Givens Foundation | Black Market Reads

In this episode Lynn Nottage speaks with BMR Host, Lissa Jones during the run of her play Sweat, performed at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. Lynn Nottage is a playwright and a screenwriter. She is the first, and remains the only, woman to have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice. Her plays have been produced widely in the United States and throughout the world. Most recently, Nottage premiered MJ the Musical, directed by Christopher Wheeldon and featuring the music of Michael Jackson, more … http://www.lynnnottage.com/about.html

Kristin Henning is a nationally recognized legal scholar and activist in juvenile justice reform. As the Blume Professor of Law and Director of the Juvenile Justice Clinic and Initiative at Georgetown, she advocates for reform in the juvenile and criminal legal systems to fight the criminalization of Black adolescence. Henning explores the devastating long-term consequences of racial bias and over-policing youth within communities of color and addresses how to change racial disparities within the legal system.

Andrea Jenkins is the first Black transgender woman to be elected to public office in the United States. She was elected to the Minneapolis City Council with 73% of the vote. She is a poet, and an artist as well as a public official. Andrea is the author of the poetry collection The T is Not Silent, New and Selected Poems, and contributor to the acclaimed anthologies, Queer Voices, Poetry, Prose, and Pride. A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota, and Blues Vision: African American writing from Minnesota. Jenkins is also an oral historian for the Transgender Oral History Project at the University of Minnesota Libraries documenting the lived experiences of transgender and gender non-conforming people in the upper Midwest and in the United States.

In this episode, the tables turn and Lissa Jones is in the spotlight. Lissa joins Dr. Vanessa Weaver, host of Workin' It Out Podcast to discuss the role of Black authors and literature in the current racial reckoning in her hometown of Minneapolis and across the country.  In this Episode The impact of poet Amanda Gorman The origin of “Black Market Reads” The role of literature in the Black experience How Black authors and literature have influenced Lissa’s approach to diversity and inclusion.  How the racial reckoning in Minneapolis has shaped “Black Market Reads” How “Black Market Reads” has shaped the national conversation about race Links to show resources  Gain fresh insights and learn actionable steps you can take to address the diversity, equity and inclusion challenges in your life. Each week on the Workin’ It Out Podcast, Alignment Strategies’ founder and CEO Dr. Vanessa Weaver interviews thought leaders about DE&I issues in society and the workplace and uncovers solutions that can move us fo

“Every lie you tell, every secret you keep, is a fragile little thing that must be protected and accounted for…” In this episode Lissa talks with author Wanda M. Morris about her crime thriller, debut novel, All Her Little Secrets Morris is a corporate attorney who has worked in the legal departments for several Fortune 100 companies. An accomplished presenter and leader, Morris has previously served as the President of the Georgia Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel and is the founder of its Women's Initiative, an empowerment program for female in-house lawyers. An alumna of the Yale Writer's Workshop and Robert McKee's Story Seminar, she is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America and Crime Writers of Color. 

In this Special Edition of Black Market Reads, in a live production at the Capri Theater, Lissa Jones sits down with Bukata Hayes to talk about the book he co-authored with Stacy Wells, and then hear from a panel of representatives Nneka Sederstrom/Chief Health Equity Officer Hennepin Health Care, Chaz Sandifer/CEO theNEWmpls, and R.T. Rybak/President and CEO The Minneapolis Foundation. Including a reading by Danez Smith from his book Don't Call Us Dead, Summer Somewhere (18:45) This episode brought to you by Stamp-Connect with additional support provided by Hennepin Healthcare, BlueCross Blue Shield Minnesota, s/bes, theNEWmpls, Minneapolis Foundation, Alliant Consulting inc, Minnesota Vikings, JeDunn Construction, Revolution Catering and iDream.tv. Proceeds to benefit The Givens Foundation for African American Literature.   

Black Girls Must Die Exhausted  Like the lead character featured in her new novel Black Girls Must Die Exhausted, our guest today knows all about living life as a successful African American woman and self-proclaimed "serial entrepreneur."   This Harvard Law grad is a popular speaker, thought leader, seasoned business executive, and noted author who writes fiction under her chosen nom de plume, Jayne Allen. The Detroit native and L.A.-based writer began her career as an attorney in the music industry as an executive at Universal Music Group. She later served as a senior digital strategist and business development executive for Lady Gaga and as an attorney and strategist for Prince, whom she credits for teaching her how to truly be an artist.  Tune in for an exciting conversation with Lissa Jones ...

Lissa speaks with Queen of Black Horror Tananarive Due on the re-release of her 1995 debut novel The Between. Due is a leading voice in Black speculative fiction, and teaches about Black horror and Afrofuturism at UCLA. She is also the award-winning author of numerous books and executive produced Shudder's groundbreaking documentary Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror. For more episodes visit www.blackmarketreads.com and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.

In this episode, we hear from LaTanya McQueen about her debut novel, When the Reckoning Comes which tells the story of Mira, a young Black woman, who travel's home to attend the plantation wedding of a childhood friend and is forced to contend with the traumas of her own childhood - and the historical horrors tied to the place. LaTanya McQueen is also the author of And it Begins Like This, a collection of essays exploring the legacy of slavery and its relationship to contemporary Black female identity. She is an assistant professor of English and creative writing at Coe College in Iowa.

