The MoAD Book Store offers a wide variety of titles to augment your MoAD experience. The store is open Wednesday through Sunday during regular Museum hours. Members receive a 10% discount on all items.
Just a few of the titles currently in stock:
Last Stop on Market Street
By Matt de la Pena
Illustrated by Christian Robins
G.P. Putnam $17.99
“He wondered how his nana always found beautiful where he never even thought to look.” Matt de la Pena and Christian Robinson pair up to take us on a bus ride down Market Street with a young boy and his nana. Along the way, the boy finds himself yearning for what he doesn’t have, such as an iPod like the older boys have. His nana helps him to see the benefits of not having what others have, proving how special his different experiences are. Throughout the story, there is a strong sense of community during the boy’s journey and also at his destination. By the end of the book, one is able to recognize the gift of seeing the beauty in all places.
Of Poetry & Protest: From Emmett Till to Trayvon Martin
Edited and compiled by Philip Cushway and Michael Warr
Photography by Victoria Smith
W.W. Norton $21.95
Much like a grand orchestral piece intelligently composed of voices singing lyrics of justice, kinship, and ways for us to approach, dare, implement life consciously, compassionately, ethically. Toi Derricotte welcomes me to reimagine fragments of a broken past. Her voice hums in my ear, “…I think of the peace / of walking through the house, / pointing to the name of this, the name of that, / an educator of a new man.” And the halls of the house are dark, stained, cold. Of Poetry & Protest: From Emmett Till to Trayvon Martin roots in the mind truth’s brightest blossom; through its collection of portraiture; modes of resistance; Muhammad Ali’s fist in my face; words that speak of an inheritance bold and brave; Nina Simone exuberant, and with arms wide open; Huey Newtown flanked by weapons born of our European and African tragedy. I sing along with Elizabeth Alexander: Help me “pound” against the myth history has made of me. Through this anthology of poetry, award-winning poet Michael Warr weaves into the words of the forty-three who through their truths Keep Faith Alive a space where voices in unison blare sounds of resistance and the stranger no longer looks like the other. “I fount out something / about / the magic / of slavery / & I / vowed not to be / a slave / no more.”
Afro-Vegan: Farm-Fresh African, Caribbean, and Southern Flavors Remixed
Bryant Terry
Penguin Random House $27.50
Oakland-based food justice activist Bryant Terry wants us to eat “real food” again! Through what he coins a good food movement, the public health crisis (age, hypertension, cholesterol) rampant in marginalized communities is addressed by Terry’s clean and simple palate informed by his Southern roots and African inspirations. The recipes are simple, and bold; energizing and humbling; inventive, and nostalgic. His recipe for Citrus Collards is a recipe for “Fresh means I don’t need a stamp of approval to buy it”. The recipe for Grilled Asparagus with Rosemary Sea Salt is a call to action, and suddenly I’m at The People’s Market with people, asking questions about food, learning to identify the right amount of softness in a plum; to understand what a bruised apple really means; to know an avocado is ripe just by peeking under its stem to see its beautiful green. The recipe for Butternut Squash-Bartlett Pear Soup with Roasted Butternut Squash Seeds is a “The dining table is the starting place for change”. Cumin-Cayenne Mashed Potatoes with Caramelized Onions is a recipe for “Food is a conduit to connecting with people”. Afro-Vegan is the reminder I need: You are what you eat.
