Hello, world! With February being Black History Month, we wanted to dedicate this episode to talking about our favorite stories from Black authors and a little about the history behind Black History Month and ways that we can celebrate beyond just the month of February. Be sure to check out the list below for our list of favorite authors and writers, some book and movie recommendations, links to Seattle U's Black Student Union and ways to support them, Black-owned bookshops doing online orders, and more!
Discourse Resources:
History Behind Black History Month: https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-history-month
Why I'm a Black Man Against Black History Month: https://thehumanist.com/commentary/im-black-man-black-history-month
Celebrating Black Authors/Poets/Writers/Artists:
1. James Baldwin - The Fire Next Time, If Beale Street Could Talk
2. Ta-Nehisi Coates - Between the World and Me
3. Toni Morrison - Beloved
4. Anastacia-Renee Tolbert - local Seattle writer, poet, educator, podcaster, and more. https://www.anastacia-renee.com/home
5. Nella Larsen - Passing (Podcast version: https://open.spotify.com/show/7LZ2JKDzObhsiz2HOHiGH5?si=0eP4ElekTLqzUESS2o4VIw&nd=1)
6. Tayari Jones - An American Marriage
7. Nnedi Okorafor - Binti
8. Angie Thomas - The Hate U Give, Concrete Rose
9. Iijeoma Oluo - So You Want to Talk About Race
10. Oyinkan Braithwaite - My Sister, The Serial Killer
11. Alvin McCrany - In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue (Also the movie, Moonlight, directed by Barry Jenkins)
12. Suzan Lori Parks - In the Blood
13. August Wilson - Fences, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, and Two Trains Running
14. Trever Noah - Born a Crime (Also Trevor Noah's The Daily Show with Trevor Noah)
15. Yrsa Daley-Ward - Bones
16. Jamila J. Lyiscot - Black Appetite. White Food: Issues of Race, Voice, and Justice Within and Beyond the Classroom
17. Maya Angelou - poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist
18. Angela Davis - political activist, philosopher, academic, and author (Check out the Spectator Article from when Davis gave a speech for MLK Day: https://seattlespectator.com/2021/01/28/angela-davis-gives-inspiring-message-at-mlk-day-special-event/)
19. Roxane Gay - Hunger
20. NK Jemisin - The City Born Great, The City We Became
21. Cleo Wade - Heart Talk
22. Nicola Yoon - The Sun is Also a Star (Also a movie directed by Ry Russo-Young), Everything Everything (Also a movie directed by Stella Meghie)
Link to SU's Black Student Union (Follow on Instagram @bsu.seattleu): https://seattleu.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/black-student-union
Be sure to support them in the month of February by purchasing at Might-O Donuts as all Good ol' Glaze sales support the BSU Scholarship Fund!
Link to SU Writing Center Blog: https://suwritingcenter.weebly.com/
List of Black-owned bookshops doing online orders! Sistah Scifi, Uncle Bobbie's, Harriett's Bookshop, The Lit. Bar, Loyalty Bookstore, Cafe Con Libros, Mahogany Books, Semicolon Bookstore, L.E.M.S. Bookstore
