Black Artist Spotlight: Literature I
In support and solidarity of the Black Lives Matter movement, Studio SES will be launching a series spotlighting black owned businesses & artists. On top of protesting, donating, petitioning, etc. - we can make a conscious effort to level the capitalist playing field in industries like beauty, fashion, food, literature & art. Fifteen percent of the population in the U.S. is black - it’s time that our economic statistics reflect that.
So, in backing the 15% pledge wholeheartedly…please find below some brilliant black authors & their work over the past few years that EVERYONE needs on their shelves & in their bags ASAP.
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
Brit Bennett is a California native, educated at Stanford, University of Michigan, and Oxford. She is a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 awardee, and her debut novel The Mothers was a NYT bestseller. In her second novel, The Vanishing Half, Bennett writes of twin sisters who grow up attached at the hip but ultimately choose two different worlds, even different racial identities, as adults.
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett ($27, hardcover)
Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby
Samantha Irby is an author and comedian from Illinois. Her blog bitches gotta eat began in 2009. Irby has been very candid about her life & struggles living with Crohn’s disease, arthritis, and depression - often the topics of her blogs & essays. Wow, No Thank You is a series of her writings written with humor and grace as she grapples getting older, moving, and dating.
Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby ($14.36)
Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall
Mikki Kendall is a cultural author & activist from Chicago. She is passionate about the feminist movement & its history, as well as current events and media representation. She’s a veteran of the US Army, retiring from the forces to pursue her writing career full time. Hood Feminism dives deep into the current state of feminist affairs - she explores so much more than just feminism in the workplace & in relationships. This is feminism in 2020.
Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall ($23.40)
All About Love by bell hooks
Gloria Jean Watkins, known by her pen name bell hooks, is an American author, activist, feminist, and professor. She was born in a segregated Kentucky town in the early 1950s - she attended racially segregated public schools as a child, but went on to attend college at Stanford & University of Wisconsin at Madison. All About Love details a society we are all living in, a loveless society - devoid of unity, compassion, and care for others; not romantically lacking. Sounds like a book everyone should read right now.
All About Love by bell hooks ($15.99)
Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad
Layla F. Saad Is an author and educator. She teaches people about racism in the modern world and hosts a podcast on the topics of race, identity, leadership, personal transformation and social change. Me and White Supremacy was originally a self-published digital workbook, with over 100,000 downloads in the first 6 months. Now updated and expanded, the workbook explores more cultural and historical sectors, shares moving stories and anecdotes, and challenges definitions of words and theories as we know it.
Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad ($25.99)
Becoming by Michelle Obama
Written by former First Lady Michelle Obama, Becoming is a memoir detailing Obama’s childhood, early working life, and her journey into motherhood. One of the most beloved First Ladies of all time, Becoming is an international bestseller.
Becoming by Michelle Obama ($18.35)
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
In one of her most beloved stories, The Bluest Eye tells the story of a little girl growing up in small-town Ohio. Pecola feels alienated in her skin, wishing to look and be treated like the white children that surround her. She associates beauty with blue eyes, something she hopes so desperately for. Published in 1970, The Bluest Eye is Toni Morrison’s debut novel. Juggling writing with motherhood, Morrison would often rise at 4AM to work on this novel.
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison ($13.75)