Black History Month: Give Them Their Flowers NOW.

Welcome to The Enthusiast, the newsletter that's all yum, no yuck! Every week I share five(ish) things I'm loving, from the latest in pop culture to seemingly random esoteric ephemera–all personally vetted and highly recommended by yours truly.

It's Black History Month, so how are you all celebrating? Hopefully you're recognizing and honoring Black history and culture throughout the rest of the year, too, but if you need some new goodies to vibe with this year, here are five of my current favorite ways to learn about and experience Black American culture in all of its many facets, influences, and possibilities. These are literally just a few opportunities, friends, so I encourage you to consciously support Black businesses, artists, and culture as it has so indelibly shaped our lives over the centuries. Oh, and: end White Supremacy.

The Great Soul Food Cook Off

A truly American cuisine gets the respect it deserves

We stumbled upon this little gem of a cooking show completely by accident on HBOMax and it has been a treat to watch. The Great Soul Food Cook Off was apparently produced by the OWN network for Discovery back in 2021, but it’s not showing up on the actual Discovery+ app, so who knows how long it will even be available to watch. What really matters is here is then incredible joy and passion among these chefs and the judges, and also some truly delicious ways to enjoy the most American cuisine there is.

I love seeing this food getting a prominent showcase with all Black contestants and an all-Black judging panel, but I can’t help but suspect that this precise reason is why it got relegated to streaming with no actual network/platform support. I don’t know much about soul food, but I do know my way around a hoecake and some shrimp & grits and these chefs really expand on classic traditions and recipes by elevating the dishes without losing that key connection to previous generations. It’s definitely worth a watch—whether you’re a soul food connoisseur or a complete newb, you’ll find yourself wanting to reach through the screen and help yourself to a bite (or seven) of everything.

"Echolalia" - Yves Tumor

Embrace the unclassifiable (it's a bop)

A recent musical trend I’ve been loving over the years has been the rise of Black Indie artists who eschew any and all categorization. Steve Lacy, Jany Green, and Yves Tumor have taken elements of rock, pop, punk, R&B, soul, gospel, electronic, afropop and many more to craft some of the most original and enjoyable songs I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing lately. Tumor is particularly freaky in the best way possible: hot, gangly, gothy, queer and horny. His 2021 single “Jackie” from his EP The Asymptotical World was one of my favorites that year, and this new single "Echolalia" from the upcoming album Praise A Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds) absolutely SLAPS.

BONUS: Scottish group Young Fathers’ totally unclassifiable new album Heavy Heavy is bringing all kinds of wild, ecstatic vibes and intricately layered production. Give it a spin if you want to get in on the multi/anti-genre action.

Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

A modern classic we need now more than ever

If you haven’t read any of Octavia Butler’s work, Parable of the Sower is the place to start. It is a wise, prescient novel that feels so urgent and immediate despite being published more than 30 years ago. It’s my work Book Club selection this month, and while I read it a few years ago, I’m thinking a re-read might be good for my soul in this particular moment. Butler was a sci-fi writer, but her work spans much broader themes of family, community, and hope as a survival tactic that feel truly universal.

Parable of the Sower celebrates its 30th anniversary this year (I didn't mention it before because I didn't read it myself until much later), and it feels more important and prescient than ever: apocalyptic climate change, the life-or-death importance of real community and connections, and the beginnings of human evolution through embracing inevitable change are just a few of the areas Butler touches on in the first book in her unfinished series. Her prose is unvarnished but poetic, accessible and expansive, and the philosophy she creates is both universal and wholly radical. My first Butler read was the much weirder (and sexier) Xenogenesis/ Lilith's Brood series, but the Earthseed / Parable series was more resonant culturally by far, so much so that it has actually spawned real-life movements and inspired writers and artists over the past three decades. Even if you're not much one for genre fiction, you should absolutely check out Parable of the Sower as well as the rest of Butler's wonderful works.

