Givens Foundation | Black Market Reads

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

In celebration of Black History Month, Black Market Reads participated in an exciting event hosted by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, featuring stunning performances from the Grammy Award-winning musical group Sounds of Blackness. In part one, recorded in the museum galleries, Lissa speaks with Esther Callahan and Keisha Williams, members of the curatorial team responsible for the Mapping Black Identities exhibit now on display at MIA.  In part two, Lissa interviews the iconic Gary Hines, musical director and producer of Sounds of Blackness.

In this episode, Lissa speaks with historian Dr. William D. Green, whose works focus on the history of Black people in Minnesota, and specifically the ongoing struggle for civil rights. Dr. Green is a professor of history at Augsburg University in Minneapolis, and serves as Vice President of the Minnesota Historical Society. He has previously served as Superintendent for the Minneapolis Public Schools. His works on race and civil rights in Minnesota include A Peculiar Imbalance in Early Minnesota: 1837-1869, Degrees of Freedom: The Origin of Civil Rights in Minnesota, 1865-1914, which won the 2015 Minnesota Book Award-Hognander Prize, and The Children of Lincoln: White Paternalism and the Limits of Black Opportunity in Minnesota, 1860–1876. 

In this special episode, J. Drew Lanham, author of The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man's Love Affair with Nature, speaks with guest-host poet and essayist, Michael Kleber-Diggs. The interview was recorded at The Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis in 2017. Lanham is an American author, poet and wildlife biologist. Raised in Edgefield, South Carolina, Lanham studied zoology and ecology at Clemson University, where he earned a PhD  and where he currently holds an endowed chair as an Alumni Distinguished Professor. The Home Place is the Winner of the 2017 Southern Book Prize and Winner of the Reed Award from the Southern Environmental Law Center. Kleber-Diggs' work has appeared in numerous publications, including McSweeney's Humor Anthology. He is a past winner of the Loft Mentor Series in Poetry and a past Fellow with the Givens Foundation for African American Literature. He lives in Saint Paul and teaches Creative Writing in prisons.

In this episode, recorded live at the 2019 Twin Cities Book Festival, Lissa speaks with authors about the work, life, and legacy of Toni Morrison. The episode was recorded in partnership with Rain Taxi Review of Books. Featured in the episode: A. Rafael Johnson, Bethany C. Morrow, Lora Hyler, Eric Lorberer, and Dr. Artika Tyner.    

In this episode, Lissa sits down with the poet, performer, and librettist Douglas Kearney. Kearney has published six books, most recently, Buck Studies (Fence Books, 2016), winner of the Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Award, the CLMP Firecracker Award for Poetry and silver medalist for the California Book Award (Poetry). Kearney teaches creative writing at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.  https://blackmarketreads.com/ For more information visit Douglas Kearney's website: https://douglaskearney.com/ 

In the Season 5 premier, Lissa sits down with author Kalisha Buckhanon to discuss her new novel Speaking of Summer (COUNTERPOINT, 2019). This episode was recorded live at an event hosted by Magers & Quinn Booksellers in Minneapolis. Kalisha Buckhanon is the author of the novels Solemn, Conception, and Upstate, which was selected as an inaugural National Book Foundation Literature for Justice title. In Speaking of Summer, critically acclaimed author Kalisha Buckhanon has created a postmodern, fast-paced story of urban peril and victim invisibility, and the fight to discover truth at any cost.  Her other honors include an American Library Association Alex Award, an Illinois Arts Council Artist Fellowship, Pushcart Prize and Hurston/Wright Awards nominations, and a Terry McMillan Young Author Award. She also appears on Investigation Discovery, BET, and TV One as a true crime expert in cases involving women. She lives in Chicago. More information can be found on her website. 

On this episode, Lissa sits down with civil rights icon Dr. Josie R. Johnson and her co-authors Carolyn Holbrook and Arleta Little to discuss Johnson's memoir Hope in the Struggle. Dr. Josie R. Johnson has been an educator, activist, and public servant for more than seven decades. Along with her work for the Urban League and the University of Minnesota, she has been office manager, campaign manager, and chief of staff for multiple political campaigns and public officials, including campaign manager for the first African American lieutenant governor of Colorado, and co-chair of the African American DFL Caucus in Minnesota. She holds degrees in sociology, education, and education administration. She lives in Minneapolis and continues to serve her community, advocating for equal rights and social justice. Carolyn Holbrook is a writer, educator, and former program director of the Loft Literary Center. She teaches creative writing at Hamline University and is author of Ordinary People, Extraordinary Journeys, whic

In this episode, Lissa speaks with Author and Professor Emily Bernard about her debut collection of personal essays Black is the Body: stories from my grandmother's time, my mother's time, and mine (Alfred A. Knopf, 2019). Emily was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee. She holds a B. A. and Ph. D. in American Studies from Yale University. A contributing editor at The American Scholar, Emily is the Julian Lindsay Green and Gold Professor of English at the University of Vermont. To learn more about Emily Bernard's work and purchase her book, visit her website  

