#bnplit

I am 2000 and late on the news, but it was a few days ago when I learned of The Book Club created and organized by Chicago rapper Noname. Initially started last year, I came across a tweet of hers on twitter when looking for some type of escapism from the horror of death, fire and military action by the U.S. in the Middle East.

The tweet I stumbled upon links to the Patreon of said book club and when I read on, I learned that it aims to become an online/IRL community dedicated to uplifting POC voices. Two authors of color will be highlighted each month by the club to be read and discussed along with local meetups in select cities. Imagine the smile on my face poking around on their website and the social media seeing so many Black and Brown folks with reading material, with smiles and most of all–gathered together.

But what takes the cake? What made me take out my wallet and sit down and bust this piece out on a Saturday morning before second breakfast? Noname’s Bookclub has a vision of sustainability and a pledge to push for education. With every subscription to the Patreon means compensating staff, graphic designers, photographers, and facilitators which is key. In a day and time where huge, multi-million dollar publications are still pushing unpaid internships and rent (is too damn high!) control still doesn’t exist in many places around the country–attempting to create and keep something creative ongoing is ideal and realistically needs support and especially support by way of dollar bills. The website also mentions that a 2020 goal is that they also want to raise funds to send their monthly picks to select prisons in various cities.

Further detailed is the push for acknowledging bookstore and libraries: for example, there are links to the Los Angeles Public Library and the Chicago Public Library who partnered up with the book club. As for the bookstores, shopping locally is encouraged with photos, addresses and phone numbers to such book havens like Hakim’s Bookstore in Philadelphia and the Reparations Club in Los Angeles. The stress to shop local is felt at the bottom of the about page on the website with the words: Noname. No Amazon. Shop Local. The intent is further felt when glancing on social media with such tweets as the one below, advertising #FuckAmazonDay where on January 11, a mass registering for library cards to promote free access to book and education will take place. Excited, I am.

What’s good 2020???!! We’re moving into a new year and the start of a new decade! The time of reading lists for the brand new year. Now, we’re not going to say we have the best reading lists out there, but if you’re looking for books across the spectrum of genre, character, and writer’s background, you know we got you. We prefer our books filled with complex characters, with folks included from across identities and ethnicities. We like our non-fiction insightful and challenging. We read poetry, essays, fiction, graphic novels…you name it. From Black girl zombie killers in historical settings to graphic novel memoirs about banned book clubs--here's the list!

Deathless Divide

by Justina Ireland (Balzer + Bray) Available February 2020

Ireland’s first book in this setting, Dread Nation, was a hit with me. The story of Jane leaving Miss Preston’s Attendant school outside of Baltimore and ending up “out west” was fast, engaging, and left me wanting more. Well, more is coming. In Deathless Divide, Jane, and friend Kate, leave the ruins of Summerland to travel to California, looking for Jane’s momma.

I’m looking forward to watching Jane embrace her truth while becoming a better zombie killer. Jane and Kate are mismatched friends, which makes the tension of their tale all the stronger. I know they won’t get a happily ever after — this tale is based on destroying those kinds of tropes — but I do want to see what they build for themselves in this alternative history, zombie fighting novel.

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Brown Sugar Babe

by Charlotte Watson Sherman, Illustrated by (Boyd Mills & Kane) Available Feburary 2020

I have a true fondness for children’s books about mommies and babies, more specifically Black mamas and their offspring. It’s a genre in children’s lit that absolutely has my whole heart, and every time I see one I must check it out. Internally, I’ve figured that it is because it was my own moms that read to me and help foster a love of reading–so books about a mom and child with skin like mine make me smile. In Brown Sugar Babe, the creative team of Sherman and Akem (who I’ve followed since first seeing her art on Instagram) gives us the most delightful and heartfelt journey of Blackness through the wonders of everything ordinary and extraordinary in the world.

The poetic wording gives me hope in a world that despises (but constantly copies) Black girls: “Your brown eyes are chocolate drops brown sugar babe, your hair, a crown of brown curls, fierce as a lion’s mane.” Paired with the lovely art with everything from gingerbread men and gardens to outer space, this is the book I want to give my future daughter. We did secure a review copy and the prose is lovely and heartfelt paired with the art that makes my heart soar–look forward to my review!