Afro Reads Culture Corner 005

Happy Women’s History Month — I hope you’re using access to social media to discover facts involving women globally and how we are shaping the world.

Those who joined us for the first session ‘Talking Toni’, we thank and enjoyed being in community with you.

This summer the group voted to read Jazz and meet again for another Talking Toni in June — register here!

On another note, lately I have been reading a variety of books.

Afro American classic by Langston Hughes, “Not Without Laughter”, a collection of Afro Brazilian, Beatriz Nascimento works ‘The Dialect is in the Sea’, and ‘Kintu’, which is my Ugandan novel choice by Jennifer N. Makumbi. These books are hard to put down, yet I want to savor them. I am inspired by the essays of Beatriz and I’m thinking of working on a series for Afro Brazilian women, for they are seriously undervalued and overlooked.

I think I am getting the hang of StoryGraph, which is a black-owned reading tracker. I’m starting my Travel Africa Through Literature Challenge there starting next month. We’ll start with Call and Response — a collection of stories from the country of Botswana.

Join Me On StoryGraph

• The Republic, a Nigerian magazine is now available at B&N!! This is exciting news for the diaspora

  

• Professor Nwabundo (Nwando) Achebe — acclaimed historian and daughter of literary icon Chinua Achebe — has been elevated to the distinguished rank of Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University, USA.

• On the Shoulders of ‘Peasants’ was both a scholarly reflection and a heartfelt tribute, as author Louise Mathurin-Serieux framed her work as an act of remembrance and national affirmation.

• Malcolm X’s daughter, Ilyasah Shabazz, continues to uphold her father’s legacy with literature with her new book: ‘Malcolm in the Desert’ preorder here

  • Synopsis: She uses her fathers writings and epiphanies so that the world can see him in a different light and understand the inner work that had to be done in order to make the changes he wanted to achieve for his people

    

• Dèy (Creole for ‘mourning’), a new novel by Haitian-American author, Edwidge Dandicat is set to be released Aug 25th, 2026, pre-order here

  • Synopsis: A woman's sense of self and family is challenged after she experiences a random act of violence, prompting a journey through her past and present in Haiti, Brooklyn, and Miami

    

• Ayesha Harruna Attah non-fiction debut Bitter Sweet: The Story of West Africa Through
  B (Publisher Marketpalce)

  • Synopsis: Blending history, travelogue and cultural exploration, Bitter Sweet shows us that after that first bitter bite of kola always comes sweetness. Released in the UK with Hurst in December 2026 & in NA with University of North Carolina Press in the first semester of 2027.

Sierra Leone’s Isata Dumnuya, a Midwife Nurse in Kono, Name Among TIME’s Women of the Year for 2026

I am from North Carolina and I claim myself to be my own families historian. I am not sure how free research works in other states, but I hope what info I provide can be helpful:

• Ancestry can be accessed for free via your public library

• I highly recommend Family Search, because it provides valuable information for free

• If you have family history in Wilson, NC you can use the site: Black Wide Awake to access primary sources such as newspaper articles for research

• Internet Archive

• All states should have a digital archive, here is access to NC digital collections — I love this access for newspaper articles, yearbooks, and census records

• The Freedmen’s Bureau Search Portal by NMAACH makes it possible for the first time to search millions of records from the post-Civil War era in one place

• Boston man uncovers ancestor’s freedom papers while cleaning out Maryland home

• Iconic publisher Eric Huntley laid to rest as writers and cultural giants pay tribute

• Judah Adunbi, known as Ras Judah, has died. He was around 70 years old.

• South Florida Mourns The Lost of Coconut Grove Civil Rights Icon and Trailblazer Thelma Gibson

• Dr. Norman C. Francis, the longtime civil rights leader who served as president of Xavier University of Louisiana for nearly 50 years, has died at 94

• Joanne Bland, one of the youngest foot soldiers to march across Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday, has passed away at 72 - leaving behind a legacy etched into the very foundation of the civil rights movement.

• Bernard Lafayette, Selma voting rights organizer, has died

• Ghana declares Wednesdays as Fugu Day, a celebration of heritage, style, and pride

• The First Black Woman to Win a Gold Medal in Women’s Hockey

• Ethiopian Filmmaker Haile Gerima Receives Berlinale Camera for “Black Lions —Roman Wolves”

• I myself, am still watching my comfort show, Abbott Elementary — Janine is my twin. Actress Sheryl Lee Ralph, is also listed as one of TIME Magazine’s Women of the Year

  

• Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project has left a lasting impression on me

• Kwamé Ryan Makes History as First Black Conductor to Win Grammy for Best Opera Recording

• Reggae artist, Phil Pratt, has died

• Thaddeus Mosley, self taught sculptor dies at 99

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Feb 16

Afro Reads News:

When Rain Clouds Gather

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Feb 9

Let me begin by saying that African Literature has the most poetic, yet, mysteries titles. Immediately you are drawn in out of curiosity. Toni Morrison mentioned feeling ‘free’ when she discovered the literature within the continent, it all began by reading Bessie Head’s work. For so long the people of the land had not been allowed to tell their stories…

A KidLit Black History Month

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Feb 2

It wouldn’t be proper if I didn’t do any bookish things for BHM, so imagine how ecstatic I was when I discovered that there is a Black Children’s Book Week during the last week of February. I immediately hit up my sister and comrade, Nubia Lateefa and me got to work on something for the kiddos.