June is Pride month, a time to celebrate the amazing members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Blogger russell@inkandpaperblog.com reviewed a stack of books across all genres to read and enjoy.
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Punch Me Up to the Gods: Memoir introduces a powerful new talent in Brian Broome, whose early years growing up in Ohio as a dark-skinned Black boy harboring crushes on other boys propel forward this gorgeous, aching, and unforgettable debut. Brian’s recounting of his experiences—in all their cringe-worthy, hilarious, and heartbreaking glory—reveal a perpetual outsider awkwardly squirming to find his way in. Indiscriminate sex and escalating drug use help to soothe his hurt, young psyche, usually to uproarious and devastating effect. A no-nonsense mother and broken father play crucial roles in our misfit’s origin story. But it is Brian’s voice in the retelling that shows the true depth of vulnerability for young Black boys that is often quietly near to bursting at the seams. Read more
What Is Pride Month, and How Did It Begin?
Photo: Andrew Holbrooke/Getty Images | rd.com--June 1, 2022
Whether you’re a LGBTQ community member or an ally, here’s everything you need to know about Pride Month.
If you’re new to the LGBTQ community or you’re looking to become an LGBTQ ally, chances are you have a few questions. You might have heard about Pride Month, for example,
but aren’t entirely sure what it means or what it entails.
You may even be asking yourself, “When is Pride Month?” or “What is the meaning behind LGBTQ pride flags?”
Or perhaps you’re still at the starting point on your journey and wondering what LGBTQ stands for—not to mention how and why the acronym has evolved over the years, from LGBT all the way to LGBTQIA2+, depending on whom you ask.
So, let’s start with the basics.
The Meaning Behind 32 LGBTQ Pride Flags
Photo: rd.com--June 1, 2022 What to know about the colors, symbolism, and history of LGBTQ flags.
When you think about symbols of the LGBTQ community, the rainbow-colored pride flag probably comes to mind right away. Its iconic stripes and hues can be found on flagpoles, front porches, and lapel pins (not to mention plenty of other merchandise). But do you know the meaning behind the flag and how the rainbow came to be associated with gay rights? How about the fact that there have been several iterations of the rainbow flag, as it has evolved over time? Or that there’s actually a total of more than 30 different LGBTQ flags? Far more than pieces of fabric, these LGBTQ flags tell the story of the individuals they represent, acting as tools of visibility in a society that does its best to ignore their basic human and civil rights. As you’re learning more about why it’s important to support LGBTQ-owned businesses, what LGBTQ stands for, ways to be an LGBTQ ally, and why Pride Month is in June, find out more about the meaning of some of the many LGBTQ flags as well. Here’s a brief introduction to 32 of them.
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10 books to add to your reading list in July
Photo: Photos by Scribner; Atria Books; Penguin Press; Viking; Bloomsbury; William Morrow; Mariner; Knopf; Del Rey; Little, Brown. | latimes.com--June 30, 2022
Beach reads, more than ever, are in the eye of the beholder. An uncommonly thoughtful and fun romance? Sure. An old-fashioned novel about land preservation in Maine, or a creepy retelling of “The Island of Dr. Moreau”? Why not. How about a deep dive into the life and crimes of Harvey Weinstein? Or the tribulations of a Hasidic woman with an internet-porn habit? Whatever your taste or mood, July offers something to meet you where you are — or wherever you want to be.
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is a collection of 50+ short video documentaries
showcasing individual Americans reading
and speaking personally about poems they love.
Writing through the sorrow of mass shootings
Photo: David Livingston/Getty Images | LATiimes.com--June 1, 2022
As the latest school massacre erupted in Texas, poet Amanda Gorman,
the first National Youth Poet Laureate, began writing.
Schools scared to death.
The truth is, one education under desks,
Stooped low from bullets;
That plunge when we ask
Where our children
Shall live
& how
& if
Gorman’s poem in progress went viral on social media
as the nation struggled to grasp the horror
of 19 children and two teachers
gunned down inside their classroom
— just days after shootings at a Buffalo, N.Y.,
market and a Laguna Woods church.
Samella Lewis, ‘godmother’ of Black art who helped preserve its history, dies at 99
Photo: Robert Hale | LATimes.com--June 1, 2022
Samella Lewis, a historian, curator, author and educator, was key to supporting the work of Black artists throughout the 20th century.
