Givens Foundation | Black Market Reads

In this episode, Lissa Jones speaks with Twin Cites based actress, comedian, and educator Joy Dolo of Blackout Improv. Dolo is a founding member of Blackout, Minnesota’s first and only all-Black improv ensemble whose performances use sketch comedy, improv, and stand-up to tackle current events, race, and social justice issues.  This podcast is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board operating support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund. Black Market Reads is a production of the Givens Foundation for African American Literature. Production services provided by iDream.tv.

In the season three premier, host Lissa Jones sits down with retired Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Alan Page to discuss his children's books, advocacy work, and optimism. Justice Alan Page is widely recognized for his groundbreaking legal career, as well as for his time in the NFL. Page played for the Minnesota Vikings and the Chicago Bears before his retirement to practice law full time; he was elected to the NFL Hall of Fame. In 1992 Page became the first African American elected to Minnesota’s supreme court, where he served as an Associate Justice until his retirement from the court in 2015. Along with his wife Diane Sims Page, he founded the Page Education Foundation which provides scholarships and mentoring for students of color to help them pursue post-secondary education. Now, Page has taken on another role: Children’s book author, releasing three books--most recently Grandpa Alan's Sugar Shack--co-authored with his daughter Kamie Page and illustrated by Minnesota artist Dave Geister. For more inform

Author and Historian Duchess Harris returns to Black Market Reads, this time to speak with host Lissa Jones to discuss her newest book Race and Policing which will be published in September by Abdo Publishing. Duchess and Lissa discuss the complex history of race, policing, and force in america, and Duchess shares exciting news about her upcoming collection from Abdo. This episode also features 'Blank,' an original spoken word piece from local poet Ashley Oliver.

In this episode, host Lissa Jones speaks with Erica Armstrong Dunbar about her recent work, Never Caught: The Washington's Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave Ona Judge. Dunbar is an author and historian focusing on the experiences of African American women in the context of slavery, racial injustice, and gender inequality. Today, she is a professor of History at Rutgers University.

In this episode, host Lissa Jones talks with author/musician James McBride at Minneapolis' Ivy Hotel. McBride is the author of five books including Miracle at St. Anna, which McBride adapted for the Spike Lee-directed film of the same name released in 2008. His most recent novel, The Good Lord Bird, won the National Book Award in 2013 and inspired 'A talking music book,' combining pieces from the novel with music performed by McBride and an ensemble of other musicians called the Good Lord Bird Band. Recordings of The Good Lord Bird: A Talking Music Book were provided by Riverhead Books, and clips were used with their permission.  

A frequent contributor to the opinion pages of both Twin Cities dailies as well as the local Black press, Dr. Mahmoud El-Kati has published dozens of monographs and pamphlets, and has appeared on Minnesota Public Radio, and at a host of community-based conferences and events. From 1970 to 2003, Professor El-Kati taught many generations of Macalester College students in courses such as “The Black Experience Since World War II,” and “Sports and the African American Community.” In this episode, host Lissa Jones talks with Dr. Mahmoud El-Kati at Golden Thyme Coffee & Cafe in St. Paul, MN.  

In this episode, Host Lissa Jones sits down with Minnesota writers Carolyn Holbrook and David Lawrence Grant to discuss the creative process and how the past informs their work and activism. Holbrook and Grant each contributed an essay to the collection A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota which was published by Minnesota Historical Society Press in 2016. For more information, and to purchase the collection, visit www.agoodtimeforthetruth.com .  

In this episode, host Lissa Jones explores what it means to love the skin you're in. First, she speaks with author Sharon G. Flake, whose 1998 novel, The Skin I'm In, influenced and inspired a generation of young women. Then, Lissa talks with Twin Cities artist Robin Hickman, who created a curriculum inspired by Flake's novel, and curator Hawona Sullivan Janzen about "Doll Power: Black Dolls and the Power of Play", an exhibit of Hickman's work that appeared at North Minneapolis's UROC Gallery earlier this year.

Duchess Harris's grandmother was one of a small group of black women who worked as human computers for NASA in the 1950s, and who have largely been left out space-race narratives--until now. In this episode, Harris sits down with host Lissa Jones to discuss her research on the subject, as well as her personal connection to it, and the importance of exposing these hidden narratives to mainstream historical consciousness. Duchess Harris, JD PHD is the Chair of American Studies at Macalester College in St. Paul, MN. She is the author of four books including, most recently, Black Lives Matter and Hidden Human Computers: The Black Women of NASA which inspired the Oscar-nominated film Hidden Figures.

In this episode we honor the work of playwright and author J. California Cooper with a selection of recordings from her appearance at the 2011 Givens Literary Luncheon sponsored by the Delta Sigma Theta sorority. Our host for this episode is Beverly Cottman, storyteller and teaching artist, who was at the event. Ms. Cooper was born in Berkeley, California in 1931.  She was the author of 17 plays and more than 10 works of fiction. Over the course of her career she came to be known as an important voice in the American literary community of the late 20th century, with her work being compared to that of Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes. She died in Seattle, Washington at the age of 82, but her voice and the characters she shared live on.

