It’s a disservice not to talk about this book. This is the best work of art I’ve read in 2025 thus far.
Honorée is out here doing the Lord’s work. EssIt’s a disservice not to talk about this book. This is the best work of art I’ve read in 2025 thus far.
Honorée is out here doing the Lord’s work. Essay. Memoir. Reflective history. Whose history? All of ours it feels like. All of Black women’s history in this series of essays. No one is doing it like Honorée and Imani — like they’re deep in their bag.
This book dragged me out of whatever stupors I was in. Infinitely readable. Passionate. She brought her rage to the page and we need that. I needed to read it. I needed to realize. We need to realize that we’re not alone. I know we’re not.
The reasons why people are scared is because there are women in this world, women like Honorée, women like Imani Perry, women like Nicole Hannah-Jones, women like Austin Channing Brown, and Candice Marie Benbow — women who no matter how much people scream fake news or try to silence folks, there are women, writing, taking names, following the instruction of the many many women who came before them— the June Jordan, Toni Cade, Angela Y Davis, bell hooks, Toni Morrison types — women who you know are telling the truth, about their experiences, the experiences of their community members, their experience with jobs and institutions, and men, their daddies, and churches and expectations and lies and fictions that will not be swayed in telling their truths, and there’s not a good goddamn thing anyone can do about it, because as long as they pick up the pen, it will shake the table. It will also serve as the otherside the underbelly the truth of whatever facade that thing, man, church, state, institution, is trying to put up as their front. It will never be able to live without the truth about it somewhere. The truth on the otherside, the accurate side, that unifies the realities of millions of people.
Anyway, this book took me out. I’m dead. I closed it and I breathed deeply and was shaken. It was really good. What’s it that the kids say: she got her lick back? I want to thank Honorée for her work. Oh oh.. one more thing. I love when someone who shatters the tea pot, goes deep on illustrating who helped Kintsugi that shit back together: I loved the acknowledgements section of this text — it was incredible to read, I just know it felt incredible for her to write it!
Fascinating, and really important. It’s so interesting how much it takes of a person to tell the truth after you’ve spent so long living a life you’veFascinating, and really important. It’s so interesting how much it takes of a person to tell the truth after you’ve spent so long living a life you’ve tried to convince yourself was a particular way that it wasn’t. This memoir is incredibly unique at grappling with it’s subject matter.
It’s not lost on me that sometimes women, along with adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse of all stripes, survivors of grooming, etc sometimes have to wait until the dissenting voices are dead to get enough clarity to hear themselves think. That’s fucking wild to me, and will never not be crazy to me, because of how accurate it is. Today, I watched a grown man cry about how he thought he was being sacrificed when he was 18 years old and was in love with a girl who was 26 years old, while he was trying to make it in the art world. I watched that today: May 26, 2025. His girlfriend, was testifying in the Diddy trial today, and in my head I was thinking: that grown man, will never be the same because of how that woman groomed him into a relationship as a teen, and then introduced him to a lifestyle that he was not used to and tried to pretend like he was okay with, but now he’ll have to carry forever, and can now only talk about with any safety now (in his perspective) now that one of his two abusers is sitting in jail and can’t dissent, or make him “disappear” as he thought they were trying to do. It’s not just women who experience these nightmare situations, where you try to contort your thoughts, and convince yourself that something is okay that is absolutely-not-fucking-okay, and that to a degree even in your young age knew wasn’t okay back then. Taylor Swift has written song after song about the perils of age gap relationships, Demi, Beyoncé, all your pop-girl faves. It’s wild thinking that that 30+ years you spent with a man who absolutely stole parts of your life was built on a situation that you’ve spent the entire time making palatable for yourself and any audience outside yourself.
That’s actually the thought that went through my head repeatedly while reading this book. The fact that things appeared one way in her mind, in her viewpoint, that she rearranged the truth to appear a certain way… until there was space, until space was cleared for you to really see things for what they were. How that living potential for dissent probably would have never made this book come to life.
