Dolly Parton, among a thousand other amazing things she did in her life, gifted over 330 million books to kids through her Imagination Library program. Her passing is a tremendous loss to the world, but you can support the program today to keep it going imaginationlibrary.com

everybody's talking about the odyssey, but america has a meaty epic poem with countless interpretations all its own: john henry www.dontrocktheinbox.com/on-john-henr...

On John Henry, American Epic Poem

It's a nice idea that "This Land Is Your Land" should be our national anthem, a wonderful song full of generous and idealistic sentiment that's actually easy to sing. (That the Star-Spangled Banner sh...

dontrocktheinbox.com

From hip-hop and funk to soul and dance, celebrate Black Music Month with titles about groundbreaking albums, iconic artists, and music-shaping movements. Start here and discover the stories behind the sound: https://bit.ly/43sYcpz 💡📚 #MusicSky @3313books.bsky.social @heyjackson.bsky.social

I wrote this piece so long ago that the company I wrote it for went out of business then was resurrected. The new owners decided to use it, so it got a new life. Or got its old one back? It doesn't matter. Just listen to Max Roach. That's usually the right answer www.heyjackson.net/new-blog-1//...

We Insist! — Ashawnta Jackson

A piece I wrote about Max Roach’s 1961 album We Insist! has gone from probably never seeing the light of day, to being in print.

heyjackson.net

Now’s the time. Rename it: SONNY ROLLINS WILLIAMSBURG BRIDGE 📸 Jim Marshall, Newport Jazz Festival, 1963

Hey! I wrote one of these! Super good deals on 33 1/3 books, including my own SOUL-FOLK, a look at a really cool moment in Black music www.bloomsbury.com/us/soulfolk-...

Soul-Folk

Folk music of the 1960s and 1970s was a genre that was always shifting and expanding, yet somehow never found room for so many. In the sounds of soul-folk, Blac…

bloomsbury.com

33 1/3 Books@3313books.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Exciting news... there's 30% off 33 1/3 books over on the Bloomsbury site until Sunday May 24th! 🌞 No code needed. Shop discounted 33 1/3's: https://bit.ly/4dPQxYb

Like many people I've been listening to a lot of Stevie this week. This song is probably one of my favs of his. The question that's got my living room hotly debating is which of his albums would this have best fit on if it were released at the time? youtu.be/4EnxOMY8FKg?...

I'll Wait For You To Come Home

YouTube video by Stevie Wonder - Topic

youtu.be

For my fellow writers and publishing people, I went long on how mad I am about nonfiction authors not getting paperbacks + the NYT moving its nonfiction paperback list from weekly to monthly. www.talkscratch.com/list-full-of...

List Full of Daggers

What we stand to lose when paperback nonfiction disappears.

talkscratch.com

This is a very important song in my household. Guess I know what we're playing tonight youtu.be/Z1vxD6F1Ggo?...

Funky Fried Tofu

YouTube video by Stanton Davis' Ghetto Mysticism - Topic

youtu.be

jeff@jazyjef.bsky.social · 4mo ago

RIP Stanton Davis, Jr. (1945-2026) www.legacy.com/us/obituarie...

Today is a good day to buy a book.

Everything always seems to come back Roberta Flack for me. Go Up Moses, co-written by Flack, Joel Dorn, and Rev Jesse Jackson youtu.be/hZ3yfsDfvGM?...

Go Up Moses (2021 Remaster)

YouTube video by Roberta Flack - Topic

youtu.be

My grandparents grew it on their farm and whenever we would visit, my uncles would cut stalks of it for us. It's one of my favorite memories

Chantal James@chantalalive.blacksky.app · 7mo ago

Anybody out there ever chewed on sugar cane. I'm getting a wave of nostalgia for this rural southern treat.

Readers: keep buying, sharing, and talking about books, esp by marginalized authors. Put in purchase requests at your library. Buy from your local bookstore. Preorders are ideal. Don't wait for the series to finish before buying. Read widely and more often. Read trad pub, small press, and self-pub.

Here are your rights if ICE knocks on your door

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 8mo ago

Leavitt: "DHS will continue to operate on the ground in Minnesota, not only to remove criminal illegal aliens, but also to continue conducting door to door investigations ... "

When women vanish from history, it’s rarely because they weren’t there. More often, their work was ignored or erased. Recovering women’s history means reading sideways, piecing fragments, and asking: whose voices were recorded—and whose were silenced? 🗃️ Do you have someone we all need to know about?

I meant to listen to Many Rivers to Cross over and over today but it wasn't the best day to bring myself to those particular depths. I went with Jimmy Cliff's version of Guns of Brixton instead Great cover, great voice. Thanks for the music, Jimmy youtu.be/x5YTKzVvTTM?...

Jimmy Cliff - Guns Of Brixton

YouTube video by Curb Stomp Radio

youtu.be

Here's where I admit that I don't know a thing about Harry Potter. Never read the books. Never saw the movies. I guess I always thought that they took place in ye olde times? I think that's because of the capes. The ye olde times are the 1990s??

