7:23 pm UTC Feb. 2, 2021
BLM influencersProvided
Celebrities and scholars, best-selling authors and everyday people are using their social media presence to lead the conversation on racial justice. Here are just a few of them spreading the word on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and other platforms.
Erynn Chambers
TikTok culture changer
With more than 562,000 followers and nearly 40 million likes, Erynn Chambers has become one of the most popular creators raising awareness of the Black experience and anti-Black racism on TikTok.Provided
In June, Erynn Chambers watched a TikTok video from drag queen Online Kyne, talking about how statistics are manipulated to make it appear that Black Americans are more violent.
Robert Jones Jr.’s much anticipated debut novel, “The Prophets,” tells the story of two Black enslaved men who fall in love on a cotton plantation in Antebellum Mississippi.
A fan of Wonder Woman and librarians
By Amy Sutherland Globe Correspondent,Updated January 20, 2021, 7:21 p.m.
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Robert Jones Jr.AVARGAS
Robert Jones Jr.âs much anticipated debut novel, âThe Prophets,â tells the story of two Black enslaved men who fall in love on a cotton plantation in Antebellum Mississippi. Jones earned an M.F.A. in creative writing from Brooklyn College, and is the founder of the blog Son of Baldwin, which discusses race, sexuality, and gender. He lives in Brooklyn with his husband.
BOOKS: What are you reading currently?
JONES: âThe Secret Lives of Church Ladiesâ by Deesha Philyaw, a 2020 National Book Award finalist. Her short stories are about Black women and their relationship to the church. This is the kind of book I needed at this moment, when everything seems to be coming undone. This feels like a grandmaâs hug.
January 14, 2021
By Steve Nakata, Division of Student Affairs
Campuses across the Washington State University system have planned more than 30 events in recognition of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday. The events will span several months and feature authors, songwriters, rappers, visual artists and films.
The full list of events can be viewed at the MLK Program website.
The celebration kicks-off with Virtual Bingo for Student Groups on Wednesday, Jan. 20 and concludes with Tongan Visual Artist Robin Fifita on Friday, April 30. Scheduled in between are a wide variety of events including several keynote addresses, beginning with Bree Newsome Bass on Thursday, Jan. 21, at 6 p.m.
So You Want to Talk About Race with Ijeoma Oluo Spokane Community College and Spokane Falls Community College are opening up an amazing opportunity for the region by bringing Seattle-based author Ijeoma Oluo to town (virtually) as its Martin Luther King Jr. speaker for 2021. The author of New York Times best-seller So You Want To Talk About Race and the new Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America has had essays appear in the New York Times and Washington Post, and her ideas on race, feminism, social justice and community are sure to be both inspiring and thought-provoking. Oluo’s appearance will stream free for the entire community, and marks the launch of a series of “Diversity Dialogues: Conversations on Race and Equity” coming up through the spring and presented by SCC’s Hagan Center for the Humanities.