Nakia

Ignore this page. All the good stuff is @ ZoraToniMaya.tumblr.com and www.ZoraToniMaya.com.

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My nerdy version of #sundayfunday. Forgot how much I loved being surrounded by writers, poets, and other lit lovers. It's been a minute. Sad I got here too late to see Victor LaValle and Emily Raboteau, but looking forward to seeing Michael Eric Dyson, Jelani Cobb, and Jamelle Bouie. 📚❤ #OaklandBookFestival #Oakland #books #wellreadblackgirl (at Oakland Book Festival)

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Couldn't decide between X or Ida, until I realized today's milestone. Happy birthday to our own Black shining prince #MalcolmX #BlackActivistBae #biography #ManningMarable #books #bookstgram #igreads

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The Formation video is the visual embodiment of beautiful prissy ghetto conscious girl brilliance, confidence, and style, something that I ascribe to as a matter of birth right and home training...In these new images, I saw myself, my interests, and my cultural identity, topped with a middle finger to white supremacy, a tasty glaze drizzled on a thick slice of your grandma's pound cake.

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Do you know of a #barbershop in #Oakland that regularly services kids and teens? @BookTini -Oakland wants to donate a small library of NEW books to a barbershop that regularly services African American boys, ages 4-15. We want to inspire them to read while waiting for and during their haircut. The books will be available for the barbershop to keep forever and a day. We will also provide shelving for them. If you know of a #barber or barbershop who would be seriously interested, please inbox me. We're looking to donate before the year is up :) (at Oakland, California)

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"History of Black Oakland" Walking Tour #BHM #BHM2015 (at African American Museum and Library at Oakland)

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Lord knows I have zero space for more books, but there was no way I could pass up the HarperCollins' book sale celebrating Black books and authors last week. $4.99 each + free shipping. 😆📚😆 #BHM #ZoraNealeHurston #DustTracksOnARoad #TheirEyesWereWatchingGod #HowToBeBlack #BaratundeThurston #DarkGirls #BillDuke #KansasCityLightening #StanleyCrouch #ThisHouseIsNotForSale #DevilInTheGrove #GilbertKing

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Last night's Fat Tuesday Mardi Gras parade in uptown #OAKLAND (at The New Parish)

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Because I love history, and I really love Black history, and I ESPECIALLY love Oakland's Black history, I'm looking forward to tonight's "African American Oakland: a historical overview" event tonight at 6PM at @oaklibrary's Main branch. #ThaTown #BHM

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“Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet. 1977, May 3, six thirty in the morning, no one knows anything but this innocuous fact: Lydia is late for breakfast." 'Everything I Never Told You' was so good yall. I'd love you to check out my first review of the year over at ZoraToniMaya.com 😉 📝💙ZoraToniMaya.com💜📚

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This why I love @pardonmyfro. It's very rare that I see greeting cards featuring Black women with locs. Someone pretend to be my Valentine and send this to me. Thanks *looks at @davidbannerlikespictures* #BlackLove #Naturalhair #LocsandLove

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Started a mini mother-daughter book club duo with my mom. First on our list is "The Book of Negroes" by Lawrence Hill (also titled "Someone Knows My Name"), about the fictional Aminata Diallo who is kidnapped from Africa, sold into slavery in South Carolina, and eventually escapes to a new adventurous life in Canada and beyond. Once we're done, we'll be watching the mini series together when it premieres on BET in early February for Black History Month. If our little book club duo works out, hopefully we'll be able to do this mother-daughter thing every 2-3 months. ❤📚❤

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Good morning.

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When an album takes over your entire life.... Love me some Jazmine Sullivan. This has got to be my favorite album from her, and already one of my favorite projects of 2015. #RealityShow

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#1 "This is Where I Leave You" by Jonathan Tropper - January is @BookTini's Books to the Big Screen month. We're reading this novel about Judd Foxman and his crazy ass family. Judd's father dies around the same time he finds out his wife has been cheating on him with his boss... and is now pregnant. Talk about a horrible life. Sounds like a sad book, but it's very tongue in cheek. Judd's father requested that his wife and children "sit shiva" following his death. Basically, everyone must come together under one roof for seven days and try not to kill each other. 20 pages in and I've already giggled a few times. We'll be watching the movie, starring Jason Bateman (love him), Tina Fey (love her) and Jane Fonda, next weekend. Feels like it's been a minute since I've seen my BookTini girls. Looking forward it!

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Trying not to faint after finding out (3 years late) that Isabel Wilkerson loves my tumblr and called it a "book lovers dream" on Facebook. Her book, "The Warmth of Other Suns," about the Great Migration of Black folk from the South to the North and the West, is my favorite non-fiction read ever. 📚📚📚📚📚📚

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This scene in SELMA between Amelia Boynton (played by Lorraine Toussaint) and Coretta Scott King (Carmen Ejogo) was like church to me. Shouted 'Amen' at the screen and everything. I encourage you to go see this film. I encourage you to support it financially. It will make you cry, but it would also make you proud. And it will stick with you long after the credits roll.

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Happy birthday to the daring and brash lady who celebrated and studied all manner of Black folk, wrote my favorite love story of all time, and inspired the launching of ZoraToniMaya.com two years ago today. #ZoraNealeHurston