Black writers — Blog — Rebel-Mouthed Books

Commentary: Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson

Deaf Culture, in a sense, is its own character in Feathers.

Commentary: Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad

What I want to say here is that for all of my White family and friends who don't think they would need to do something like this because they aren't racist, or because they "get it", you do need to do this. You (just like me) need to take antiracism and make it personal-- to question and challenge the version of yourself in your mind because I can guarantee there is someone else underneath. It doesn't make you a bad person or less deserving of love. But we have to reckon with the other self we hold inside or else we can't be fully invested in antiracism work-- or else we can't do much good. ⁣

Commentary: Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present by Harriet A. Washington

Harriet A. Washington’s goliath of a book contains research, oral histories, collective memories, history, and legislation regarding medical exploitation on plantations, medical experimentation on enslaved Africans and freedmen, antebellum clinics, anatomical dissection and public display, the Tuskegee experiments, eugenics, radiation experiments, research on Black prisoners, research on Black children, genetics, the imposed criminality of illness, surgical technology, and bioterrorism. I could go on and on about all that I learned from this text, but I'll put it simply: This book reveals many of the origins and contexts surrounding racist stereotypes and ideologies that we see today.

Commentary: How We Fight White Supremacy by Akiba Solomon and Kenrya Rankin

From Akiba Solomon and Kenrya Rankin’s Introduction:

“How We Fight White Supremacy is a curated, multidisciplinary collection that serves as a showcase for some of our most powerful thinkers and doers. It starts in the middle of a Black-ass conversation; you won't find any explanatory commas about our cultural mores here... Each chapter starts with our take on why a particular category of resistance is integral to the fight and ends with our (very) personal reflections on the matter. Seriously, this collection has everything: thoughtful interviews, 'am I really crying right now?' essays, ridiculously relatable fine art, unexpected profiles, crying laughing emoji face funny fiction, reflections from everyday people on their everyday resistance, get hype playlists, and more... But most of all, this is a book about freedom dreams."⁣

Commentary: Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

Commentary, For ReadersChava PossumJuly 20, 2020Jesmyn Ward, Salvage the Bones, Hurricane Katrina, Race, Racism, Hurricane Katrina and Race, Mississippi Gulf Coast, Black writers, Black Women writers, Prisons, Racism and Prisons

Commentary: Black Leopard Red Wolf by Marlon James

Marlon James’ BLACK LEOPARD RED WOLF is the most impressive book I’ve read thus far in my life.

“How Did They Get Published?”

Many young writers, like myself, don’t know the first thing about getting published.

Why?

Because, either our writing programs didn’t teach us and/or because even successful writers don’t often talk about the process. And when publishing is talked about, it is often through a privileged lens— a lens that doesn’t help the majority of new writers reach their goals. So how do we help each other get published when we aren’t privileged? We learn by example.

I chose these writers to be our examples not simply based on their popularity and their relevance alone. It’s also more than that. I wanted to highlight not just how White men can get published, but how everyone else can get published too, including Black writers, Asian writers, women, non-Western writers/writers who tell non-Western stories, and LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, Intersex, Asexual) writers. This is important. White people, especially White men, have owned the publishing stage for centuries. But what about the rest of us?

This post is for the rest of us.