i’m back

happy new year!

i havent been blogging lately cause well..i’ve been real stressed. but i may have some real exciting news in like 2 weeks.

but in the meantime. here’s my new addiction.

THE COOL KIDS!

it’s international, baby.

Booker + Obama =)

 

Today, I met one of my idols in life: Cory Booker. I shook his hand and talked to him shortly. I thanked him for all the work he has done here in Newark. I admire his strength, perservance, and intelligence. He has an extremely hard and thankless job here in one of our country’s most challenged city. Like our next president, Booker has made the long awaited renaissance of this city palpable. Every time, I hear him speak, I feel inspired to do something meaningful with my life. Kudos to Cory Booker and I pray for his protection.

Dear Chanel Duncan,

This has your name all over it.

For the rest of you, you need some more Kanye and autotune in your life

But this is for Chanel.

Upcoming NYC Bookstore Events

Oct 26- STEEL DRUMING at Hue Man Bookstore in Harlem- This is the story of seven passionate and enormously talented young musicians from the Hamilton Hill Street Drum Band who took the Apollo Theater by storm after being scouted and won the competition in a final face-off for the Super Top Dog show. Join these young men and get a taste of their talent. Includes CD. 3:00pm

Oct 27- Michel Gondry, director of Eternal Sunshine and the Spotless Mind, Be Kind Rewind, Science of Sleep and other gems, will be at Strand! He will be presenting his new book “You’ll Like This Film because You’re In it.” 7:00-8:30pm

Oct 30- Maya Angelou will be reading from her new book Letter to my Daughter at the Barnes and Noble in Union Square 7:00pm

Nov 1 – The Housing Works Bookstore will be having a sale in which you can save 30% off of all books and merchandise!

Nov 7- Sex Worker Literati at KGB Bar- Spend the night with three local authors who insert the term Sex Worker Literati deep into the 21st century American vernacular. Take a peek into the lives of desperate housewives gone bad and desperate businessmen gone worse. 7-9pm

In other (positive) Newark news…

Go Newark Restaurant Week will be kicking off November 3 lasting until Novemeber 13. There are over 30 restaurants participating and you save AT LEAST 15 percent during the week. I’mma be there!

Click the banner for more information including the list of participating restaurants.

Greetings from Newark, NJ

in the United States of America.

“When I came in this morning to clean the blood up, I said, ‘You know what, life goes on. Shut down because something happened to somebody?’” said McCray, the basketball coach at Central High School. “It’s like you get used to it. It happened. It’s over. Let’s move on. But it’s sad you get used to stuff like this.”

 

 

“My arms are scraped up from a shooting a couple of months ago, from rolling and diving,” Hall said. “This is what you got to do to escape.

“This is the ghetto,” he said. “Where are you going to run? It’s like a war.”

 

A 13-year-old girl is in stable condition tonight after being shot in the cheek in Newark’s East Ward, according to Newark police.The shooting took place at about 7:40 p.m. near the intersection of Parkhurst Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.

 

Two men have been shot, one fatally, in Newark, authorities said today.Police responding to the shootings shortly after 10:30 p.m. Saturday found a 30-year-old man shot in the head and chest, authorities said. He was taken from the scene at Central Avenue and South Ninth Street to University Hospital, where he died from his injuries.

Obama.

 

I love photography. I absolutely love Barack Obama. So this is such a wonderful post. I ran across the work of photographer Callie Shell and it gives a great behind the scenes look of our next president of the USA (yeah, I said it)

Let me just say: It is so inspiring to see in these pictures the young Black women and men who are deeply moved by this man and his movement. I know people don’t want to make this election about race, but thats impossible. It has been racialized from the jump…even to the point that Repubs are voicing their fear of “the Arab” (read: Nigger) to run the country. Whatever.

Much respect to all the Presidents of this country, but for the first time kids who look like me can see themselves in a presidential candidate and his family. There is something so incredibly moving about this election and it’s illuminated in these pictures.

Sigh. Check them out here

I Hate You, Apple

Ok, no I don’t but damn…

This is the new Macbook

 

Their computers get sexier and sexier. I’m under Apple’s voodoo and guess what.. I don’t care. See more pictures of this beast here

Becoming Relentless

Relentess Aaron, that is.

Let me back up…

So, here I am, alone on a Friday night, writing that novella/novel I blogged about earlier. In sum, it’s about the funky fascinating world of street literature. One of my characters, Blade, is a self published author who sells his books in Harlem. Right now, I haven’t given him any lines. He has no voice, or persona. So, I decided to google up some some inspiration. I searched for “Relentless Aaron” which was Tayari’s, my workshop instructor, advice. I go to his website and it’s pretty robust and flashy. This dude is like a superstar. How come I have never been put on? His website says he has sold 200,000 books nationwide and for the most part, he has done it the old fashioned way-word of mouth. He has the luxury to be out on the streets selling his books AND having others sell his books at all the commercial big box bookstores.  I ain’t mad. I need to meet this man.

So now we can add Relentless Aaron to the list of inspirations for this project right there with Saaphire, Toni Morrison, and Percival Everett.