Black by Popular Demand
Books by Black authors releasing each week!
Keep reading through October and restock from Loyalty Bookstore of MD.
Happy Reading!
Wash Day
Meet Jelaya (jeh-LAY-uh.) She hates wash day.
The tugs! The scrubs! The pinching and pulling! Jelaya can't think of a worse way to spend the day. That is, until her big sister Jasmine explains that this wash day will be different. Jelaya is going to wash Jasmine's hair instead!
Wash Day is a sweet and honest exploration of the beauty and tradition of wash days. Offering gentle guidance and framing the all-day affair as an act of self-care, this picture book also serves as an avenue to demystify and educate others on natural haircare routines, which are often misunderstood and stigmatized.
(Children’s)
Brown Girls Rule
An empowering acclamation for girls bearing melanin of all kinds, Brown Girls Rule centers and uplifts girls of color in an inspiring poem that is one part love letter, two parts battle anthem. Ashok Banker and Brittney Bond bring this song to life with a brilliant array of brown girls as politicians, athletes, scientists, teachers, queens, and leaders in countless other roles where brown girls rule. Triumphant and uplifting, this picture book is a powerful reminder for girls of color that they may be young, but they are mighty.
(Picture Book)
Radiant Rebellion: Reclaim Aging, Practice Joy, and Raise a Little Hell
During her own year of transition--a milestone birthday, a wedding anniversary, the emptying of the nest--Walrond, in the buoyant and luminous style her readers have come to love, does a deep dive into dimensions of getting older, including health, beauty, spirituality, connection, adventure, and meaning and purpose. Through conversations with social workers and neurologists, activists and clergy, Walrond satisfies her curiosity--and ours--about why the dominant culture treats aging as a time of dwindling capacity. She also embarks on a series of experiments that help her rebel against convention: letting her hair go naturally gray, going on a silent retreat, revamping her health practices, and plotting her next adventure.
Internalized ageism--bias against our future selves--is not our only option; we can write a different story of aging than the one we've been handed. With wisdom from luminaries who light our way, Walrond helps us radiantly rebel against the fads and assumptions that hold us back, redefine the adventure of getting older, and create a shining future of expanded potential. We might even raise a little hell while we're at it! A resources section offers journal prompts and strategies for creating a handbook for your own radiant rebellion.
(Nonfiction)
Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin): A Memoir
Not many memoirs are generational events. But when Sly Stone, one of the few true musical geniuses of the last century, decides to finally tell hislife story, it can't be called anything else.
As the front man for the sixties pop-rock-funk band Sly and the Family Stone, a songwriter who created some of the most memorable anthems of the 1960s and 1970s ("Everyday People," "Family Affair"), and a performer who electrified audiences at Woodstock and elsewhere, Sly Stone's influence on modern music and culture is indisputable. But as much as people know the music, the man remains a mystery. After a rapid rise to superstardom, Sly spent decades in the grips of addiction.
Now he is ready to relate the ups and downs and ins and outs of his amazing life in his memoir, Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin). The book moves from Sly's early career as a radio DJ and record producer through the dizzying heights of the San Francisco music scene in the late 1960s and into the darker, denser life (and music) of 1970s and 1980s Los Angeles. Set on stages and in mansions, in the company of family and of other celebrities, it's a story about flawed humanity and flawless artistry.
Written with Ben Greenman, who has also worked on memoirs with George Clinton and Brian Wilson, and in collaboration with Arlene Hirschkowitz, Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) is a vivid, gripping, sometimes terrifying, and ultimately affirming tour through Sly's life and career. Like Sly, it's honest and playful, sharp and blunt, emotional and analytical, always moving and never standing still.
(Nonfiction)
Worthy
Jada Pinkett Smith was living what many would view as a fairy-tale of Hollywood success. But appearances can be deceiving, and as she felt more and more separated from her sense of self, emotional turmoil took hold. Sparing no detail, Worthy chronicles her life--from a rebellious youth running the Baltimore streets as an observer and participant in the drug trade, to the deep bond she shared with Tupac Shakur from the moment they met, to her move to Los Angeles and the successful career she built on her own terms, to becoming the wife of superstar Will Smith and mother to Jaden, Willow and bonus-mom to Trey . A rollercoaster from the depths of suicidal depression to the heights of self-acceptance and spiritual healing, Worthy is a woman's journey to finding herself again.
In a media driven landscape that crafts narratives for our celebrities, Smith shares herself in an intimate conversation with readers. She answers questions about her difficult childhood, her marriage, her parenting style, her career choices, and the intense scrutiny that followed "the slap." An impactful and rare memoir that engages and educates, Worthy shows why adhering to the status quo has never been the plan for Jada Pinkett Smith and why labels and stories crafted by others strip women of their authenticity. Worthy teaches us who Jada is, and how to embrace our most lovable qualities. Complete with thought-provoking writing prompts and meditations on how to discover who we really are and nourish our self-worth.
(Memoir)
