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Reading Outdoors

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What is the best setup for serious outdoor reading? I propose it’s in a chair, sitting upright, in the shade of a tree or umbrella, comfortable but not too comfortable. A beach towel or picnic blanket works, but the sun moves, your back or neck gets stiff, it’s not a sure thing. My friend Avi insists you need to be in one of those zero-gravity recliners that I’m positive would function as an adult cradle and instantly lull me to sleep.

According to my colleagues Elisabeth Egan and Erica Ackerberg, who put together this glorious album of outdoor bookworms, “There are only a handful of non-negotiables when it comes to plein-air reading: sunscreen, hydration, repeat.”

Reading a book outside in summer cements it in memory for me. J.M. Coetzee’s “Disgrace” on the beach in July and the sunburn that ensued. The just-sunny-enough restaurant terrace where I went back and forth at every third line between Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart” and a French translation, “Le Monde S’Effondre,” trying to improve my language skills. Louise Fitzhugh’s “The Long Secret,” a sequel to “Harriet the Spy,” on the lawn, in the backyard, mosquito bites.

If you can grab an hour or an afternoon to read outside this weekend, there are many promising new books to choose from. Perhaps Tess Gunty’s “dense, prismatic and often mesmerizing debut,” “The Rabbit Hutch”? Alec Nevala-Lee’s biography of Buckminster Fuller? Or Michelle Tea’s “Knocking Myself Up: A Memoir of My (In)Fertility”? Elisabeth recommends “The Displacements,” by Bruce Holsinger. I recently read “Magpie” by Elizabeth Day in two rapturous afternoons. You might prefer a paperback, lest a hardcover prove too heavy to hold up if you’re planning to recline. We’ve got a bunch of those, too. (And if you’re more of an e-reader reader, you’ve got all these options and more.)

What have you read recently, outdoors or otherwise, that you’ve loved? Tell me about it.

  • Stephen King testified that the proposed merger of the publishing giants Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster would hurt writers.

  • Warner Bros. canceled the release of “Batgirl” as its parent company looked for budget cuts after a merger, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

  • As Lieutenant Uhura in “Star Trek,” Nichelle Nichols shifted what we thought was possible, Stacy Y. China writes. Nichols died last week at 89.

  • “Days of Our Lives,” a daytime network television mainstay since 1965, is moving to NBC’s streaming service, Peacock.

  • The Art Newspaper got a preview of the redesign of the Storm King sculpture park in upstate New York.

  • Theater actors are reconsidering the demands of the stage, including sometimes-dangerous work.

  • The pedal steel, once a staple of country music, is finding new life in other forms.

  • Bill Cosby is seeking a new trial in a civil case where a jury found he sexually assaulted a 16-year-old in 1975.

🎮 “Papers, Please” (out now): This critically acclaimed game seemed like a throwback a decade ago upon its initial desktop release, with its retro, 2D animation style. There’s a dark timelessness to the story, however. It is 1982 and you play a checkpoint inspector for a fictional communist nation. Who do you let in? Who do you keep out? Do you accept bribes to help buy food for your struggling family? It kinda messed me up! Now available to play on iOS and Android devices, so you can take that feeling of moral queasiness with you wherever you go.

📺 “Five Days at Memorial” (Friday): In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, and the staff of Memorial Medical Center found themselves trapped and unable to evacuate patients, forcing some doctors and nurses to make an awful choice. The always-interesting Vera Farmiga stars in this Apple TV+ adaptation, based on the 2013 book by The New York Times correspondent Sheri Fink.

Tare, a sweet-and-salty sauce often used to season Japanese grilled meats, is the secret to making these quick salmon skewers. Fry a little garlic and ginger, then add water, soy sauce, a touch of turbinado sugar and some vinegar. As you cook the salmon and vegetables, whether it’s on a cast-iron griddle or a hot grill, stay close so you can keep turning the skewers and brushing them with your homemade tare. In just a few minutes, they’ll brown and caramelize, creating a beautiful, mouthwatering glaze. And don’t worry: If you don’t have a grill pan or a grill, you can cook these skewers under the broiler, just pay very close attention so they don’t burn!

A selection of New York Times recipes is available to all readers. Please consider a Cooking subscription for full access.

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In the kitchen: Making your own soy milk is straightforward.

From Denmark to Spain: Europe boasts beaches the whole family will love.

San Diego Padres vs. Los Angeles Dodgers, M.L.B.: Baseball’s center of gravity has shifted to Southern California. The Padres and the Dodgers were reportedly both finalists among the teams vying to trade for Juan Soto, the 23-year-old superstar whose numbers rival young Ted Williams’s. On Tuesday, the Padres got him. The Dodgers will have to make do with their six 2022 All-Stars. 7 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, ESPN.

