In fact, only last year Adidas was forced to withdraw their all-white design ‘Celebrating Black Culture’ trainers that were accused of not reflecting ‘the spirit or philosophy’ of the annual observance. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first case of a brand failing to recognise Black History Month respectfully. The booksellers who championed this initiative did so convinced it would help drive engagement with these classic titles.’
The covers are not a substitute for black voices or writers of color, whose work and voices deserve to be heard.
#ROXANE GAY BOOKS BARNES AND NOBLE SERIES#
Diverse Editions presented new covers of classic books through a series of limited-edition jackets, designed by artists hailing from different ethnicities and backgrounds. Mia Abrahams is an editor in New York City.In a statement from the company released on Wednesday 5 February, Barnes & Noble acknowledged their mistake, while also clarifying the purpose behind the initiative: ‘We acknowledge the voices who have expressed concerns about the Diverse Editions project at our Barnes & Noble Fifth Avenue store and have decided to suspend the initiative. BAD FEMINIST reminds us “Nasty Women” we must fight like hell, embrace our flaws and contradictions, and hope that, like Katniss, there is a world beyond where it gets better. She might be a “bad feminist,” but she is deeply committed to feminism, and really she just doesn’t want to be treated like shit for being a woman. she is brave but flawed.” She loves THE HUNGER GAMES because it offers, despite everything Katniss endures, hope for a better world. Gay writes of Katniss: She is “fierce and strong but human. In one of her most powerful and haunting essays, “What We Hunger For,” Gay writes about the devastating trauma of sexual assault and the strength of one of her favorite fictional heroines, Katniss Everdeen (she is Team Peeta, by the way, and she can’t fathom any other option). A collection of essays on race, gender, politics and 'Sweet Valley High.' Buy Amazon Apple Books Barnes and Noble Books-A-Million Bookshop. Her writing is sharp, funny, and smart, but also achingly moving. Pink is her favorite color, and she reads Vogue unironically. She acknowledges that despite its misogyny, “Blurred Lines” is a damn catchy song and “Law & Order: SVU” is truly addictive television. She questions and self-examines, and “leans in” (to borrow from the subject of her penultimate essay) to the messy, blurry things that make us all human. Gay is not a perfect feminist by any means, and she doesn’t claim to be. Gay is “like most people, a mass of contradictions.” It is these contradictions that make BAD FEMINIST so compelling and such vital reading. She pulls no punches in her critiques of phenomena like FIFTY SHADES OF GREY and THE HELP, or in her essay addressed to “young ladies who love Chris Brown so much they would let him beat them.” She unpacks misogyny and racism with the same keen eye she turns to the pop-culture signifiers of 2014. It is, of course, about feminism and the raft of issues that any discussion of feminism brings along with it, but in Gay’s hands it is much more. When I opened BAD FEMINIST on November 9, the day after the election, I dove into Roxane Gay’s writing, wrapping it around me piece by piece like armor.īAD FEMINIST is both deeply personal and utterly universal. I smiled back, as if to say “We got this!” and skipped out of the store clutching the bright pink book across my chest. President Barack Obama will discuss his memoir A Promised Land with author Isabel Wilkerson in a virtual event for Barnes and Noble, the bookseller announced Wednesday. The lady behind the counter smiled and slipped a “Pussy Grabs BACK!” sticker in the bag with my receipt. Pre-publication book reviews and features keeping readers and industry influencers in the know since 1933. I bought BAD FEMINIST in a bookstore in Woodstock on November 6, 2016.