why the trash can was there. 

We mimic what what we see. If I walked by that block and saw a pile of trash and I just finished a soda, guess what I would probably do...but if I see a can full of trash, 99% of the time I will throw that same bottle in the can. If that can was not there, most likely, all those bottles and fast food bags would have been laying in the street, in yards, in playgrounds, in the sewers. The messed up part is: that’s what the next block looks like, simply because there’s no trash can.... We have the power to change that. 

A 44-gallon trash can costs $50. Because of commercial businesses, fast food eateries, foot traffic, and commuters in the community, we have to do our best to stop pollution in the inner city. We love our city. So let’s act like it. A simple $1 can go a long way. We owe it to ourselves. We owe it to our hood. Thank you for listening and thank you for your donations!

Black Girl Ventures

Our mission is to provide Black/Brown woman-identifying founders with access to community, capital, and capacity building in order to meet business milestones that lead to economic advancement through entrepreneurship.

We fund and scale tech-enabled, revenue-generating businesses (under $1M) founded by people who identify as Black/Brown and woman. We ignite civic engagement and hyperlocal infrastructure at the intersection of business support services, supplier diversity, social and financial capital.

Founded in 2016 by Serial Entrepreneur and Computer Scientist Shelly Bell, Black Girl Ventures addresses the unique challenges Black and Brown women face in accessing social and financial capital to grow their businesses. The BGV Style competition is the largest pitch competition globally for Black women founders. It uniquely combines the premise of Shark Tank and Kickstarter by activating community participation in donating to support women-owned businesses directly. We have funded 76 women of color, held over 25 BGV Pitch Programs across 8 cities and served over 170 participants. 

Black Girl Ventures pledges to accelerate 100,000 Black and Brown women-identifying entrepreneurs through Community Building as a Service (CBaaS). Shifting the idea of community building from being viewed solely as a community service to a valid and viable business offering to ensure the development and growth of small businesses. 

We believe in a world where ALL ideas have a chance to succeed. 

Please join me in the Low Budget Philanthropy movement and help out your community and beyond in the simplest way - donating any amount to whatever charity or organisation that you care about!

Stuntboy: In the Meantime

At the end of December Bishop and I went to lunch in Collingswood and popped in to Ida's Bookshop. Whenever I'm there I always head right back to the kids section. I prefer my real-life grown-up books in audio form, but kids books are better when you can hold a physical book in your hands. I spotted a comic-y sort of book that reminded me a bit of the Dog Man series - hardcover and fun. I bought it with the intention of saving it for Black History Month. I am loving it so far! Great idea - awkward and often anxious Portico Reeves decides to be a superhero and his power is to be a stunt-boy. When it looks like someone else may fall or possibly get hurt he dives right in and acts as their stuntman, er, boy. I love it and I saw on Simon & Schuster that there will be a second book!!

(ps - usually Ida's will wrap your books in twine, which I love, but since it was still December, they tied it in a lovely holiday ribbon!)

Activist Mug

Here's my go-to mug for drinking my Republic of Tea Immunity brew. Back when I bought this I knew of everyone pictured except for Shirley Chisholm, John Lewis, Fred Korematsu, and Sylvia Rivera. Now that I am familiar with all, I tend to hold the mug so as to see the image of John Lewis. While I admire all (although Angelou a bit less than the others), I think so highly of John Lewis and after reading his books and watching him in documentaries, I also really like him. He seemed like such a kind man and that is the character trait that I hold as a prize when it is found in someone.

(Rosa Parks, Bayard Rustin, Malcolm X, Maya Angelou, Susan B. Anthony, Gloria Steinem, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Harvey Milk, and Angela Davis)

Shirley Chisholm

Years ago I saw a trailer for the documentary Chisholm '72: Unbought & Unbossed and made a mental note to check it out when it was released on dvd or streaming. Then I forgot all about it until she was mentioned in another doc and I was lucky enough to see her film on Kanopy. (That library app is a goldmine of fab documentaries!) Shirley Chisholm came across as a very real and down-to-earth, no-nonsense lady. If you would like to meet her, I urge you to do so by watching Chisholm '72. You will not regret it!

(photo kidnapped from hammer.ucla)

Here's a little bit about Ms. Chisholm; for the rest of the bio, please visit womenshistory.

Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm was the first African American woman in Congress (1968) and the first woman and African American to seek the nomination for president of the United States from one of the two major political parties (1972). Her motto and title of her autobiography—Unbought and Unbossed—illustrates her outspoken advocacy for women and minorities during her seven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Black History Month Playlist - Sable

Hazel Scott - I Wish I Didn't Love You So

The 5th Dimension - One Less Bell to Answer

Salt and Pepa - Push It!

Thelonious Monk - Monk's Dream

Billie Holiday - I'm a Fool to Want You

Cassandra Wilson - Black Orpheus

BB King - The Thrill is Gone

The Emotions - Flowers

Bob Marley - Three Little Birds

India.Arie - The Little Things

The Jackson 5 - Show You the Way to Go

Diana Ross - Upside Down

James Brown - I Feel Good

Art Blakey - Nica's Dream

Incognito - Deep Waters

Anita Baker - Angel

Jay-Z - Hard Knock Life

Terry Callier - I'd Rather Be With You

Sudan Archives - Confessions

Angela Bofill -  I Try

Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced?

