A few literary suggestions for Black History Month
Maybe you know Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie from when Beyoncé sampled her TEDx talk, “We should all be feminists,” or maybe you’ve been following her emergence as one of the most prominent voices of African literature over the last two decades. Her latest novel, Americanah, was selected by The New York Times as one of the 10 Best Books of 2013.
Edna Lewis had a hell of a career. She worked her way up as a seamstress, eventually fashioning a dress for Marilyn Monroe. Then she became the first African-American celebrity chef. Then she broke her leg, so she wrote a cookbook. The Taste of Country Cooking was interspersed with personal stories of growing up in a freed-slave settled town in Virginia, and redefined what many thought of Southern food.
Roxane Gay (@roxanegay), famed author of Bad Feminist, is a Tumblr favorite, and not just because you can follow her. She writes about what it means to be a woman of color. She’s the first Black woman to write for Marvel, and she’s writing queer WOC into their storylines. She pulled her unreleased book from publishers Simon & Schuster after their deal with Milo Yiannopoulos was announced. It’s easy to admire her actions as much as her writing.
Afro Editions (@afroeditions) posts and reblogs all things Black lit, including this bell hooks Valentine’s Day card and these suggestions for Black sci-fi.
The Center for African-American Poetry and Poetics (@caapoetryandpoetics) highlights exactly what you think it will.
Bonus: We highlighted it last year, but Black Children’s Books and Authors (@blackchildrensbooksandauthors) deserves a spotlight on it again.
Don’t miss our upcoming BHM Answer Times. This week and next week, we have:
2/21—Angelica Ross (@missrosscreative), transgender rights advocate.
2/22—Actress Amandla Stenberg (@amandla)
2/23—Comedian and actor Andrew Bachelor, better known as King Bach (@kingbach).
2/24—Washington Post (@washingtonpost) editorial board member and MSNBC contributor Jonathan Capehart.
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