-
They May Have Finessed the College Admissions Process, But I’m Sure They Just Want What’s Best for Their Kids, Right?
When news broke of the college admissions scam that rocked America, a pretty large segment of us were neither shocked nor surprised. For those who have no idea what I’m talking about, privileged-kid college enrollment fixer William “Rick” Singer founded a for-profit counseling and college prep business, The Key, that helped students gain admission to…
-
28 Days of Literary Blackness with VSB, Day 28: What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker by Damon Young
Publisher Synopsis: From the cofounder of VerySmartBrothas.com, and one of the most read writers on race and culture at work today, a provocative and humorous memoir-in-essays that explores the ever-shifting definitions of what it means to be Black (and male) in America. For Damon Young, existing while Black is an extreme sport. The act of…
-
28 Days of Literary Blackness with VSB | Day 27: Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones by Quincy Jones
Publisher Synopsis (via B&N): Musician, composer, producer, arranger and pioneering entrepreneur Quincy Jones has lived large and worked for five decades alongside the superstars of music and entertainment—including Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey, Ray Charles, Will Smith and dozens of others. Q is his glittering and moving life story, told with the…
-
28 Days of Literary Blackness With VSB | Day 26: Heads of the Colored People by Nafissa Thompson-Spires
Publisher Synopsis: Each captivating story plunges headfirst into the lives of new, utterly original characters. Some are darkly humorous—from two mothers exchanging snide remarks through notes in their kids’ backpacks, to the young girl contemplating how best to notify her Facebook friends of her impending suicide—while others are devastatingly poignant—a new mother and funeral singer…
-
28 Days of Literary Blackness with VSB | Day 25: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Publisher Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed. Soon afterward,…
-
28 Days of Literary Blackness with VSB | Day 24: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Publisher Synopsis: Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right. Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic…
-
28 Days of Literary Blackness with VSB | Day 23: Cane by Jean Toomer
Publisher Synopsis: Jean Toomer’s Cane is one of the most significant works to come out of the Harlem Renaissance, and is considered to be a masterpiece in American modernist literature because of its distinct structure and style. First published in 1923 and told through a series of vignettes, Cane uses poetry, prose, and play-like dialogue…
-
28 Days of Literary Blackness With VSB | Day 22: Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Publisher’s Synopsis: A first novel by an unknown writer, it remained on the bestseller list for 16 weeks, won the National Book Award for fiction, and established Ralph Ellison as one of the key writers of the century. The nameless narrator of the novel describes growing up in a black community in the South, attending…
-
28 Days of Literary Blackness With VSB | Day 21: Blended by Sharon M. Draper
Publisher Synopsis: Eleven-year-old Isabella’s parents are divorced, so she has to switch lives every week: One week she’s Isabella with her dad, his girlfriend Anastasia, and her son Darren living in a fancy house where they are one of the only black families in the neighborhood. The next week she’s Izzy with her mom and…
-
28 Days of Literary Blackness With VSB | Day 20: The Blacker the Berry by Wallace Thurman
Publisher Synopsis: The groundbreaking Harlem Renaissance novel about prejudice within the black community Emma Lou Morgan’s skin is black. So black that it’s a source of shame to her, not only among the largely white community of her hometown of Boise, Idaho, but also among her lighter-skinned family and friends. Seeking a community where she…
