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We’re a few weeks out from the New Year now, so I’m just gonna go ahead and call Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett the wokest YA novel of 2019.

Racially diverse, LGBTQ friendly, sex-positive, and endlessly thought-provoking, Full Disclosure feels like a representation of what the world is and has been for a while. There’s no spoon-feeding or hand-holding when it comes to introducing the various backgrounds, family dynamics, and identities of the characters. We learn about who everyone is in a casual tone that says: “It’s 2019 and this is incredibly normal.”

Simone Garcia-Hampton is a budding theater prodigy with a mental encyclopedia of musicals. She’s directing her high school’s production of Rent (to the joy of some and the irritation of others), and she’s got an eye for the role of director. Only one thing seems to be able to take her mind away from the stage: cute, somewhat musically inept stage boy Miles. Yet just as her crush begins to manifest into something more, shall we say, touchable, an anonymous stalker is threatening to expose her if she doesn’t start putting some distance between MIles and herself.

Expose what, exactly?

Simone is HIV-positive. And while she certainly knows that her status is far from a death sentence or a threat to anyone, popular ignorance puts her at risk. After facing wide-spread rejection and isolation at her old school, Simone just wants a fresh start to enjoy the rest of her high school career without people getting nosy and cruel about her medical history. It’s hard enough trying to figure out how to talk about her status with friends, much less a could-be boyfriend. But given how well things are going with Miles, it seems like the past might have to repeat itself.

I don’t have any personal connection with HIV or the AIDs crisis (as far as I know). This book shined a light on my own ignorance towards the topic, and for that I am immensely grateful. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that for most of us who came out of the American public education system, we were done a disservice on a lot of topics that fell under the umbrella of “health class” and/or “sex ed.” HIV and AIDS were definitely among those taught-but-not-really subjects. I found that I was just flat-out wrong about many things regarding how HIV is contracted, protecting against the virus, and how those who are positive learn to live with and manage it.

On the flip side, so much of Simone’s story was incredibly easy to identify with. Her overprotective dads, well-intentioned and loving as they were, still managed to be a massive source of frustration for a sexually curious teenager. Her struggles to feel “queer enough” among her friends and not be seen as an experimental straight girl hit close to home for me. Trying to find security and acceptance in LGBTQ spaces as a bisexual person (especially one in a straight-passing relationship) can be tough. I appreciated Garrett’s exploration of these types of complex inter-community struggles. Full Disclosure does with ease what a lot of media wastes time wringing its hands over; it doesn’t just offer diverse representation, but it looks at how the intersections of different identities actually affect people on a regular day-to-day basis.

I loved Garrett’s writing in large part because it subverted so many tropes that I’ve come to expect in YA. It avoids a lot of the less sensible beats inherent to stories involving romance, blackmail, and secrecy. Instead, it offers a lot of teachable moments about the kind of communication that builds healthy partnerships. The characters were well-rounded, and I found myself siding with almost everyone at one point or another. I’m also not exaggerating when I say this has some of the most authentic teen dialogue I’ve ever read. Reading scenes of Simone with her best friends felt like reminiscing over conversations I had in high school. This is perhaps unsurprising given that Garret finished the novel when she was seventeen.

Simone’s story reminded me of the importance of practicing empathy and putting yourself in the shoes of someone whose experiences are leaps and bounds beyond your own. Even as a Black bisexual woman, lingering at the intersection of several different types of oppression, I found myself shocked at my own capacity for ignorance and bias. It’s sometimes easy to take one’s own understanding of marginalization for granted. There are always new communities, identities, and experiences worth learning about as an outsider.

Full Disclosure is a powerful pushback against stigma, an enlightening delve into an underrepresented topic in the genre, and a reminder to practice empathy no matter who you are.

Reexamine what you think you know.

The post Review: ‘Full Disclosure’ is the Wokest YA Novel of 2019 appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.

This December, team ESSENCE is partnering with Target to bring the first-ever ESSENCE + New Voices Entrepreneurship Summit And Target Holiday Marketto Atlanta. In anticipation of this premiere holiday event event, we’re spotlighting a few of the amazing Black-owned brands who will be setting up shop onsite to meet all of your last-minute gifting needs!

When Jacquelyn Rodgers set out in search of holiday wrapping paper featuring Black Santa, she came up short. After reaching out to friends and family in major cities across the country to see if their states carried the Black Santa-themed wrapping paper, she realized it either didn’t exist or was extremely hard to come by.

“I really wanted wrapping paper that featured brown Santas and I couldn’t find it anywhere,” Rodgers said. “I was in the stores and I just saw rows and rows of Santas but, none that looked like me. And I really wanted to wrap my son’s Christmas presents in brown Santas.”

Our favorite month of the year is here! We can’t wait to see #ClarenceClaus spark joy in your homes this holiday season

A post shared by Greentop Gifts (@greentopgifts) on Dec 1, 2019 at 12:55pm PST

Determined to give her kids the chance to see a Santa that looked like them reflected in his wrapping paper, the persistent mom decided to create her own line. “We came up with Greentop Gifts because I really wanted wrapping paper and items that really reflected our culture and look like me and look like my son and look like my family,” she said. “And I know that a lot of other parents and moms really want those items.”

Register now to attend the 2019 ESSENCE + New Voices Entrepreneur Summit & Target Holiday Market this December in ATL. See you there!

