Black Art Is Lit | Black Literature, Culture and Iconic Stories

This week on Black Art Is Lit, we’re reading We Listen & We Don’t Judge by Tony Lamair Burks II.

Chapter 1, “The Principal, the Pastor, and the Pep Rally,” places us in a real-time decision where leadership, community expectations, and student safety all collide. What seems like a straightforward moment quickly becomes a deeper question of power, responsibility, and who is actually being protected.
In this episode, we move through the chapter and sit with what it asks of us. Not just what we think—but what we would do when there isn’t enough time, enough information, or an option that satisfies everyone.

We explore:
what it means to make decisions under pressure

why there is no such thing as a neutral choice

how power shows up in adult and student dynamics

and who we choose to center when it matters most

While rooted in education, this conversation extends far beyond the classroom. These are the same tensions that show up anywhere people are sharing space and making decisions that impact others.

If you’ve ever had to make a call that affected someone else, this episode will sit with you.

Black Art Is Lit is a podcast dedicated to reading, reflecting, and discussing Black literature—one chapter at a time.

This week on BlackArt Is Lit, we’re reading Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge, ahistorical fiction novel set in Reconstruction-era Brooklyn.
A disciplined Black community. Dangerous medical work. Secrecy as survival.
Libertie is growing up under a respected physician mother who can nearly pass. Libertie cannot. After the rescue of Mr. Ben, the stakes become clear and childhood quietly starts to close.
This episode explores the novel’s opening pages, including themes of colorism, Black identity, generational pressure, Haitian lineage, organized resistance networks, and what it means to inherit a version of freedom that may not fit you.
If you’re reading along:        Pay attention to who has access and who does not
Notice how information is controlled
Consider how skin tone shifts mobility insidethe community
If you’ve already read Libertie:
Did you read the mother as protection or control
When did you first see the fracture forming
Follow the show, share the episode with someone who reads historical fiction or literature, and join the conversation.

In this episode of Black Art Is Lit, Nykieria Chaney introduces Burn Down Master’s House by Clay Cane. This historical novel takes place during American slavery and focuses on power, resistance, and the economic system that supported bondage.
Within the plantation system, human life is measured by productivity and controlled through both force and narrative.  Early tensions around breeding, value, and misinformation surface quickly, revealing how deeply structured this world is.
As the story starts, bigger questions emerge. Why do we remember systems of domination more than the organized movements that fought against them? How has misinformation shaped what is remembered and what is erased? Who controls the story?

This week on Black Art Is Lit, we begin Loving Donovan by Bernice L. McFadden.
The opening chapter introduces us to admiration, alignment, and the quiet power of first impressions. Everything feels measured. Intentional. Almost seamless.
But sometimes desire edits our perception, and first chapters are rarely innocent.
As we read, consider what it means to want stability, to be drawn to polish, to trust what appears composed on the surface. What do we notice when we first meet someone? And what do we unconsciously excuse? Not everything announces itself loudly. Some stories move quietly.
If you enjoy reading book club discussions, thoughtful literary analysis, and reading the first chapter before committing to the full novel, Black Art is Lit podcast invites you to slow down and pay attention to the details.

In this episode of Black Art is Lit, we're diving into the opening chapter of Deesha Philyaw's award-winning collection, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies.
This book resonated with women because it tells the truth about the collision between desire and respectability in church spaces. It's specific, the church mothers, the unspoken rules, the particular texture of shame and grace that shapes Black women's lives. Philyaw gives us permission to see these women as fully human: messy, sexual, faithful, complicated, and real.
This isn't a story that eases you in. It names what we've always felt but never heard said out loud. The secrets. The double lives. The desires that don't fit the narrative we were given about who we're supposed to be.
What does it mean when two women who identify as straight are having sex with each other? When labels matter more than actions? When the rules shaping how you see yourself aren't even your own?
Did the honesty feel freeing or unsettling? Let's talk about it.