{"id":6562,"date":"2016-02-28T13:00:03","date_gmt":"2016-02-28T18:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sistahsontheshelf.com\/?p=6562"},"modified":"2020-05-03T18:12:35","modified_gmt":"2020-05-03T22:12:35","slug":"sistahs-shop-talk-22816-book-segregation-anyone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/?p=6562","title":{"rendered":"Sistahs Shop Talk \u2013 2\/28\/16 \u2013 Book Segregation, Anyone?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"giphy-embed\" src=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/j2dbAdicfdwQ2Fj0Mw\" width=\"480\" height=\"270\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h4><strong>Sistahs Shop Talk is just random ramblings from yours truly about books, news, and views that captivate me.<\/strong><\/h4>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #bb82f5; text-decoration: underline;\">One Thought&#8230;<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Segregation in the Store:<\/strong> An author friend who forwarded <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/haveazuriday\/posts\/1149506288415822?fref=nf&amp;pnref=story\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">this Facebook post<\/a>\u00a0and our proceeding discussion offline inspired a lot of thoughts concerning the age-old debate of book segregation. That post mostly discusses Amazon, but it invites\u00a0another question: when you walk into a physical bookstore, do you prefer African-American fiction to have its own section or to be blended with \u201cmainstream\u201d fiction? I&#8217;ve long preferred the African-American books to be chillin&#8217; by themselves, away from the others because it just makes it easier to find the title I want.<\/p>\n<p>And segregation also helps distinguish just how many titles of ours the bookstore carries. Books-A-Million, with their dedicated AA division, is just beautiful to look at. All these wonderful books at my reach, all about our people. When I walk into Barnes &amp; Noble, which mixes AA books in regular fiction, it just looks sloppy to me, because I can see how many books they are (or not) selling in the store. Walking up and down the aisles (like I sometimes do) tells me that they have the smallest AA collection, and that&#8217;s a problem. But there is another side, the one that questions why there is a separate AA section at all. It makes our books seem like anomalies, as if we\u2019re not good enough to be in the \u201cregular fiction.\u201d What do you think?<\/p>\n<p>Something else to think about: when you lump our books together, you have <em>Kindred<\/em> and <em>Giovanni&#8217;s Room<\/em> hanging out with titles like <em>I Jus&#8217; Wanna Leave This Nigga<\/em> (yes, this a real book title). There&#8217;s not a distinction between genres, between classics and romance and science fiction and street lit \u2015\u00a0and some feel street lit is taking over most of the shelves nowadays. As an occasional reader of street lit as an escape of sorts, this doesn&#8217;t bother me (hey, we all gotta eat), but is this a problem for you? How do you want your books to be shelved?<\/p>\n<p><em>BTW, the merits of street lit will be discussed at a later time\u2026.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #bb82f5;\">News Snippets&#8230;<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.advocate.com\/commentary\/2016\/2\/26\/black-lesbian-filmmakers-reaction-oscarssowhite#.VtGZpooKKM8.twitter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A Black Lesbian Filmmaker&#8217;s Reaction to #OscarsSoWhite<\/a><\/strong> | <em>Advocate.com<\/em> |\u00a0Here&#8217;s why Charzette Torrence, executive producer, creator, and co-writer of Jillian&#8217;s Peak, a new premium scripted digital series featuring the stories of African-American lesbians, won&#8217;t be tuning in on Sunday night.<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"articleTeaser\">\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.advocate.com\/arts-entertainment\/2016\/2\/27\/watch-trans-actress-mya-taylor-wins-independent-spirit-award\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Trans Actress Mya Taylor Wins Independent Spirit Award<\/a> |<em> Advocate.com<\/em> |\u00a0Mya Taylor is the first out trans actress to win an award at the annual ceremony honoring independent film. She was nominated for her role as trans sex worker Alexandra in the critical darling dramadey,\u00a0<em>Tangerine<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #bb82f5; text-decoration: underline;\">What I\u2019m Reading Next&#8230;<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong>White Nights, Black Paradise by Sikivu Hutchinson:<\/strong> <em><a href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/1TI7u6N\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">White Nights, Black Paradise<\/a><\/em>\u00a0follows three fictional black women characters who were part of the Peoples Temple movement but took radically different paths to Jonestown. I found the summary to be interesting, and after reading a smidgen, it seems to humanize the tragedy while incorporating members of all ages, genders and sexual orientations.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #bb82f5; text-decoration: underline;\">Book Quote&#8230;<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>\u201cAcross from her, Hunter devoured her meal even more completely than she had. Sinclair watched her sink sharp teeth into the chicken bone, heard it snap, then the soft grunt of satisfaction. She made soft sucking sounds then emptied her mouth of the tiny ground up remains on a corner of her dish. Hunter ate with rabbit-like intensity, biting and sucking and spitting in an even rhythm until all that was left on the plate was a small brown and beige pile of ground bones. She finally looked up and caught Sinclair staring.\u201d<br \/>\n<strong>\u2015 Fiona Zedde, <em><a href=\"http:\/\/sistahsontheshelf.com\/?p=17\">Bliss<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #bb82f5; text-decoration: underline;\">Trolling for New Books&#8230;<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><em><strong>All release dates are tentative.