Everything always seems to come back Roberta Flack for me. Go Up Moses, co-written by Flack, Joel Dorn, and Rev Jesse Jackson youtu.be/hZ3yfsDfvGM?...

My grandparents grew it on their farm and whenever we would visit, my uncles would cut stalks of it for us. It's one of my favorite memories

Readers: keep buying, sharing, and talking about books, esp by marginalized authors. Put in purchase requests at your library. Buy from your local bookstore. Preorders are ideal. Don't wait for the series to finish before buying. Read widely and more often. Read trad pub, small press, and self-pub.

Here are your rights if ICE knocks on your door

When women vanish from history, it’s rarely because they weren’t there. More often, their work was ignored or erased. Recovering women’s history means reading sideways, piecing fragments, and asking: whose voices were recorded—and whose were silenced? 🗃️ Do you have someone we all need to know about?

I meant to listen to Many Rivers to Cross over and over today but it wasn't the best day to bring myself to those particular depths. I went with Jimmy Cliff's version of Guns of Brixton instead Great cover, great voice. Thanks for the music, Jimmy youtu.be/x5YTKzVvTTM?...

Here's where I admit that I don't know a thing about Harry Potter. Never read the books. Never saw the movies. I guess I always thought that they took place in ye olde times? I think that's because of the capes. The ye olde times are the 1990s??

dora.nyc this is OUTSTANDING. super navigatable directory for food distros, resources. and easy to remember because it’s like the explorer but also— directory of resources & aid

ICYMI: I was interviewed by @natalieweiner.bsky.social at Don't Rock the Inbox about my book Soul-Folk (@3313books.bsky.social). Among the many, many things I hope you take away from it is that you need to listen to the Isley Brothers' Givin' It Back www.dontrocktheinbox.com/on-soul-folk...

I absolutely loved talking with Natalie! Thank you so much for having me. And if you don't already, be sure to subscribe to Don't Rock The Inbox when you head over there!

Cambridge and Boston folks, Steve McQueen is 2025-26 Norton Professor of Poetry Norton Lecture 2 of 6: Small Axe is TODAY Discussants: Tracey Scoffield, Producer; Hazel V. Carby, Yale University Moderator: Ashley Clark, Criterion Tickets free mahindrahumanities.harvard.edu/steve-mcquee... 🎬

Ten years after losing a close friend to suicide, Desmond Carter turned pain into purpose. Through his group Mental Health is Real Wealth, he’s giving men a space to be honest and unguarded. My latest story explores how Carter’s work helps men heal. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

A good time to re-read this Lucille Clifton poem, always a good time.

I debated writing this. It can feel tempting, upon encountering yet another instance of this administration’s racism, to let it be. How many ways can you say the same thing over and over again? And yet we have to write it down, if for nothing else, so those who come after us know we were against it.

I grew up in a tiny town but knew the big city was for me because of Sesame Street. We didn't have buses (except for school buses. the bus stop was the end of my driveway) but I couldn't wait to ride one because of this song. A bus! To the zoo! Yay for public transportation! youtu.be/mMgqQkZtjyY?...

I know that you can't generally tell goodness/badness just by looking, but it's really something that every person currently making life miserable looks like a villain trying to shut down a community center. And if 80s movies taught me anything, it's being able to spot those folks from a mile away

I'm looking to speak with a Detroit historian (early-mid 20th century, particularly Black history). Bonus if you know a lot about music. I had someone lined up, but that fell through. We wouldn't need to talk very long unless we end up bonding over Frank Wilson's Look Out Your Window, then who knows

Even if you can’t give… do me a solid Repost & reply

Shameless self-promo, but check out my book if you're looking to read about race, folk music & the complications of genre. And during this sale, it's only $13.37. Not bad. The price, not the book. But the book's alright too. At least that's what my friends tell me www.bloomsbury.com/us/soulfolk-...

Posting this again because it’s hot as HELL in NYC today.

Two can play this game. A Muslim woman was attacked on the subway for being Muslim. What are you doing to ensure the safety of Muslim New Yorkers? Protestors are being attacked by police for executing first amendment righta contesting US policy in Gaza. How are you ensuring their safety?

I can't tell if it's because I'm too NYC focused but does it feel like the news cycle spent more time crashing out on the fact that NYC picked a brown Muslim dude as is primary candidate then it did on a right wing extremist who shot 2 Minnesota legislators killing one, her husband and dog?

I have a few, but I'll go with this one: Mama Said Knock You Out— LL Cool J Trip to Your Heart— Sly & the Family Stone youtu.be/vimZj8HW0Kg?... youtu.be/XgmvPNef4Lk?...