Quietly, I’m glad that I have never read her previous memoirs, now that I’ve read this one. Sometimes the place at where you find something is the exact place at which you’re meant to find it and I’m glad that I didn’t know much about Jill Ciment before experiencing this book. Not that I would have ever been impressed with a 47 year old anyone dating a 17 year old anyone. It doesn’t compute, not to me, and it never will, tho we have all seen how it could happen on public and private levels. However, I’m glad that I didn’t ever experience the text-based reality of her trying to sell the shapes she shifted in the earlier work. I feel like I’m grateful for not getting got wherever the higher powers seek to make that a reality for me. The book was highly illuminating though....more
I really loved this read. I learned so much and it was mad interactive and fun! You have to read this book with Google Images right beside you and WikI really loved this read. I learned so much and it was mad interactive and fun! You have to read this book with Google Images right beside you and Wikipedia on deck and you really will have the time of your life. The author gets real serious about the different forms/types of art in Chapter 3 and he acknowledged the shortcomings of any book claiming to be a “comprehensive book about art history” and I respected that. He said:
“There’s a joke among art historians, its origin unknown, that art history is “Jews teaching Protestants about Catholics.” That’s been largely true in the second half of the twentieth century in North America, the crucible from which I emerged. By percentage, the most significant art historians have been Jewish, most of the art history texts are on Catholic art, and most of the students in the United States and Canada would self-identify as Protestants. This results in a narrow view of the world and its artistic creations, which is limited and not cool. It is also understandable, as art historians tend to write about and teach what they learned themselves, which is why we are “stuck” with a Western canon of a few hundred masterpieces that were most influential in the artistic traditions of Western Europe and North America.
I am ashamed at how little I know about non-European art. (I hesitate to use the term “Western,” as it is also uncool, but that is the term I was raised with.)” — excerpt from the 12-Hour Art Expert
I respect him for saying that early out, and then taking us through 30 forms of art. I really got to figure out which forms I liked the best from what I’ve seen, what I’ve remembered seeing at exhibits and more growing up.. I realized my favourite forms of art include: Minimalism, the art that’s stripped down to the bare minimum and that you can inject whatever you need to or need at the moment onto it or over it. Noah Charney made me realize that I love how emotional Minimalist art has always made me— it’s emotional the way a blank page is emotional. I also love Modernism, Fauvism, as it is strong, unrealistic and garish, I love that too. Impressionism is what I find the most boring. Realism is my favourite especially when it comes to photography, think Gordon Parks. Cubism is the kind of art that I like the least. Breaking down an image to its geometric elements and then shifting around the pieces of it puzzle style? Negative. Yo, real talks - that’s my nightmare.
Anyway, as shared, I had A LOT of fun reading this book and learning and engaging. I looked back through my reading notes about this book and realized I really had too much fun talking back to this book and I had so many links in the notes. I highly recommend it! If you’re already an art-expert you’ll probably find it glib, but if you’re a dabbler, or an art-newbie or a just an art-curious individual who likes a dad joke from an art teacher once in awhile, you’ll love it....more
Listen, both stories contacted in this work were wonderful. Yo, I'm convinced, I've said it before, the Japanese got that interior life narraMy heart!
Listen, both stories contacted in this work were wonderful. Yo, I'm convinced, I've said it before, the Japanese got that interior life narrative down pat. No one does it like them. This was tender, heartbreaking, touching, sad, redemptive, warm, loving, and yet had a bit of knife-fight energy to it. It was a perfect experience. Third short book recommended by chatgpt as a read for the week and it was on-point yet again. Kitchen was a great story, but Moonlight Shadow was also dope.
Some of my favourite lines from this book are--
“The fact that time continued to pass in the usual way in this apartment where I grew up, even though now I was here all alone, amazed me. It was total science fiction. The blackness of the cosmos.” -8% in Kitchen, Banana Yoshimoto
“His smile was so bright as he stood in my doorway that I zoomed in for a closeup on his pupils. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. I think I heard a spirit call my name.” -8% in Kitchen, Banana Yoshimoto (biiiitch, loved this line))))
“Someday, without fail, everyone will disappear, scattered into the blackness of time.” -18% in Kitchen, Banana Yoshimoto
“..But then, overpowered by their enormous weight, I found that tears were pouring down my cheeks and onto my blouse.
