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Those Who Give a Damn: A Manual for Making a Difference by Duvalier J. Malone is part autobiography and part primer for activists. The Black gay author, political columnist, motivational speaker, community activist, and CEO of global consulting firm Duvalier Malone Enterprises, had humble beginnings in Harriston, Miss., where his father’s mental health issues led to the family’s abandonment. Young Malone struggled, but found inspiration in radio broadcasts by Charles Evers. A seminal moment occurred when the teen won an essay contest on making positive change and earned a trip to the nation’s capital. Give a Damn provides tools and examples to help others rise above oppression and obstacles to reach their goals and make a difference for all of us. (CreateSpace) —Donald Padgett
Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison follows a young Chicano living in Washington State trying to realize the American dream. Mike Munoz, an aspiring landscape artist, is just a few years out of high school when he loses his job as a lawn boy on a landscaping crew. The novel is a hilarious, honest, and uplifting story of a young man seeking to discover himself and rise above the crazy characters and situations that populate his life. Evison has penned a funny and sharp commentary on the distinctions between racial and socioeconomic classes, two serious subjects that become grand entertainment in his capable hands. (Algonquin) —DP
We Are Never Meeting in Real Life by the famed comedian and blogger Samantha Irby is a smart, edgy, hilarious, and unabashedly raunchy collection of essays on everyday hassles like growing older, being single, or having a new job that screws up your television viewing schedule. She writes about the tragicomedy of combining a romantic vacation with a pilgrimage to Nashville to scatter the ashes of her estranged father. By drawing on real experiences through her own self-effacing humor, Irby turns her darkly comedic essays into an art form. She also reveals how the right attitude can make growth and adulthood as laughable as it is frustrating and infuriating. (Vintage Books) —DP
Spill: Scenes of Black Feminist Fugitivity by Alexis Pauline Gumbs is a collection of scenes depicting fugitive Black women and girls struggling to find freedom from gendered racism and violence. Inspired by Hortense Spillers, this is a poetic work that offers an alternative approach to Black feminist literary criticism, the study of historical writings, and digesting the works of leading Black feminist thinkers. This unusual approach will alter your perceptions of poetry and reveal how words can change, inform, and inspire. Spill opens new portals of possibility for art as activism. (Duke University Press) —DP
Murder in The News: An Inside Look at How Television Covers Crime by Robert H. Jordan, Jr. examines the news industry’s “if it bleeds, it leads” approach and how media outlets decide where to send their limited resources. Why does one story become breaking news while others are ignored? How is social media reshaping news reporting? Jordan provides answers and shares some of the more gruesome cases he personally covered, including the infamous serial killers Richard Speck, Jeffery Dahmer, and John Wayne Gacy. (Prometheus Books) –DP
Ali on Ali by legendary boxer Muhammad Ali’s daughter Hana Ali sets out to explain her father’s life philosophy through some of his most memorable statements. For example, speaking about Vietnam, he once said, “My conscience won’t let me go shoot my brother, or some darker people, or some poor hungry people in the mud… They never called me n***er, they never lynched me… they didn’t rob me of my nationality, [or] rape and kill my mother and father.” Illustrated by 80 photos of “the Greatest” and peppered with quotes about Ali from celebs like Maya Angelou and Barack Obama, it’s an inspirational addition to Ali cannon. (Workman) —Jacob Anderson-Minshall
