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In Reading Color

New Release, Plus Activism & Radical Self-Care

Welcome to In Reading Color, a space where we focus on literature by and about people of color.

Each recent year, I’ve taken note to how MLK Day is spoken about. I feel like the conversation surrounding Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. has changed a lot, but I’m not sure how much of that is actual, inevitable change, or just my own changed views.

What I’ve noticed is that the once overly simplistic views of King — that he was a pacifist while Malcolm X believed in violence, for example — are being done away with. And that the overall feelings around activists and activism has shifted — I think many Americans are at least a little more knowledgeable about activism on average, as well as the toll activism takes, something King knew all too well. Today, I’ve got a couple recommendations that speak on activism and all the healing it requires.

Bookish Goods

Retro Japanese Custom Bookmarks

Retro Japanese Custom Bookmarks Pack of 30 by KawaiBookmarks

I love the retro anime style of these bookmarks and how they cushion against my bookmark-losing nature. $10

New Releases

Decent People  cover

Decent People  by De’Shawn Charles Winslow

Winslow returns to West Mills, North Carolina, a town in 1975 that is resistant to racial progress and still segregated. There, three siblings are found murdered in their own home. The white and Black sides of the town are hungry to know the truth of what happened, filling in gaps in knowledge with gossip, but the white police don’t seem much interested. A half sibling of the slain people, Olympus “Lymp” Seymore, stands accused of their murder, an accusation that seems steeped in police laziness and stereotyping. Because of this, Ms. Jo Wright, Lymp’s childhood sweetheart and fiancé, sets out to clear her future husband’s name — even if she has a little doubt herself. As her amateur investigation continues, Jo collects all the tea of the town, finding out some deep, dark secrets along the way. I think fans of Attica Locke’s books (especially Bluebird, Bluebird) would like this.

cover of Independence by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Independence by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

In a rural village in India in 1947, three daughters of a doctor live tucked away safely from the danger of a changing country. The sisters live harmoniously, despite their vastly different personalities — Priya wishes to follow in their father’s footsteps and be a doctor even though she is a girl, Deepa wants to use her beauty to marry into a well-to-do family, and Jamini is the deceptively simple but talented quilt maker. Once their father is killed during a riot and Deepa falls for a Muslim, the violence of the partition of India is felt firsthand by the family.

More New Releases:

Wade in the Water by Nyani Nkrumah

As You Walk On By by  Julian Winters (Young Adult)

For a more comprehensive list, check out our New Books newsletter.

Riot Recommendations

cover of The Selected Works of Audre Lorde

The Selected Works of Audre Lorde by Audre Lorde

Iconic Black, queer writer Audre Lorde coined the term “self-care” that the girlies like to use so much these days. But when she spoke of it, she spoke of how radical it was. She reasoned that, being Black, queer, and a woman, systems around the country were built to keep her in a certain state of decrepitude. And to actively push against that and care for herself was an act of rebellion. This collection was published more recently, but the original collection where she spoke about self-care is A Burst of Light.

cover of by Sarah Eagle Heart (Author), Emma Eagle Heart-White

Warrior Princesses Strike Back: How Lakota Twins Fight Oppression and Heal through Connectedness by Sarah Eagle Heart & Emma Eagle Heart-White

This is also one of today’s new releases. It has a great mix of the personal story of the twins mixed with activism. They recount growing up on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, one of the poorest communities in the U.S., and the odds they had to overcome as a result. They share tools for self-help that are geared toward women of color that are based in their personal experience as well as psychological research on trauma. Activism is seen as a way to right a wrong, but also as a way to gain healing.

A Little Sumn Extra

American Born Chinese adaptation first looks

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Series Is in the Works (!!)

New Blacula Graphic Novel

NAACP Image Awards Nominees

Thanks for reading; it’s been cute! If you want to reach out and connect, email me at erica@riotnewmedia.com or tweet at me @erica_eze_. You can find me on the Hey YA podcast with the fab Tirzah Price, as well as in the In The Club newsletter.

Until next time,

Erica