I was surprised. Am I losing my mind? I wondered. It was like being falling-down drunk: my body was independent of me. Before I knew it, tears were flooding out. I felt myself turning bright red with embarrassment and got off the bus. I watched it drive away, and then without thinking I ducked into a poorly lit alley.” -26% in Kitchen, Banana Yoshimoto
“I was about to tell her to call me at home, but instead I ended up blurting out, “. . . or perhaps you’d like me to sob hysterically and chase you with a kitchen knife?” I admit that it was rather coldblooded of me. ” -47% in Kitchen, Banana Yoshimoto (Mikage was that bitch, she was like square up!!! Love it)
The book was wonderful, truly. I can see myself reading it again in the future....more
A tale! A cautionary one at that. Another recommendation from the digital assistant, and another one that was right on the nose. I really appreciated A tale! A cautionary one at that. Another recommendation from the digital assistant, and another one that was right on the nose. I really appreciated the story telling by Tolstoy. It was clear, extremely reflective. There’s something to be said about getting what you want and never being happy and then dying miserable. There’s something to be said about living like a fat cat and then wittling away under the watchful eye of the poor who give their time and energy to lift you and bathe you and care for you, when everyone else is just waiting, and scornfully watching, and whispering as you approach your meeting with your maker. It was a great story. Powerful. ...more
Absolutely incredible. Genius abounds. Like, this was the most intense thing I’ve ever read. I’ve also EXPLODED my TBR list reading this. Phenomenal. Absolutely incredible. Genius abounds. Like, this was the most intense thing I’ve ever read. I’ve also EXPLODED my TBR list reading this. Phenomenal. Now to watch the conversation again on YT. ...more
Incredible. I really loved the art—it’s beautiful and simultaneously both minimalistic and maximalist. The blue and its layers the emotion matching thIncredible. I really loved the art—it’s beautiful and simultaneously both minimalistic and maximalist. The blue and its layers the emotion matching the colour schemes! Deb is a fantastic artist!
I loved her story even more than the art—my heart moved with every page. The people in her story possessed a depth and distance that made them also relatable. It was infinitely relatable. Deb in college also reminded me of myself- young, trying to figure out things in that first year of uni.
Her memoir was an exploration of themes that are both timeless and relevant, touching on elements of love, loss, growing up, change, finding yourself, and the human spirit. Her mom was a trip, and yo also relatable at that age.
The way the author wove these themes from her life into this story was nothing short of masterful. This is a graphic novel that I’ll be recommending to others for a long time. Especially any teen in my orbit. It’s really good....more
Dr. Daniel Black is a legend. This book really got to me. The use of We in the narrative voice, was definitely was a connector, and it was very powerfDr. Daniel Black is a legend. This book really got to me. The use of We in the narrative voice, was definitely was a connector, and it was very powerful. I felt every word in my bones. It was a hard read. It was graphic, violent, and it made me enraged. Enraged at the levels of evil in this world, the fact that that evil is still here, generations later, that there's an attempt to mask it, to excuse it, to generalize it, to rationalize it. It pisses me off.
The resilience, the fact that WE are still here, the fact that we have survived. This book was exactly what I needed to read these past couple weeks. It was hard, devastating, and illuminating....more
Norma Dunning is a talented writer who brings you exactly where she wants you to be and points you at exactly what shPowerful, poignant and luminous.
Norma Dunning is a talented writer who brings you exactly where she wants you to be and points you at exactly what she wants you to see, no matter how challenging it is to discuss and bear witness.
These short stories were heavy. Chronicling many historical issues faced by Indigenous folks, Dunning spares no one in her examination of the circumstances created around their community and the Indigenous experience in Canada specifically.
I randomly picked up this book from the Toronto Public Library’s available audio section on Libby, and it was a harrowing, touchingly clear-eyed listen.
The title story, Tianna, was the one that was the hardest. A contemplation on motherhood, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, the way their disappearances are treated by the authorities, and the impact on the community at large — Tianna, is a reflection on the humanity and spirit people trade to survive in situations that were bleak from before they came to be.
The stories Amak and Kunak were strong and These Old Bones was another striking story.
