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Reading Outdoors

News

Reading Outdoors

Published

4 years ago

on

August 6, 2022

By

Doni Glover

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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.

For more

THE WEEK IN CULTURE

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.

THE LATEST NEWS

CULTURE CALENDAR

🎮 “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.

RECIPE OF THE WEEK

Yakitori-Style Salmon With Scallions and Zucchini

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.

REAL ESTATE

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

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

GAME OF THE WEEKEND

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.

For more:

NOW TIME TO PLAY

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News

BlackUSA.News Unveils New National Platform Connecting Readers to America’s Leading Black Media

Published

2 weeks ago

on

July 3, 2026

By

Doni Glover

(NEW YORK – July 2, 2026) – For more than two centuries, the Black Press has documented the triumphs, struggles, businesses, politics, faith, education, and culture of Black America. Today, that tradition enters a new chapter.

BlackUSA.News has launched a newly redesigned national platform that not only delivers original reporting from across the country but also connects readers directly to many of the nation’s most respected Black-owned news organizations.

Visitors can now easily navigate to trusted journalism from publications including:

Atlanta Black Star
BMORENews.com
Washington Informer
St. Louis American
AFRO-American Newspapers
Black Press USA
Black Wall Street Times
Black Enterprise
New York Amsterdam News
The Final Call
Texas Metro News
African Diaspora News Channel

Rather than asking readers to search dozens of websites independently, BlackUSA.News serves as a national gateway—bringing together voices that have informed, educated, and empowered Black communities for generations.

“Our vision has always been bigger than one publication,” said Doni Glover, founder of BlackUSA.News. “The Black Press has never lacked great journalism. What we’ve often lacked is visibility, discoverability, and a common front door. BlackUSA.News helps solve that problem.”

The redesigned platform reflects the publication’s ongoing evolution from a news website into a national knowledge network that documents Black life, leadership, entrepreneurship, education, government, philanthropy, and community institutions across America.

Readers will continue to find original reporting, exclusive interviews, Black Wall Street coverage, business news, political analysis, and community stories while also discovering journalism from historic and emerging Black-owned media organizations nationwide.

As artificial intelligence, search engines, and social media increasingly determine what news people see, BlackUSA.News believes collaboration—not competition—is one of the strongest strategies for ensuring Black stories remain visible and accessible.

“This isn’t about replacing anyone,” Glover said. “It’s about strengthening the entire ecosystem.”

The redesign represents another milestone in BlackUSA.News’ mission to document Black excellence city by city while helping readers connect with trusted Black journalism wherever it is being produced.

Future versions of BlackUSA.News will continue to expand beyond news, creating one of the nation’s most comprehensive knowledge platforms that document Black-owned businesses, nonprofits, churches, elected officials, educational institutions, media organizations, and community leaders—building a living digital map of Black America.

BlackUSA.News
Connecting Black America, One Story at a Time.

Business

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

Published

11 months ago

on

August 17, 2025

By

Doni Glover

(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

📜 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.

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

News

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

Published

11 months ago

on

August 12, 2025

By

Doni Glover

(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