Scroll through to shop a few of our favorites from the Greentop Gifts collection and then be sure to join us to shop this brand and more amazing Black-owned brands at the ESSENCE and Target Holiday Market, December 13- 15 in ATL.

The post ESSENCE Vendor Spotlight: Greentop Gifts Has All Your Black Santa Holiday Shopping Needs appeared first on Essence.

Imagine walking into a 20,000-square-foot building with floor to ceiling inspirational quotes; Nike and Jordan sneakers designs mounted on the wall; 480 miniature shoeboxes with the names of leading fashion companies inscribed on them; and learning that it is the manifestation of a black man.

What was described to you is PENSOLE Design Academy founded by D’Wayne Edwards, who is a former Nike executive with over 30 years’ experience designing shoes. The footwear design academy was launched in 2011 to educate and teach designers how to take their ideas from a sketch to a product that can go to market.

In August, Footaction made an open call to over 85 HBCUs to participate in a six-week digital and in-person design intensive. Hundreds of students applied to be a part of the program by sending in their designs but only 10 students were selected to participate in the FAAS at PENSOLE online program to refine their designs. From there, the competition was cut in half and the top five finalists (who so happen to be five young women) relocated to Portland for a 3-week hands-on design academy at the FAAS Studio at PENSOLE.

The academy consists of a footwear studio where PENSOLE instructors teach footwear design; brand design; functional apparel and accessories, and color material design. PENSOLE also offers hands-on experience in prototyping where they teach people how to make shoes from scratch. They also house a personal design studio where they produce custom projects for different brands.

It was all a dream                                        

At 12-years-old, Edwards envisioned becoming a footwear designer and at the age of 19, he became the youngest footwear designer within the industry. And while the rest would become history, his journey ultimately led him to open the doors of PENSOLE in 2012.

“I’m a black man from Inglewood, California. Getting to 18 was a win. I’m winning. And 32 years later, I’m still winning,” Edwards exclaims.

By the time he turned 19, Edwards lost his two older brothers within three years. Both young men taught him different design elements and encouraged him to take his gifts and dreams seriously.

“For me, it ended up becoming more so a need to have the career they didn’t get a chance to have. So, that’s that focus.”

Beating the odds is something that he does not take lightly. And that very grit and ambition are what got his foot in the door. After graduating from high school, Edwards landed a temp job at a footwear company as a file clerk where he was determined to work his way up. As destiny would have it, a unique opportunity presented itself.

“They [management] created this little suggestion box in every department; it was a wooden box. And it was presented to every department as a way to give the company suggestions on what they should do to improve the company’s business. And so my suggestion was to hire me as a footwear designer. So I would put my three by five sketches in the box every day. And for six months, I did that and the owner called me into his office and offered me a job after I turned 19.”

Related: Pyer Moss And Other Luxury Black-Owned Labels Disrupting the World of Fashion

Edwards’ persistence and hard work led him on a successful path. At 23, he became a head footwear designer for L.A. Gear. A year later, he was appointed brand manager/head designer for Karl Kani Footwear. At 28, he launched his own brand SITY which was recognized by Sporting Goods Business as the No. 2 brand to watch in the industry behind Brand Jordan in 2000. He was one of six designers ever to design an Air Jordan (21 and 22) in its 1st 23-year history. And, he has designed shoes at the highest level for today’s premier athletes and teams, such as Michael Jordan, Carmelo Anthony, Derek Jeter, and Roy Jones Jr.

Over the course of Edwards’ career, he has designed 500 styles in a variety of categories—athletic, dress, casual, outdoor, golf, lifestyle, kids, and skate. And his designs have sold over $1.5 billion in revenues globally.

Walking into his destiny

With all of his accomplishments, being able to teach what he learned as a professional led him to the next phase in his life, PENSOLE.

“At a certain point, it was no longer about me. When I got into the industry in 89, I was only the second African American in the industry to design footwear. I didn’t meet the first one until I got to Nike 10 years later. Wilson Smith. We both got in through an extension of mentorship. So, that became kind of who I am,” says Edwards.

Related: 6 Black Fashion Labels to Know, Celebrate, and Support

Fast forward nine years, Edwards assumed the position of the footwear design director at Nike. And as he approached his 10th year with the company, he decided to retire to pursue his passion to teach others how to construct their dreams of making footwear.

“I taught the very first class at the University of Oregon on Jan. 14, 2010. The first class [was for] two weeks. I flew 40 kids in on my own dime to test this idea of what a footwear school would look like. And, it was all based on the way I worked at Jordan,” says Edwards.

After the good news of the students’ experience spread through the press, other colleges and universities wanted in. And the rest is history.

Edwards never attended a design school, but he has launched and established six PENSOLE Designs Academies since 2010 at the ArtCenter College for Design; PARSONS School for Design; MIT; and the Kolding Design School in Denmark.

And more exciting announcements are on the horizon.

Scarlett Johansson reprises her role as Natasha/Black Widow in Marvel Studios’ action-packed spy thriller Black Widow.

The first film in Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Florence Pugh stars as Yelena, David Harbour as Alexei aka The Red Guardian and Rachel Weisz as Melina. Directed by Cate Shortland and produced by Kevin Feige, Black Widow hits U.S. theaters on May 1, 2020.

The post Check out the New teaser trailer for ‘Black Widow’ appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.