https://blacknerdproblems.com/legacy-and-the-queen-3/

Raised on basketball and football since birth, a sport like tennis actually never found its way to my lane as a child in a city with few tennis courts. In the years most of us develop our deepest admiration of a sport, my knowledge is deep in one league I still love, and another, well, another I managed to fully abandon just recently. I find myself wishing I could go to a store that offers returns and exchange NFL knowledge for another sport that were a better fit. If ever such a magical store existed, my eye would be on tennis. With a newfound interest but hopelessly meager knowledge in the sport, a new YA fantasy adventure arrived at just the right time in my life, and that’s Legacy and the Queen. Written by former pro athlete-turned-writer Annie Matthew, and published by Kobe Bryant’s multimedia company Granity Studios, the book follows a young Black girl named Legacy. Legacy, who grew up in the outer provinces of the magical kingdom of Nova, is on a meteoric rise to stardom through the nation’s biggest pastime.

Tennis is everything in the land of Nova. Those from the provinces (“provis,” as they’re called derogatorily) play with tattered rackets outside their impoverished homes, while the capital city trains privileged athletes with magic and unlimited resources as it uses the sport to unify its nation. That nation is united under a council, most notably led by Silla, a woman nicknamed “the Queen” as she united the lands in a centralized, powerful city. When Legacy Petrin, a 12-year old girl from the provinces, finds herself with the opportunity to compete in the capital’s tennis tournament, she is plunged in a political revolution that’s far deeper than tennis. And if it sounds familiar then you are likely acquainted with The Hunger Games as the most recent — and most popular — iteration of the story, and the similarities snowball from there.

Where Legacy and the Queen separates itself is in the world it builds, complete with fantastical animals, mystical recipes, and inner magic called “grana” that align Legacy closer to Harry Potter than the YA sports psychology drama that lives underneath. Legacy’s training camp is like a small Hogwarts with tennis as their Quidditch. New to the capital and painfully different, she’s an ostracized, friendless fish out of water whose only motivation is to save the province and orphanage from where she came. It’s not until she meets Javi and Pippa — two other outcasts in their own right — that Legacy finds herself with the support she needs to have a true shot to save her friends and family.

Many of the themes covered are based in the perspective of an athlete as Legacy struggles to control her emotions and leverage them to positive effect on the court rather than allowing those emotions to backfire inward. Our story’s pacing makes a few economical decisions by explaining its simpler themes in conjunction with the complicated landscape of the fantasy world being built; perhaps the most apt example is having the explanation of emotions’ interconnectedness (anger can be based in love) explained through a combination of inner magic, your tennis racket, and the ingredients that form its strings. In that light, Legacy and the Queen would have been better served by either 300 pages rather than 200, or a narrower world that fits more squarely in the real estate given, but the explanations may be useful analogies to younger readers who need it and don’t offer too much of a distraction.

Overall, Legacy and the Queen is a motivational, magical adventure with goodhearted characters and a familiar dystopian feel. The story is wrapped in a notably beautiful package complete with a soft felt cover, string bookmark, and artwork that make it a charming gift. It is best befit for kids who live at the intersection of sports and fantasy adventure as a relatable introduction to deeper dystopia novels, which, given an ending suitable for sequel, I imagine Legacy and the Queen hopes to become.

For this reader, it serves as a gateway to more tennis, as anyone with Legacy’s passion is bound to prove contagious. I may have grown up without much access to tennis, but having lived in my current city the last 10 years I learned a fun fact: New York has over 300 public tennis courts. More realistically, maybe I’ll just start by watching the next Grand Slam. You can find Legacy and the Queen at your local indie or on Amazon.

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The post Black Girl Magic Hits the Tennis Court in ‘Legacy and the Queen’ appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.

https://nerdist.com/article/blood-machines-trailer-shudder/

Space is a mysterious thing. Bleak and infinite, we’ll never know all of its deep and strange possibilities. That’s why we turn to science fiction, which can fill in the imaginative blanks of the galaxies. And thanks to the creative minds of filmmakers around the globe, we have so many interpretations to choose from. Cue the first trailer for French director Seth Ickerman’s Blood Machines, a film that looks unlike anything we’ve ever seen before–a movie about deep space and big ideas rendered in beautiful technicolor strobe light and accented by a score so catchy, we dare you not to dance along.

