#Rasheed Newson

[rasheednewsonauthor]

Closed out the Palm Springs Readers’ Festival by interviewing Justin Torres on stage about his sensational novel, “Blackouts.”

The audience ate it up!

[onenakedfarmer]

Currently Reading

Rasheed Newson MY GOVERNMENT MEANS TO KILL ME

[philipesteem]

 Rasheed Newson, author, screenwriter, and co-showrunner for the new Peacock original series, “Bel-Air,”

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

🖤 Black History Month ❤��

💛 Queer Books by Black Authors 💚

[ List Under the Cut ]

🖤 Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender ❤️ Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta 💛 Warrior of the Wind by Suyi Davies Okungbowa 💚 I'm a Wild Seed by Sharon Lee De La Cruz 🖤 Real Life by Brandon Taylor ❤️ Ruthless Pamela Jean by Carol Denise Mitchell 💛 The Unbroken by C.L. Clark 💚 Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova 🖤 Skin Deep Magic by Craig Laurance Gidney ❤️ The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi 💛 That Could Be Enough by Alyssa Cole 💚Work for It by Talia Hibbert

🖤 All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson ❤️ The Deep by Rivers Solomon 💛 How to Be Remy Cameron by Julian Winters 💚 Running With Lions by Julian Winters 🖤 Right Where I Left You by Julian Winters ❤️ This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story by Kacen Callender 💛 The Weight of the Stars by K. Ancrum 💚 This Is What It Feels Like by Rebecca Barrow 🖤 Son of the Storm by Suyi Davies Okungbowa ❤️ Black Boy Joy by Kwame Mbalia 💛 Legendborn by Tracy Deonn 💚 The Wicker King by K. Ancrum

🖤 Pet by Akwaeke Emezi ❤️ You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson 💛 Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole 💚 Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron 🖤 Let's Talk About Love by Claire Kann ❤️ A Spectral Hue by Craig Laurance Gidney 💛 Power & Magic by Joamette Gil 💚 The Black Veins by Ashia Monet 🖤 Treasure by Rebekah Weatherspoon ❤️ The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow 💛 Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James 💚 Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett

🖤 The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta ❤️ Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee 💛 A Phoenix First Must Burn (edited) by Patrice Caldwell 💚 Rise to the Sun by Leah Johnson 🖤 Things We Couldn't Say by Jay Coles ❤️ Black Boy Out of Time by Hari Ziyad 💛 Darling by K. Ancrum 💚 The Secrets of Eden by Brandon Goode 🖤 Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé ❤️ Off the Record by Camryn Garrett 💛 Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers 💚 Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

🖤 How to Dispatch a Human by Stephanie Andrea Allen ❤️ Black Girl, Call Home by Jasmine Mans 💛 The Essential June Jordan (edited) by Jan Heller Levi and Christoph Keller 💚 A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark 🖤 A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney ❤️ Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo 💛 Dread Nation by Justina Ireland 💚 Punch Me Up to the Gods by Brian Broome 🖤 Masquerade by Anne Shade ❤️ One of the Good Ones by Maika Moulite & Maritza Moulite 💛 Soulstar by C.L. Polk 💚 100 Boyfriends by Brontez Purnell

🖤 Hurricane Child by Kacen Callender ❤️ Quietly Hostile by Samantha Irby 💛 Coffee Will Make You Black by April Sinclair 💚 The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi 🖤 If It Makes You Happy by Claire Kann ❤️ Sweethand by N.G. Peltier 💛 This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron 💚 Better Off Red by Rebekah Weatherspoon 🖤 Friday I’m in Love by Camryn Garrett ❤️ Rainbow Milk by Paul Mendez 💛 Memorial by Bryan Washington 💚 Patsy by Nicole Y. Dennis-Benn

🖤 Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon ❤️ How to Find a Princess by Alyssa Cole 💛 Yesterday is History by Kosoko Jackosn 💚 Mouths of Rain (edited) by Briona Simone Jones 🖤 Dead Dead Girls by Nekesa Afia ❤️ Love's Divine by Ava Freeman 💛 The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr 💚 Odd One Out by Nic Stone 🖤 Symbiosis by Nicky Drayden ❤️ Thanks a Lot, Universe by Chad Lucas 💛 The Passing Playbook by Isaac Fitzsimons 💚 Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin

