Billboard | June 2, 2020

“BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors pens open letter demanding change.

The music industry is taking a day to reflect on Tuesday (June 2) as part of Black Out Tuesday/#TheShowMustBePaused, an industry-wide effort to ‘disconnect from work and reconnect with our community.’

In conjunction with the day of reflection -- which was coordinated by Atlantic Records executives Jamila Thomas and Brianna Agyemang in reaction to the police-involved killings of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and others -- the Movement 4 Black Lives, a coalition of 100 black-led organizations, is calling for five days of action, each focused on a specific set of demands.

‘It feels important to really move the needle on how we’re relating right now and call for very specific national asks that people can drill down at a local level in response to persistent police violence and terror,’ Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of Black Lives Matter and founding member of M4BL, tells Billboard.”

Follow the link above to read more about Black Out Tuesday.

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Variety | June 2, 2020

“Black Lives Matter has a purview much larger than the music industry, but the issues it addresses are front and center on Blackout Tuesday (June 2), in which the music business is essentially stopping everyday operations in a show of solidarity, and to seek ways to create change.

In tandem with Blackout Tuesday, the collective Movement 4 Black Lives, a coalition of more than 100 black-rights organizations, is launching a “five days of action” in an effort to fight systemic racism. Part of the effort is an “open demand” letter signed by Lizzo, John Legend, Taraji P. Henson, Natalie Portman, Jane Fonda, ACLU executive director Anthony Romero, and more that aims calls for a stop to increases on police budgets and to increase spending on health care, education, and programs for black communities. (Read the letter here).

Variety spoke with Black Lives Matter and Movement 4 Black Lives Cofounder Patrisse Cullors on Monday about the movement and ways the music industry can get involved — which are the same ways everyone can get involved.”

Click the link above to read the full Variety article.

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ABC News | June 1, 2020

“Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement and the chair of Reform L.A. Jails, told ‘Nightline’ that at the core of what protesters across the country are demanding, is accountability.

‘They want to see the arrest of all the officers involved [in the murder of George Floyd]. They want to have no more terror, no more police terror in their communities,’ Cullors said. ‘Everybody wants to be apologized to. Everybody wants to be told, ‘“I'm sorry. What I did was wrong. It was unacceptable. We won't do it again and, in fact, this is how we change.”’”

Follow the link above to read the full article.

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The Guardian | June 1, 2020

”Giuliani’s approach to policing created ‘an environment of terror for communities of color’, said Lumumba Bandele, a lifelong New Yorker and police reform advocate. If he takes on a national role, ‘We should all be preparing for worst-case scenarios,’ he said.

His record on police abuses and freedom of expression is ‘frightening’, said Patrisse Cullors, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter.”

Patrisse Cullors comments on Rudy Giuliani’s recent tweets and comments. Follow the link above to read more.

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LitHub | June 1, 2020

“Most Americans are familiar with the civil rights leaders of the 1950s and 1960s, specifically Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, and their compatriots. But there was an earlier generation of activists who paved the way for that momentous phase in the black freedom fight. Bridging the gap between early 20th-century leaders like W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington, and the later Civil Rights leadership, was a group who took up the mantel of the struggle in the years between 1930 and 1950. They battled during a time when the nation faced two of its greatest tests—the Great Depression and World War II—and their contributions largely went ignored. Some worked from inside the government and others from outside. But regardless their persistence in the face of overwhelming opposition and their contributions in troubled times propelled forward the march toward equality and shaped the later movement. Their life stories stood (and continue to stand) as beacons of hope in times of seemingly unconquerable difficulties.”

Follow the link above to see Jill Watts’ book recommendations!

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Kirkus Reviews | June 1, 2020

“A marmalade kitten and friends search a crowded cat world for a mouse named Sleepy.

