Recently I started reading Angela Davis’ Freedom is a Constant Struggle and within the first few chapters it referenced a super critical point in one of my favorite documentaries: The Black Power Mixtape, in which she’s asked about her thoughts on violence. I included the clip on my instagram account and it was chopped a few seconds here and there, so I wanted to ensure that viewers got the full experience. Peace + Love.

I finally got a chance to visit Lemuria Books in Jackson, Mississippi the other day (and man it was heaven) and of course upon entering I went in search of my next purchase for my birthday month of February. After a super cool conversation with one of the employees at the store, a person who happened to be the subject of a recent article about how hard it is to be a teacher in Mississippi, he led me to this book by Kiese Laymon. Kiese is a native of Mississippi by way of Jackson and he currently holds a professorship at The University of Mississippi. This memoir, Heavy, is described…

Charlamagne Tha God  (Lenard McKelvey) has been on a roll when it comes to maximizing his reach and stepping into his purpose/destiny. In 2017 he released his first book Black Privilege: Opportunity Comes to Those Who Create It and in 2018 he returned with this offering, Shook Ones: Anxiety Playing Tricks on Me. Here we see Charlamagne take aim at anxiety – hoping to illuminate its presence in his life, as well as the lives of African Americans everywhere. Choosing to stick with the same structural framework he used in his first book, Charlamagne weaves stories from his own life with sections that tell how he experienced anxiety + what he would suggest you do about it. What truly makes…

This month’s book of the month is The Barber of Natchez, written by Edwin Adams Davis and William Ransom Hogan, comprised of the notes and journaling of a one, ex-slave, William Johnson of Natchez, Mississippi. It is described as an absorbing account of the rise of Mr. Johnson from the depths of slavery to freedom, business, and success – as well as high community standing all before 1850, an amazing feat considering all slaves still weren’t free until 1865.  I’m actually from this city and once I went off to college I became enamored with all the history it had holed up and hidden amidst the confederate aristocracy it so proudly boasted.…

Moments… Sheessssssshhhh! I’ve been in the ultimate struggle lately. I’m a Ph.D student, high school teacher, and a father in my spare time, (I kid on the spare time thing obviously) but I have been reading, exploring + experiencing. Recently one of my co-workers blessed me with a book he felt compelled to share based on some of our conversations and I couldn’t be more pleased with the experience.  The Tao of Wu by The Rza begins with a foreword by his Sifu, Shi Yan Ming, a Shaolin Monk from the thirty-fourth generation of Shaolin warrior monks, the world’s oldest practitioners of the Cha’an Buddhist philosophy we call kung fu. He speaks of…