by Amanda Ong
This Friday, Oct. 14, acclaimed poet Pamela Sneed will be in conversation with Shin Yu Pai at the Central Library’s Microsoft Auditorium to discuss Sneed’s memoir, Funeral Diva. The event is free and one of a series guest-curated by Pai, an award-winning writer, poet, and the producer and host of KUOW’s podcast The Blue Suit.
Continue reading Poetry and Loss During the 1980s HIV and AIDS Crisis: Pamela Sneed Talks About Memoir ‘Funeral Diva’by Bri Little
There is no shortage of books about racism, and since the Black Lives Matter protests last summer, anti-racist books have been pushed to the forefront as essential reading. I have read a number of books about racism to interrogate my own internalized anti-Blackness, but most of them, paradoxically, center whiteness because the author usually writes for the benefit and education of white readers. Texts as teaching tools do have their place, but anti-racist books aiming to help Black people cope with their experiences of racial violence are few and far between.
In Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar’s 2021 release, You’ll Never Believe What Happened To Lacey, the sisters use a fresh, intentional approach to recount the constant barrage of macro- and microaggressions Black women endure and often internalize. With pitch-perfect humor, heart, and a take-no-prisoners attitude, Ruffin, a comedian, and her sister, Lamar, whom most of the stories are about, offer kinship in sharing their experiences, and freedom, in the ways we can respond to this violence.
Continue reading BOOK REVIEW: You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Laceyby Beverly Aarons
Witchcraft, futuristic tech, goblins, mermaids, magical spells, dystopian/utopian futures, and other fantastical imaginings are all common themes in science fiction. And every Black nerd knows that there is a sizable number of Black people who love to read the genre. So why is it still so difficult to track down speculative fiction stories written by contemporary Black women authors? There’s certainly no shortage of Black women writing in the genre. And many of those writers are incredibly prolific. The biggest challenge seems to be curatorial. Some of these works remain “undiscovered” by a wide swath of readers because there are not enough people who seek out, read, and vet published science fiction stories written by Black women.
Continue reading Sistah Scifi Makes Space for Stories Black Geeks, Nerds, and ‘Weirdos’ Will Love