When Mom cat asks what happened to Sleepy, this kitten knows she means the crowned mouse known as ‘Prince of the Night’ and ‘Master of Dreams.’ The kitten continues, ‘But where is he now? Where could Sleepy be? / Not here around us. He’s run away, free!’ With a spread-spanning cry of ‘LET’S GET SLEEPY!!!’ a bevy of kittens bursts out of the house to look, at first just around the neighborhood. Nope. There’s a parade going on in town, but the kittens don’t find Sleepy. The next ‘LET’S GET SLEEPY!!!!’ hies the friends to ‘Sunny Sands Beach! Is this where he’ll be? / We’ll search and we’ll seek and ask friends that we meet.’ The kittens’ search takes them to the mountains, a swamp, a cave, and even the moon…but they never find Sleepy. Readers will understand why, as each location presents a bustling scene in which Sleepy figures as a tiny Where’s Waldo–esque target amid teeming masses of bright-eyed, round-headed anthropomorphic kitties (and the occasional dog, elephant, or pterodactyl). Each landscape is rendered in a muted palette dominated by ochre and gold, upping the difficulty. All the figures in each scene appear to have their own backstories, allowing young readers searching for Sleepy to make up any number of additional tales.

Only confirmed ailurophobes will fail to enjoy sharing these kitties’ day.”

Let’s Get Sleepy! by Tony Cliff received a wonderful review from Kirkus!

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Rolling Stone | June 1, 2020

“It was just a week ago now that Derek Chauvin, then still employed as a Minneapolis police officer, pressed his left knee into the neck of George Floyd for what, on video, seemed like an interminable amount of time. It was a total of eight minutes and 46 seconds, nearly three minutes of which were after Floyd became unresponsive, long after pleadings like ‘Please, I can’t breathe’ and ‘Mama’ went silent.

Hennepin County’s district attorney, Michael Freeman, listed that precise timing in the criminal complaint he filed Friday. He charged Chauvin, the only one of the four officers involved who authorities have arrested thus far, with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. This move didn’t slow down the protests a bit, perhaps because they are about more than Floyd’s death. Political strategist Patrisse Cullors, the founder of Reform LA Jails and one of the co-originators of the Black Lives Matter movement, told Rolling Stone after Chauvin’s arrest, ‘In order to have true accountability we must defund the police and redirect those dollars to a national health care system. We have prioritized an economy of violence and terror over an economy of care.’

Cullors’ remark only underscored what a public-health crisis police violence remains. That was increasingly evident in the preliminary details from the county medical examiner’s autopsy, appearing at the end of Freeman’s complaint: ‘no physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation. Mr. Floyd had underlying health conditions including coronary artery disease and hypertensive heart disease. The combined effects of Mr. Floyd being restrained by the police, his underlying health conditions and any potential intoxicants in his system likely contributed to his death.’ (The Floyd family requested an independent autopsy, and early findings released Monday contradicted the medical examiner. His death was the result of ‘asphyxia due to neck and blood flow to the brain,’ with the weight placed on his back and his body positioning also being contributing factors.)”

Follow the link above to read the full article on Rolling Stone.

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Portland Book Review | May 27, 2020

“If you’re looking for an entertaining binge-read, this book is for you. The Wife Stalker is a domestic thriller that will delight those that are new to the domestic thriller genre. For those readers familiar with the genre, this story begins with elements that are quite common, however the sister authors do a masterful job telling the story from Joanna and Piper’s points of view. Readers will not see the twist coming, and the nuances of the writing will ultimately come together in not one, but two ‘what just happened?!?’ moments.”

The Wife Stalker was reviewed by the Portland Book Review! Follow the link above to read the entire article.

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Lovereading | May 26, 2020

“A hard-hitting, fast-moving slicing wow of a book. An old case is reopened when new evidence appears, and a violent predator hunts his next victim. It’s no secret that I get jump-up-and-down excited about Karin Slaughter’s novels. She has the most wonderful ability to pitch full-on sharp storytelling and blasts of drama alongside thoughtfully handled social issues and relationship dilemmas. This could easily be read as a standalone, however there are two series that link to this novel, Will Trent and Grant County. Both series are just too good to miss, and I highly recommend them. For those who have read both sets, in this particular book time slides along a different path in order to make two time frames work. The author’s note perfectly explains why at the end, but (big but), make sure you don’t read the author’s note until you have read every last drop of the novel! Will Trent and Sara Linton work with the rest of the team, while the past runs alongside and does some seriously meddling. Please note there are some fairly graphic descriptions of medical examinations and brutal attacks within the novel. Karin Slaughter doesn’t shy away from highlighting a distressing subject matter, which she mentions in her notes and the last part of her acknowledgments. While graphic, it is not gratuitous, and I felt every word that made me wince was necessary. The Silent Wife is another winner of a read, it sent goosebumps skittering down my arms and this, her twentieth novel, has been chosen as a LoveReading Star Book, Book of the Month, and Liz Pick.”

