Herikita con K

I cannot get over the work of Herikita con K. It is just so so so good. "The good news is that your heart is in perfect shape, you are ok, you only ate too much. The bad news is that the procedure wasn't necessary." Here you go, enjoy!

Poem #19

1986

when I was in the fifth grade my 

friend and I marched from my bedroom 

out to the backyard where my parents were 

gardening and calmly announced that we were going 

to ride our bikes to the shopping plaza a mile or so away

my mother and father exchanged 

a strangled look over the tops of our heads 

then turned their faces towards us forced smiles 

and said ok have fun girls and away we went hair flying

all afternoon most weekends for years thereafter we 

slung our legs across bike seats rode down there 

flung bikes with no locks on the rack by the 

supermarket and wandered around

eating corn dogs and crinkle fries out of red plastic baskets in

orange vinyl booths trying on oversized purple cowl-neck 

sweaters and tiny shrunken jean jackets and one time 

transgressively prom dresses buying candy and tiny 

ceramic animals and babysitters club books and 

ninety-nine-cent bottles of wet-n-wild nail

polish in fuchsia and rainbow sparkle

image source is here

Additional Reading Lists

To November 9th's Reading Lists for a Dark Day I'd like to add these two impressive book rosters from Lit Hub:

25 WORKS OF POETRY AND FICTION FOR ANGER AND ACTION

and

25 NONFICTION BOOKS FOR ANGER AND ACTION




Image source: Silent Book Club

The V&A Fashion Collection

What with one thing and another I never showed you the astonishing clothing from the astonishing fashion room at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Through some odd twist of fate which I still don't fully understand, I'd never been to this museum before, and so had never witnessed firsthand the wonderment that is their displays of apparel from the last several hundred years. People had of course told me how cool it is, but the high level of inspiration is something you really have to see to believe. So here's a glimpse--

Warm Winter Clothes

This morning I bundled almost-six-and-a-half-year-old Mabel into her warm winter coat for a blustery day of first grade. Six years ago in December we bundled not-quite-half-a-year-old Mabel into a cozy dress and cardigan and leg warmers, most likely for a busy day of rolling around on the rug. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

All Power to the People: Black Panthers at 50

All Power to the People: Black Panthers at 50 at the Oakland Museum is an amazing exhibition, full not only of astonishing artifacts of art and design, but also of myriad opportunities for education and the dispelling of myths. And it runs until February. If you're in the Bay Area, or will be in the coming months, I strongly urge you to get over there!

Above, a reproduction of a poster by Emory Douglas, 1969

Elizabeth Catlett, 1970

Ellen Bepp, 2015

Jail cell bars, circa 1966, provided courtesy of the Oakland Police Department

Sadie Barnette, 2016

Student Research Facility, mid-1970s

Kenneth P. Green, Sr. 1960s

Kenneth P. Green, Sr. 1960s

Kenneth P. Green, Sr. 1960s

Kenneth P. Green, Sr. 1960s

Kenneth P. Green, Sr. 1960s

Kenneth P. Green, Sr. 1960s

Page from The Black Panther newspaper, 1969

Detail of above page

Memorial wreath given courtesy of It's About Time Archive, 2016

Unknown maker, circa 1960

Library of books for picking up and browsing

Party certificate of community service, 1972

Ducho Dennis, 1969

Hank Willis Thomas, quilt made from decommissioned prison uniforms, 2015

One of thousands of bags of groceries given away to community members by the party

Stephen Shames, 1970

More recommend reading

Ruth-Marion Baruch

Dolores Huffman, dress with black panther pattern, 1968

installation for museum visitors to list party members or others they want memorialized

Unknown artist, 1971

architectural fragments from a house demolished during redevelopment in Oakland, 1968

Ducho Dennis

Official list of demands