Author, playwright, and essayist Zetta Elliott talks with Shannon Gibney about her experiences with the publishing industry that eventually led to the creation of her own independent imprint Rosetta Press. She has published over 20 books for children and young adults, and her plays have been staged across the country. For more information, visit her website www.zettaelliott.com  

Special guests Irna Landrum and LaCora Bradford join Erin and Junauda in this week's episode as we gather in a Book Club edition of Black Market Reads to discuss The Sellout by Paul Beatty. Listen up, the read the book, and the NY Times review. Then Like us and Share us and let us know what you think. 

On this episode, Erin and Junauda are joined by Namir Fearce and Case Wilson, two youth readers, who got to interview author Shannon Gibney about her debut young adult novel, See No Color.  Readers then discuss the novel's themes, which include transracial adoption, sports, gender, parenting and mixed race identity. We had to talk about Macklemore's education on white privilege and Chelsea Handler's exploration of racism, so that happened, too.   Read See No Color and let us know what you think. We love our listeners. Share the love and the podcast with all your friends.

In this episode, Erin and Junauda discuss Jada Pinkett Smith's dignified response to another all-white Oscar nominations and the "Black Aunt Viv's" less dignified one.  Stacey Dash gets her first and only mention on this show. They discuss their experiences in the public school system, the highs and lows, and talk with Nothando Zulu and Beverly Cottman about their work as storytellers in the schools as part of Givens K12 program.  Erin's bestie Michael Kleber-Diggs also reads from an essay about Central High School and his role as a parent of a high school student. #BlackMarketReads is a project of The Givens Foundation for African American Literature produced in cooperation with www.iDream.tv Thanks for listening. Please subscribe, share and comment. Your reviews and feedback make our show stronger.

In this episode Erin and Junauda chat with entrepreneurs Felicia Perry and Mychal Fisher, banter about cultural context of beloved 80's icons and celebrate the poetic gifts of J. Otis Powell‽ and Namir Fearce. Thank you for listening to Black Market Reads. Let us know that stories matter. Please give us your comments and reviews, subscribe, share, and like. We love our listeners and we want to hear from you!

The Givens Emerging Writers' Mentor Program engages Black writers from diverse genres in a six-month program. Each year 10 emerging Minnesota-based writers work intensively with nationally acclaimed writers and Minnesota based mentors. Black Market Reads went on location to listen to the voices of Romelle Adkins, Maya Beck, Michael Kleber-Digs, Irna Landrum, Erin Sharkey, Bernard James, Stephanie Christen, Cherish Gibson, and Joi Lewis in the culminating showcase. 

This edition of BMR features a book club style exploration of Blues Vision with special guests Lisa Brimmer and Valérie Déus. Blues Vision is a stunning anthology of essays co-edited by Alex Pate, Pam Fletcher, and J. Otis Powell ?!, with cover art by Ta-coumba Aiken, and co-published by Minnesota Humanities Center and Minnesota Historical Society Press. Blues Vision features writing by Minnesota luminaries Tish Jones, Rohan Preston, Mary Moore Easter, E.G Bailey, Frank B. Wilderson III, Sha Cage, Andrea Jenkins, Shannon Gibney, Kim Hines, Carolyn Holbrook, Arleta Little, Clarence White, Angela Shannon and more. Cultural producers Erin Sharkey and Junauda Petrus. Brought to you by the Givens Foundation for African American Literature in partnership with iDream.tv

Erin and Junauda enlighten in a wide-ranging conversation about Erykah Badu, Abby Fisher and Affirmative Action, The Wiz and the Encampment at the 4th Precinct with special guests Jayanthi Kyle, Felicia Perry, and Irna Landrum. A poem and a song or two. Listen to Black Market Reads on iTunes, sound Cloud and a variety of other sources. Check us out, leave a review, let us know what you think. 

Join Keegan Xavi, Michael Kleber-Diggs, Erin Sharkey, and Junauda Petrus for an in-depth examination of topics, themes, characters and personal impacts suggested by Loving Day By Mat Johnson. New York Times Book Review    

On the occasion of his visit to Minneapolis as featured author for Givens Foundation Black Books Talk, Mat Johnson author of Loving Day, took time out to chat with Erin and Junauda.  Mat Johnson is the author of the novels Loving Day, Pym, Drop, and Hunting in Harlem, the nonfiction novella The Great Negro Plot, and the comic books Incognegro and Dark Rain. He is a recipient of the United States Artist James Baldwin Fellowship, The Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, and the John Dos Passos Prize for Literature.  Mat Johnson is a Professor at the University of Houston Creative Writing Program.