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/1VLIWt0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Gilda Stories: Expanded 25th Anniversary Edition \u2013 Jewelle Gomez (with Afterword by Alexis Pauline Gumbs)<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>City Lights Publishers<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Release Date: \u00a0April 12, 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Before <em>Buffy<\/em>, before <em>Twilight<\/em>, before Octavia Butler&#8217;s <em>Fledgling<\/em>, there was <em>The Gilda Stories<\/em>, Jewelle Gomez&#8217;s sexy vampire novel.<\/p>\n<p>This remarkable novel begins in 1850s Louisiana, where Gilda escapes slavery and learns about freedom while working in a brothel. After being initiated into eternal life as one who &#8220;shares the blood&#8221; by two women there, Gilda spends the next two hundred years searching for a place to call home. An instant lesbian classic when it was first published in 1991, <em>The Gilda Stories<\/em> has endured as an auspiciously prescient book in its explorations of blackness, radical ecology, re-definitions of family, and yes, the erotic potential of the vampire story.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.respublishing.com\/books\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lyric &amp; Blake \u2013 V. Nikki Jones<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> Resolute Publishing<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Release Date: \u00a0April 18, 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Astin \u201cLyric\u201d Boyd leaves her uptight prep academy to start seventh grade at Alcorn Junior High. She quickly learns that public school means screaming teachers, popularity polls, and fashion wars. Lyric is nervous about being the lone new kid until she befriends a nerdy hipster that goes by her last name, Blake.<\/p>\n<p>The inseparable duo want to mix up the social atmosphere at Alcorn, but their efforts spark a bitter rivalry with the Jacks and Jennies. The school year takes a new twist when Lyric and Blake are struck with puppy love and secret admirer messages. Growing up isn\u2019t easy for two savvy girls who wear boy\u2019s clothes and date girls. But their mothers and Alcorn ally, Coach Jackson, genuinely support them. Rumors, break-ups, or the principal\u2019s office won\u2019t stop these friends from conquering seventh grade.<\/p>\n<p>From Resolute Publishing: &#8220;Lately, there\u2019s been a lot of talk in the media about the lack of diversity among children\u2019s literature\u2013 especially from Black authors. Therefore, we\u2019re proud to publish a culturally relevant book with characters who are gay youth of color. Kids deserve options. Moreover, writers should assist parents by producing quality stories that are not only entertaining, but useful discussion tools.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.respublishing.com\/books\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Dawn of Nia \u2013 L. Cherelle<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Resolute Publishing<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Release Date: April 25, 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Nia Ellis is grief stricken when, Pat, her mentor passes away. At the funeral, Nia is blindsided by one of Pat\u2019s deep-seated secrets, which sparks feelings of betrayal. Weeks after the funeral, Nia is still figuring out how to handle her wavering emotions and the unexplained secret\u2013 until the opportunity for answers forces her to step outside of her comfort zone. Nia believes she is in control of her guarded emotions when sidetracked by curiosity and thrust into a battle zone with Pat\u2019s sisters. Nia\u2019s legal opposition and new love interest offend Pat\u2019s family.<\/p>\n<p>Romance was the least of Nia\u2019s concerns until a fling matures and challenges her lingering insecurities. Nia learns there is a thin line between love and hate when former relationships and loyalties are lost in her circle of friends. In the end, she realizes that Pat\u2019s secret was a blessing in disguise.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #bb82f5; text-decoration: underline;\">Visit This Website&#8230;<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong> Lez Talk Books Radio:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCPO_L6JY-9kfPeoEku2uWJQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lez Talk Books Radio<\/a> is back! A newly launched podcast co-hosted by BLF Press publisher S. Andrea Allen and Lauren Cherelle, manager of Resolute Publishing, the podcast runs on Tuesday nights and the hosts discuss Black lesbian writing and talk to Black lesbian authors about their craft. If you haven&#8217;t already, please follow their YouTube channel. Their most recent interview was with K.A. Smith, author of <em>Get at Me<\/em> and many other short stories.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sistahs Shop Talk is just random ramblings from yours truly about books, news, and views that captivate me. One Thought&#8230; Segregation in the Store: An author friend who forwarded this Facebook post\u00a0and our proceeding discussion offline inspired a lot of thoughts concerning the age-old debate of book segregation. That post mostly discusses Amazon, but it [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"NEW SOTS POST:  Sistahs Shop Talk \u2013 2\/28\/16 \u2013 Book Segregation, Anyone?"},"categories":[21],"tags":[445],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6562"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6562"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6562\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7061,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6562\/revisions\/7061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}