‘Is God Is’ writer-director Aleshea Harris talks making the transition from stage to screen, why making a revenge movie was necessary right now, and the influence her family lineage has on her craft.

as "is god is" opens in cinemas today, it marks a grand debut & moment: aleshea harris is on an unprecedented path in hollywood as a black woman directing/writing a film adaption of her own stage play. for @thecut.com the director and i discuss this moment:

THE PEOPLE CRAVE RELIABLE AND FAST PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION.

the los angeles metro was free this weekend to celebrate the opening of the new D line. i’ve never seen so many riders! LA is buzzing. ❤️‍🔥

”Labor today faces a grave crisis… automation will grind jobs into dust… This period is made to order for those who would seek to drive labor into impotency by viciously attacking it at every point of weakness.” Martin Luther King, Jr. said this at an AFL-CIO convention in 1961.

the articulation of love is not the same as loving.

in the most bizarre instance of misappropriation of a name/legacy (?) legendary, honey voiced jazz singer ernestine anderson’s apple music / spotify pages have been littered with unrelated LPs? she passed in 2016!

We love to see it. Congrats, Charles Burnett – the city of Los Angeles is lucky to have you!

So we'll deserved by one of the greatest of my lifetime.

spent the day with charles burnett as the city of los angeles honored him with distinction and friends from across his life sung his praises. deeply honored to co-present the award and be in the number of those singing his praises.

I once told a student they should write for the person who inspired them to do the work, not the objectionable person they were centring in their thought and hoping to defeat. It gave them such a clarity of purpose that was incredible to see. Let your purpose guide you, and this will come to pass.

Tell it. Some folks sharing stuff (or screen capturing stuff from elsewhere) that they disagree with just to say how terrible it is need to sit with this.

if you only create to refute the enemy, you have decided they are your primary audience

if your journey is the center point of how you relate to media, have you ever seen anything at all? seeing things only as deeply as we have met ourselves is the shallowest point of entry… dive in and trust the ocean of discovery is beyond what the eye can see at first glance.

NPR has received one of the largest charitable gifts in its history. "I support NPR because an informed public is the bedrock of our society" philanthropist Connie Ballmer said. She and her husband Steve, former Microsoft CEO, have given away more than $3 billion. www.npr.org/2026/04/16/n... #NPR

What’s unfolding across the news is heartbreaking. When we name them, we remember them 🤍 Dr. Cerina Fairfax, Pastor Tammy McCollum, Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer, Ashly Robinson (Ashlee Jenae), Qualeshia “Saditty” Barnes, Davonta Curtis, Barbara Deer, Ashanti Allen.

physical beauty is not a measure of morality. it is not the only pursuit we are on earth for. to live by another’s definition is to die when they no longer believe.

One of the strikes hit the building where I used to live, and another one hit one block over from my current apartment. Both in very normal residential neighborhoods. Israel strikes central Beirut without warning after saying Iran ceasefire doesn't apply there: apnews.com/article/isra...

charles burnett’s “my brother’s wedding” 4K restoration is making its U.S. premiere at TCM film fest. ❤️‍🔥 thank you to @milestonefilms.bsky.social, @kinolorber.com, @uclaftvarchive.bsky.social, BAMPFA, and the TCM programmers.

We’re on strike today! Support our fight for a fair contract by NOT visiting the @propublica.org website or engaging with ProPublica stories today. Tell ProPublica’s management you won’t cross the picket line: actionnetwork.org/petitions/te...

statements from Iran about the ceasefire coming in a minute

“I think those of us who care about the future of the human race—and want equality of human life and want people to be able to live in a just manner and take care of their families—we want it for all people.” — ta-nehisi coates in a new interview

I wrote about the life of Harry Haywood and his newly republished book, Negro Liberation, for @thenation.com www.thenation.com/article/soci...

The W. Post “shifted toward relying more heavily on freelancers and, in some cases, publishing combined reviews that cover multiple shows in a single article (i.e., the “collections” of reviews published under Floyd’s byline).” dctheaterarts.org/2026/04/05/a...

So, some news. variety.com/2026/film/ne...

Today, my fellow founding worker-owners and I are launching a subscription drive to @feedravenous.bsky.social. We are a group of experienced and award-winning food journalists here to publish thoughtful writing and incisive reporting from around the food world. www.weareravenous.com

I’m surprised by how often I think about a line from Toni Morrison’s SULA: “…more tranquil than the curve of eggs.” What an image. The first time I read it, I was so startled that I went in the kitchen and got an egg out the damn fridge to look at its curve.

april is poetry month so i often take the months to read work my favorite poets. derek walcott’s “love after love” is one of the greatest ever poems :-)

to be overly critical of enjoyment (“i could never be seen….”; perceiving an age limit to pleasure or merriment) is to trap yourself of a prison of your own design. deep solitude gives fascism a place to take root in your psyche.

Poynter found more than 70 stories dating back to October that included reporting, writing and photography from local journalists without attribution. www.poynter.org/ethics-trust...

♫ Batter up! Hear that call! Now's the time... to plaaay ball! ♫ The real-life Rockford Peaches make an appearance in this 1943 home movie from the Dean Collection. The family brought their 8mm camera to this All-American Girls Professional Baseball League game during the Peaches' inaugural season.

Happy Celestial Birthday Gil Scott-Heron April 1, 1949–May 27, 2011

Craziest casting fact about “Judging Amy”? Her mon was played by Tyne Daly—whose daughters played both of Richard T. Jones’ love interests—Rhyon Nicole Brown played his ex-wife & her sister Kathyrne Dora Brown played his girlfriend. We’d watch the show thinking “I guess Bruce has a type, huh?”

sunday

i’ve had a writing breakthrough in the last few weeks. to push past what was formerly a wall and write your way around it… few feelings are better!

saturday

we love to throw the “there is no ethical consumption” badge out as an excuse for our own frailties but the *attempt* to do better remains crucial even when no one is keeping the score….

Nurse Hammam is still out here with his family, living in the ruins. Please donate to his campaign if you can.

Bring back rent parties! Our ancestors showed us the way! officiallangstonhughes.com/rent-parties...

Disney is reportedly exiting the deal it signed with OpenAI, in which it pledged to invest $1 billion in the company and agreed to license some of its characters for use in Sora

one of my all time favorite spring songs just came on shuffle

Today, we wrote to @propublica.org’s board of directors to inform them that our unit overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike and urge them to instruct management to agree to a fair contract now. Read our letter here: www.propublicaguild.org/updates/to-t...

Must read conversation: Marya E. Gates interviews Pamela Hutchinson oldfilmsflicker.substack.com/p/silent-fil...

As CBS retreats from radio - which 233 million Americans use - NPR remains on and the audience is up. The main CBS product was a short hourly newscast. NPR’s hourly news is on your local station - and also available on demand! Hit Play on the NPR app: apps.apple.com/us/app/npr-n...

Call your lawmakers.

a part of an artist’s job is interpretation. a singer, with their voice and stylistic choices. with johnny hartman’s stylistic choices “dedicated to you” is a song of deep longing. with ella fitzgerald’s interpretation the sam’s song is a whimsy tale of desire. youtu.be/TpbL9DzX8to?...