The TueDo List: Black Like Lauryn + Book Swag + Marcelle Heath
THIS WEEK
Five months into the pandemic, we’re inspired by these John Lewis speeches and raising our wine glasses to Susan Orlean’s drunk tweets. Thanks to slob chic, pants are cancelled and beauty standards are changing. Behold how this guy enforces social distancing. Famous artworks, now with masks. Our Forever First Lady is starting a podcast. Sympathetic bartenders and hard conversations about race. Tuning in for evening Joy. The many different types of reply guys. Beyonce’s Black Is King trailer is just stunning. Revisiting life's memories while sewing homemade masks. 15 great comedy podcasts, 28 Black films that are way better than The Help, and 15 fascinating art documentaries. The Ramones on Sha Na Na. Joy Priest’s All My Mothers. May we never, ever need one of these stand-to-pee devices.
(Image: Moss and Fog)
Story: Black Like Lauryn: How I Went from Baltimore Beauty to Diaspora Darling
By Toya R. Smith
Before college, my concept of Blackness was home. West Baltimore. Relaxed hair teased into up-dos tall enough to look Jesus in the eye. Gold teeth. Neon colors. Club music and church choir. I didn’t have to think about Blackness. Black is all I’d ever known. It came in a package I understood. The steady rock and rhythm of my years. Emphasis on the “American” in African American. Yes, I knew that there were Black people elsewhere, but wasn’t their Black just like mine?
(Psst: Want to write for us? Pitch us here!)
Giveaway! Summer Books and an Amazon Gift Card
Hey it’s our first giveaway friends. And it’s a pretty nifty one: We’re giving one lucky winner a $100 Amazon gift card, and two other winners a bag of summer books including three titles from Penguin Random House: Mary Gaitskill’s This is Pleasure, Edwidge Danticat’s Everything Inside and Nazanine Hozar’s Aria.
TueNight 10: Marcelle Heath
Marcelle at Cannon Beach, pre-pandemic times
Age: 49
Basic bio: Marcelle Heath is a fiction writer and editor. She is the curator of Apparel for Authors on Instagram, an interview series on writers, fashion, and the public sphere. Her short story collection, Is that all there is?, will be published by Awst Press in 2022.
Beyond the bio: I grew up moving around a lot, so I’m pretty adaptable to new environments. As I get older, I appreciate this ability more and more. Embracing change is my superpower.
What makes you a grown-ass lady? Wearing a goddamn mask!
Here’s her TueNight 10:
1. On the nightstand: Latest Prairie Schooner, Anne Patchett’s Commonwealth.
2. Can't stop/won't stop: Watching Sarah Cooper.
3. Jam of the minute: Phoebe Bridgers’ Kyoto.
4. Thing I miss: My mom.
5. ’80s crush: Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon.
6. Current crush: Phoebe Judge, host of This is Love and Criminal podcasts.
7. Latest fave find: Jenny Offill’s Weather.
8. Last thing I lost: What’s the axiom about known knowns, and known unknowns? I have no idea what it could be, but I’m sure it’s something I miss!
9. Best thing that happened recently: As a slow writer, I had the rare and wonderful experience of having two stories published in one calendar year.
10. Looking forward to: Trump losing the election!
Follow: Nabela Noor
Wearing is caring, TueNighters!