🖤 Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert ❤️ My Government Means to Kill Me by Rasheed Newson 💛 Pleasure and Spice by Fiona Zedde 💚 No Gods, No Monsters by Cadwell Turnbull 🖤 The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus ❤️ Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor 💛 The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin 💚 Peaces by Helen Oyeyem 🖤 The Beauty That Remains by Ashley Woodfolk ❤️ Every Body Looking by Candice Iloh 💛 Bingo Love by Tee Franklin, Jenn St-Onge, Joy San 💚 The Heart Does Not Bend by Makeda Silvera

🖤 King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender ❤️ By Any Means Necessary by Candice Montgomery 💛 Busy Ain't the Half of It by Frederick Smith & Chaz Lamar Cruz 💚 Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo 🖤 Sin Against the Race by Gar McVey-Russell ❤️ Trumpet by Jackie Kay 💛 Remembrance by Rita Woods 💚 Daughters of Nri by Reni K. Amayo 🖤 You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour ❤️ The Summer of Everything by Julian Winters 💛 Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi 💚 Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyem

[read-alert]

December 1 is World AIDS Day!

Where We Go From Here by Lucas Rocha translated to English by Larissa Helena

Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett

The 2001 run of Green Arrow comics by various contributors

And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic by Randy Shilts

Love is the Cure On Life, Loss, and the End of AIDS by Elton John

Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors by Susan Sontag

My Government Means to Kill Me by Rasheed Newson

On my TBR:

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez

How to Survive a Plague: The Inside Story of How Citizens and Science Tamed AIDS by David France

When You Call My Name by Tucker Shaw

Breaking the Walls of Silence: AIDS and Women in New York State Maximum Security Prison by members of the AIDS Counseling and Education Program

The Quilt: Stories from the Names Project by Cindy Ruskin

The Prettiest Star by Carter Sickles

Red X by David Demchuk

The House of Impossible Beauties by Joseph Cassara

Never Silent: ACT UP and My Life in Activism by Peter Staley

Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP New York, 1987-1993 by Sarah Schulman

It Was Vulgar and It Was Beautiful: How AIDS Activists Used Art to Fight a Pandemic by Jack Lowery

Love Your Asian Body: AIDS Activism in Los Angeles Eric C Wat

[profiterole-reads]

Activism Fiction Books (with LGBT characters)

In no particular order. These are only books I've read and enjoyed. There are more out there and I will add them to the list as I make my way through them.

1. Everything for Everyone: An Oral History of the New York Commune, 2052–2072 by M.E. O'Brien and Eman Abdelhadi: speculative activism fiction written in the form of non-fiction, with many non-binary characters and two trans women. 12 interviews cover the political, economic, social, health and climate crises of the mid-21st century, then the insurrections that led to establishing communes all over the world, with a focus on NYC.

2. 2033: The Year Things Fell Apart by Rebecca Doll and James Gordon: speculative activism fiction, with a polyamorous lesbian protagonist + several trans/enby characters. This 2024 release follows a woman with an IT job resisting fascism from the inside, while other characters are resisting it from the outside. Note that the plot gets really dark towards the end.

3. This Book Won't Burn by Samira Ahmed: activism against book banning (mostly books by LGBT and/or POC authors), with some f/f + a probably aroace character (YA). This 2024 release follows an Indian American Muslim girl who fights against the book bans in her high school library. It doesn't shy away from the possible retaliations of the fascist side.

4. Something to be Proud of by Anna Zoe Quirke: LGBT and disability/neurodivergence activism, with non-binary characters and a gay boy + some f/nb (YA). This novel follows a chaotic bisexual on the autism spectrum who starts the Ardenpool Academy Activist Society in order to organise a fully accessible Pride festival. The group also works on getting gender-neutral bathrooms at their school.

