Them: Hey freedom dreaming open hearted big legged Black mama grrl, let’s say that academia/college did not serve as a racist sexist heteronormative violent and oppressive cesspool/institution that often traumatizes freedom dreaming open hearted Black people and you were invited to lead a course called Into to Blackety Black Feminism, what type of texts would be on your resource list????? 🤔🤔🤔
Me: !!!!! 🤩📚👌🏿⭐️🌹
And many many more……
Lesson 1- Black Feminism is ABUNDANT 🎉🤸🏿♂️📚
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#books #booklover #freeblackwomenslibrary #blackwomanbibliophile #blackbooks #freeblackwoman #tfbwl
“Hoodoo, or Voodoo, as pronounced by the whites, is burning with a flame in America, with all the intensity of a suppressed religion. It has its thousands of secret adherents. It adapts itself like Christianity to its locale, reclaiming some of its borrowed characteristics to itself, such as fire worship as signified in the Christian church by the altar and the candles and the belief in the power of water to sanctify as in baptism. Belief in magic is older than writing. So nobody knows how it started.” - an excerpt from MULES AND MEN, © 1935 ⭐️
Looking forward to sharing my favorite Hoodoo Stories gathered by novelist, folklorist, legendary anthropologist and TFBWL muse Zora Neale Hurston on Sunday, October 31 at our next TFBWL session in honor of Hoodoo Heritage Month.
Join us at The Plaza at 300 Ashland in Fort Greene, Brooklyn for a special collaboration with our friends from The Center of Fiction.
Folks are welcome to come dressed as their favorite author or character to compete for prizes, as well as bring good books written by Black women to trade with the collection from noon to 5.
See you then!!
Shout out to my IG reading buddies
@crystalyogi22
@kiyannaloves
@kuetcwge
@sarahatlee
@womanistbibliophile and everyone else taking part in The Free Black Women’s Library Reading Challenge this year. ♥️🌹📚♥️🌹📚♥️
2020 has had a lot going on, so it’s been a slow reading year for me.
Here is a stack of books I’ve read for the challenge this year so far.
Swipe to the last slide for TFBWL reading challenge details if you would like to take part.
I have enjoyed all of the books I have read so far, but I placed a star next to my favorites!!
THE YELLOW HOUSE by Sarah M. Broom - a debut ⭐️
MY LIFE AS AN ICE CREAM SANDWICH by Ibi Zoboi - a book for middle schoolers
SISTERS OF THE YAM/BLACK WOMEN AND SELF RECOVERY by bell hooks - a vintage Black Feminist text, published before 2000 ⭐️
GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER by Bernardino Evaristo - a classic or award winning novel ⭐️
HOMEGOING by Yaa Gyasi - a book by an African author
THE WAR BEFORE by Safiya Bukhari - a book by a political activist or organizer ⭐️
SASSAFRAS, CYPRESS & INDIGO by Ntozake Shange - a book that centers relationships between women ⭐️
MY SOUL LOOKS BACK by Jessica B Harris - a memoir
BLACK LESBIAN IN WHITE AMERICA by Anita Cornwell
- non fiction LGBTQ ⭐️
IN THE WAKE by Christina Sharpe - a book on Spirituality, Religion or Ritual ⭐️
THE HEALING by Gayl Jones - a book that’s features Patois, Creole, Southern vernacular or slang ⭐️
BLACK IMAGINATION curated by Natasha Marin - a book of poetry/prose
Are you taking part in TFBWL Reading Challenge this year? If so let me know how it’s going and what good books by Black women you have read so far!!
Make sure to use the hashtags -
#TFBWL
#tfbwlreadingchallenge
#TFBWL2020
So I can see your posts and re-share them!!
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#TBT to this sweet and gorgeous day last year when TFBWL was stationed at Brooklyn Tea Shop
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We spent a cozy afternoon, sipping tea, reading, talking, chilling and trading books.
♥️📚♥️🌹
For years it has been a dream of mine for this project to have its own space, it’s own wheels, and paid support, and now that I have finally launched my first GoFundMe to make it happen. I have become a bit obsessed. 😏
my posting about it may get annoying and repetitive, but I do believe in the possibilities of these things for us in 2021.
