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During Black History Month, we encourage you to reflect on the contributions of our past leaders as well as current ones. We encourage you to seek knowledge from a mix of platforms. February is a powerful month, because Black folks worldwide collectively celebrate our achievements, so why not feed your soul with content. This month, we recommend 6 books that’ll pull at your heart strings or at least inform you of our accomplishments. Check out our booklist: 6 Books You Should Read During Black History Month!

Source: Amazon / Amazon

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Bold. Beautiful. Poetic. Meet Xiomara Batista, a beautiful Afro-Latina from New York City who is deeply invested in poetry. Once she starts to grow into her bodily figure, her fierceness emerges. It is then that a Harlem star is born. Armed with a leather notebook, Xiomara jots her passions and frustrations down unapologetically. Struggling with feelings she has for a boy in her bio class as well as family issues with Mami, Xiomara puts it all on the line when she joins a slam poetry club.

Source: Amazon / Amazon

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Inspired by a short story she wrote in college about the police shooting of Oscar Grant, author Angie Thomas turned a brief narrative into a debut novel, The Hate U Give. The book, which follows Starr Carter, a 16-year-old girl who joins the activism set after she witnesses the police shooting of friend. Painful, yet inspiring, The Hate U Give shows how adversity can lead to action. In 2018, The Hate U Give was adapted and it premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival.

Source: Amazon / Amazon

Marley Dias Gets It Done And So Can You by Marley Dias
Reign on Ms. Dias! Marley’s debut book is inspirational. We get to see a young and determined influencer in rare form. In Marley Dias Gets It Done And So Can You, readers get an up close look at the young phenomenon who is committed to activism, equity and inclusion, social justice and knowledge. The New Jersey native, who is the brainchild behind the dynamic campaign #1000BlackGirlBooks uses this book to promote literacy, diversity, and the importance of community support.

Source: Amazon / Amazon

They Came Before Columbus by Ivan Van Sertima
The story of Christopher Columbus is a classic one and his journey is a staple in the classroom. However, many have questioned his story. What is truth? Did Columbus get here first? In They Came Before Columbus readers discover (from the authors point of view) that Africans were already present in ancient America long before Columbus. Supported by journals and oral accounts, author Ivan Van Sertima makes a powerful claim backed with real sources that Africans made a mark in the New World and shaped our current civilization.

Source: Amazon / Amazon

Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison
Inspirational and empowering, get to meet 40 powerful Black women who made a difference throughout U.S history. Short and sweet, Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History provides quick biographical notes about phenomenal leaders who include filmmaker Julie Dash, Gwen Ifill, and more. If you are among little researchers, we advise this book for their collection.

Source: Amazon / Amazon

Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women And The Space Race
Based on the Academy Award-nominated movie Hidden Figures which starred stellar actresses Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monae, we get the bold narrative which explores four African-American NASA mathematicians. During their tenure, they shattered glass ceilings by providing calculations that were necessary to support space missions. A great read for STEM-focused students, Hidden Figures shows that Black Magic is found everywhere.

Writer: Kelly Thompson / Artists: Carmen Carnero, Amanda Conner, Paul Mounts / Marvel

Post Apocalypse Time On Roosevelt Island

We open on Captain Marvel punching it up with Nuclear Man inside some kind of time/space bubble on Roosevelt Island. The whole island appears to be in rubble, the sky is red, there’s a mysterious green mist off in some direction. The apocalypse as come and gone.
Out the door, I’m going to admit I don’t know where Roosevelt Island is (context tells me NYC), so the sense of scale and threat in this issue of Captain Marvel is muted for me. I mean, is losing Roosevelt Island a big deal? That’s only the first question of the many that this rough issue brings to mind.

There’s plenty of Sparklefist power on display. Well drawn and well paced, with Captain’s trademark “hit me with your best shot” quips littered properly throughout. That part is all textbook. The challenge here is in the scenes between the punching. The exposition of the situation is awkwardly given — there’s a bubble on the island that keeps men out and women in, with some kind of time-dilation effect as a bonus — and doesn’t actually reveal how some of the more obvious aspects of the problem. The cast of supporting heroes, bestie Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew), Echo (Maya Lopez), and Hazmat (Jennifer Takeda), has an interesting cross-section of powers. They are unfortunately, wasted. All we see of them here is them using guns against vaguely drawn robots. There’s some talk about the island *also* having power-dampening effects, but it seems randomly applied. And if the supers aren’t super on the island, why are they the only ones fighting? While all the other “normal” women and girls hide out in a bunker? Like I said, questions. No answers.

The villain, Nuclear Man/Mahkizmo, is too on-the-nose to be either threatening or interesting. This is not a guy destined for the Villain Hall of Fame. He’s just there to lead Carol and Corp to a bigger bad, or to give them a chance to throw punches while feeling good about fighting a misogynist. Fun fact, most misogynists are harder to spot. Not a lot harder, but still.

The end of the issue reveals a further complication. Hopefully that’s the last thread, so that Thompson and crew can get to weaving this together into a story worth reading. This is a weak issue overall, but one that lays promising ground-work. Sometimes a story stumbles out the door then finds its feet after a few issues. I’m willing to say that’s the case here.

6.5 Mysterious Barriers out of 10

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