[cw: sex work, trans violence] The second season of P-Valley, created by Katori Hall and streaming on Starz, premiered this past summer. The show is set in small-town Chucalissa, Mississippi, at a strip club called The Pynk, and the episodes are a beautiful mishmash of body, survival, love, money, and exploration. The club itself is […]
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[cw: Uvalde, Roe v. Wade, gun violence, police officer abuse, racism] In the time that I have been writing this piece, significant global events have occurred. One, in particular, occurred on September 16. On that day, Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman, died after being subjected to violence by the morality police, who arrested her
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In the novel Beasts of a Little Land by Juhea Kim, Jade is sold to a courtesan school by her desperate mother. At around the same time, Jade also meets JungHo, an orphan with whom she forms a deep friendship. The story transports the reader to Korea during the Independence Movement. The novel reads tenderly,
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[cw: drugs, child prostitution, murder] Louise Hare wrote the compelling novel Miss Aldridge Regrets. This work of historical fiction kicks off in 1936, a time in which protagonist Lena Aldridge is a nightclub singer in London. She is offered a life-changing opportunity but is suspicious of why she is receiving it. Yet life has always
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Love the image above? We’re bringing back our Read. Resist. Vote. shirts. Get yours now! Hey, everyone! It’s week three in this year’s Read. Resist. Vote. series (you can find week one right here and here’s week two). This week, we again have two more candidates to rally around. We’d like to extend a very
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Jesmeen Kaur Deo sets an incredible tone in her debut novel, TJ Powar Has Something to Prove. TJ is a competitive debater in her senior year of high school. Classmates post an unflattering meme of her cousin, Simran, comparing her with TJ as a standard of beauty. TJ decides to stop getting waxed and ditches
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[cw: death] The author Kristina Forest is an absolute force as a young adult novelist. She centers young Black love with discovery and assurance. Her recent book, Zyla & Kai, is about the titular characters’ dreams and ambitions, and their growing understanding of their desires. At the beginning of the book, Kai is dating and
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In Cherish Farrah, Bethany C. Morrow has written a novel that embodies social horror, showing societal oppression from a horror lens. Described as Get Out meets My Sister, The Serial Killer, Cherish Farrah delves into the uniquely sinister situation experienced by the only two Black girls in a white country club community as one of
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In Kimberla Lawson Roby’s novel, Sister Friends Forever, Lynette, Michelle, Serena, and Kenya are “sister friends” living life on their terms. The story is a powerful testament to loving yourself and rebuking societal and personal expectations. My conversation with Kimberla Lawson Roby circled around writing characters and faith, who inspired her to write this story,
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In Monique Roffey’s The Mermaid of Black Conch, set in 1976, protagonist David is fishing off the island of Black Conch when he finds a mermaid named Aycayia. She was a beautiful woman cursed by jealous wives. David rescues her, discovering she can transform back into a woman when she is out of water. David
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@MinaReadss on Twitter shared a tweet that resonated with many. White women are using “Hot Girl Summer,” as part of a title for reading lists, without mentioning nary a Black author on the list. “Hot Girl Summer” was created by Megan Thee Stallion. YOU CANNOT ERASE BLACK WOMEN FROM WHAT THEY CREATE. Along with featuring
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Synopsis Content Warning: Murder, Kidnapping, Abuse Harlem Sunset by Nekesa Afia is part of her Harlem Renaissance Mystery series. In Harlem 1927, Twenty-seven-year-old Louis Lloyd, a Black woman, became manager of the Dove, a club, owned by her close friend, Rafael Moreno. After a night of drinking and talking with Rafael, Rosa Maria, and Louise,
Book Review: Harlem Sunset by Nekesa Afia Read More »
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