I Really Appreciate Y'all
Hello Family and Welcome New Subscribers!
I hope you are all doing well in this Taurus Season!
It’s been a little over two months now since I began the paid subscription options for Witness and I’m amazed that more than 100 of you have elected to sign up. Some of you have had the kindest things to say, too, about why you opted for a paid subscription.
Thank you William, Jendi, and Umucyo! Your votes of confidence are most appreciated.
I started this newsletter almost two years ago when I decided to leave all social media behind. For 14 years, I posted on Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, and Twitter under the moniker “Son of Baldwin.” During that time, I noticed increasingly hostile and dehumanizing behaviors—in myself as well as in others—encouraged and monetized by the filthy rich individuals and conglomerates that own the platforms. I simply could not allow myself to become that which I despise. And I could no longer allow others to direct those pathologies toward me. I have heard that things have only gotten worse since I left. That sucks because social media really has the potential to be something extraordinary. It’s a shame that it’s becoming a cesspool instead.
The growth of the audience here has been steady, but slow—since I don’t have any social media channels on which I can promote the existence of this space. I don’t mind that at all, actually. Better a small-but-civil audience than a large-but-vicious one. And I will not treat Substack as a social media platform. I will not be utilizing any of its interactive features like notes, messages, comments, and such. Witness is a newsletter in the most classic sense, where all I’m interested in is writing. The bells and whistles that Substack has been adding are the very things that I have endeavored (and will continue) to avoid.
What will you get in Witness?
Free subscribers get short-form essays; book, film, music, and television recommendations; information about my upcoming events and appearances; and my short takes on particular newsworthy events.
Paid subscribers get all of that plus long-form essays, subscriber-only posts, and full access to the Witness archives.
Founding members get all of that plus first looks at upcoming projects, and personal and behind-the-scenes footage.
I have some really exciting projects I’m working on that I can’t wait to share with you; some topics that I really want to tackle in essay form; and maybe even try my hand at experimenting with some other media forms. Who knows?
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And speaking of writing on Substack, here are a couple of essays that I have read recently.
, “Justice Breyer and Ruling Class Solidarity”“Supreme Court Justices have great personal incentives to legitimize and rationalize a system which strokes their egos and shores up their personal power and prestige. Breyer and Sam Alito disagree about whether the state should torture pregnant people and LGBT people; they disagree about whether the state should celebrate as many racist executions as possible. But they agree that Stephen Breyer and Sam Alito are the right people to make decisions about whether to torture pregnant people. And more, they agree that their right to make those decisions for everyone is more important than whether or not pregnant people are tortured.”
, “America and Its Great White Hopes”“Thus, when the spotlight lingers on Caitlin Clark even in defeat, or when it fixates on the tears of Iowa's young white women rather than celebrating the triumphs of South Carolina’s Black athletes, we are witnessing not an isolated incident but a recurring theme. It is a theme as old as the championship itself, one that reaches back to Jack Johnson, passes through Larry Bird, and lands in our present moment, reshaping how heroes are chosen and how stories are told. In this way, the Great White Hope continues to serve as a way to sooth a collective anxiety while subtly challenging the strides toward equality and recognition made by Black athletes.”
A couple of books I’m really looking forward to reading.
Thick with Trouble by Amber McBride
“From National Book Award finalist Amber McBride, a mystical, transcendent poetry collection about Black womanhood in the American South
In Thick with Trouble, award-winning poet Amber McBride interrogates if being ‘trouble’—difficult, unruly, fearsome, defiant—is ultimately a weakness or an incomparable source of strength. Steeped in the Hoodoo spiritual tradition and organized via reimagined tarot cards, this collection becomes a chorus of unapologetic women who laugh, cry, mesmerize, and bring outsiders to their knees. Summoning the supernatural to examine death, rebirth, and life outside the male gaze, Amber McBride has crafted a haunting, spellbinding, and strikingly original collection of poems that reckon with the force and complexity of Black womanhood.”