I updated this piece from February with new guidance on what workers and owners can do if ICE shows up at your restaurant www.eater.com/24364171/ice...

A perfect summer song youtu.be/SSBWiFGzsyU?...

Cheating in the Next Room- ZZ Hill youtu.be/OSq68u6fh80?...

trans kids deserve so much more than what this wretched world has to offer

For the people who continue to say that fighting back "will just make them escalate more." more than what? More than arresting elected officials? More than showing up masked with no ID to grab elementary school kids? So afraid of what they MIGHT do that you let them run wild NOW.

Adventures in research. Digging into the Debut Records archives. The research is almost always more fun than the writing

I spent the past month interviewing ex-employees and customers of Vinyl Me, Please, trying to understand how the beloved record club collapsed in a haze of greed, hubris, and alleged corporate malfeasance. My piece was just published over at @stereogum.bsky.social.

Liiiiiiiive! Can’t wait for our Brooklyn show

Woke up to a bunch of clearly coordinated spam saying Palestine was invented in the 20th century and I must work for Hamas, because I published article suggesting you might want to buy olive oil from Palestine. Here's that article again, go buy some olive oil! www.eater.com/24430125/bes...

New at No Fences Review: it's Stevie Wonder Week, in honor of his 75th birthday, and @cantkill.bsky.social kicks it off with this beautiful discussion of 16 of his favorites. Come back Friday for my take on 25 deep cuts. Please share and subscribe! nofencesreview.substack.com/p/stevie-won...

This includes my book, SOUL-FOLK, part of the 33 1/3 Genre series. Give it a read and then let's discuss Terry Callier. Seriously. Who wants to talk about Terry Callier with me?

Starting a thread of some favorite books published by small presses that just lost their NEA grants. Please chime in! I'll start with this incredible work of true crime / fiction that reminds me of Saidiya Hartman's work. coffeehousepress.org/collections/...

Great time to be writing a book that is relying a lot on archives, particularly newspapers. What a fun time to be alive

One week from today! Hope you can join us.

Knicks legend Walt "Clyde" Frazier is rejectin' congestion! youtube.com/shorts/rzeod...

“I’ve always been into playing all kinds of music together—jazz, pop, R&B—you name it, and I’ve listened to it and played it.” — Roy Ayers I included the genre-melding Ayers in a guide to soul jazz I wrote for @bandcamp.com. He leaves behind an incredible legacy daily.bandcamp.com/lists/soul-j...

A nice release from Ric-Tic records, one of the Black-owned labels in Detroit in the 60s. Co-founded by Joanne Bratton and Ed Wingate, Ric-Tic was a sister label of Golden World. You might not know Golden World, but someone did. Notably, their local rival, Motown Records 🧵

Lots of new followers lately. Hi! When I'm not going on and on about Roberta Flack, I tend to be pretty boring. But I did write a book and you might like it? www.bloomsbury.com/us/soulfolk-...

Hypnotic, timeless, beautiful piece. And that lineup—Bob James, Idris Muhammad, Joe Farrell and others on this likely overlooked entry in Roberta Flack’s discography. Collectors digging for CTI, Kudu LPs and related soul-jazz/fusion cheap heat would do well to pick this up

I'll never get over how good this song is. Roberta Flack takes this Stevie Wonder composition into outer space. It might be my favorite of hers. But I'm sure I'll have a different favorite in five minutes or so youtu.be/NcDBwb296ik?...

Roberta Flack was one of the 20th century's greatest artists. So much more than the songs that crossed over and became universal, though those songs alone earned her immortality. RIP to a woman who changed the sonic landscape. Here is my long essay on her genius www.npr.org/2020/02/10/8...

very thankful i was able to write about the queen a few years back. farewell to a legend

I also joke that, for a while, I felt like I was on the Roberta Flack beat (an actual dream). I've written about her a few times over the years, like this piece for PBS. I really loved her work www.pbs.org/wnet/america...

I loved writing this because I loved her music so much. It somehow felt new every time I heard it. This is a huge loss, but the music remains. Always

One great thing about Jerry Butler was his songwriter's workshop — the Butler Music Workshop — which nurtured Black songwriters in Chicago (including my favorite, Terry Callier). He used his success to help others succeed, too, and that's a really great legacy www.nytimes.com/1971/12/26/a...

@jonsavage.bsky.social on how Little Richard brought Black and queer culture to American music: “Like the whole record, they represent a sophisticated synthesis of Black music past and present, a history and a tradition that Richard had lived.”

“I’ll tell you what freedom is to me. No fear.” —Nina Simone was born February 21, 1933