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A journalist since 1994, he also founded DMGlobal Marketing & Public Relations. Glover has an extensive list of clients including corporations, non-profits, government agencies, politics, business owners, PR firms, and attorneys.

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My ancestors were full-blooded Indians … until the census said otherwise

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(OKLAHOMA – August 17, 2025) – When I first started researching my family’s genealogy, I thought I was just going to fill in a few blanks.
Instead, I uncovered a lie so deep, so systematic, it reshaped everything I thought I knew about who we are as a people.

I want to show you something personal.

Below, you’ll see two official U.S. government records—both documenting one of my direct ancestors. Thomas Jefferson Adams Harjo.

Creek Nation certificate

Creek Nation certificate

📜 The first is from the Dawes Roll, the federal list created in the early 1900s to register members of the Five Civilized Tribes.

As you’ll see, my ancestor is listed as a Full-Blood Indian—a clear acknowledgment of their tribal heritage and cultural identity.

1900 US Census

But then, take a look at the second image:

📄 That’s the federal census record from just a few years later.
Same ancestor.
Same location.
But this time, the government marked them as Negro.

No tribe. No Indian classification.
Just folded into the general Black population—without consent, without explanation.

That wasn’t a mistake.
That was paper genocide.

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This is what happened to millions of Indigenous Black Americans across the South.
Their identities were stripped away on paper—one document at a time—by a system designed to erase, absorb, and exploit.

This wasn’t just about racism. It was about land, power, and control.

By reclassifying tribal people as Negro or Colored, the government could:

  • Deny them land rights

  • Remove them from tribal rolls

  • Steal their inheritance

  • And make sure future generations never knew who they really were

This is why so many of our elders say, “My grandma said we had Indian in us.”
They weren’t lying.
They just didn’t have the tools to prove it.

Now we do.

And I’m not showing you this to just share my story—I’m showing you because this might be your story, too.

If you’re ready to go deeper, tomorrow I’m going to pull back the curtain on how far this went—how the reclassification of Black Indians was not an exception, but the rule across the Southeast.

You’re not crazy.
You’re not reaching.
You’re remembering.

—Mike
Founder, Native Black Ancestry

 

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Voices of West Tampa: District 5 Special Election Forum, Aug. 27th

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(TAMPA, FL – August 12, 2025) – The Black Agenda is coming! Join us this August for a powerful virtual town hall where residents, neighborhood associations, nonprofit leaders, faith communities, and other key stakeholders will come together to share their concerns and discuss solutions.

🎥
 This event will be streamed live and will feature candidates offering their vision for the future of West Tampa.
This will be a street-level, bottom-up dialogue—focused on real voices, real stories, and real strategies to protect and uplift our community.
https://us02web.zoom.us/…/register/n2MwP53TQ-2e9xfih1rrAg

Join us this August for a powerful virtual town hall.

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From Illinois to Texas, CTU President Stacy Davis Gates Leads Largest African American Parade in the Country Amid National Education and Democracy Attacks

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(CHICAGO – August 8, 2025) – This Saturday, internationally recognized labor leader and Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates will serve as an Honorary Marshal at the 96th Annual Bud Billiken Parade, the largest African American parade in the United States.

Why Does This Matter?

  • Back To School: As families nationwide prepare for the academic year, the Chicago Teachers Union will usher it in by continuing the call for Chicago’s 300,000+ students to have the schools they deserve.
  • Texas: State-level fights over education and democracy in Illinois resonate across the nation. Illinois is currently hosting Texas Democratic leaders who are fighting shared policy battles including public education funding and labor protections.
  • National Relevance: The Chicago Teachers Union is one of the most powerful teachers’ unions in the country. When America catches a cold, Chicago catches the flu, but its leaders continue to push back on attacks against equality and opportunity. It is the third-largest local teachers union in the country and the largest local union in Illinois.

“DOGE already happened in Chicago. Our public school system was ravaged by the types of policies that are being implemented at the federal level right now: summarily firing female workers, Black female workers from the schools; closing schools—Rahm Emanuel closed fifty of them.” – Stacy Davis Gates (May 2025)

________________________________________________
About Stacy Davis Gates

  • A working mother and high school social studies teacher.
  • Led the historic 2019 CTU strike, securing smaller class sizes, sanctuary protections for immigrant students and the right to teach Black history.
  • Raised millions to elect pro-education and pro-worker candidates including Mayor Brandon Johnson and fought for equitable school funding.
  • Serves as Executive Vice President of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, Vice President of the American Federation of Teachers, Party Chair of United Working Families, and board member of the Action Center on Race & the Economy (ACRE).
  • Is one of the next-generation labor leaders that you are going to want to get to know. She is going to help define what union leadership looks like in the coming years.

Stacy Davis Gates

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