The Poetry of Hip-Hop
What counts as poetry? Is it always tidy print marching down the path to find two roads diverging in the woods then stopping to wait for a death metaphor? Is it a barbaric yawp from the best minds of your generation from a poet who doesn’t even know it? What if we went beyond the confines of Western Lit 101 to uncover poetry that resonates with us now? At the most fundamental level, hip-hop and poetry both play with sound, turning them into meaning and then back to sound again, declaimed alone or to the sound of a drum machine or coiled inside a catchy song, verse/rhythm/rhyme from Tupac…
Reproductive Injustice: the Overturning of Roe v. Wade & What that Means for US
Books with a Hook: For Mateys Who Love Our Flag Means Death
How did we luck into such deeply funny, sweet and dramatic queer-pirating adventure as Our Flag Means Death (OFMD)? Pirate movies and shows are known, by and large, for being neither sweet nor queer (not a lot of matey¹-cuddling in Black Sails, alas). And yet, for all of the de rigueur tropes–leather-clad pirates, pitched battles, swordfights, swashbuckling, treasure-hunting–OFMD sails past the commonplace gritty sea tale and glides into a rainbow sunset of love and friendship, where men have a chance at gentleness and women are people too. The show follows…
PowerUP! to the People
In 2003, the PowerUP! Business Plan Competition launched to support and grow Brooklyn's entrepreneurial spirit and small businesses. Since then, PowerUP! has nurtured 9,000+individuals with 1,200+business plans and awarded more than $500,000 to Brooklyn entrepreneurs. Some of our most notable success stories are the Bogota Latin Bistro, Greenlight Bookstore and Island Pops. Although the pandemic brought many challenges to Brooklyn neighborhoods, and to our city as a whole, PowerUP! continues to be an exciting presence and program supporting local business startups. …
Earth Works: Books, Music, and More for our Planet
In honor of our March 13 concert with the Orchestra of St. Lukes, "Earthworks", we have put together a list of books and more to get you thinking about the intersection between music, nature, and climate change. Silences So Deep: Music, Solitude, Alaska by John Luther Adams is a meditative memoir about the composer’s time in Alaska, in which he reflects on friendship, music and art, framed by a landscape facing a climate crisis. But you don’t have to travel so far when thinking about the natural world. It can be easy to overlook the vibrancy of urban…
Finding Hope & Recovery Between the Pages
The past several years have been tough for all of us, whether we found ourselves dealing with the pandemic directly, watched the devastation it caused around the world, or felt its impacts on work, school and our social lives. Every time we have taken a few steps forward, it has frequently felt like several steps back and it’s been hard, I think, for us all to catch our collective breath before there’s something new to worry about. As we inch towards the promise of spring and renewal, here are some books that deal with carving out space to heal, grieve and take care of our minds and bodies…
2021 Transgender Day of Remembrance
"Transgender Day of Remembrance seeks to highlight the losses we face due to anti-transgender bigotry and violence… With so many seeking to erase transgender people—sometimes in the most brutal ways possible—it is vitally important that those we lose are remembered, and that we continue to fight for justice." –TDoR founder Gwendolyn Ann Smith “November 20 marks Trans Day of Remembrance, an annual memorial for our murdered kin. The day gives us space to grieve the siblings—overwhelmingly Black trans women and femmes—who were pushed out of this world too soon. Our rebellious mourning recommits…
Catch the Small Press Flea This Saturday!
This Saturday, August 14th Brooklyn Public Library presents SPF21: Small Press Flea, in collaboration with BOMB Magazine. More than 20 different publishers will join us this year! Small presses are publishers who release a limited number of new titles per year. They often focus on niche subjects and bring local voices to a larger audience. While small presses represent only 20% of the publishing market, they potentially outpace their larger counterparts in creative and thought-provoking content. Ted Dodson, Director of Circulation at BOMB, thinks of small press publishing in…
5 Winter Holiday Books to Cozy Up with this Season
Romance, Cookbooks, and More! December is chock full of holidays like Hanukkah, Christmas, Solstice, and Kwanzaa. Although 2020 has been A LOT and the holidays are looking a lot different than we’re used to, these cozy romances and fun nonfiction titles are ideal for making you smile as you sip a nice nog or chocolatey cocoa. Dolly Dingle, Lesbian Landlady by Monica Nolan is a light and saucy homage to classic mid-century pulp novels. Dorian (aka Dolly) lives at the Magdalena Arms, a building full of swell Sapphic gals of all ages. When her landlady’s hip hits the floor with a bang, it…
#TDOR: Transgender Day of Remembrance & Why Trans Lives Matter
Transgender Day of Remembrance was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. The event is held in November to honor Rita Hester, whose murder in 1998 kicked off the “Remembering Our Dead” web project and a candlelight vigil in 1999. Rita Hester’s murder—like most anti-transgender murder cases—has yet to be solved. (TDOR.info) These deaths are the ones that have been reported and recorded. Due to data not being systematically collected in most countries, added to the constant misgendering by families, authorities and media, it is not…
Stressed? We Swear These Books Will Help!
Ever feel like you just want to say fork it all, flip a table, and walk into the sea? Yeah, me either, but in case you have a “friend” who feels that way, here are some books to help them cope with all the bullshirt life has to offer. On Bullsh*t is the quintessential philosophy texts that proves itself by writing bullshirt about bullshirt. It’s fast, fun, and firmly tongue-in-cheek, using the precepts of philosophical discourse to live up to its title. In The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life, Mark Mason gives a fork you to blind…
Beyond Stone Walls & Disco Balls: LGBTQ+ History Month
"All of us who are openly gay are living and writing the history of our movement" - U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (WI) June 2019 saw us celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, a week in the summer of 1969 when queer folks fought back against anti-gay police brutality. Stonewall sparked the modern movement for LGBTQ+rights and has inspired annual marches and parades. Pride Month every June is a rainbow explosion of celebration and commemoration, but LGBTQ+History Month in October is a great time to learn more about the history that came before and after Stonewall.…