The fight between reality and fiction was palpable in this book, and the narration was well done!...more
I read the first edition a few years ago and always remembered the concepts in Humble Inquiry. I really liked it, and it’s something that I practice aI read the first edition a few years ago and always remembered the concepts in Humble Inquiry. I really liked it, and it’s something that I practice a lot.
Today a couple hours before having an important chat with some folks, I decided to read this and get fully recentred in my humble inquiry bag. The humble inquiry bag really looks like challenging your tacit assumptions, focusing on pragmatism, being mindful of situational propriety.. balance, equity.
I like that this new edition that includes changes that society has experienced since the pandemic, and the expanded role that AI and advanced digital technology has taken in our lives, that’s a much necessary add to any book, business or otherwise, surrounding communication in this day and age.
The info here is easy to digest, not really a lot of new information that you haven’t heard before, but I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a pep talk and some direction before navigating conversations with whomever....more
I always come back to this book every couple of years. It’s got some of my favourite lines of poetry and power in the text.
Sometimes I wonder what SaI always come back to this book every couple of years. It’s got some of my favourite lines of poetry and power in the text.
Sometimes I wonder what Saul thinks about this work in the years that have passed, how it would be worked and reworked with the knowledge gained now and with the movement of hip-hop as it traverses time.
Some of my favourite lines of poetry ever written is:
“If not then you must be trying to hear us and in such cases we cannot be heard. We remain in the darkness, unseen. In the center of unpeeled bananas, we exist. Uncolored by perception. Clothed to the naked eye. Five senses cannot sense the fact of our existence. And that’s the only fact. In fact, there are no facts. Fax me a fact and I’ll telegram a hologram or telephone the son of man and tell him he is done. Leave a message on his answering machine telling him there are none. God and I are one. Times moon. Times star. Times sun. The factor is me. You remember me.”
This was a very illuminating read. I think that there's so much to be said here, but the main takeaway is that so many men are groomed within the musiThis was a very illuminating read. I think that there's so much to be said here, but the main takeaway is that so many men are groomed within the music industry and have probably been in the same situation as Deryck Whibley, and I hope that they see this memoir as a light, a beacon of light to step forward and tell their stories as well. Deryck is a G. He's also insane for so much, white dudes really get away with so much. I appreciate his bloodletting with this memoir, you could feel the weight lifting with every page. ...more
“There are many chapters to every book. Reinvention is the compass guiding us through uncharted territories, reminding us that we are not bound by
“There are many chapters to every book. Reinvention is the compass guiding us through uncharted territories, reminding us that we are not bound by the chapters already written. To redefine our stories, we must find the strength to discard what no longer serves us and embrace the unfamiliar with open arms. The power of reinvention lies not only in the act itself but in the liberation to become the fullest, most authentic version of ourselves.
…Embracing change and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone not only keeps things interesting but also allows you to discover aspects of yourself and the world around you that you might have otherwise overlooked. The power of reinvention is that it allows us to shed the skin of the past and emerge as the architects of our own evolution.” - Law Roach, How to Build a Fashion Icon
FIVE VERY BIG STARS. Listen, this story is soooo much deeper than it may appear. Law, in his beautiful yellow suit on the cover tells the story of a young Black man fighting for his dreams, overcoming, sharing with us, how he overcame, and how we can improve our own vision and our own lives.
There’s not a lot of books like this by a lot of people like Law Roach. There’s only one Law. He can’t be duplicated, and with this book he reminds you that you can’t be duplicated either, and he ended the book with a sermon about believing in your dreams first. Like, don’t wait on anyone to believe in you, they won’t if you don’t believe in you.. but don’t just believe, act. Don’t stay silent about what you’re doing, share. Don’t be afraid, connect. Like, this book needs to be given to these teens stuck on instagram, and living with what I like to call Instagram/TikTok brain rot. There are clear instructions here for folks who are struggling, and it’s very very inspirational.