Denzel Does Shakespeare

Much Ado About Nothing (1993) and The Tragedy of Macbeth (2022)

I was recently reminded of Denzel Washington’s brief but iconic role as Don Pedro of Aragon in Kenneth Branagh’s Much Ado About Nothing (also celebrating its 30th anniversary this year and just a really fantastic movie in general), and listen: if you want to see an actor at the absolute top of his craft, you need to watch Denzel do Shakespeare. I honestly can’t think of another American actor of any age who has the same effortless delivery without ever missing a single iamb. He’s only in the film for a few minutes (sadly), but his performance is so iconic and fun that you want to replay his scenes  just to see how he shines.

Much Ado is peak Denzel for me, but his more recent title role in Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth (2022) demonstrates just how naturally gifted he is at bringing 400+ year old verse to life. Coen deliberately made the Thane and his Lady (the equally great Frances McDormand) older in this adaptation, and Denzel leans into that bone-deep weariness whole-heartedly—his Macbeth is tired of all this bullshit but knows he must accept his duty. (And it absolutely should have won Best Cinematography because HOLY SHIT it looks amazing.)

Both are among the best Shakespeare films out there, in my opinion, and Washington’s skill and charisma in these roles are among the best examples of his mastery of the craft. I know he (finally) won a Best Actor Oscar for Training Day and should have won for Malcolm X, but these two films spanning almost three decades are two more of his exemplary roles, and definitely worth checking out.

Recognize, Call Out, and Dismantle White Supremacy Culture

It can be done, and guess what, fellow white folks: it's on us

In case it wasn’t blatantly obvious, White Supremacy is a fucking problem. I’m glad  some white folks are finally understanding what marginalized people have known for centuries, but there’s still a LOT of work to do to eradicate this disease that isn’t only about racism, but also misogyny, classism, and fascism all rolled up into one huge shit sandwich we’ve been force-fed for centuries. If you want to learn why White Supremacy goes much deeper than Nazism and the Ku Klux Klan, I highly recommend reading "White Supremacy Culture," by Tema Okun, a seminal text that demonstrates just how deeply ingrained these hideous ideals are into our culture—and what we can do individually and collectively to eradicate it.

Once you recognize these insidious elements in your life, it’s impossible to keep status quo, and as a reminder, fellow white folk, it’s our duty to end the scourge our ancestors wrought on the world, not sit back and let BIPOC people do the work for us (that’s literally how White Supremacy works). I know it’s scary to think about confronting all of this when our culture is so imbued with it and while we may not have done anything personally to keep it going, inaction and complacency feed it. It may feel overwhelming and impossible, but I promise you’ll find at least one or two steps in this document to help make progress in ending White Supremacy once and for all.

Have Some Honey (with a Splash of Vinegar)

🐝 Beyoncé was robbed, but I’m PUMPED for Donald Glover’s new show Swarm, inspired by the Beyhive. Let’s get him and Jordan Peele in a room together so they can give us the uncomfortably hilarious horror we need in this world.

⚧️ The AI Seinfeld was bad from the start, and in case you didn’t already know, AI algorithms objectify women! Cool!

🙌🏻 The good news is that AI will probably (er, hopefully?) never be able to get hands right. They are the most notoriously difficult body part to draw, and even with all their power and programming, the bots are always going to give us seven fingers and 2.5 thumbs on one hand.

🤔 Related: Can the Metaverse be dying if it never truly lived?

👠 What are THOOOOOOOOSE?!?

🙅🏼 As often as I dream of a cabin in a wooded glen, running on solar power, with a goat and a vegetable garden and a library room with a writing desk that overlooks the foot of the nearby mountains, this “Tradlife” nonsense (fueled, naturally, by IG and TikTok "influencers") is still the same ol’ oppressive & regressive shit, different day. Don’t fall for it.

And so concludes this edition of The Enthusiast! Consider subscribing (it's free!) if you aren't already. Make sure you click on the link in the confirmation email to receive new posts directly in your Inbox. If you're enjoying the newsletter, send it along to a friend and spread the love!

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Until next time, read this poem about Nina Simone, get some life advice from ballerina Misty Copeland, and dig into some great long-form writing with these recommendations from Longreads.

In love and culture,
LKH