young, black–and HUMAN

Up before dawn on the first day of spring break, hoping this headache doesn’t bloom into a migraine. Lots to watch online (episode one of Great Expectations at PBS.org) and Amy Bodden Bowllan has posted Part 1 and Part 2 of our conversation about race and representation in the wake of the murder of Trayvon [...]

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follow the leader

I watched I Will Follow this weekend—it’s a gentle, quiet film by Ava DuVernay. It was a bit slow and could’ve used tighter editing, but it was also a refreshing view of black women and their rich yet complicated relationships—something we rarely see on the big screen. No T&A, no cursing, no black men mocking [...]

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Great Women Were Once Great Girls

Tomorrow! Join us at Outpost Lounge for a reading and author Q&A with me, Jacqueline Woodson, and Rita Williams-Garcia. It’s part of Word, Rock, & Sword, a week-long women’s art festival that features performances, screenings, classes and discussions at Manhattan and Brooklyn performance venues as well as yoga studios, cafés and bookstores, September 18-25. You [...]

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Word, Rock, & Sword

I’m so excited and honored to be included in this festival! Along with award-winning authors Jacqueline Woodson and Rita Williams-Garcia, I’ll be reading on 9/22 as part of an evening we’re calling “Great Women Were Once Great Girls: An Evening of Strong Girls in Fiction” (8-10pm at Outpost Lounge in Ft. Greene, BK). More details [...]

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sucked in

I’m a little worried about this bog. The semester’s about to start and I just created a blog for my job (check it out: CESatBMCC); I might need to take a break from Fledgling so that I can wear my professor hat all the time. Then again, do I ever really take it off? I’m [...]

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boys on film

My head’s full of stories but I haven’t allowed myself to sit and write. The fall semester starts in less than two weeks and I’ve been obsessing over my syllabi; new courses are always a challenge, especially when the course (African Civilization) falls outside my area of expertise. I like the course I’ve designed, and [...]

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don’t look down

One of the things you learn as a New Yorker is how to navigate the streets safely. You need to be aware of your surroundings at all times, and you should be prepared to encounter things that are unpleasant and/or unexpected. At least once a week I find myself stepping around a pool of vomit—sometimes [...]

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Nora

This is one of the most beautiful films I’ve seen recently—about the life of Zimbabwean dancer Nora Chipaumire: “Nora” is based on true stories of the dancer Nora Chipaumire, who was born in Zimbabwe in 1965. In the film, Nora returns to the landscape of her childhood and takes a journey through some vivid memories [...]

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I’ll do it, by George!

I’ve tried—I really have tried to decolonize my imagination.  But try as I might, I just can’t seem to keep the British out of my head!  It doesn’t help, of course, that I watch Britcoms on PBS and Masterpiece Theatre every Sunday night, and Mystery, and Doc Martin, and BBC news is on the television [...]

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ending the denial

Doesn’t this sound like an amazing film?  It’s definitely a story that needs to be told, and yet this filmmaker has been denied support from the major cultural institutions in Canada.  If you’ve got a few bucks to spare, please consider donating to this film project—they’re hoping the “crowdfunding” method will work, and you can [...]

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