Follow the link above to read more!

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The New Yorker | May 25, 2020

“Since mid-March, San Francisco has reduced its jail population by nearly forty per cent, and California has made plans to release thousands of people from state prisons. In New Jersey, the State Supreme Court authorized the release of as many as a thousand detainees from county jails. Each week in April, the federal-prison population declined by around a thousand people; by May, it had reached its lowest level in two decades. In dozens of cities, cops were ordered to make fewer arrests, district attorneys dropped low-level charges, and judges vacated bench warrants for unpaid fines and other minor infractions. ‘Advocates on the ground have been challenging mass incarceration for so long—and now much of what we’ve been calling for, pre-covid-19, we’re seeing it transpire,’ Patrisse Cullors, the co-founder of Black Lives Matter, told me, from Los Angeles, where she’s been organizing for releases with Reform L.A. Jails. ‘At the local, state, and national level, this is a moment when we can collectively transform how our country relates to the most vulnerable.’”

Patrisse Cullors was interviewed for this thought-provoking article in The New Yorker. Follow the link above for more.

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New York Journal of Books | May 25, 2020

“Liv Constantine is the pen name of USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and international bestselling authors and sisters Lynne Constantine and Valerie Constantine. Their works include The Last Mrs. Parrish (2017) and The Last Time I Saw You (2019). Separated by three states, they spend hours plotting via FaceTime and burning up each other’s emails. They attribute their ability to concoct dark story lines to the hours they spent listening to tales handed down by their Greek grandmother.

The sisters’ newest collaboration, The Wife Stalker is a bold, yet cleverly unsettling psychological thriller filled with complicated characters and a disturbing plotline. The book alternates between two sides of the story. Joanna, the soon-to-be ex-wife, and Piper, Leo’s new love interest. They each give us their interpretation of the circumstances and ramifications of the sordid affair.”

Follow the link above to read the full review of The Wife Stalker by Liv Constantine!

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Shelf Awareness | May 22, 2020

“In 1933, as FDR's first New Deal programs sprung up across a United States in crisis, NAACP official William Pickens found the Roosevelt administration's relief efforts lacking: he saw Roosevelt's NRA--the National Recovery Act--as more akin to a ‘Negro Removal Act,’ thanks to the early New Deal's targeting of aid toward white communities and its enshrinement of discriminatory hiring practices.

This vivid, penetrating study by historian Jill Watts (Hattie McDaniel: Black Ambition, White Hollywood; Mae West: An Icon in Black and White) captures how determined black intellectuals and activists accumulated the power to document the inequalities of the New Deal, often from within its own agencies, and to nudge a reluctant federal government toward seeking relief for all Americans. Chief among this unofficial cabinet's accomplishments: pressuring Roosevelt into signing an executive order that barred racist hiring practices in the defense industry, a pioneering antidiscrimination regulation that, decades later, would stand as the foundation of affirmative action law.

Despite such triumphs, the Black Cabinet faced much frustration, disappointment and intractable racism. Roosevelt himself never officially acknowledged its existence, even as its members were touted in black newspapers and integrated government lunchrooms. Watts's attention to personalities and the nuts-and-bolts practicality of D.C. decision-making builds the story's tension. She's adept at capturing complex lives in a page or two, and her treatment brings vigorous life to figures like Mary McLeod Bethune, the activist turned official, and Lucia Mae Pitts, a secretary skeptical at first of her white boss's dedication to black America.”

Follow the link above to read the full review from Shelf Awareness!

The New York Times | May 22, 2020

“You can tell a lot about a man by how he treats his dogs. My ex-husband called Tilly, our Labrador retriever mix, ‘pinhead.’ He banished her from our bed (while welcoming our other dog) because she lavished affection on me, or so I surmised, and by doing so, he managed to punish us both.

After our divorce, I started dating again, but with reservations. I was enjoying living in a tiny condo with enough room for only me and the dogs, Tilly and Chance, an Australian shepherd mix. Their companionship was nearly enough to keep my loneliness at bay. Nearly.