On this episode, Lissa sits down with Resmaa Menakem, the New York Times bestselling author of My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies. Resmaa is a therapist, trauma specialist, and the founder of Justice Leadership Solutions a leadership consultancy where he works training business, community, and government leaders in the philosophy and practice of Somatic Abolitionism. Learn more about Resmaa's work at www.resmaa.com

On this episode we’re excited to present a conversation with author, historian, and educator Carol Anderson on her recent work The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America. This conversation was recorded as part of a live virtual event in partnership with Magers & Quinn Booksellers  and Hennepin Avenue Methodist Church in Minneapolis. Carol Anderson is the Charles Howard Candler Professor of African American Studies at Emory University and author of several works including (but not limited to) White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Nation's Divide, a New York Times Bestseller, Washington Post Notable Book of 2016, and a National Book Critics Circle Award winner. and One Person, No Vote:  How Voter Suppression is Destroying Our Democracy, which was long-listed for the National Book Award and a finalist for the PEN/Galbraith Award in non-fiction. For more, visit www.BlackMarketReads.com

Essayist, memoirist, and, now, novelist Morgan Jerkins sits down with Lissa Jones. She discusses her inspirations for this story, both from her past (as a teenager she worked in her father's OB/GYN practice) and present (she tells us her character Amara was inspired by Vice President Kamala Harris). Though Caul Baby is a work of fiction with hints of magical realism, it is deeply rooted in the experiences of Black womanhood. More information about her work can be found on her website.

In this episode, Lissa speaks with Javon Johnson, about his new poetry collection, Ain't Never Not Been Black (Button Poetry, 2020). Javon Johnson, Ph.D. is a poet, performer, professor and recipient of numerous awards. According to poet Rudy Francisco, Dr. Johnson is “is one of the most brilliant writers in the world”. This conversation was recorded on April 19, 2021, the day of closing arguments in the trial of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd as the case was sent to jury for deliberation in Minneapolis.

Listen to audio of poets reading their work from Can't Stop, Won't Stop: Poems in the wake of racial injustice from a chapbook published by Rain Taxi, recorded on the site of George Floyd Square in Minneapolis by iDream.tv Apnea and Bruxism  by Michael Kleber Diggs a little glimpse  by keno evol Familiar Fruit  by Sagirah Shahid Homeland, Like the Girl who Sang Soweto by Sherrie Fernandez-Williams When I think there aren’t enough buckets to hold this  by Maya Washington Block Party Say It by Douglas Kearney Thembe  by Philip S. Bryant Justi cation/Witness  by Mary Moore Easter L’Etoile du Nord by Bernard James  (copies can be found on Rain Taxi's website).

One of the defining events of the past year, in Minnesota and around the world, was the murder of George Floyd and the international protests demanding justice. In this episode, Lissa speaks with Mary Moore Easter, editor and poet, and James Bernard Short, a poet who lives near the intersection now known as George Floyd Square. The collection is titled Can't Stop Won't Stop the Rain Taxi Chapbook : Poems in response to the murder of George Floyd (copies can be found on Rain Taxi's website). For more, visit BlackMarketReads.com

Launching season six of Black Market Reads, Lissa interviews author Claudia Rankine about her latest work Just Us: An American Conversation (Graywolf Press, 2020). For highlights from the interview, and to listen to past episodes visit www.blackmarketreads.com. If you like the show, leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and tell a friend about the show!

In this episode, author and scholar Dr. Frank B. Wilderson, III on his latest work, Afropessimism. From his youth in Minneapolis to Apartheid South Africa and beyond, Dr. Wilderson has been a committed activist for radical social change. His creative, scholarly, and critical work has been published internationally. He is the author of several books, including Incognegro: Memoir of Exile and Apartheid. And Red, White and Black. Dr. Wilderson is a professor of Drama and African American Studies at the University of California, Irvine.  

Author Carolyn Holbrook discusses her latest work, Tell Me Your Names and I Will Testify, a collection of essays published by the University of Minnesota Press (2020). She is the author of several works including Ordinary People, Extraordinary Journeys, as well as co-author of Hope in the Struggle the memoir of Dr. Josie Johnson. She now leads More Than A Single Story, a series of community conversations for people of color and indigenous writers and arts activists, and teaches at Hamline University. 

In this episode, Ford Foundation President Darren Walker discusses his new book From Generosity to Justice: A New Gospel of Wealth, in which he grapples with the paternalistic roots of American philanthropy and envisions a new approach that seeks to address the causes of inequity, rather than the consequences. He discusses the current state of extreme wealth inequality in America and how this inequality is both the result of systemic racism and a contributor to racial disparities.  We spoke with Mr. Walker via Zoom. You can find more information about how to access the book for free on the Ford Foundation website. For more on this episode and Black Market Reads, visit BlackMarketReads.com

In this episode, a conversation with poet and essayist Justin Phillip Reed about his new poetry collection, The Malevolent Volume (2020). His debut collection, Indecency (2018) won the National Book Award for poetry. To learn more about Justin Phillip Reed, visit his website  Check out more interviews and bonus content at BlackMarketReads.com