This Year, Santa Claus Is Black and Gay–Thanks To This “Colbert” Writer

Christmas is coming early for progressives this year, and it’s coming with a sense of humor. Santa’s Husband, out in bookstores this fall, offers an unusual take on the holiday’s central representative. In this fresh reinvention, Late Show with Stephen Colbert writer Daniel Kibblesmith renders Santa as a black, gay man in an interracial relationship with a white Mr. Claus. Among other selling points for its existence, the book is sure to spur some heated cable news conversations about why exactly we hold our national beliefs about Santa–in essence, the mascot of Christmas–so, well, religiously. Like many other hallowed projects before it, this one started off as a joke. After observing the online uproar about Minneapolis’ Mall of America hiring a black Santa, Kibblesmith tweeted about a facetious child-rearing decision he and his fiancé, author Jennifer Wright, had just made: Their hypothetical baby would only know a black Santa, and this one wouldn’t be straight, either. Me & @JenAshleyWright have decided our future child will only know about Black Santa. If they see a white one we'll say "That's his husband" — Daniel "Kibblesmith" (@kibblesmith) December 3, 2016 The ensuing rapturous retweets convinced Kibblesmith the idea could be something more. It inspired the writer, who pens books and graphic novels when he’s not on the Colbert clock, to try out a children’s book. Artist A.P. Quach quickly came on board, and so did Harper Design. Suddenly, it looked as though... Continue reading at 'Fast Company'

[ Fast Company | 2017-04-20 00:00:00 UTC ]

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Stage anthology 21 Black Futures asks: What is the future of Blackness?

21 Black Futures, a new stage anthology by CBC and Toronto's Obisidan Theatre Company, brings together 63 Black artists from across the country to answer the question "What is the future of Blackness?" Its creation also directly addresses, and... Continue reading at CBC

[ CBC | 2021-02-16 09:00:00 UTC ]
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Macmillan Learning Announces Winners of First Annual “Black History, Black Stories” Contest

The contest was created by Macmillan Learning "to elevate Black voices in education and in recognition of the fight for social justice inspired by the #BlackLivesMatter movement." Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-02-05 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Snapchat Rolls Out Black Excellence Bitmoji, Creative Tools, Lenses for Black History Month

Snapchat is marking Black History Month with a host of in-application features and tools honoring the theme of Black excellence. Snapchatters will have access to Bitmoji, creative tools and lenses highlighting the creativity of Black artists and lens creators on the platform. Black History Month... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2021-02-03 22:50:53 UTC ]
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Black Futures Co-Creators to Guest-Curate Facebook App’s Lift Black Voices Section

Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham, co-authors of visual anthology Black Futures, will become the first-ever guest curators of the Lift Black Voices section in its flagship mobile applications. Starting Monday and lasting for three weeks, they will personally select collections of dialogues, essays... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2021-01-11 18:55:42 UTC ]
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Read Harder: An Own Voices YA Book With a Black Main Character That Isn’t About Black Pain

We've got books for the Read Harder task asking you to read an own voices YA book with a Black main character that isn't about Black pain. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2021-01-07 11:30:00 UTC ]
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Black Lumascape Compiles All Black-Owned Ad-Tech Firms in a Continuously Updating Chart

As the founder and CEO of digital media investment bank Luma Partners LLC, Terence Kawaja is a problem solver by nature. But earlier this summer, as Kawaja watched his news feed, he found himself hearing about problems that left him at a loss. He read about the killing of George Floyd and police... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2020-09-03 12:30:00 UTC ]
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Books in the Media: Children's book reviews dip year on year

In August 2019, The Bookseller reported that children's books accounted for just 4.9% of review space, despite making up a third of the market. Latest figures from Books in the Media shows that this figure has dropped to 4.3%, when looking at reviews from the past 12 months.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-24 01:05:09 UTC ]
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Print market volumes up 18% year on year since bookshops reopened

Bookshops reopening since lockdown restrictions eased have boosted the market 18% in volume against the same period in 2019, with 14.6 million books sold since shop doors opened. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-17 09:17:49 UTC ]
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Sales fell 11% year-on-year in second quarter, Nielsen estimates

Book sales fell 11% by volume year-on-year in the second quarter of 2020, estimates by Nielsen suggest, although there have been gains on 2019 since bookshops reopened. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-05 21:42:39 UTC ]
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Strong year for Children's publishing as W H Smith unveils Books of the Year

W H Smith has unveiled its Books of the Year, with the retailer recognising two children's books for the first time.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-11-13 15:22:56 UTC ]
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Are You a New York Writer or an LA Writer?

You go to a coffee shop in order to focus on your craft. What do you order?  A. A black coffee.  B. An almond milk matcha.  What is your critically acclaimed debut novel about?  A. A man getting stuck on a subway train and revisiting the weight of all of the mistakes he’s made in […] The post... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2019-11-01 11:00:37 UTC ]
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London Writers Awards celebrates 30 'underrepresented' writers

Spread the Word has chosen 30 writers from underrepresented backgrounds for its second annual London Writers Awards. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-09-23 16:49:46 UTC ]
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HBO's *Years and Years* Unlocks Sci-Fi's Ultimate Potential

At its core, science fiction is a tool for building thought experiment machines. That's the game Russell T Davies' new show is playing so beautifully. Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2019-07-11 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Preakness TV audience down about 10 percent year to year in Baltimore — and twice that nationally

The TV audience in Baltimore for Saturday’s Preakness race was down 10.65 percent compared with that in 2018. Those are household figures from Nielsen that measure the size of the audience during the actual running of the race. They are provided by WBAL-TV, the NBC affiliate that aired NBC’s... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-05-20 13:50:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #tv audience #preakness race #household figures #actual running #nbc affiliate #aired nbc


Preakness TV audience down about 10 percent year to year in Baltimore — and twice that nationally

The TV audience in Baltimore for Saturday’s Preakness race was down 10.65 percent compared with that in 2018. Those are household figures from Nielsen that measure the size of the audience during the actual running of the race. They are provided by WBAL-TV, the NBC affiliate that aired NBC’s... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-05-20 13:50:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #tv audience #preakness race #household figures #actual running #nbc affiliate #aired nbc


Last Year's Books Top This Year's First Quarter Sales

Michelle's Obama's 'Becoming,' released in early November, was the biggest title, selling 629,000 copies through outlets that report to BookScan in the period ended March 30. Only three books released in 2019 made the top 20 list in the quarter. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Black Sands Entertainment Focuses on Books, Comics for Black Families

Founded by Manuel Godoy and his wife, Geiszel Godoy, this startup publisher focused on releasing comics, chapter books, and picture books aimed at black parents and their children. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-08-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Yomi Adegoke & Elizabeth Uviebinené | 'Just because something is by black women and about black women, that doesn't mean that it can't be mainstream'

A new, refreshing bible for young black women aims to speak to a demographic neglected by mainstream self-help. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-06-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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New Year, New Zuck: What Facebook's CEO Really Wants to Say About the Year Ahead at Facebook

Mark Zuckerberg has issued his annual New Year challenge to himself, and it's a big one: Fixing Facebook.The hoodie-wearing CEO, who has previously taken on learning Mandarin, reading books and visiting new parts of the country, is setting a less concrete goal in focusing on fixing important... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2018-01-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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