My first date with Steve was in a bookstore-coffee shop in Boulder, Colo. He had arrived early and was camped at a corner table with a half-empty cup of black coffee and three newspapers. His beard was trimmed, his smile genuine.”

Click the link above to read R.L. Maizes beautiful column in the Modern love section of The New York Times!

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CrimeReads | May 22, 2020

“The following is an exclusive excerpt from My Mother’s House, by Francesca Momplaisir. When Lucien and his wife, Marie-Ange, immigrate to New York City from Haiti, they purchase a home that they turn into a community hub. But Lucien has demons, and soon, he begins a tragic, and terrifying decent. But what he doesn't know is that the house is watching, and sees him for who he truly is.”

Follow the link above to read the excerpt on CrimeReads!

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Minneapolis Star-Tribune | May 22, 2020

“Legend has it that after signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawing racial discrimination, President Lyndon Johnson grimly predicted his fellow Democrats would pay dearly for outlawing injustice. ‘We have lost the South for a generation,’ he purportedly said.

In her fascinating new book, ‘The Black Cabinet: The Untold Story of African Americans and Politics During the Age of Roosevelt,’ Jill Watts dissects the obverse of Johnson’s lament: Why African-Americans, a once-loyal Republican constituency, fled the Party of Lincoln, the Great Emancipator, and embraced Democrats in the first place.”

The Black Cabinet by Jill Watts was reviewed in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune! Follow the link above to read the full article.

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The New York Times | May 21, 2020

“One hundred and six recipes. Frankly, I was a bit embarrassed when I counted the lentil soups, Russian salts, creamy diner puddings, bacon cheeseburger tacos, antique Irish whiskey drinks and sheet pans of roasted broccoli that I made between February and the first week of April while evaluating the best cookbooks of the season. Weren’t there better ways I could have spent that time, like, say, sewing masks? Yes, but when you’re quarantined at home with a lot of nervous energy, a thigh-high stack of cookbooks and an assignment, it’s easy to get carried away.

It was hard to choose the best of these books. There are so many wonderful titles this year, books that will introduce you to novel pasta shapes from underexplored corners of Italy and others that will help you eat more vegetables. In the end, though, there were seven books in the stack I kept reaching for to try new recipes, reread engrossing essays tucked between those recipes or study photographs that transported me beyond the four walls of my home.

The books have little in common. Two dive deep into regional cuisines. There’s a celebration of diner standbys, an eccentric restaurant bible and a couple of books aimed squarely at the home cook. But each of these books is a delight to read while sitting on the sofa, and each got me off that sofa and into the kitchen. Each promises that it’s possible to eat a little better, which is to say, to live a little better. Each, in its own way, fulfills that promise.”

Meals, Music, and Muses by Alexander Smalls was included in this beautiful article! Click the link to read more.

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Publishers Weekly | May 20, 2020

“Juniper (‘Jun’) is the first and only scholarship student at the prestigious Ellsmere Academy for Girls, a castle turned boarding school founded for girls to study science and literature. With thrift store clothes, a $10 haircut, and a single mother, Jun finds that her initial hesitation about attending alongside rich kids morphs into a close friendship with her roommate, Cassie, and an engaging rivalry with mean-girl Emily. Both outcasts, Jun and Cassie bond over Emily’s cruel treatment and investigate the history of Ellsmere’s forest, where the founder’s sons disappeared nearly two centuries ago. Jun’s rivalry with Emily comes to a head as Emily threatens Jun’s last connection to her late father and perfectly captures Hicks’s (Pumpkinheads) primary strength: clear character motivations, in which readers feel invested, that create dramatic situations. Panels are broken out to capitalize on specific moments, creating a variety of impactful emotional beats: sardonic retorts, profound loneliness, smug satisfaction, and doe-eyed vulnerability. Previously published in black-and-white, this edition sports updated line art and solid color work by Shelli Paroline that subtly enhances Hicks’s original art.”

Follow the link above to read more!

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Stained Page News | May 20, 2020

“Because it’s already way too hot here in Austin, we have a lemon icebox pie recipe from Meals, Music, and Muses by Alexander Smalls. I’m going to serve it with sliced peaches, which are already in season here (!!), but perhaps where you live it’s strawberry time? In any case: yum. Now, on to the news!”

Follow the link above to get Alexander Smalls’ recipe for lemon icebox pie!

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