5. [French] Tant qu'il le faudra by Cordélia: LGBT activism, with characters all over the LGBTQIAP+ spectrum + some m/m and f/f. This is my favourite French series. It follows a group of diverse people who write a queer magazine. It's a brilliant mix of activism, romance, humour and drama.

6. Unbecoming by Seema Yasmin: abortion activism, with some f/f (YA). This 2024 release follows an Indian American hijabi girl and a Palestinian American Muslim girl who decide to write The Texas Teen's Guide to Safe Abortion. Then, the former discovers that she's pregnant. Even with all this information, it's going to be a tough road getting the illegal pills she needs.

7. [French] Nos elles déployées by Jessie Magana: feminist activism, with some f/f + a non-binary character. This novel follows three women over two time periods: in 1974, the fight for abortion in France, and in 2018, the demonstrations for economic justice, then against climate change in France, as well as the protests for Bouteflika's resignation from the presidency in Algeria.

8. My Government Means to Kill Me by Rasheed Newson: ACT UP activism, with many queer men and one lesbian (a lot of sex scenes). This novel follows a gay Black man in 1980s New York City, who starts as an activist with a rent strike, then helps dying AIDS patients and becomes one of the original members of ACT UP.

[rasheednewsonauthor]

At long last, Rasheed Newson met Rashaad Newsome! The parallels in our lives are surreal and delightful. I have been mistaken for Rashaad — and I am always flattered when that happens. Meeting him in person for the first time last night was magical. His solo exhibition, Hands Performance, is a nothing short of a revelation in style, technology, art, and substance. It will live on in your mind — and you can shake your booty to it!

Go see Hands Performance at ArtCenter College of Design now through February 24, 2024.

[npdclaraoswald]

Another crosspost from my Instagram! Full titles under the cut

Nervous Conditions by Tsiti Dangarembga

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

My Government Means to Kill Me by Rasheed Newson

The Black Cathedral by Marcial Gala translated to English by Anna Kushner

Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta

The Earthseed Duology by Octavia Butler

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

All Boys Aren't Blue by George M Johnson

Static: Season One by Vita Ayala and Nikolas Draper-Ivey

[wileys-russo]

What your favorite book? I need some new book recommendations!!!

I recently updated my Good Reads so here’s a whole ass list!

All boys aren’t blue - George Johnson

The girl with the dragon tattoo series - Stieg Larsson

All the light we cannot see - Anthony Doer

Little fires everywhere - Celeste Ng

Sharp Objects - Gillian Flynn

Dark Places - Gillian Flynn

Gone girl - Gillian Flynn

Conversations with friends - Sally Rooney

My government means to kill me - Rasheed Newson

The lesbianas guide to catholic school - Sonora Reyes

The vanishing half - Britt bennet

You need to know - Nicole Moriarty

Nine perfect strangers - Liane Moriarty

Truly, madly, guilty - Liane Moriarty

Apples never fall - Liane Moriarty

Big little lies - Liane Moriarty

The girl in the green dress - Jeni Haynes (MAJOR trigger warning)

The perks of being a wallflower - Stephen Chbosky

Women don’t owe you pretty - Florence Given

A slow fire burning - Paula Hawkins

The girl on the train - Paula Hawkins

I’m glad my mom died - Jennette Mccurdy

We were liars - E Lockhart

To the lighthouse - Virginia Wolfe

A room of one’s own - Virgina Wolfe

The good son - Jacquelyn Mitchard

The bell jar - Sylvia Plath

Watching women and girls - Danielle Pendar

A little life - Hanya Yanagihara (also a trigger warning!)

The prettiest horse in the glue factory- Corey White (also a trigger warning)

[notmorbid]

my government means to kill me.

dialogue prompts from my government means to kill me: a novel by rasheed newson.

i didn't miss the money. not at first.

you can stay as long as you want.

i'll scream if i need you.

i grew up starved for affection.

lust is a universal language.

you're the exact opposite of my father.

you'll do the right things in your own time.

i've seen enough evil in men to smell it on the ones who try to hide it inside.

closet cases love me.

close the door, sit down, and tell me everything.

your challenges are different, but no less legitimate.

it's not a lie if you live up to it, make it true.

