How to Remember Everything You Read
substack.com/@culturist/n...
10.05.2025 13:26
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i love the cards i designed for this double series btw
back to posting regularly in hopes of building my readership so that i can eventually make money with my art like i used to
#readersofbluesky
open.substack.com/pub/thotscho...
Cover of Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity by Monica L. Miller. The title is in yellow at the top, with a curlicue to its left. The cover features detail from the painting "Yellow Book" by Iké Udé, with a light-skinned Black man in profile, sitting on chaise longue. He is wearing a dapper grey suit, gloves, and a floral boutonniere. The subtitle is written in white across his knees and the author's name is in yellow at the bottom of the cover.
Tonight is the #MetGala, celebrating the upcoming opening of the new exhibition "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," which was inspired by Monica L. Miller's 2009 book "Slaves to Fashion."
buff.ly/BTlV1TY
also I'm back active on Substack y'all, i likely won't be returning to Twitter/X in any real way. i mostly just go there to connect with folks i already know and my account is locked for the foreseeable future.
thotscholar.substack.com
i normally don't comment on celebrity bs, but Rihanna is on her THIRD baby in three years, and i love that for her! while folk are commenting on her "lack" of a ring, complaining about the album, or sighing in disgust on racist "childfree" forums, she is basking.
pffffft
i have been trying to read more fiction and poetry lately, to help with my writing. i feel like neglecting this aspect of my life dampens my creativity. like, i would be working, writing every day, and after awhile i started to feel very drained. reading has renewed some of my strength.
i read a third of this last night. it's the only full novel written by the poet Margaret Walker. Jubilee.
currently reading Echo Tree: the Collected Short Fiction of Henry Dumas. it's rare to hear people mention Dumas (whom Toni Morrison championed). i believe it's because black men's hypervisibility has been rewritten as "privilege," rendering any focus on them regressive/misogynist.
to be clear, i have several other bookcases in this place and about 2000 books at last estimate. many of them are stacked two-deep atm. hopefully I'll be able to get rid of at least 10-15% of whatever is not being utilized.
i finally got new bookcases. i still don't have enough room for all of the books but I'm also in the process of culling some so we'll see.
i would love to know, though: what does the depiction of the flesh, particularly breasts, suggest? and does it suggest the exact same thing to everyone who encounters it? my toddler thinks my bare breasts suggest milk and comfort.
lmao not @moderation.bsky.app labeling an oil painting "suggestive," y'all are real strict here, huh? the book is called "Surrealism and Us: Caribbean and African Diasporic Artists Since 1940." the cover is the 1976 painting "Butterfly Girl" by Salnave Philippe-Auguste.
the essays in art/exhibition books are severely underrated tbh, I'm reading this one right now that includes an essay from Suzanne Césaire. i wish i had been able to go up to Fort Worth to see the actual exhibition smh...
honestly, people are weirdos. all i said was that i skipped BHM to avoid racist discourse about historical black figures and the rats come skittering.
you sound obsessed, and you don't even follow me. go find some business.
i totally failed at this 😂
i mostly hate everything I've written or published in the past but i DO appreciate the love 😅 I'll definitely be publishing something more substantial by the end of this year for sure now that I've finally gotten through that 3-4 year (2019-2023) depression.
had to take all of Black History Month off because i honestly do not (have never, really) care for these themed months. they feel extremely performative to me. also, there's lots of negrophobic/antiblack unpleasantness on social media coming from other black ppl, it's depressing and frustrating.
i am thankful for the people who supported me there and elsewhere because it allowed me to grow as an artist, and to survive. but if i had to do it all over again there are lots of things i would do differently. i am hoping to move on from that site tbh.
it's very interesting to watch tbh. i used to feel anxious watching my follower count decrease but i think I'm mostly done with Twitter. I've accomplished everything that i could do in that space, and most of my experiences ended up being traumatic, despite the good that came from my being there.
Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
1: Tumbling by Diane McKinney-Whetstone
#books
#BookSky
#BookChallenge
i feel like people are actually leaving Twitter because every time i return from a break– whether it's for a few days or few months–i have lost 50-100 followers. usually i would assume it was a defamatory thread (about me) going around but i haven't seen anything so I'm thinking it's organic.
to be excited when i sit down to do my writing block (of time) is truly a gift. when i was working on my other project i used to feel sapped of joy and ambition, but now that I'm writing this other thing I'm happy and humming on my way to the desk 😌
open.spotify.com/track/2GH5jo...
hey you! just followed you because i saw you in my feed for the first time in awhile. i hope things get better for you. sending 💕
🤲🏿 bedtime reading
Sula by Toni Morrison
so i find myself "overthinking," wondering 'will my book make any money' and then thinking 'if not then what's the point.' and it's hard to get outta that mindset when you're pregnant, struggling, and stressed about the future.
i think i just worry a lot because I've lost so much income over the past few years, for lots of different reasons, and my primary goal atm is to make enough money where i don't ever need to crowdfund for basic needs again, which i find stressful and demoralizing.
they say you have to let your audience find you, so instead of using this feeling as an excuse to stop writing i decided to put my non-fiction project on the backburner for a little bit and move forward with the projects that bring me jwa (joy).