Hello Family,
How are you doing? I mean that genuinely: How are you doing? We are living in times where that can only be a serious question requiring a serious answer.
I can say that I’m doing okay. I say okay because while my physical health is pretty good, I feel an underlying anxiety about the state of the world and I wonder if that’s a contributing factor to the insomnia I’ve been experiencing over the past two months. I have been attempting to avoid the news and the noise because most of it is heartbreaking and terrifying.
And it’s not just in the news or online that I’ve been encountering these things. People who live in New York City can tell you about the behavioral shift that’s occurred here since the COVID-19 pandemic exposed all of the failure, flaws, and limitations of governments and institutions in the state and in the country. There’s a hovering anger, meanness, and general disregard for other people. One could argue that we’ve simply reverted to pre-9/11 New York, but it feels more ominous than that; more calculated and inevitable. But maybe that is the nature of a late-stage white supremacist patriarchal capitalist society: misery is both constructed and necessary; selfishness and violence are default, inextricable features.
In an attempt to counteract the effects of the toxicity in the air, I’ve been spending most of my time writing, talking with and seeing family and friends, reading great books, and being in community with other artists. I’ve also been meditating using the Liberate app. Outside of healthy eating and exercise, those are the only things sustaining me right now. I hope that you are also finding healthy ways to deal/heal.
Speaking of being in community with other artists:
I had the esteemed pleasure of meeting legendary author Lesa Cline-Ransome and her artist husband James Ransome at the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA) Fall Gathering 2022, where Cline-Ransome was awarded the Legacy Award for her incredible body of work, and The Prophets received the Book of the Year Award for Fiction.
“Nominations are gathered at the beginning of the year from booksellers. A long list is then reviewed by the NAIBA Awards Committee. Final voting on the shortlist is done by NAIBA bookstore members.” I want to again thank all of the booksellers who voted for my work. It means a great deal to me to have received this honor from the people on the ground who are actually recommending and handselling my book to readers. What a humbling recognition! You have my gratitude.
Be sure to support your local bookstore!
And I also want to say thank you to James Ransome who, over a year ago, created a beautiful mixed-media painting inspired by The Prophets (see the photo at the start of this newsletter). Never expecting to cross my path, he put the painting away. But once he learned that I was coming to his town, he invited me to his studio to see it. What an honor and a blessing!
Additionally, I’m continuing to tour in support The Prophets while I work on novel number two. Here are some of my upcoming events:
October 26, 2022: P&T Knitwear Books and Podcasts: Debuts and Redos
October 29, 2022: Black Readers Conference 2022
November 17, 2022: Miami Book Fair 2022
November 19, 2022: Colorlines: Facing Race: A National Conference
If you have the time, I hope you stop by or tune in. ♥️
And finally: The London LGBTQ+ Community Centre is hosting a book club discussion of The Prophets on 23 October 2022. Register here if you’re in the London area and interested in participating.
Extra-Extra
The following are some very interesting articles I’ve read recently:
White supremacy is the great silence—and the great danger—of the world.
“America’s problem is White people keep backing the Republican Party” by Perry Bacon, Jr. via The Washington Post
The irony of white supremacy is that it is also deadly to white people.
“Whites now more likely to die from covid than Blacks: Why the pandemic shifted” by Akilah Johnson and Dan Keating via The Washington Post
The slippery thing about white supremacists is how they’ve successfully marketed themselves as the party of the moral high ground while ditching that morality in favor of winning. This is exemplified by the leader of the American white supremacist cult, former President Donald Trump, who was deposed in a defamation lawsuit filed against him by E. Jean Carroll, a survivor who has accused him of raping her. At least 26 women have accused Trump of sexual assault, sexual misconduct, or rape.
“Trump deposed in E Jean Carroll lawsuit accusing him of rape” by Maya Yang via The Guardian
“The 26 women who have accused Trump of sexual misconduct” by Eliza Relman via Business Insider
An age-old problem with no solution in sight: How do Black people protect ourselves from those who appropriate, benefit from, and covet our cultural productions while simultaneously disregarding, disrespecting, and discriminating against us?
“A K-Pop Star Didn’t High-Five Black Fans. Was It Racism?” by John Yoon and Mike Ives via The New York Times
Has the world forgotten about Brittney Griner or does the world simply not care? “There's Not a Huge Difference Between the Media Coverage of Brittney Griner's Incarceration and that of Black Women Killed by the State” by Donney Rose via Observations in Blackness
There are many destabilizing agents on social media. And they are very successful at their jobs.
“How Russian Trolls Helped Keep the Women’s March Out of Lock Step” by Ellen Barry via The New York Times
The sideways ways these folks used to come at Toni Morrison! And the perfectly Morrisonian way in which she dragged them back and forth by their molecules.
“TONI MORRISON: The Pain of Being Black” by Bonnie Angelo and Toni Morrison via Time
One of the reasons Deesha Philyaw, Kiese Laymon, and I developed the Lit 16 is to push back against the extremely popular and conservative idea that for each category of marginalized artists, “There Can Only Be One!”™
“How The New York Times Covers Black Writers” commissioned by Laura McGrath, Dan Sinykin, and Richard Jean So via Public Books
Granted anonymity, American doctors admit to their deep-seated ableism.
“These Doctors Admit They Don’t Want Patients With Disabilities” by Gina Kolatavia via The New York Times
As I noted previously: While the United States continues to devolve into an autocratic and hypocritical theocracy, Caribbean nations continue to move forward.
“Saint Kitts ban on gay sex struck down by Caribbean regional court” by Brian Ellsworth via Reuters
Flicks
The Inspection, from writer/director Elegance Bratton, has been getting major buzz and praise as it makes its way through the film festival circuit. I got a chance to see it. The beautifully rendered story packs quite the emotional punch. Jeremy Pope, Gabrielle Union, and the entire cast are remarkable. Be sure to see it when it comes to your town or your home media!
Lit
I had the great pleasure of reading award-winning author De’Shawn Charles Winslow’s upcoming novel, Decent People. Here’s what I had to say about it in my blurb:
“One of De'Shawn Charles Winslow's greatest gifts is his world-building mastery. West Mills and the people who reside in it feel so real, recognizable, tangible, vibrant, and vivid. His rendering of this southern landscape is extraordinary. And this skill serves Decent People very well. It's been a very long time since I've read a good, old-fashioned whodunnit, and this is a most outstanding one, accomplishing several feats at once: it's a compelling mystery with brilliant misdirections and surprising revelations, all while having depth of purpose and critical, crucial social commentary. Decent People is quite the achievement.”
Decent People will be available at your favorite local bookstore on January 17, 2023.
Riddim
Does Jazmine Sullivan ever miss? I don’t believe she does. This song is the kind of energy we need right now.
That’s it for this edition of Witness. Thank you so much to everyone who continues to subscribe, read, share, and find value in it.
May the Ancestors guide and protect you for tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.
Blessings upon blessings,
Robert