Aretha Franklin - Jump To It [yes, I know you don't like her, but it's a good song]

The Village Potter

Here's more about Philly artist Robert Lugo and his pieces displayed at Grounds for Sculpture.

Marlon Riggs

From The AIDS Memorial Instagram page last Friday, to celebrate Mr. Riggs birthday:

Marlon Riggs (February 3, 1957 – April 5, 1994) was a film maker and professor who died of AIDS in Oakland, California. He was 37 years old.

Born in Fort Worth, Texas, Marlon began making documentaries In 1982 after receiving his master’s from @Harvard. He is best remembered for the award winning ‘Ethnic Notions’, ‘Color Adjustment’ (which won a @peabodyawards) and ‘Tongues Untied’ that was lambasted for its “graphic content” and caused outrage because it was funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.

In his final years, whilst struggling with HIV, Marlon produced his last film ‘Black Is Black Aint’, taught at @UCBerkeley, undertook public speaking engagements and continued to write. Hospitalised, he continued to direct and appeared on film from his bed.

Towards the end of the film, Marlon is seen looking up at the camera from his hospital bed and says: “As long as I have work then I’m not going to die, cause work is a living spirit in me — that which wants to connect with other people and pass on something to them which they can use in their own lives and grow from.” #whatisrememberedlives

On an earlier post for Marlon Riggs on the same IG page, there was a brief clip of an interview he gave. I loved his answer to a certain "talk show" host, who shall not be mentioned here, that seemed rather disgusted that the National Endowment for the Arts funded Marlon Riggs' film. Mr. Riggs responded by saying that those who believe "that this is misusing, abusing federal tax dollars, tax payers dollars, don't even imagine that we are a part of those Americans whose salaries are taxed to support the government. Well, this is my money, too. Please understand. This is my lover's money, this is the money of my community, and that, that pittance of money received for this work, and we're talking about a pittance, five thousand dollars, which if anybody knows and understands video doesn't go that far, we're talking about a pittance here. And their aim quite frankly is to silence me, and to silence the community, so that we don't speak, and we return to our closets where they're happy for us to exist. If they allow us to exist at all." Oh to be that brilliant and speak that eloquently at the drop of the hat. What a remarkable man.

(photo kidnapped from criterion)

Woman In Motion

I first saw this film on the life of Nichelle Nichols in July 2021, re-watched it last February and had to see it again for this year's Black History Month. I'm not much in to sci-fi or Star Trek but I do love me a good documentary. In watching this film I came to realise that Nichelle Nichols proved to be way, way more than just a beautiful woman. She was a gifted singer, with a helluva range, and performed with Duke Ellington in her younger years. She also birthed legions of fans with her role on Star Trek as Communications Officer Lieutenant Uhura. But what I discovered when I first viewed this fantastic documentary was that Ms. Nichols changed the world. At the 1975 Star Trek convention in Chicago there was a NASA scientist, Jesco Von Puttkamer, an aero-space engineer, there as a speaker. Hearing him speak inspired Ms. Nichols because as fascinating as the space program was, she did not feel represented in the present program as a Black person and as a woman. At finding that NASA was not even considering employing women for space travel and felt that "there were no qualified black people" for the program either, Ms. Nichols began writing and having articles published on this, which caught the eye of the press who wanted to hear more from Ms. Nichols. In early 1977 she was appointed to the board of directors of the National Space Institute and saw first hand the lack of diversity at NASA. They took notice and reached out to Ms. Nichols to come on as a recruiter for the new class of astronauts for the space shuttle program. Nichelle Nichols took the helm and what she achieved was absolutely astonishing. This is what she accomplished:

When Nichelle started out, NASA had only 1500 astronaut applications after an eight month period. 

Fewer than 100 were from women.

And only 35 were minorities. 

When she finished NASA had over 8,000 applications. 1,649 from women and over 1,000 from minorities.

Her recruitment campaign lasted just 4 months. 

NASA was so impressed with her results, they increased the 1978 astronaut class roster from 25 to 35.

(photo kidnapped from paramountplus)

Woman In Motion is not to be missed and I'm so glad that Kanopy was streaming it for free so I could see it all over again. Nichelle Nichols was an incredible person who left a true and indelible mark on this little blue marble. 

