The TueDo List: Gee’s Bend + Freedom Song + 1970s Kitsch
THIS WEEK
ADD TO CART: One (or more! it’s cold!) of these stunning museum-quality pieces from Gee’s Bend quilters. More Etsy goodness from Black-owned shops. Now with more Fishbone: The reissued “Say Anything” soundtrack.
READ: New for Black History Month: Ida B. the Queen (written by Wells’ great-granddaughter) and a book about the mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin. Norma Kamali’s I Am Invincible comes out today too. A tribute to The Clash's Sandinista! at 40. Susan Choi on sewing patterns and her secret childhood self, and Dana Spiotta’s essay about ‘80s fashion. The fiery song that freed Tina Turner. Ms. Pac-Man as an addicting rom-com.
WATCH: “They couldn’t kill their bosses, so they did the next best thing — they organized.” Don’t miss 9to5: The Story of a Movement. Wu-Tang Fans: Check out the new docuseries called Of Mics and Men. Tiffany Haddish returns with another season of They Ready. Watch Firefly Lane with your BFF. Strip Down, Rise Up is everything you ever wanted to know about pole dancing but were afraid to ask. Queen Latifah stars in The Equalizer reboot.
SUBSCRIBE: 28 Days of Black History is “a virtual exhibition of 28 works that celebrate Black legacy in the U.S.”
ENJOY: These Black History Month online museum exhibits and the new Black Girl Songbook podcast. Then orbit the moon in real time.
STORY: A Freedom Song for Black Women
By Tamara Winfrey Harris
“Black women are like flowers in a field of kudzu. Beautiful, bright and colorful, we fight our way to the light so we are not overcome by society’s demands that climb and shade, smother and constrict our true selves.
“There are so many ways to be Black and so many ways to be a woman.
“Oh, to throw our arms wide and embrace the expansiveness of Black womanhood!”
(Psst: Want to write for us? Pitch us here!)
OBSESSED: 1970s Kitsch
“Welcome to 1976,” I say on Zoom calls, turning my laptop around so people can take in my 98-year-old grandmother’s house: Yellow crushed velvet couches in the sunken living room, pendant lamps suspended by chunky chains, a kitchen with Harvest Gold appliances, a bathroom covered in dark brown floral wallpaper, a bed frame identical to one in an episode of Narcos.
I’m always surprised by the responses — “Oh my god! I want that sofa!” — because all I see is dust-covered, mass-market junk from my early childhood. Then I remember that 1970s home decor is supposedly having a moment, with countless Instagram accounts (like this one) romanticizing the era’s over-the-top designs.
But as I rummage through cabinets looking for things we need, I’m making some fun discoveries, like a drawer full of sexy vintage nightgowns, and a collection of wild cocktail swizzle sticks. The stuff itself has no intrinsic value, but the stories I’m hearing are priceless. Those nighties were just for trips to Tahoe, and oh yes, they gambled too! Each swizzle stick has a story from my grandparents’ travels – which sometimes included me. I don’t remember sitting in the backseat of the big brown Cadillac with my dirty feet over the front bench when I was 4, but Grandma sure does: “I said ladies don’t do that and you said, ‘well I’m no lady!’”
So you can have the nasty old couches. But all those little memories stuffed into the backs of drawers and cabinets? I’m gonna need to hang onto those for a while.
—Margaret Crandall
Happy Black History Month, Tuenighters!
