Wayward Cat Publishing
Dianna Dann   Dana Trantham   D.D. Charles

Fiction-wise
Well...if you can find a calm moment for reading, here are some choices to consider:

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin
"In Manhattan, a young grad student gets off the train and realizes he doesn't remember who he is, where he's from, or even his own name. But he can sense the beating heart of the city, see its history, and feel its power. In the Bronx, a Lenape gallery director discovers strange graffiti scattered throughout the city, so beautiful and powerful it's as if the paint is literally calling to her. In Brooklyn, a politician and mother finds she can hear the songs of her city, pulsing to the beat of her Louboutin heels. And they're not the only ones." Neil Gaiman calls this 'A glorious fantasy!'" so you know it's weirdly cool.

It's Not All Downhill from Here by Terry McMillan
"Loretha Curry’s life is full. A little crowded sometimes, but full indeed. On the eve of her sixty-eighth birthday, she has a booming beauty-supply empire, a gaggle of lifelong friends, and a husband whose moves still surprise. True, she’s carrying a few more pounds than she should be, but Loretha is not one of those women who think her best days are behind her—and she’s determined to prove wrong her mother, her twin sister, and everyone else with that outdated view of aging wrong. It’s not all downhill from here." As I myself am getting on the other side of old, this one's sounds perfect for me.

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
"Her brother, Nana, was a gifted high school athlete who died of a heroin overdose after an ankle injury left him hooked on OxyContin. Her suicidal mother is living in her bed. Gifty is determined to discover the scientific basis for the suffering she sees all around her. But even as she turns to the hard sciences to unlock the mystery of her family's loss, she finds herself hungering for her childhood faith and grappling with the evangelical church in which she was raised, whose promise of salvation remains as tantalizing as it is elusive. " This one sounds wonderful. 

Saving Savannah by Tonya Bolden
"Set against the backdrop of the press for women's rights, the Red Summer, and anarchist bombings, Saving Savannah is the story of a girl and the risks she must take to be the change in a world on the brink of dramatic transformation." Fabulous historical fiction!

Trouble is What I do by Walter Mosley
"Morally ambiguous P.I. Leonid McGill is back -- and investigating crimes against society's most downtrodden -- in this installment of the beloved detective series from an Edgar Award-winning and bestselling crime novelist." 'Morally ambiguous' means it's a great read.

Just the cold hard facts...

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
10th Anniversary Edition. "...spawned a whole generation of criminal justice reform activists and organizations motivated by Michelle Alexander’s unforgettable argument that 'we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it.'" An important read!

Things that Make White People Uncomfortable by Michael Bennett and Dave Zirin
"Super Bowl Champion and two-time Pro Bowler Michael Bennett is an outspoken proponent for social justice and a man without a censor. One of the most scathingly humorous athletes on the planet, he is also a fearless activist, grassroots philanthropist, and organizer." I think I'll read this one.

Busted in New York and Other Essays by Darryl Pinckney
"...a view of our recent racial history that blends the social and the personal and wonders how we arrived at our current moment. Pinckney reminds us that 'white supremacy isn’t back; it never went away.'” A powerful read!

How We Fight for Our Lives by Saeed Jones
"Jones tells the story of a young, black, gay man from the South as he fights to carve out a place for himself, within his family, within his country, within his own hopes, desires, and fears. " Sounds heartbreaking.

(All book descriptions are quoted from Amazon.)

Some words come to mind...

Malfeasance: wrongdoing. Especially by a public official

Demoralization: to deprive (a person or persons) of spirit, courage, discipline, etc.; destroy the morale of

Perturbation: anxiety, mental uneasiness

Despotism: the exercise of absolute power, especially in a cruel and oppressive way

Subjugation: the action of bringing someone or something under domination or control
 

Allamanda is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae. They are native to the Americas. I have a row of them against the eastern side of the house and they grow fabulously. May 2020.

 

 

by Paul Laurence Dunbar 

      
I know what the caged bird feels, alas!
    When the sun is bright on the upland slopes;   
When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass, 
And the river flows like a stream of glass;
    When the first bird sings and the first bud opes,   
And the faint perfume from its chalice steals—
I know what the caged bird feels!

I know why the caged bird beats his wing
    Till its blood is red on the cruel bars;   
For he must fly back to his perch and cling 
When he fain would be on the bough a-swing;
    And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars   
And they pulse again with a keener sting—
I know why he beats his wing!

I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,
    When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,—
When he beats his bars and he would be free;
It is not a carol of joy or glee,
    But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core,  
But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings—
I know why the caged bird sings!