december / in review
new comic for new year's, a cooking demo for all, + readings, films, resources
hey all & happy belated solstice. it was absolutely pouring in Los Ángeles last week, and the whole city feels washed clean. it’s been a relentless few months, but I have things to share:
a cooking demo I did with Sunnyvale Public Library
a collection of readings, films & podcasts that have helped me navigate & contextualize what has led us to this point in history 🤲🏽
the year in review
a reminder that the art exchange for eSIMS is ongoing!
a new work for EATER on a very personal story of how I came to admire the tradition of black eyed peas & new year’s, of which you can see a bit of below:
read the rest here!
I am full of self criticisms regarding how the cooking demonstration went, but we all gotta start somewhere, and went relatively well despite me not being much of a camera person. so grateful to everyone who tuned in and chatted. it was totally free, thanks to the local sponsor, and is in fact available here if you’d like to take a look.
this year was a LOT. and full of so many firsts: comic readings, live demonstrations, live-action boarding, book publishing, deal signing…!
I moved cross country (again). left my cushy animation job (again), but for the first time I feel I’m stepping into something steady, that aligns with my values, and how I really want to live.
speaking of food, here is some for the soul. (aka, the long-promised list of media & materials that have helped me contextualize and navigate these difficult times, both past and present.)
some of these I consumed this year or prior, and others I still need to get to. a lot of this is part of ongoing research for my upcoming book, GO BACK & GET IT, so there's a definite Afro-Atlantic and US Indigenous tilt to many of these. but I hope you can glean something from it, no matter where you're coming from. <3
FILMS / TV
Daughters of the Dust (1991)
I Am Not Your Negro (2016)
La Nuit des Rois (2020)
Small Axe (2020)
Kizazi Moto (2023)
Mo (2022)
I'm a Virgo (2023)
COMICS
Palestine - Joe Sacco
Zahra's Paradise - Amir Soltani and Khalil
Roseira, Medalha, Engenho e Outras Historias - Jefferson Costa
Darlin' and Her Other Names - Olivia Stephens
BOOKS
All About Love - Bell Hooks (yes it took me this long to finally read it)
Black Buddhists & the Black Radical Tradition: The Practice of Stillness in the Movement for Liberation
No Spiritual Surrender: Indigenous Anarchy in Defense of the Sacred - Klee Benally
Staying Alive: Women, Ecology & Development - Vandana Shiva
Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome - Joy Angela DeGruy
Breath, Eyes, Memory - Edwidge Danticat
The Divide - Jason Hickel
Voodoo: Search for the Spirit - Laënnec Hurbon
Orientalism - Edward Said
Thomas Sankara Speaks: The Burkina Faso Revolution 1983-87
Of Water & the Spirit - Malidoma Patrice Somé
On the Arab-Jew, Palestine, and Other Displacements - Ella Shohat
POETRY & ESSAYS
Home is Not a Country - Safia Elhillo
Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth - Warsan Shire
& anything by these last two ^^ as well as Mahmoud Darwish
PODCASTS
Emergence Magazine
In Defense of Plants
Snap Judgement (& their sister podcast, Spooked)
Poor Prole's Almanac
MUSIC
this year was a lot of Dorothy Ashby, Lex Amor, Seraphine Noir, Ranil and Ojerime across a permanent backdrop of Sade, Galcher Lustwerk, Aphex Twin, and Jorge Ben.
so as I sit here with pages upon pages of works gazing at me from my unscanned sketchbook, two art residency applications open, next to a mug of tea I’ve let go cold, I realize I’m stretching myself a lil’ thin.
I know I named this thing m-rose monthly, but I’m gonna be updating every other month going forward. as always, I am sharing heavy (ft. ceramics, sketches, and behind the scenes regarding aaaall the books) on my patreon.
thanks for being here. happy gregorian new year, and much love <3