Kitchen Table Series
Carrie Mae Weems, with essays by Sarah Lewis and Adrienne Edwards
Distributed Art Publisher $50
It has been said that a woman’s place is in the kitchen. And it has been observed that should a black woman’s place be in the kitchen, her role is single and it is to serve her master. Through Kitchen Table Series, artist Carrie Mae Weems makes it clear that we are not entering any kitchen, we are entering her kitchen and through it, her private world. She saves a seat for us to witness her body as she wants her body to be viewed and to, as essayist Adrienne Edwards notes, “challenge racist stereotypes by providing photographic evidence of the fullness of black social and economic life.” She sits pensive, seductive, inquisitive before a poster of Malcolm X. She plays lover, nurturer, tease as she shows her daughter how to apply makeup; loving, longing, heartbroken with a cigarette in her hand; cared for, watchful, curious with legs folded to her chest, her head tucked into her lap, a silent phone at the other end of the table. She makes love to herself, consciously. She heals, she grows over a game of cards. Her eyes are closed as a friend brushes her hair. What could she be feeling, thinking, experiencing now? And I can begin to recognize the dynamism that exists within the black woman’s body.
Homegoing
Yaa Gyasi
Penguin Random House $16.00
“We believe the one who has power. He is the one who gets to write the story. So when you study history, you must ask yourself, Whose story am I missing? Whose voice was suppressed so that this voice could come forth? Once you have figured that out, you must find that story too. From there you get a clearer, yet still imperfect, picture.” Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing is a narrative of diaspora that demands not only to be heard, but centered within the global conversation about histories of slavery and colonialism. From Ghana’s Gold Coast to the American plantations of the south, Gyasi weaves together parallel narratives of a family divided. Beginning with the polarized fates of Ghanaian half-sisters Effia and Esi, the novel charts their experiences as one is sold into slavery while the other remains in Ghana and is married to an Englishman. Tracing the experiences and legacies of captivity through eight generations of their family in Ghana and the United States, Gyasi’s novel addresses an often-neglected question: What becomes of those who remain in the Motherland while their families are stolen and sold across the Atlantic? Homegoing is a nuanced and haunting look at not only the implications of the transatlantic slave trade for Black Americans, but is also a reflection on the legacies it has left on the continent of Africa. Gyasi writes for the diaspora, giving us a story that needs to be told as we search for a clearer, yet still imperfect picture of history.
Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement
Angela Davis
Haymarket Books $15.95
“Whenever you conceptualize social justice struggles, you will always defeat your own purposes if you cannot imagine the people around whom you are struggling as equal partners.” Activist and scholar Angela Davis’ most recent book Freedom Is A Constant Struggle is a call for intersectionality in our movements and solidarity in our activism. Compiling a series of essays, speeches, and interviews from over the last several years, Davis responds to the growing visibility of police brutality and state violence occurring around the globe. To contextualize the foundation of our current social justice movements, Davis acknowledges the lasting impacts of South Africa’s Anti-apartheid movement, the civil rights movement in the U.S., and the ongoing efforts for global prison abolition. Challenging the capitalist mentality of individualism, Davis speaks to the growing need to find connections and work across our current liberation movements. From the #BlackLivesMatter front in Ferguson to the Free Palestine movement, Davis argues that radical change cannot be achieved for movements in isolation—rather we must recognize our overlapping visions for the future and work on achieving collective liberation.
Life Doesn’t Frighten Me
Poem by Maya Angelou & Paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat
Abrams Books for Young Readers $19.95
“Don’t show me frogs and snakes/And listen for my scream, /If I’m afraid at all/ It’s only in my dreams. I’ve got a magic charm/ That I keep up my sleeve, / I can walk the ocean floor/And never have to breathe. Life doesn’t frighten me at all.” Pairing the words of timeless poet Dr. Maya Angelou with the vibrant paintings of Jean-Michel Basquiat, this illustrated poem encourages confidence and bravery in the face of our fears, making it an enjoyable book for readers of all ages. Confronted with frightful scenes of “dragons breathing flame” and “tough guys in a fight”, the poem responds with the affirmation that “life doesn’t frighten me at all”. Equally as poetic as the words Angelou weaves together across the shared pages, the bold oranges, reds, blues, and crowns of Basquiat’s paintings reflect the intensity of emotion associated with our day to day fears. We readers are inspired to come away from this book emboldened to meet our fears with strength and courage. It is a joy to experience this beautiful collaboration between the creations of these two talented Black artists.
