The Mixed World: Issue 1
A bi-weekly newsletter by Naiobi Benjamin featuring updates, must-reads, culture, and more!
WHAT WE’RE READING NOW
The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi Burrow
Rachel, the daughter of a Danish mother and a black G.I., becomes the sole survivor of a family tragedy after a fateful morning on their Chicago rooftop. Forced to move to a new city, with her strict African American grandmother as her guardian, Rachel is thrust for the first time into a mostly black community, where her light brown skin, blue eyes, and beauty bring a constant stream of attention her way. It’s there, as she grows up and tries to swallow her grief, that she comes to understand how the mystery and tragedy of her mother might be connected to her own uncertain identity.
MIXED ARTIST TO WATCH
Koshin Finley
Finley’s work depicts defiant people of color as they progress through spaces that continuously try to break them down. The subjects of his paintings use their victories over oppression as armor for their journey through everyday life. His friends and family are the subjects of his paintings, captured while they have visceral conversations about their life in America. These visual moments facilitate conversations on the struggles people of color have to endure to survive and to thrive.
QUICK READ
A LIMITLESS SKY- A POEM BY MAYZIE ANGEL
“I am a product of the nation that picks and chooses the things they consider okay and tear me apart and I don’t have a say….”
https://www.mixedlife.net/eveything/2019/6/3/a-limitless-sky-a-poem-by-mayzie-angel
WHAT WE’RE WATCHING NOW
"Queen Sugar" tells the story of the estranged Bordelon siblings in Louisiana. The family includes Nova, a journalist and activist; Charley, the wife and manager of an NBA player; and formerly incarcerated father Ralph Angel, who is searching for redemption. After a tragedy in the family, the siblings must put their complicated lives aside so that they can come together to run the clan's struggling sugar cane farm. The show is thought to be the first television show to feature female directors for every episode. The show also highlights diversity with a mostly Black cast with mixed actors including, Nicholas Ahse, Dawn-Lyen Gardner, Biana Lawson and Micheal Michele.