Black History Month Playlist - Onyx

Horace Silver - Song for my Father

Donny Hathaway - The Ghetto

Roberta Flack - Suzanne

En Vogue - My Lovin' (Never Gonna Get It)

The Spinners - I'll Be Around

Rufus - Stop On By

Luther Vandross - Bad Boy/ Having A Good Time

Chaka Khan - Ain't Nobody

The Whispers - (Olivia) Lost and Turned Out

Gil Scott-Heron - Lady Day and John Coltrane

Digable Planets - It's Good to be Here

Earth, Wind, and Fire - Can't Hide Love

Ego Ella May - Girls Don't Always Sing About Boys

Parliament - Flashlight

George Benson - Love X Love

Herbie Hancock - Watermelon Man

Toni, Tone, Tony - Thinking About You

Whitney Houston - Heartbreak Hotel

Tricky - Ponderosa

Eve - Tambourine

Womack and Womack - Love TKO

The Stylistics - People Make the World Go Around

Donna Summer - Spring Affair

Robert Glasper Experiment - Move Love

Edwin Hawkins Singers - Oh, Happy Day

At Long Last!

Lovely Ms. Toni Morrison is finally on a US postage stamp! I cannot wait to purchase a whole stack.

Maya's Celebrates Black History Month

I have been hoping that Maya's Cookies would bring back their Uncle Nearest cookie from last year, but alas they decided to create three new cooks in honour of Black History Month. But check them out! They all sound beyond delicious!!

Black History Collection

An ode to the arts, Maya's Cookies brings you this year's Black History Collection to honor the contributions of the countless Black women breaking barriers in the literary arts, world of dance, music industry and beyond.

Collection includes 6 cookies, 2 of each flavor listed above.

The Chart-Topper - Inspired by the Godmother of Soul, the Chart-Topper is a tribute to Ms. Patti LaBelle's famous pies and cobblers. This cobbler-inspired cookie turns up the volume with a harmony of Smoked Peach Jam, real peach pieces, and a cinnamon brown sugar crumble.

Featuring Smoked Peach Jam from woman and Black-owned Trade Street Jam Co.

The Prodigy - Inspired by Misty Copeland, her mentor Raven Wilkinson and the trailblazing Black women making history in ballet and the dance arts. The Prodigy sparkles with flavors of bubbly champagne, fresh strawberries and dazzling sparkle sugar.

The Prodigy features Reserve Champagne from Black woman-owned Stuyvesant Champagne

The Best Seller - Brit Bennett's The Vanishing Half tells the tale of "twin sisters, inseparable as children, who ultimately choose to live in two very different worlds, one black and one white." Taking inspiration from the novel's front cover design as well as the duality of the main characters, The Best Seller marbles together 3 unique flavors: Red Velvet, Brown Sugar Chocolate Chunk and Salted Caramel Fudge.

Featuring vegan dark chocolate from Kanda Chocolates, a Black woman-owned chocolatier sourcing straight from Ghana. 

Black History Month Playlist - Panther

In preparation of Black History Month I recruited music-god Bishop to help me come up with the ultimate playlist of the bestest Black artists we know. He went a tad cray-cray and I had to break his list into seven mixes. All songs were suggested by Bishop with me providing the mix title and track order.

Marvin Gaye: What's Going On?

Grace Jones: Pull Up to the Bumper

High Inergy: You Can't Turn Me Off (In the Middle of Turning Me On)

Stevie Wonder: You've Got It Bad, Girl

Lizzo: About Damn Time

Janelle Monáe: Say You'll Go

Heatwave: Posin' Til Closin'

Charlie Pride: I Can't Believe That You've Stopped Loving Me

Joan Armatrading: Down to Zero

Nat King Cole: Calypso Blues

Cameo: Single Life

Groove Theory: Tell Me

Erykah Badu: Didn't Cha Know?

Queen Latifah: U.N.I.T.Y.

Jody Watley: Friends

Maxwell: Bad Habits

Faith Evans: Give It To Me

Soul II Soul: Back to Life

Jamila Woods: BASQUIAT (feat. Saba)

Isley Brothers: Highways of My Life

Janet Jackson: Got Til it's Gone

Ella Fitzgerald: Black Coffee

D'Angelo: Brown Sugar

Inner City: Good Life

Michael Jackson: Off the Wall

Sister Sledge: Lost in Music

Jill Scott: Blessed

Beyonce: Blow

Black History Month

I usually set up a project for certain months and February tends to be when I watch a romantic movie a day for 14 days and read love stories all month. In 2022 I spent the last half of the month watching a film each day that involves Black culture. This time I am spending 28 days reading books about the Black experience as well as focusing more on books by Black authors. I'm gonna try to do a post-a-day noting something that I am learning or a mini-celebration of all things Black. I know that this country is more than just one part of the human race but for now I want to focus more on expanding my horizons on one side of this mega-polyhedral die of a planet. 

Today I started off with finishing something a bit on the lighter side - The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell. I first discovered him from his face on one of the many shirts sold on Tees4Togo. When I discovered he was a feminist and had done a documentary about the women who had been raped/assaulted by that dreadful scumbag, I bought one of the tees and added this book to my Audible library as soon as it was released. Truth be told, I cheated and started reading this in January. But I finished it today so I say it counts! I really saw a lot of Bishop in Kamau and am really hoping this is not his last book. He's a brilliant, fascinating man and I genuinely adore him!

Post Script - Bishop was instrumental in helping me gather a list of new and exciting authors and books to check out, but this one was all me!