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Good evening Family,
I hope y'all are all doing well during these lying, trying times.
I hope y'all are all doing well during these lying, trying times.
I wanted to share some stuff with you as the US attempts to remove all knowledge of its Indigenous, Black, Brown, Asian, LGBTQIA+, and disabled populations from every academic curriculum so that there is no opposition to its white supremacist capitalist patriarchal propAgenda.
I have the great fortune of being in family with three extraordinary writers whose work is beyond phenomenal: @dantielwmoniz ( #MILKBLOODHEAT), @DeeshaPhilyaw ( #THESECRETLIVESOFCHURCHLADIES), and @DawnieWalton ( #THEFINALREVIVALOFOPALANDNEV).
We had the chance to sit down and kee-kee via Zoom, discussing what it means to be a Black writer now.
"I would say, do not look at other Black writers as competition, look at them as community. There will be forces around you that try to pit you against one another. Because, you know, 'There Can Only Be One.'" https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/black-debut-authors-in-conversation/
Sitting in fellowship with #NikkyFinney, @manthonyhunter, @blacklionking73, and @daniellevalore to talk about the expansiveness and necessity of Black love has been one of the greatest experiences of my life.
"If you can love somebody of the same gender in a nation that is committed to showing how much you hate each other and how much you hate yourself, you have committed the most radical, freeing, liberating act imaginable.” https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2021-04-19/poets-and-novelists-talk-writing-about-black-love-on-a-festival-of-books-panel
Two of the dopest people on the planet, @DanielleBelton and @Maiysha Kai, invited me to speak with them about my work and it was an entire blessing.
"Even if at the same time we’ve had our joys and our hopes and our dreams realized, it’s under the banner of trauma because this country, how it defines itself, is through its anti-Blackness. That is how America became America.” https://www.theroot.com/you-can-t-be-pro-black-and-anti-lgbtqia-the-root-pres-1846742232
My sibling across the waters, Lethabo Mailula, and I talked in great depth about our connections, our ancestors, and the work we do in their names.
"I was fortunate enough to be raised by my grandmother and my great-grandmother. I was raised by women who carried razor blades in their mouths and would slash anybody that would mess with them.
'Women taught me how to write,' he says of Toni Morrison, Alice Walker and Toni Cade Bambara, among others." https://www.newframe.com/book-review-the-prophets-a-tender-love-story/
I also had the opportunity to speak with the marvelous @MaryLauraPh about #TheProphets:
"I include in those ancestors people like James Baldwin and Toni Morrison and Zora Neale Hurston and so many other great Black writers. I realized that I’m writing in a tradition that begins with maybe Phillis Wheatley, where it was illegal for my ancestors to read or write."
And I’ve carried that with me when I’m writing anything, but particularly when I was writing The Prophets." https://awordonwords.org/2021/04/30/the-prophets-robert-jones-jr/
I am happy to share the upcoming events I will be participating in:
May 4: Gaithersburg Book Festival
May 12: Stratford Literary Festival
May16: Aye Write Festival
May 4: Gaithersburg Book Festival
May 12: Stratford Literary Festival
May16: Aye Write Festival
May 22: PEN World Voices Festival
May 26: PBS/WNET–BRAVER THAN THE ONE BEFORE IT: In Search of the New American Dream
May 27: Hay Literature Festival
To virtually attend/RSVP for any of these events, please visit:
http://www.sonofbaldwin.com/events
I hope to "see" you soon.
May 26: PBS/WNET–BRAVER THAN THE ONE BEFORE IT: In Search of the New American Dream
May 27: Hay Literature Festival
To virtually attend/RSVP for any of these events, please visit:
http://www.sonofbaldwin.com/events
I hope to "see" you soon.
Wishing you fun, light, love, and safety. Have a great weekend.
Peace,
Robert
Peace,
Robert