Stephen Bush@stephenkb.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Did you know that the HBO Harry Potter TV series has decided that a good use of its money is to make sure that they are using authentic 90s trains (because the enduring success of the books is their...period setting apparently?) but not to tie the cast, young and old, from doing other projects?

dora.nyc this is OUTSTANDING. super navigatable directory for food distros, resources. and easy to remember because it’s like the explorer but also— directory of resources & aid

NYC Directory Of Resources and Aid

A directory of aid resources in NYC

dora.nyc

ICYMI: I was interviewed by @natalieweiner.bsky.social at Don't Rock the Inbox about my book Soul-Folk (@3313books.bsky.social). Among the many, many things I hope you take away from it is that you need to listen to the Isley Brothers' Givin' It Back www.dontrocktheinbox.com/on-soul-folk...

On 'Soul-Folk', with author Ashawnta Jackson

These days, the too-often ignored history of Black artists making country music looks like positively well-trodden territory compared to the story of Black artists and folk. Enter Ashawnta Jackson's S...

dontrocktheinbox.com

I absolutely loved talking with Natalie! Thank you so much for having me. And if you don't already, be sure to subscribe to Don't Rock The Inbox when you head over there!

Natalie Weiner@natalieweiner.bsky.social · 10mo ago

it was so lovely to talk with @heyjackson.bsky.social about her wonderful book Soul-Folk for Don't Rock The Inbox. highly recommend it! www.dontrocktheinbox.com/on-soul-folk...

Cambridge and Boston folks, Steve McQueen is 2025-26 Norton Professor of Poetry Norton Lecture 2 of 6: Small Axe is TODAY Discussants: Tracey Scoffield, Producer; Hazel V. Carby, Yale University Moderator: Ashley Clark, Criterion Tickets free mahindrahumanities.harvard.edu/steve-mcquee... 🎬

Steve McQueen is coming to talk 'Small Axe.' Here are his insights before Harvard hears them. - Cambridge Day

The Harvard Film Archive is running free screenings of English filmmaker Steve McQueen's “Small Axe” series, celebrating his appointment as Harvard's Charles Eliot Norton professor of poetry. We spoke...

cambridgeday.com

Ten years after losing a close friend to suicide, Desmond Carter turned pain into purpose. Through his group Mental Health is Real Wealth, he’s giving men a space to be honest and unguarded. My latest story explores how Carter’s work helps men heal. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Mental Health Is Real Wealth: how Black men prioritize healing in a Los Angeles community

The bi-monthly group gives Black men a safe space to share, reflect and support each other

theguardian.com

A good time to re-read this Lucille Clifton poem, always a good time.

I debated writing this. It can feel tempting, upon encountering yet another instance of this administration’s racism, to let it be. How many ways can you say the same thing over and over again? And yet we have to write it down, if for nothing else, so those who come after us know we were against it.

Actually, Slavery Was Very Bad

The president’s latest criticism of museums is a thinly veiled attempt to erase Black history.

theatlantic.com

I grew up in a tiny town but knew the big city was for me because of Sesame Street. We didn't have buses (except for school buses. the bus stop was the end of my driveway) but I couldn't wait to ride one because of this song. A bus! To the zoo! Yay for public transportation! youtu.be/mMgqQkZtjyY?...

Sesame Street - Meet Me at the Bus Stop (1980)

YouTube video by Tiny Dancer

youtu.be

Shannon Mattern@shannonmattern.bsky.social · 2y ago

Last week's news abt HBO's decision to ✂️ ties with Sesame Street reminded me that I've long wanted to familiarize myself with some of the SS scholarship: michaeldavis-streetgang.com/about-street... global.oup.com/academic/pro... I'm esp interested in SS as *urban studies* for kids... [1/2]

I know that you can't generally tell goodness/badness just by looking, but it's really something that every person currently making life miserable looks like a villain trying to shut down a community center. And if 80s movies taught me anything, it's being able to spot those folks from a mile away

I'm looking to speak with a Detroit historian (early-mid 20th century, particularly Black history). Bonus if you know a lot about music. I had someone lined up, but that fell through. We wouldn't need to talk very long unless we end up bonding over Frank Wilson's Look Out Your Window, then who knows

Even if you can’t give… do me a solid Repost & reply

Shameless self-promo, but check out my book if you're looking to read about race, folk music & the complications of genre. And during this sale, it's only $13.37. Not bad. The price, not the book. But the book's alright too. At least that's what my friends tell me www.bloomsbury.com/us/soulfolk-...

Soul-Folk

Folk music of the 1960s and 1970s was a genre that was always shifting and expanding, yet somehow never found room for so many. In the sounds of soul-folk, Blac…

bloomsbury.com

33 1/3 Books@3313books.bsky.social · last yr.

Looking to remix your shelves? For one week only Bloomsbury are having a sale on all music books - including the 33 1/3 series! From now until midnight on Sunday August 3rd, save up to 33%. Shop 33 1/3 books: bit.ly/4kPF1w7 🌞

Posting this again because it’s hot as HELL in NYC today.

Faith Pennick@faithp.bsky.social · last yr.

To find a cooling center in #NYC: finder.nyc.gov/coolingcente...