A Reading Room, Bookmobile and Librarian, PLEASE DONATE AND SHARE the Gofundme Link
Thank you!! ♥️♥️♥️
@kiyannaloves got two of my faves last Sunday at The Free Black Women’s Library!! Major score, yay!!😍😍
#books #bookstagram #bookswap #goodreads #blackbooks #BlackBookwormsMatter #blackwomanbibliophile #freeblackwomenslibrary 📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚
#Repost @kiyannaloves (@get_repost)
・・・
So excited about these two books I got at @thefreeblackwomenslibrary session today at the Studio Museum in Harlem! There were so many great books and awesome people 📖✨
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TFBWL BOOKMAIL💗💗
A very generous book angel sent me a box of books that contained some vintage beauties!!
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I LOVE MYSELF WHEN I AM LAUGHING AND THEN AGAIN WHEN IM LOOKING MEAN AND IMPRESSIVE/A Zora Neale Hurston Reader, edited by Alice Walker, introduction by Mary Helen Washington, published by The Feminist Press, 1979
PARABLE OF THE SOWER by Octavia E Butler, published by Grand Central Publishing, 1993
IN LOVE & TROUBLE/Stories of Black Women by Alice Walker, published by Harcourt Brace Javanovich, 1967
FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF/Choreopoem by Ntozake Shange, published by Bantam Books, 1980
IF THEY COME IN THE MORNING by Angela Y. Davis and other Political Prisoners, published by Signet,1971
THE BLACK FAMILY DINNER QUILT COOKBOOK with Dorothy Height, President & The National Council of Negro Women, Inc.
SOME OF US DID NOT DIE/New & Selected Essays by June Jordan, published by Basic/Civitas Books, 2002
Such a glorious stack of heavy hitters, whew!! Absolutely incredible!!
So much gratitude to the person that sent these treats and so much more for The Free Black Women’s Library book collection. 😭📚♥️
I’m hyped to share that with our community via our traveling installation and upcoming Reading Room. 🤸🏿♂️🖤📦📚
Feel free to send all manner of good books written by Black women and Black non binary folks to us at
TFBWL
1072 Bedford Avenue
Box 39
Brooklyn, NY 11216
We are also grateful for zines, chapbooks, comic books, graphic novels, journals and self published works.
Thank you!! 🖤
*Collage in the background created by me.
My September Read Wrap Up!!😻
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5 books a month is my literary sweet spot, and it was a particularly good month cause I actually loved every single one of these. 10/10 for all!!
Good books are life giving!!
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I’m making an attempt to write some mini reviews this weekend for TFBWL Patreon patrons, so grateful for their support of this social art project.
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MULES AND MEN by Zora Neale Hurston, 1935 - short story collection
(*I will be reading excerpts from this one for our Halloween session, details soon come*)
BEFORE YOU SUFFOCATE YOUR OWN FOOL SELF by Danielle Evans, 2010 - short story collection
WAKE/THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF WOMEN LED SLAVE REVOLTS by Rebecca Hall, 2021 - graphic novel/history
IN THE DREAM HOUSE by Carmen Maria Machado, 2019 - memoir
UNBOUND/MY STORY OF LIBERATION AND THE BIRTH OF THE ME TOO MOVEMENT by Tarana Burke, 2021 - memoir
Have you read any of these beauties??
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I also added some of these to my 2021 TFBWL Reading Challenge spreadsheet, I’ve read 23 books for the channel so far, and I have actually truly enjoyed almost all of them!!
TFBWL BOOKMAIL ♥️🌹
Thank you so much to my lovely friends at @thenewpress for sending me a copy of MOUTHS OF RAIN/AN ANTHOLOGY OF BLACK LESBIAN THOUGHT edited by Briona Simone Jones.
“African-American and Afro Diasporic lesbian writers and theorists have made extra ordinary contributions to feminist theory, activism, and writing. MOUTHS OF RAIN, the companion anthology to Beverly Guy-Sheftall’s classic WORDS OF FIRE, traces the long history of intellectual thought produced by Black lesbian writers, spanning the 19th century through the 21st century. Using “Black lesbian” as a capacious signifiers, MOUTHS OF RAIN includes writing by Black women who have shared intimate and loving relationships with other women, as well as Black women who see bonding as mutual, Black women who who have self identified as lesbian, Black women who have written about Black lesbians, and Black women who theorize about and see the word lesbian as a political descriptive that disrupts and critique of capitalism, hetero sexism, and hetero patriarchy. Taking its title from a poem by Audre Lorde, MOUTHS OF RAIN addresses pervasive issues such as misogynoir and anti-Blackness while also attending to love, romance, “coming out”, and the erotic.”
