Photograph, MANYATSA CLAUDIA MONYAMANE | South Africa | 2013
An incredible photographer who began his professional career in 1978 taking photographs for New Musical Express, followed by The Face, Time Out, and Black Echoes, covering a wide range of music and portraiture. His books include The Black Chord, a comprehensive collection of David’s photographs of black musicians with text by the iconic punk professor/musician/writer Vivienne Goldman. Tons of wonderful photographs.
Red Bull Music Academy Radio + Fireside Chats
A candy store of 100’s of incredible music specials and interviews of the best of old and new, spanning all genres of music. (To view the archives of 100’s of great interviews, you have to be in the UK). Which leads me to my next favorite site…
For those outside the UK (0r any site restricted to a particular country) a trusted site that allows you to browse the internet privately. 😉
The ARChive of Contemporary Music
ARC is the largest popular music collection in the world. Most of the year it’s a resource library, but twice a year they have a big sale of duplicate records in their headquarters in NYC. Be sure to sign up for their emails to get notified.
“We are an interdisciplinary group of researchers, and practitioners providing a mix of academic and industry expertise. Our focus is the largely undocumented musical experience, of black and minority ethnic communities in the UK.” Includes many links to really interesting music sites.
This site is a bit of a mystery. There’s no clue as to who runs it or where they got the footage from; some of it super rare and usually professionally filmed. A treasure trove of literally 100’s of artists, sometimes full concerts, sometimes just a rare snippet.
The Field Negro Guide to Arts and Culture
Podcasted conversations between musician Vernon Reid from Living Colour and W. Kamau Bell, political comic formerly of the brilliant FX show Totally Biased. Blerd musings at its best.
An amazing collection of cool, retro, funky Black stuff.
How does one describe The Oatmeal…hilarious, scientific, highly opinionated illustrations from an insane man’s mind.
A very cool blog by writer Maria Popova. “…a cross-disciplinary LEGO treasure chest, full of pieces spanning art, science, psychology, design, philosophy, history, politics, anthropology, and more…”
UCLA Center for the Study of Women
Invaluable blog. “The UCLA Center for the Study of Women is an internationally recognized center for research on gender, sexuality, and women’s issues and the first organized research unit of its kind in the University of California system. Though CSW is funded by the Division of Social Sciences, it serves the entire university. CSW is part of the Division’s commitment to gender equity and research parity at UCLA. Its mission is to develop and foster research, to facilitate productive scholarly relationships, and to aid recruitment and retention efforts. Established in 1984, it draws on the expertise of more than two hundred members from thirty-four departments and ten UCLA professional schools. CSW administers research grants for faculty and students; organizes research projects, conferences, seminars, and public lectures; and publishes a monthly web newsletter that features research, conference reports, faculty profiles, and announcements.”
Neo•griot is an information blog for black writers and supporters of our literature worldwide. A New Orleans writer, filmmaker and educator, Kalamu ya Salaam is a senior staff member for “Students at the Center”, a writing program in the New Orleans public schools. He also has a music section called Breath of Life: A Conversation About Black Music, but he stopped posting there sometime in 2012. However there are great music articles and lots of archives so don’t bypass that section; the music posts are now incorporated into Neo-Griot. Excellent musings on rare and obscure music.
Useful site whether you want to learn more about astrology or you’re a seasoned astrologer. Very user-friendly and mostly free – start with the Free Horoscopes section. You draw up free natal charts (Free Horoscopes/Horoscope Drawings & Calculations/Chart Drawings, Ascendent), then to make heads or tails (Free Horoscopes/Interactive Horoscopes/AstroClick Portrait) and daily advice based on your (or anyone’s) chart. Handy, and fun! (Use AstroClick Love sparingly. 😉 )
“The world’s largest collection of books, toys, movies, and music for parents, teachers and others dedicated to raising smart, confident, and courageous girls and, of course, for girls themselves. Girls do not have to be relegated to the role of sidekick or damsel in distress; they can be the leaders, the heroes, the champions that save the day, find the cure, and go on the adventure. It is our hope that these high-quality children’s products will help a new generation of girls to grow and pursue whatever dreams they choose — to truly be Mighty Girls!”
Spectrum Council for Diversity in Media
“The Spectrum Council for Diversity in Media (SCDM) is a group dedicated toward the promotion of media created by people of color, LGBT+, and overlapping groups. The SCDM target audience includes young adults (ages 16 to 18), college students, LGBT+ adults and students, people of color, content creators, publishers, and promoters. The goal for this initiative is to organize these individual groups into a collaborative along with stimulating discussion and ideas to address and correct this representation disparity. SCDM is funded by the Massachusetts Cultural Council. The director of SCDM is Stasia Martin who can be contacted at vmartinwrites@yahoo.com.”
“On cinema of the African diaspora”. Great site to stay in the loop.
Everything in the world of vinyl!
“The Question Bridge: Black Males project is a platform for Black men of all ages and backgrounds to ask and respond to questions about life in America. We created it to stimulate connections and understanding among Black men, but we also wanted to show the diversity of thought, character and identity in the Black male population so rarely seen in American media. In essence, we want to represent and redefine Black male identity in America.
In 2012, the project launched as a documentary-styled video art installation, but since then, it has expanded to include an interactive website and mobile app, community engagement events and an education curriculum for high school students.
A “Question Bridge” is a method used by those who want to create honest expression and healing dialogue among members of a particular group. It works like this: first, one person asks a question looking into camera, as if they are talking directly to another person. Later, another person responds by talking directly into a camera.”
Sort of like Facebook but with only the article-sharing aspect. Hundreds of cool articles about everything and anything–usually art, science and tons of other stuff. (Some may have to be vetted, though.) Endless reading!
“Your monthly dose of African goodness”. An African blog dedicated to showing creativity through fashion, art and photography.
Crazy, right? Since Elaine Marie Welteroth became editor-in-chief in 2016 (making her the second African-American in Condé Nast’s 107-year history to hold such a title, and the youngest) Teen Vogue became a major force as balanced, sophisticated journalism on emerging fashion, beauty and pop culture–but especially on political and social issues.
“British youth culture at its finest” is this blog’s tag. It goes on to say “In 1980 a youth movement began reshaping Britain. Its stars didn’t call themselves New Romantics, or the Blitz Kids – but other people did. This writer was there and these words and pictures tell the tale.” A PRICELESS memoir.