Letter from the editor:

As many of us continue to do the important work of donating and organizing to support the Black Lives Matter movement, I’d recommend checking out this fundraiser offering “brilliantly hued,” artist-designed scarves via New York gallery Gordan Robichaux. Through the end of today, proceeds from sales are being donated to the Black Trans Advocacy Coalition (BTAC), which provides critical support to Black trans individuals, who, as our staff writer Valentina Di Liscia notes, “remain one of the most vulnerable populations in the US.” You can also donate directly to BTAC here.  

Our staff writer Hakim Bishara penned a brief but insightful history of local monuments to Christopher Columbus, which have long been contentious. Hakim recounts numerous attempts to remove these statues, which many view as “symbols of the genocide, rape, and dispossession of Native Americans and the onset of the transatlantic slave trade.”

This week, I also got a chance to spotlight a few particularly inspiring queer New Yorkers — ballroom star and performance queen Kia LaBeija, for our Meet the NYC Art Community series, and Brooklyn-based poet, curator, and artist Anaïs Duplan, for our ongoing Pride month series. You can read more about our Pride month series and how to participate here. 

Stay safe.

The Contentious History of NYC’s Columbus Monuments

In New York City, thousands are calling for the removal of Christopher Columbus statues, which can be found in Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx, and Brooklyn.

Hakim Bishara

News

An Essential Reading List for Black Liberation, Brought to You by the Schomburg Center

To mark its 95th anniversary, the center’s staff and curators chose 95 books by Black authors, including titles by James Baldwin, Saidiya Hartman, Jesmyn Ward, Deborah Willis, and Colson Whitehead.

Sale of Artist-Designed Scarves Benefits Black Trans Advocacy Coalition

Gordon Robichaux has partnered with Post Present Medium to publish a series of silkscreened bandanas by Leilah Babirye, Matt Connors, Otis Houston Jr., Elisabeth Kley, Matt Paweski, and Tabboo!

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