One of the things I’ve always loved about Law’s work, which is featured prominently in this short book, is how he has influenced so many folks, but especially Black women, to embrace the beauty and uniqueness of Black culture, Black hair, and style. I love how he inspired Meg to confidently rock her natural hair, and he really added to her glow up, bringing her true self into high fashion looks. Same with Mary J. Blige and her Met Gala look. He also inspires to elevate and show we are not a monolith. I’ve also loved his work with Hunter and Celine Dion: it’s out of the box, unique, and eye catching.
This was a phenomenal read about following your passions and encouraging yourself to continue, to grow, to evolve, to think differently, to expand, to take up space and at the end of the day, to never forget who you are! ALSO, to take care of yourself because when you work too hard and drop down dead you know what happens!? They step over your dead body babe. It sucks! So put yourself first, take care and love yourself, first. I love this advice for us all!...more
I can see why Colson Whitehead is so highly regarded after reading The Nickel Boys. It’s very good.
Telling this story, bringing the truth of the NickI can see why Colson Whitehead is so highly regarded after reading The Nickel Boys. It’s very good.
Telling this story, bringing the truth of the Nickel Academy to light, feels like Colson Whitehead is handing us a piece of history that we can’t ignore and that we shouldn’t ignore-lest we continue to perpetuate the violence through silence. The trauma these young boys had to endure was devastating. My entire insides shifted at the end of Chapter 7 when Elwood is trying to be stoic in the face of his mother, but is internally screaming “look what they did to me..”. That hurt me to no end.
The book brings into sharp view how deeply these injustices have shaped the world we live in, and how deeply these types of injustices have shaped the broken sense of self, those who have sustained this violence might feel. It makes me think of blood trauma, and the pain of a collective and how that falls through the community over years and generations. What it does to families and the community. I feel like a good companion book to this is Carceral Capitalism by Jackie Wang, which also dives into the systemic roots of violence and oppression.
Whitehead doesn’t shy away from the brutality, but he also doesn’t sensationalize it, which I appreciate because this narrative is painful enough. He’s careful in his execution. It’s a short book, but it’s heavy like a brick. The writing simple but powerful. You feel the weight of it all—the historical violence, the systemic racism, the lost lives. I could list every injustice, every act of brutality that was inflicted upon the community by white folks, but my heart is so exhausted.
The fact that schools like this existed—and still exist in different forms—is haunting. Knowing that they are still uncovering places where the unmarked bodies of Black and Indigenous children lie, their lives taken by cruelty and unrepentant violence, is unfathomable. The fact that it was so easy for Elwood to get swept up and lost and discarded, reminds me of Kalief Browder and Riker’s Island and what they did to that young man’s life. It makes me want to fucking scream. The horrors of Nickel Academy in the novel reflect those real-life traumas that linger, and it’s exhausting to think about how much suffering has been swept under the rug for generations and continues.
This was an intense read. I feel raw to be honest. The way he connects the trauma of the past to the unresolved pain of the present is something else. The book is a concrete reminder that the fight for justice is long, and that even when we think we know our history, there’s always more to uncover....more
I've been reading this book for two years, and you might wonder why. The truth is, it was a lot to absorb! Especially as you watch everything that is I've been reading this book for two years, and you might wonder why. The truth is, it was a lot to absorb! Especially as you watch everything that is going on internationally and know that in your heart — Alaa Abd El-Fattah’s words reflect millions of unheard stories and a multitude of injustice happening everywhere as I write this.
That someone and their family could be held in this manner is beyond reason. The fact that people and their families can be bombed, and uprooted from their lands by violence and force will always be madness to me. Being stripped of their dignity, and silenced through corrupt and morally bankrupt systems is beyond reason.
It feels significant to me that I finally finished this book today, August 10, 2024, on Prisoner’s Justice Day.
I have some more thoughts about this work.. I think that Abd el-Fattah’s words cut through the silence of isolation, and is a loud echo of the cries of people seeking for freedom and justice.