The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong
“Ocean Vuong’s new novel, The Emperor of Gladness, will be published by Jonathan Cape in June 2025.
Hannah Westland, publishing director at Jonathan Cape, acquired UK and Commonwealth Rights from Caspian Dennis on behalf of Frances Coady at Aragi, Inc. North American rights were sold by Frances Coady to Ann Godoff at Penguin Press. Various other international rights have been sold, including Dutch, German, Spanish and Catalan.
The book follows a ‘wayward young man’ in New England who becomes the caretaker for an 82-year-old widow living with dementia.
‘Hallmarks of Vuong’s writing – formal innovation, syntactic dexterity, and the ability to twin grit with grace through tenderness – are on full display in this masterful story of friendship and how much we’re willing to risk to possess one of life’s most treasured mercies: a second chance,’ Vintage said.
Westland said: ‘Ocean Vuong is one of the world’s most accomplished and celebrated writers, and his prize-winning work is both critically acclaimed and deeply beloved by legions of readers all over the world.
‘This is a breathtaking and profound novel: a beautiful story of unexpected friendship, and a vivid reckoning with the hardships and triumphs of life in the unsung corners of America, told in shimmering, effervescent prose full of love, wit and intelligence. It is our great honour to be his publisher and we can’t wait to share this extraordinary book with the world.’
Vuong is a writer, professor, and photographer. He is the author of two collections of poetry – most recently, the Sunday Times-bestselling Time Is a Mother – as well as the Sunday Times-bestselling novel and million-copy international bestseller On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous (both published by Cape), which has been translated into almost 40 languages. His collection Night Sky with Exit Wounds (Cape) was the winner of both the T S Eliot Prize in 2019 and the Forward Prize for Best First Collection.
In 2019, Vuong was a recipient of a MacArthur ‘Genius’ Grant. He splits his time between Massachusetts and New York, where he serves as a professor in modern poetry and poetics in the MFA programme at NYU.”
And some music and musical moments that are currently bringing me joy.
“Cosmic Slop” by Funkadelic
George Clinton and the Parliament/Funkadelic collective were so edgy and strange and ahead of their time. Their Afrofuturistic approach to music and visuals haunt and excite. I discovered this music video while perusing through YouTube. It was interesting to see the NYC I remember from the 1970s. This video reminds me of how Western civilization demonizes African Indigenous spiritualities such that even Black people now fear them and instead claim European religions and doctrines as our own. Conquest is not merely physical; it is also psychological. And clearly spiritual as well. But this music video represents, for me, rebellion. With so many people currently getting their tingles from listening to Black men go for each other’s jugulars on digital wax, I’m happy to return to a time when Black men were trying to be their most cosmic, communal selves.
“Janet Jackson Control Album with Guest Jimmy Jam” | One Song Podcast
I could listen to legendary super-producer Jimmy Jam talk music all day long. I especially love that he’s decided to take us on a deep dive into the creation of the iconic Janet Jackson album, Control. I love that Jam talks about Jackson’s vocal abilities, since Black folk often feel that if you didn’t grow up singing in the church; if you’re not belting and running and whatnot, then you can’t sing. Not true, though. Not true.
“Without You & Me” by B. Slade
B. Slade is legit a musical genius, but living at the intersection of Blackness and queerness often means not getting your propers. It often means being overlooked. It often means being relegated to the background and being asked to move in silence. It often means watching as less talented people get more shine. It often means risking the inevitable, which is people only seeing you after you’re dead. But you continue to make the art because you are the art. So…
Unexpected blessings are the best.
Thanks to Dr. David J. Johns (one of the most intelligent people I’ve ever met in my life), the actor Cree Summer (best known for playing Winifred “Freddie” Brooks on the television show A Different World, as well as voicing some of our favorite animated characters) will be reading my debut novel, The Prophets! I hope she finds it to be of some value.
As always, be safe out there, fam. And remember:
Both kindness and cruelty always return to their source.
Blessings upon blessings,
Robert