For Your Reference #002
On Black History Month and TRR's 2nd Anniversary đ
The Reading Room is an independent reference library for Black art and culture in Houston, Texas. For Your Reference is a monthly series of recommendations for close reading, watching and listening.
âOverwhelming. Heartbreaking. Infuriating.â
These three words opened the last newsletter I wrote back in October 2023. I chose them in an attempt to describe a sense of grief that I could hardly name, one that has lingered into the present as the state of the world progressively worsens.
While 2024 brought on a much-welcomed personal transformation, it was also marked by a collective awakening (and resistance) to Americaâs systemic failures and incongruity. Now, between Donald J. Trumpâs second presidential inauguration taking place on MLK Day and Black History Month being bombarded by the incessant stream of bad news (including but not limited to the destruction of D.E.I., increased human rights violations, plane crashes and the overall upending of the federal government), 2025 already feels like a dystopian hellscape.
Amidst the chaos, Iâm returning to this newsletter driven by a renewed sense of clarity, devotion and optimism. However, this optimism is not mine alone. Itâs conjured from within the minds and archives of Black visionaries. Their guidance covers me, grounds me, and urges me to âlearn from the past,â as Octavia E. Butler instructs, in order to sow seeds for the future. Although this level of turmoil seems strange and unprecedented, history makes it abundantly clear that we have been here before.
As Black History Month concludes and I reflect on The Reading Roomâs two-year anniversary today, Iâm holding this reminder from writer Kaitlyn Greenidge close to my heart:
âBlack History Month began not as a business move or a way to build monetary wealth or a desire for white American understanding or a marketing push. It was an effort of Black librarians and researchers to preserve memory and build self. It was started not by CEOs or âdisruptersâ but by the people who keep and safeguard our archives. . . Itâs reminding us that even when the dominant narrative insists that Blackness is on the outs (an absurd belief) that âDEIâ has been eliminated, we keep creating and building and planning and making.â
It is with this spirit of reverence and endurance that we must continue forward as weâve always done. For the past two years, The Reading Room has been on a mission to increase (visual) literacy, one of the most powerful tools in the quest for liberation. Iâm grateful to be a vessel for this work, to nurture this growing collection of books into a longstanding site of cultural resistance.
Here are seven sources that are getting me through:
READ
In an essay originally published in 2000 for ESSENCE, pioneering science fiction author Octavia E. Butler offers her guidance to discourage readers from abandoning hope for despair.
No Place for Self-Pity, No Room for Fear by Toni Morrison
Amid 2024âs post-election grief and confusion, I returned to this essay written by Toni Morrison in 2015, where she implores us not to give in to the chaos. Just when she was about to allow herself to be paralyzed by depression that followed the 2004 re-election of George W. Bush, a fellow artist shifted her course by telling her, âNo! No, no, no! This is precisely the time when artists go to workânot when everything is fine, but in times of dread.â In other words, LOCK IN.
WATCH
Kelela - Far Away
âShe always returns when we need her mostâ reads the first Youtube comment under Kelelaâs soul soothing visual for her song âFar Away.â She is one of the most gifted and criminally underrated vocalists of our generation. This video of her singing to the waves on the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is a spiritual cleansing on every possible register.
Bobby Seale: The 10-Point Program of The Black Panther Party
Recently, Iâve been re-educating myself about the Black Panther Party (1966-1982). Iâm both amazed by what they accomplished and deeply disturbed by how their intentions were distorted back then and have been diluted now. This video is an excerpt from the documentary Huey! wherein BPP co-founder and Chairman Bobby Seale recites the Partyâs basic platform during a âFree Hueyâ rally on Huey P. Newtonâs birthday in 1968.
"Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea (We're Going to Mars)" by Nikki Giovanni
Oh, what a fierce and loving legacy that beloved poet Nikki Giovanni (1943â2024) has left behind. This poem, read by Giovanni at Virginia Tech in 2014, echoes the centuries old sentiment that Black Americans and our history can help shape a better future for humanity.
In the follow-up to his breakout documentary Summer of Soul (2021), Ahmir âQuestloveâ Thompson pays tribute to Sly and the Family Stone. Even though the film follows the typical ârise, reign, subsequent fadeoutâ arc, it filled massive gaps in my knowledge about the groundbreaking band and the state of Black music in the late 1960s and early 70s. It also demystifies the unique challenge faced by Black artists who pioneer in their respective industries.
LISTEN
This is the famed track by Chicago born poet and musician Gil Scott-Heron (1949â2011) that Kendrick Lamar references in his acclaimed but contradictory NFL Super Bowl Halftime performance from earlier this month. Iâve grown increasingly more suspicious of how the work of Black revolutionaries has been watered down by capitalism and reduced to aesthetics, especially when it's done in the name of (Black) entertainment. Each time this occurs, itâs imperative to make our way back to the source.
Thank you for reading! Browse the libraryâs collection on our website and follow The Reading Room on Instagram for updates on programs and events.
LOVED THIS. Thank you.
Adding that Toni Morrison piece to my reading list thx very muchđ¤