issue #57 - the unremarkable one

It was a week like any other. A weekend like most.

There were back-to-back Zoom calls. Too many worksheets printed and completed by Rho. Too many rounds of ‘put the ball in the box!’ with Rhaki. A decent number of books read (all romance, and all excellent). Too many cups of coffee consumed, and not enough hours of sleep.

It’s the same day, lived over and over and over and over again. And while this week just feels a little bit different (Rho’s last week of school, making some big decisions on work projects, buying Rhaki his first pair of shoes because he’s RUNNING), it’s still got the same old same old that has made the past 3 months feel like years.

That said, we are still in a global pandemic. So wear your mask. Please and thank you.

If you need a mid-week-pick-me-up, come join Soha and I for a yoga workout at 5:30 pm ET/2:30 pm PT! We’ll be going Live on Instagram, and all we ask is that you make a donation to Youth Represent before the workout. If you’d like a calendar invite, just hit reply! And we’re working on the honor system here, so please donate whatever you can afford and get ready to flow with us!

If this is your first e-mail from me, welcome! In addition to writing the book How To Pack, I'm an entrepreneur and angel investor, an avid reader, and a mom of two boys (a 5 year old and a 1 year old).

Every Saturday, I share the 25 best reads from the Internet (culled from the daily shares on my Instagram), the books I've read that week, and things I'm generally loving at the moment. You can join the conversation on all these articles - and more! - in my Facebook group.

Looking for my packing list template? Here you go!

Be Anti-Racist. Do These.

• Look up your town and state’s police budgets. See if budget increases have been requested, and do a little bit of research into WHY. Police defunding is a hot topic right now, and it’s simple to understand- departments don’t get the budget increases that were requested and those funds are diverted to social services that can handle many of the 911 calls, especially related to mental health. Do a little digging and see how many 911 calls made in your town and state had to do with violent crime or was a mental health issue. Form your opinion, and then take action. Many city council meetings are held live over Zoom and are approving 2021 budgets, so you might want to hop on and share your thoughts. Since, you know, you’re paying for it.

• First, follow all of these women on Instagram. Then, watch one or all of these videos on the lessons we clearly needed to learn in school but never did:

  • Appropriation vs Appreciation (sequinsandsales)

  • Racism in the Christian Church (ayanagabriellelage)

  • No one things they’re racist. And that’s the problem (goodtomicha)

  • American history you didn’t learn in school (whatnicolewore)

  • Why you need to read books by Black authors that aren’t about racism (lotsofsassblog)

  • How to rest while fighting for social change (thatlifewithnicole)

• Support Black Publishing Power this week by purchasing two books by Black authors this week! I bought Homecoming and Party Of Two (which I already read and LOVED). I also recommend Queen Move, Real Men Knit, and Our Time Is Now. And please support a Black-owned bookstore with these purchases (I linked to my favorite stores in my Favorite Things section)

#ThingsILove This Week

• IBISS is a new-to-me store that I’ve now placed two orders from. It’s an immaculately curated boutique owned by Ibi, one of the most stylish women ever. I highly recommend this lounge set (also in pink), a towel headband, a tie dye caftan (and a matching hat, if you are into it), and this tie-dye set because I’m all in for this trend.

• #ad I zhushed Tastefully Simple’s spinach artichoke dip when I was having an especially bad day, complete with caramelized onions and jalapeños and freshly baked chips. It turned around the entire day, and now I need to order more boxes of the dip mix. You can get 10% off your order with code HOTGTS, and enter to win it and a bunch of other TS goodies by following me and Tastefully Simple on Instagram, and leaving a comment with the restaurant dish you miss the most.

• Per popular request, this is the workbook Rho was doing this morning. Subscribing to education.com has also been a game changer for the many, many worksheets we do a day.

• MasterClass breaks are the one thing that’s kept me sane this week. I watch part of a class when I’m cooking, when I would otherwise be scrolling IG while lying on top of my bed, and when I’m hiding in the car from my kids. Robin Roberts’ class is SO good, and I plan to take Ron Finley’s gardening class next.

• Best purchase ever - blank puzzles for Rho to color and for me to do. As was these bulk packs of markers and crayons.

What I read this week

• Real Men Knit (ARC provided by NetGalley) - give me a complicated family dynamic, relationships formed in childhood, and crafting and New York and I’m in heaven. And thanks to Kwana Jackson’s masterful writing, this book had me with a sappy grin on my face throughout most of it. I loved the push/pull of Kerry and Jesse’s relationship, Jesse’s meddling brothers, and the support of a tight-knit community that keeps nudging them together. This book was WONDERFUL.

• Something To Talk About (ARC provided by NetGalley) - this book had Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo and Red, White, And Royal Blue vibes, but stood out as the jewel of a book that it is. I spend the book falling a little more in love with Emma, Jo, and the budding relationship between Emma AND Jo. Meryl Wilsner shined a bright light - a dazzling and honest one - on the business of Hollywood, and drew us into a love story that I just loved. Another wonderful romance.