He is a remarkable writer, fully aware that the power to change the world lies with the youth. No matter the hardship he endures, and the indignities they try to heap onto him; stripping him, beatings, keeping him from his family and children, immoral check-in practices, he still continues to use his voice. His voice is sharp and he clearly dictates the levels of barbarism that is prevalent in Egypt, in Palestine and in a variety of other nations. He illustrates how countries attempt to silence folks by ripping away their ability to communicate and get the news out to their people, by limiting books and more, things that are happening in North America as well. He’s very clear how Egypt’s attempt to silence dissent by cutting off communication, restricting access to information and the internet, are methods that folks everywhere should be paying attention to in this digital age. We see that in Gaza right now. The book ends with his essay on Palestine and how they are always and have always been on his mind.
One thing I will say is that each letter in this book, the texts, the essays the things that his family were able to smuggle out from the jail to provide to the waiting public.. the public demanding to hear from him— each of these essays are a testament to the resilience of the human spirit, and standing tall against the crushing force of oppression. Bob Marley's words come to mind: "Who God bless, no man can curse," and "God shall pass the worst." That spirit is palpable in this book. You feel that here.
You Have Not Yet Been Defeated is not just a book; it’s a reflection, a resistance, a heartbeat - the telltale heart beating that everyone can hear in the dark places. It’s persistent in its execution, it’s unyielding, and it reminds us that the fight for dignity, for human rights, is never truly defeated as long as there are voices willing to speak. It shares that our words can really be our greatest weapon. This book shares a lot in common with “We Have Tired of Violence” detailing war crimes and political corruption against the community in Indonesia as well. It was a really intense and necessary read....more
Genius. Heavy as a brick flying through a window. I have so many feelings around the crazy parents that let their kids get mixed up in that sex cult. Genius. Heavy as a brick flying through a window. I have so many feelings around the crazy parents that let their kids get mixed up in that sex cult. Bruh. How could a parent let that shit happen.. It's just.. wow.
Lauren is also a G. She’s an incredible, visceral and emotional writer. She's also funny and thoughtful. I read this awhile ago and honestly it's burned into my memory. She's been through a lot and I want to read whatever else she has to say....more
This was an absolutely fantastic reading experience. The crossover of some of my favourite folks introducing me to some of their favourite folks, peopThis was an absolutely fantastic reading experience. The crossover of some of my favourite folks introducing me to some of their favourite folks, people that they deem iconic, was pretty badass.
Mary Gaitskill talking about Linda Lovelace and then Zoe Pilger talking about Mary Gaitskill was next level and I didn't know that I needed that in my life. Hanne Blank on M.F.K. Fisher was really interesting and I love reading writers getting super META about the books and authors that changed, shaped their lives and reading experience over years and how they internalized that and spit that out back to the community to readers everywhere. Even deeper what happens when their perceptions change on those icons who reveal themselves to be flawed or layered in ways that they weren't expecting. It's candy if you like that sort of stuff.
Danielle Henderson talking about bell hooks, put me in its crosshairs. It literally took me out, I felt so seen and just it's crazy how so many people can have the same experience learning about someone recognizing that there's someone in the world who's already discussed the multitudes of feelings you're feeling and they've studied it and they've given you a framework for it and way to look into it that examines who your entire being is in the world. It's next level. This is possibly one of my favourite books now and it's definitely one of the best books I've read this year.
LASTLY, Kate Zambreno! Whom I love! Talking about someone I'm not that familiar with, but whom I now want to know everything about, Kathy Acker. Zambreno's Icon, the person that she talks to in the air, in the mirror, in her writing - as she tries to shape a life narrative or document a reality. That was an education. They saved that for last and it GAVE. It's still giving what it needs to give. I can see myself returning to this book again and again and again....more
This is a great memoir. Raja Shehadeh grappling with the layers and complexities of his lawyer/legal-expert/activist father's life and how it shaped hThis is a great memoir. Raja Shehadeh grappling with the layers and complexities of his lawyer/legal-expert/activist father's life and how it shaped his own life and commitments was an intense read. The father wound runs deep alongside the wound from losing one's country and being displaced.
The disconnect between their viewpoints and methods of action, Raja's vying for his father's love and attention, the confusion, rage and the later reflection and reflective period after his father's death was deeply affecting. The contemplation surrounding the things they both have sacrificed to help their people, whether it be familial relationships, connection, and time to the observations on the ways that the community responded to, understood, and at times misunderstood his father, it was infinitely readable. Raja was so giving with his story....more