Library Newsletter - February 2023

Ebony has served as an influential African American magazine promoting stories important to the Black community and focusing on the achievements of African American leaders. The Ebony Magazine archive covers civil rights, education, entrepreneurship, and other social topics with an African American focus. It includes more than 800 issues providing a broad view of African American culture from its first issue in 1945 through 2014.

You can now view Ebony Magazine archives through the library Ebscohost database.

If you are struggling with research, the Library Skills 1 (81111) course can help you!  It covers the following topics:

• The research process
• Source evaluation
• Citations
• Plagiarism
• Library resources
• Database and library catalog searches
• Organization and synthesis of information

The class is only 9 weeks, is 100% online, and is transferable to CSU/UC schools. Classes start March 13, 2023. Enroll today!

Vegan Africa: Plant-Based Recipes from Ethiopia to Senegal

by Marie Kacouchia

Drawing from the cultures and traditions of more than 15 countries, years of cooking expertise, and cherished memories from her own childhood in the Ivory Coast, Kacouchia takes us on a tour of flavorful, healthy, naturally plant-based African dishes.

Ghetto Gastro Black Power Kitchen

by Jon Gray et al.

A celebration of Black food and Black culture that inspires larger conversations about race, history, food inequality, and how eating well can be a pathway to personal freedom and self-empowerment. Black Power Kitchen combines 75 mostly plant-based, layered-with-flavor recipes with immersive storytelling, diverse voices, and striking images and photographs. 

AphroChic: Celebrating the Legacy of the Black Family Home

by Bryan Mason & Jeanine Hays
Photography by Patrick Cline

This groundbreaking book showcases the amazing diversity of the Black experience through striking interiors, stories of family and community, and histories exploring the obstacles Black homeowners have faced for generations.

Stepmotherland: Poems

by Darrel Alejandro Holnes

Poet and playwright Holnes lights the page on fire with blazing lyrics in this debut collection of poetry. His poems reflect on migration and the American dream, and remind us that Blackness is everywhere, persevering against erasure and violence.

When They Tell You To be Good: A Memoir

by Prince Shakur

Shakur came of age in a country and an era steeped in hostility against people like him: queer, Black, and a son of Jamaican immigrants. Clear-eyed and unsentimental, When They Tell You to Be Good is an insightful, beautifully written memoir of family and identity.

Uphill: A Memoir

by Jemele Hill

Emmy Award-winning former cohost of ESPN's SportsCenter, Hill’s courage and conviction make her a beacon and a hero. Brave, incisive, and uncompromising, this memoir will inspire women - especially women of color - to challenge sexism and racism in every realm.

Saka Saka: Adventures in African Cooking, South of the Sahara

by Anto Cocagne
Photography by Aline Princet

Chef Cocagne teams up with food photographer Princet to take readers on an adventure through Sub-Saharan Africa. Saka Saka contains conversations with artists and cultural icons from across the African continent alongside recipes inspired by those conversations. This collection of dishes strives to take readers on a journey through East, West, and Central Africa.

Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make - and Keep - Friends

by Marisa G. Franco
Narrated by the author

Written by a trained psychologist and relationships researcher, Platonic sets itself apart by not just providing hot tips for friendship but discussing how people’s underlying psychological architecture sabotages or harmonizes with their ability to sustain friends.

Serendipity: A History of Accidental Culinary Discoveries

by Oscar Farinetti
Translated by Barbara McGilvray

Eataly founder Farinetti reveals the accidental, serendipitous food discoveries that gave birth to some of the world's most well-known gastronomic delights. Interviews mix fact and lore to provide an entertaining collection that food lovers and historians will enjoy.

Memphis: A Novel

by Tara M. Stringfellow
Narrated by Karen Murray et al.

Unfolding over seventy years, Memphis paints an indelible portrait of inheritance, honoring the full complexity of what we pass down in a family and as a country: brutality and justice, faith and forgiveness, sacrifice and love.

Africa Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction

edited by Sheree R. Thomas et al.

A collection of 32 original short stories with speculative fiction from Africa and the African diaspora that spans across genre and form. Stories where dragons, werefoxes, and flesh eaters lurk; drought and pollution threaten life on earth; and the past and future twist and meld.

The Come Up: An Oral History of the Rise of Hip-Hop

by Jonathan Abrams

Sourced from years of in-depth interviews, The Come Up chronicles the hip-hop culture from its origins on the playgrounds of the Bronx to its ongoing reign as the most powerful force in popular culture.

The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, & Healing in a Toxic Culture

by Gabor Maté & Daniel Maté

Dr. Maté takes us on a journey of discovery about how our emotional well-being and our social connectivity are intertwined with health, disease, and addictions. This groundbreaking investigation into the causes of illness is a bracing critique of how our society breeds disease and is a pathway to health and healing.

The Memory Librarian and Other Stories of Dirty Computer

by Janelle Monáe et al.
narrated by Janelle Monáe and Bahni Turpin

In five long short stories, the authors paint a picture of a technocapitalist dystopia ruled by an organization that monitors the memories of its populace. This dark future is narrated effortlessly by both Monáe and Turpin, providing the listener added depth beyond mere words on the page.

Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto

by Tricia Hersey

Hersey, known as the Nap Bishop, emphasizes the importance of rest to racial and social justice work. With key breakdowns about the hidden cost of toxic productivity standards and grind culture, she offers crucial guidance on how people can slow down, reclaim rest, and make space for self-care.