neighbors are naturally curious about each other. you can ask me anything.

we're all adults here. we can't talk about sex?

you need to keep your inner smart-ass in check.

all the wrong people are dead.

you're an evil bastard, but you're not stupid.

don't punk out now.

you split on me.

it was your plan, and you left me holding the bag.

do you go around writing sad stories for everyone?

you got moxie, no doubt about that.

why'd you go through with it?

do you do whatever you're ordered to do?

what keeps driving you? what keeps you from burning out?

i don't know what makes you tick. what's your selfish goal?

i just want to wake up one morning and feel like a good person.

when death decides to come for you, it's out of your hands.

you don't have to admit i'm right. i already know i am.

how do you keep going?

how much are they paying you to torture me with this nonsense?

women feel the need because they see a need.

you're a sweetheart, i can tell.

since when do you back down from a fight?

goodie, i love long stories. tell it to me.

i wasn't prepared to like you so damn much.

don't promise anything. i like surprises.

what am i walking into?

good intentions will not sustain you.

i'd say 'no offense taken', but i really mean 'fuck you'.

it is difficult for the young to understand the structures of the past.

i'm too poor to be a smart-ass.

you've got a lot going for you.

no one takes their principles to work with them.

i can't afford to indulge my grief.

i haven't cried yet.

i'm glad you weren't alone.

do you wish you'd done more?

there isn't much time left to save you.

the law doesn't apply to law enforcement.

i'm not even convinced 'better' is possible.

this is a hell of a time to joke, even for you.

keep your eye on the sparrow, not the lost lamb.

i didn't realize i was meant to chase after you.

let's have a real conversation for once.

your life will improve tenfold the day you learn to listen.

pick a story, any story, that you can accept. and move on.

i've made it my business to learn how to read you.

i'm trying to be a hero, but what if i'm a villain?

villains never stop to consider that they did anything wrong.

you caught feelings for a mark.

'sorry' would mean i'd do it differently, and i wouldn't.

you'll land on your feet. you always do.

[divinesymmetry]

Pride Month list part 2: book edition

I read a lot (and I mean a lot) of queer books, especially during my YA phase ages 15-17, but here are a few that have particularly stood out to me, and why you should read them:

Maurice by E.M. Forster (published posthumously in 1971): everything you'd want from an early 20th century romance, except it's gay, and arguably the best piece of 20th century queer literature

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong (2019): absolutely heartwrenching, will have you gasping for air in between sobs, and it's written by a poet so you KNOW the prose is amazing

Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart (2022): set in 1990s Glasgow, will absolutely rip your heart out and tear it to shreds

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo (2021): 1950s lesbian coming of age during the red scare, need I say more?

Don't Cry for Me by Daniel Black (2022): written in the form of letters, from a Black father to his gay son

Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski (2020): for some reason, no one seems to have read this, and they absolutely should have. will, once again, leave you in sobs (I am beginning to suspect I might cry easily)

My Government Means to Kill Me by Rasheed Newson (2022): another underhyped one, about race and sexuality during the AIDS crisis

Un Garçon d'Italie by Philippe Besson (2003): one of the narrators is literally a rotting corpse, that should be intriguing enough

A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood (1964), Confusion by Stefan Zweig (1927), Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown (1973) and Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin (1956) because, if you're like me, you're desparate to find queer literature from before the 1990s

Angels in America by Tony Kushner (1993), much quicker to read than to watch though, unfortunately, you do not have Andrew Garfield as Prior Walter in the written version

Ace of Spades by Faridah Abiké-Iyimidé (2021) starts with a quote from Get Out and that tells you everything you need to know

Ziggy, Stardust and Me by James Brandon (2019) is surprisingly rich for YA, exploring homosexuality in the 1970s, conversion therapy and Native American identity

Crush by Richard Siken (2005) if you're more into poetry, particularly the kind that will bring you physical and emotional pain

Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel (1986) because you can't not read Alison Bechdel

The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun (2021), The Feeling of Falling in Love by Mason Deaver (2022), and She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen (2021) are the perfect romcoms if you want to switch your brain off for a few hours (or emotionally recover from half of the other books on this list)