• Queen Move - another romance, because that’s all my brain can handle right now. A first love reunited is a trope I’m always here for. But throw in an ex and a child, a politically famous family, interracial AND interreligious conflict, meddling families, and fertility issues, and only a masterful author like Kennedy Ryan could have pulled off this book - which is one of the steamiest I’ve ever read, and just beautifully written. Ezra and Kimba forever, and I have Ryan’s All The King’s Men duet on deck next.

I’m building outmy Bookshop store, which will house all my favorite books in all the categories. Please consider purchasing your books throughBookshopandLibro.fm(use code HITHA for 3 free books when you start a membership) to support independent bookstores!

Hitha’s Favorite Things

• Libro.fm is my favorite audiobook app (it credits your favorite independent bookstore with the sale). Use code HITHA to get 3 audiobooks for the price of 1 when you create a monthly membership. Please choose one of these bookstores to support through your membership!

• PLEASE purchase your books from independent bookstores! I recommend The Lit Bar,The Bronx Is Reading, Semicolon Bookstore, Uncle Bobbie's which are all on Bookshop.org.

• I use the BOM to order a lot of our household products. Highly recommend this cleaning spray, this laundry detergent, and these wipes. Use this link to get $10 your order!

• my favorite vitamins (both their pre-natal and their essential one for women). Use code HITHA for 10% off your first 3 months.

• CBD has been a lifesaver for me. Get 20% off your first order with code HITHA.

• my favorite produce delivery company that supports small farms in the process. Use code COOKWME-NM5DMZ for 25% off.

• the BEST olive oil you’ll ever taste (and one of my portfolio companies). That link will give you $10 off your first order!

• Small Packages (one of my portfolio companies) is the curated gift box company I’m always talking about - get 15% off your order with the code HITHA

• Use this app to save #5SmartReads to read later

• MasterClass is worth every penny. I watch them while cooking meals, when I need a break, and when I’m feeling unmotivated and I’ve learned so much from it.

• the notebook that has changed my life (see how I use it here and here). Get 15% off with code HITHA15.

• the marriage check-in my husband and I do every single week

• my favorite workout - and why. Use code G37YVV for $100 in accessories (spin shoes, weights, headphones - oh my!). You can also follow me on the app (I’m hithaonthegogo) to see what workouts I’m doing, and join our tag #smartnsweaty.

The Top 5

1. There’s One Big Reason Why Police Brutality Is So Common In The US. And That’s The Police Unions. (BuzzFeed News)

2. How medical bias against black people is shaping Covid-19 treatment and care (Vox)

3. The Bachelor: the show that rewards white mediocrity time and time again (Sisi Mag)

4. The First Year Out (Marie Claire)

5. Ivanka Trump and Charles Koch Fuel a Cancel-Culture Clash at Wichita State (The New Yorker)

The Catch Up

Monday

• House plans dramatic action on police reform (Axios)

• Police Militarization Is a Problem the Left and Right Can Agree About — and Solve (Intelligencer)

• ‘The Bronx Is Not Going to Let This Bookstore Close’ (The Cut)

• Nicole Byer on Netflix Stardom, Body Positivity, and Her New Book (Zora)

Tuesday

• Ethel’s Club Founder Naj Austin On Creating Virtual Healing & Grieving Circles For Black People (Bustle)

• There’s Never Been a Better Time to Abolish Qualified Immunity (The Dispatch)

• Black Winemaker Launches 'Love-Infused' Wine After Loss Of Wife (Essence)

• Sick of the ‘blue code of silence,’ director Ava DuVernay starts an initiative to spotlight police brutality (Washington Post)

Wednesday

• ‘Lupus Cast A Chronic Shadow Over My Life For 30 Years—Now I’m Shining A Light On It’ (Women’s Health Magazine)

• How to Celebrate Pride Quietly When You Aren't Totally Out (VICE)

• Priya Krishna’s Quarantine Journal, Entry No. 14: Savoring Time With the Parents (Texas Monthly)

• Video evidence increasingly disproves police narratives (AP)

Thursday

• No jobs, no tests, no savings: Southeast LA County hit hard by pandemic (Cal Matters)

• Renewlogy Converting Landfill-Bound Plastics to Fuel (Plastics Technology)

• Camden disbanded its police department and built a new one. Can others learn from it? (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

• Kiko Davis, only Black female bank owner in US, says her superpower is courage (Rolling Out)

Friday

• The Author of So You Want to Talk About Race Wants to Live in a World That Doesn’t Need Her Book (Glamour)

• US Military Could Lose Space Force Trademark to Netflix Series (CBR.com)

• Bon Appetit staffers are demanding equal pay. It’s a prime example of how salary transparency can make a difference. (The Lily)

• 'My Blackitude Was Prominent in Everything I Did': André Leon Talley on Wearing Blackness in White Spaces (The Root)