The expression “Renaissance woman” is an overused one — often deployed in reference to anyone who might have a toe in more than one subject area. But when it came to Samella Lewis, it was true.
Lewis was an artist, an activist, a historian, an author, a curator, a professor, a gallerist, a collector and a beloved mentor who helped document and elevate work by Black artists for almost eight decades. A down-to-earth yet steely woman who helped integrate Black artists into the American canon, Lewis died of renal failure on Friday at a hospice in Torrance. She was 99.
The death was confirmed by her younger son, Claude Lewis.
Over the course of her career, she published important books on Black artists, including a monograph about one of... Read more
Samella Lewis Contemporary Art Collection
rcwg.scrippscollege.edu--June 1, 2022 In 2007
Scripps launched the Samella Lewis Contemporary Art Collection in honor of Samella Lewis, artist, art historian, curator, editor and teacher at Scripps from 1969-1984. Known for her trailblazing art history, Dr. Lewis wrote the first textbook on African American art history, as well as monographs on leading artists Elizabeth Catlett and Richmond Barthé. The College’s goal is to acquire works by Dr. Lewis and other significant contemporary artists, with a special, though not exclusive, focus on art by women and by leading African American artists. For information, contact Kirk Delman, Collection Manager, at (909) 607-3397, or Crystal K. Jones, Senior Advancement Officer, at (909) 607-7531.
Samella Lewis’ “Stimulant,” from 1941 — an early painting by the artist. (Gerard Vuilleumier / Louis Stern Fine Arts)
“Art is not a luxury as many people think
– it is a necessity.
It documents history – it helps educate people
and stores knowledge for generations to come.”
-- Samella Lewis
“Every year we must remind successive generations that this event triggered a series of events that one by one defines the challenges and responsibilities of successive generations. That’s why we need this holiday.” —Albert Ely Edwards
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The Impossible Ambition of Kendrick Lamar’s New Album
TheAtlantic.com--May 18, 2022
Despite what the artist says on Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, he’s still trying to save you.
“Sorry I didn’t save the world,” Kendrick Lamar says in the final moments of Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, his new double album. The apology is not sarcastic. Lamar really has spent nearly two decades of rapping trying to open minds, save souls, and bring peace … and yet, still, all of this (gestures wildly) is going on. Lamar sings his album-closing track, “Mirror,” in a lighthearted voice as syrupy violins drizzle behind him. You might imagine him exiting the UN General Assembly with a shimmy and a middle finger. He’s unburdened. He’s over it. We’re going to have to save ourselves.
"My whole thing is to inspire, to better people, to better myself forever in this thing that we call rap, this thing that we call hip hop."
--Kendrick Lamar (Illustration by Oliver Munday)
Howard University acquires landmark collection of Gordon Parks photos
Photo: The 1963 March on Washington by Gordon Parks/Gordon Parks Foundation | WashingtonPost.com--May 18, 2022
At the start of his prolific and influential career, photographer Gordon Parks documented everyday life in D.C.,
including events and students at Howard University.
Eighty years later, the historically Black university in the heart of the District has acquired one of the most comprehensive collections of Parks’s photographs. The trove of 252 images represents both his artistic achievement and his significance as a documentarian of African American life
in the second half of the 20th century. Parks died in 2006 at the age of 93. Learn more
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Review: The world that made and unmade the Notorious B.I.G.
Photo: Clarence Davis / NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images | LATimes.org--May 18, 2022
If you rob me, I’ll kill you. There are countless ways to express this idea, but probably none more clever than this: “There’s gonna be a lot of slow singing and flower bringing if my burglar alarm starts ringing.” That’s the Notorious B.I.G., born Christopher Wallace, on his aptly titled 1994 song “Warning.” Biggie plays two characters on the track, one calling the other to warn him of a plot against his life and his riches. Hip-hop doesn’t get much more creative.
event highlights - "word" april 30, 2022 (photos by V.I.P)
"Lessons"
by Shawn McKinney
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"I Carry You"
by Shawn McKinney
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Poetry Online
Are you an Artist, Author or Poet?
Are you an Artist, Author or Poet?
(poetryfoundation.org)
Resources for teaching and learning remotely.
Are you an Artist, Author or Poet?
Are you an Artist, Author or Poet?
Are you an Artist, Author or Poet?
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