Minnesota-based writer Debra J. Stone sits down with Lissa Jones for a wide-ranging conversation about writing the stories she wants to read, her upbringing in the Rondo Neighborhood and the Northside, and what it means to be a black woman who loves to bike and camp. Stone’s poetry, short-fiction and essays have appeared in many publications and literary journals including About Place, Wild Age Press, and Random Sample Review. Stone co-founded and co-facilitates the Northside Writers Group, and is currently a fellow at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis. She has received grants from Intermedia Arts, Beyond the Pure Fellowship, Jerome Foundation for Emerging Writers and the Minnesota State Arts Board. Currently, Debra serves as Board Member and Engagement Committee Chair for the non-profit independent publisher Graywolf Press.

On this episode, a reading and interview with poet, essayist, educator and avid gardener Ross Gay.  Ross Gay is the author of three books of poetry: Against Which; Bringing the Shovel Down; and Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, which was awarded the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award and the 2016 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. The Book of Delights, released earlier this year, is his first collection of essays. Ross has co-authored, two chapbooks "Lace and Pyrite: Letters from Two Gardens," and "River."  He is a founding editor, with Karissa Chen and Patrick Rosal, of the online sports magazine Some Call it Ballin', in addition to being an editor with the chapbook presses Q Avenue and Ledge Mule Press.  Ross is a founding board member of the Bloomington Community Orchard, a non-profit, free-fruit-for-all food justice and joy project. He has received fellowships from Cave Canem, the Bread Loaf Writer's Conference, and the Guggenheim Foundation. Ross teaches at Indiana University.   This podcast was recorded as

On this episode of Black Market Reads, the acclaimed poet Danez Smith. Smith is the author of two award-winning collections of poetry: 2014’s [insert] boy which was awarded the winner of the Kate Tufts Discovery Award and the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry; and their most recent collection, Don’t Call Us Dead, published by Graywolf Press in 2017, which was winner of the Forward Prize for Best Collection, the Midwest Booksellers Choice Award, and a finalist for the National Book Award. Smith is the recipient of fellowships from the Poetry Foundation, the McKnight Foundation, the Montalvo Arts Center, Cave Canem, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Smith is a member of the Dark Noise Collective and is the co-host of  VS, a podcast sponsored by the Poetry Foundation and Postloudness. To learn more about Smith's work, visit their website: http://www.danezsmithpoet.com/

In this episode we honor the late Ntozake Shange -- poet, author, playwright, artist. Her seminal work, the choreo-poem For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/ When the Rainbow is Enuf inspired generations of black women to see themselves differently and to question structures of power that tried to limit their boundless potential. The episode features excerpts of Shange's 2009 conversation with Alexs Pate as part of the NOMO series, a partnership between The Givens Foundation for African American Literature and the University of Minnesota Libraries. It also features Lissa's conversation with Penumbra Theatre Artistic Director Sarah Bellamy, who directed Shange's Choreo-poem in the fall of 2018, about the legacy of Shange's work and the importance of creating space in theatre that celebrates the work of Black artists. To listen to the full audio of Ntozake Shange's NOMO reading and conversation, visit blackmarketreads.com

On this episode, Lissa talks with poet Julian Randall  about his impressive debut collection Refuse. Julian is a Living, Queer, Black poet from Chicago. He has received fellowships from Callaloo, BOAAT and the Watering Hole and was the 2015 National College Slam (CUPSI) Best Poet, as well as being the recipient a Pushcart Prize. Julian is the curator of Winter Tangerine Review’s Lineage of Mirrors. He is a candidate for his MFA in Poetry at Ole Miss. His first book, Refuse, is the winner of the 2017 Cave Canem Poetry prize and will be published by University of Pittsburgh Press in Fall 2018.

Education, justice, innocence, and public policy on this very special episode. First, Lissa speaks with civil right activist, and now author, DeRay Mckesson about his new book On the Other Side of Freedom: the Case for Hope. Then we revisit our interviews with Dr. Artika Tyner and Alexs Pate discussing their work toward greater equity and justice in education.   (0:00) DeRay Mckesson became a leading voice in the Black Lives Matter movement during the 2014 protests in Ferguson, MO when he used social media to document and share with the world what was happening there. He is a civil rights activist and community organizer advocating for victims of police violence and an end to mass incarceration. Mckesson is the co-founder of Campaign Zero – a policy platform to end police violence – and is the host of the award-winning podcast Pod Save the People. He has been named one of Time magazine’s 30 most influential people on the Internet and was #11 on Fortune magazine’s world’s greatest leaders list. This episode wa