Blood Machines–a French science fiction film, which will make its United States debut at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas next week–tells the story of an A.I. that escapes its spaceship a  female ghost and challenges two blade runners into a galactic chase. The film was funded by a Kickstarter campaign and features what sounds like an incredible, dizzying synth score by composer Carpenter Brut. The project is actually a sequel to Brut’s music video, “Turbo Killer,” which was also directed by Seth Ickerman and is equally colorful and transfixing.

If you’re a fan of what you see but can’t make it to Fantastic Fest this year, worry not! Though there isn’t an official release date just yet, Blood Machines is co-produced by the U.S. streaming platform Shudder, meaning it will be available online to stream at a later date. It will also have a showing at various other North American film festivals such as Brooklyn Horror Fest and Toronto After Dark.

If you’re a fan of films like Blade Runner or Mandy–movies that combine killer visuals, big concepts, and indelible scores–Blood Machines looks like just the sort of movie you can really sink your teeth into.

Header Image Credit: Shudder

The post BLOOD MACHINES Trailer Proves Space Is A Technicolor Nightmare appeared first on Nerdist.

https://madamenoire.com/1099892/how-my-thoughts-about-marriage-have-changed/

Growing up, it always seemed like marriage was a goal. Something you achieve and the diamond engagement ring is the prize. But not for the man though. It seemed that when a woman was proposed to it symbolized her worth.  When a woman didn’t have a boyfriend or a husband, she was looked as if something was wrong with her. I grew up thinking if a man married me, it meant I was beautiful, lovable and valuable. If a man picked me I must be wanted and desired. I’ve finally realized that I can be single my whole life and still have all those qualities.

Marriage was one of my main goals all throughout my twenties. I wanted a life partner so I could feel complete.  I thought getting married could wash away what was left of my low self-esteem. Having a husband would confirm that I was wanted, desired,  beautiful and “good woman.” I also wanted to belong, to be taken. As I am reaching 30 I’ve realized that the way I thought about marriage was all wrong.

The things I thought I would get from a marriage are things I have to do on my own. I determine who and what I am, not my husband. If I don’t feel beautiful and still battle low self-esteem, I have to address that with my therapist, not a life mate. I have to make sure I am a complete, emotionally healthy being, not my husband.

Marriage isn’t going to be a source of validation for me. It’s not supposed to be anyway. Even if I don’t get married I am okay with that. If I never get a ring, that doesn’t mean something is wrong with me or that I am doing something wrong. Marriage isn’t a goal or achievement for me anymore. It’s an option. It’s not a priority on my to-do list before 30. What’s more important is for me to continue to learn how to embrace who I am before I look for someone else to do it.

https://blackgirlnerds.com/own-tvs-queen-sugar-renews-for-its-5th-season/

The Ava DuVernay critically acclaimed drama series Queen Sugar will air its 5th season in 2020.

Current season four showrunner Anthony Sparks will also return for the fifth season. Queen Sugar tells the story of the Bordelon family, who are fighting to save their family farm to preserve their father’s legacy while navigating their own personal journeys.  

In season four, Charley (Dawn-Lyen Gardner) has remained in the thick of the trials and tribulations in both her personal and professional life as she continues to battle the Landry family while also trying to ensure Micah’s (Nicholas Ashe) safety and future. Nova (Rutina Wesley) has published her memoir and goes on a book tour around the country sharing family secrets and shaking things up at home. Ralph Angel (Kofi Siriboe) is managing fatherhood and his complicated relationship with ex-girlfriend Darla (Bianca Lawson) after learning he is not the biological father of his son, Blue (Ethan Hutchison), and is encouraged by an old friend to create opportunities for formerly incarcerated men. 

“Every character feels like family. Our own. I am excited to see what Ava has unfolding next for the Bordelons,” said Oprah Winfrey.

“I’m thrilled to further explore the beauty, pain and triumph of this African-American family, with hopes that their story will continue to resonate with audiences who see themselves in the Bordelons,” said DuVernay. “It’s a real honor to create this work with Warner Horizon and OWN as their support is rock-solid and wonderful.”

“Queen Sugar” is produced for OWN by Array Filmworks and Harpo Films in association with Warner Horizon Scripted Television. The season four executive producers are Ava DuVernay, Oprah Winfrey, Paul Garnes and Anthony Sparks. The series is based on the book by Natalie Baszile.

The post OWN TV’s ‘Queen Sugar’ Renews for its 5th Season appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.