This gorgeous collection features many of my favorite writers, brilliant literary wonders like Alice Walker, Pamela Sneed, JP Howard, Cheryl Clarke, Jewelle Gomez, Moya Bailey, Pauli Murray, Alexis Pauline Gumbs , Demita Frazier and Pat Parker!!! 🔥🌹🔥🌹🔥
The Free Black Women’s Library is closing out Black August with two very special events this month!!
One virtual and one in person outdoor event!!
This month’s book selection for TFBWL Reading Club is the best selling memoir, SOMEBODY’S DAUGHTER written by Ashley C. Ford!! We are so excited to share that Miss Ford will be in attendance to talk to us a bit about this searing powerful story.
I am halfway through this book, and in awe of the depth of her truth telling and vulnerability!! Whew!! IN AWE!!
Register to attend via eventbrite link in comments!! All are welcome!!
This month’s biblio installation/pop up session is taking place at one of our favorite community gardens in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, 462 Halsey!! 🍃
Come check out the vast book collection, spend a sweet time in the garden, enjoy and connect with nature, and trade good books of any genre written by Black women with the library and others. All are welcome, no registration necessary!!
Book lovers of every age, race and gender are welcome to attend both events, but masks are required for our in person event whether you are vaccinated or not. Thank you!!
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TFBWL BOOKMAIL 🖤🎉
Thank you so much to my IG friends @soukbohemian for sending me two copies of their stunning coffee table art book,
BROWN BOHEMIANS a new release, published by @powerhousebooks, with photos and conversations gathered and curated by Vanessa Coore Vernon & Morgan Ashley.
This book captures the essence and voice of an under represented demographic: creative people of color. Influenced by a deeply held belief that stories sculpt our collective narrative, a group of authors and artists came together to create this first of its kind collection. Inspired by their unique tastes and experiences in fashion, lifestyle, and art, Brown Bohemians brings a vital and virtual movement, born on social media, to life and into print. Created to recognize and elevate the underrepresented and undervalued, Brown Bohemians is food for the creative spirit that most needs it.
Looking at the gorgeous photos is giving me a case of the happy eyes!! It is bee you ti full!! ♥️
Despite the fact that The Free Black Women’s Library has 2500 books by Black women in its collection, this is the first coffee table art book of its kind, thats been donated so far.
Thank you all so so much for sending!! ♥️👌🏿
TFBWL STORYTIME SERIES #7
Just Don’t Never Give Up On Love by Sonia Sanchez
Writing & Creativity Prompts/Discussion Points/Self Reflection and Journaling Questions
1. How are you feeling in this moment? Set your timer for ten minutes and do a long and hearty free write (or draw) where you talk about your mood, your thoughts and how you feel in your body. Answer the question in a way that is vulnerable, fearless and honest. Let everything that’s in you spill out onto the page.
2. What is your absolute favorite thing to do in the park Share about when you were much younger and even now, your favorite memories of the playground. Imagine it’s a beautiful day with perfect weather. What are you doing in this space that specifically meant to experience nature and play. Write (or draw) as many details as you like and feel free to share specific memories.
3. Butterflies are often used as a metaphor for metamorphosis, change or transformation. What do you think Sonia Sanchez means when she has the central character ask Mrs. Johnson “When did you see the butterflies again?” How do you feel about butterflies? When’s the last time you saw one?
4. Have you ever randomly met a stranger who said some thing that changed your mind or your life? Or maybe said exactly the thing that you needed to hear? Write about that moment in time. Describe the person and the place. Talk about what they said and how it shifted you. ALSO, why do you think the main character goes from wanting to get away from Mrs Johnson in the beginning to wanting to hug her and not wanting her to leave in the end. Can you relate to this moment? Beam out some rays of love and appreciation to every stranger you’ve met that has changed your life. 💖☺️