For the similar list I made about movies, click here

Happy Pride!🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈

[read-alert]

Happy Pride! Full titles under the cut

My Government Means to Kill Me by Rasheed Newson

Cantoras by Carolina De Robertis

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen

Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg

In the Dreamhouse by Carmen Maria Machado

The Future is Disabled: Prophecies, Love Notes, and Mourning Songs by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

Femme in Public by Alok Vaid-Menon

When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb

A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall

[mulhollanddrive2001]

9 5 books for 2025

thanks for the tag @skatehepburn <3 (taking a page from you and only doing 5 lol)

1. The Wicked Years series by Gregory Maguire

2. We’ll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida

3. What Does Israel Fear From Palestine? by Raja Shehadeh

4. My Government Means to Kill Me by Rasheed Newson

5. Queer Oz by Tison Pugh

tagging @loamvessel mwah

[nicolerrichie]

Nicole Richie’s 2023 reads so far:

My Government Means to Kill Me by Rasheed Newson

Dubliners by James Joyce

Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy

The Book of Goose bu Yiyun Li

Unpunished by Michelle Kenney

Walking Through Clear Water in a Pool Painted Black by Cookie Mueller

They’re Going to Love You by Meg Howrey

What Napoleon Could Not Do by DK Nnuro

On Writing by Stephen King

How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamastu

The Franz Lebowitz Reader by Franz Lebowitz

Everybody Thought We Were Crazy by Mark Rozzo

Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by ZZ Packer

The Journals of May Sarton: Journal of a Solitude by May Sarton

Liberation Day by George Saunders

The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

Mother, Nature by Jedidiah Jenkins

Mumbo Jumbo by Ishmael Reed

Fruiting Bodies by Kathryn Harlan

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

[ackb]

2023 Reading Challenge Report

It was a great year for books. It wasn't exactly hard to pick my top ten—they were standouts—but there were lots more that were on the cusp. I did up a little list on my bests page here because I didn't want to lose them.

Once again, my reading goal for the year was 100 books and I really had to struggle to meet it there at the end. (It helped that I got sick and managed to read/listen to five books while I was down for the count—two of which actually ended up on my top 10!)

In general, books I read earlier in the year tend to be at a disadvantage in the running as my memory is terrible. But this year the very first book I read this year made it onto the list (brown girl dreaming), as did the very last book I read (My Government Means to Kill Me).

I made the decision this year not to participate in any particular reading challenge beyond the quantity. I also decided not to make any particular rules as to reading a certain number of authors of color as I had in the past. This had predictable consequences and I'm going to do it differently in 2024.

It was still a great year for reading and I do love the opportunity to recap—even if I'm two months late!

Metrics after the cut.

Total books read: 105

Fiction—65 (counting graphic novel series as 1 each) NonFiction—34 Graphic Novels—25 (series = 1) Picture Books—6 Re-Reads—11 Audiobooks—31 Authors of color—18 Black authors—13 Women & trans authors—67 Books with queer characters—34

Favorites:

Lost & Found, Kathryn Schulz brown girl dreaming, Jacqueline Woodson How to be Perfect, Micheal Schur The Sum of Us, Heather McGee Chance, Uri Shulevitz Our Wives Under the Sea, Julia Armfield The Door of No Return, Kwame Alexander My Government Means to Kill Me: A Novel, by Rasheed Newson The House in the Cerulean Sea, T.J. Klune Yellowface, R.F. Kuang

Each one of these deserves a full review highlighting what makes it special, devastating, awesome, brilliant, or amazing. But, well, here we are.

(I did a much better job with my reviews in previous years—last year's post)

[lgbtqreads]

October 2024 Deal Announcements

Adult Fiction Author of the Lambda Literary finalist MY GOVERNMENT MEANS TO KILL ME Rasheed Newson’s THERE’S ONLY ONE SIN IN HOLLYWOOD, an examination of race, masculinity, and sexual politics within the glamorous world of old Hollywood, following a Korean War veteran turned backlot fixer and a closeted Black actor who dies at the height of his fame under suspicious circumstances, to Nadxieli…