Nneka M. Okona 🇳🇬
@afrosypaella.bsky.social
Chronicler of Black cultural memory | Author of SELF-CARE FOR GRIEF (2021) & THE LITTLE BOOK OF SELF-HEALING (2022) | The hottest under the sun ⚡️
Website: nnekamokona.com
the dead zine: thedeadzine.beehiiv.com
the black alone: theblackalone.substack.com
Website: nnekamokona.com
the dead zine: thedeadzine.beehiiv.com
the black alone: theblackalone.substack.com
Pinned
#1 most read within the culture section today. Not so bad for my Guardian debut.
Reposted by Nneka M. Okona 🇳🇬
I’m so happy to see this article finally published! Thank you @afrosypaella.bsky.social for including me in this piece. It’s beautifully written and captures the the irony of being from Ohio where the history is rich and fraught. Thank you for being a witness ❤️
I wrote this and put my soul into it bc it felt so deeply urgent. Thanks to @taralconley.com for speaking to me + adding her voice among many, many others as you can read. Will properly say more about this tmrw but am about to enjoy the rest of my holiday weekend & a glass of cava to celebrate! :)
Who preserves the homes of Black literary giants | Nneka M Okona
July 6, 2025 at 9:19 PM
I’m so happy to see this article finally published! Thank you @afrosypaella.bsky.social for including me in this piece. It’s beautifully written and captures the the irony of being from Ohio where the history is rich and fraught. Thank you for being a witness ❤️
Reposted by Nneka M. Okona 🇳🇬
Who preserves the homes of Black literary giants | Nneka M Okona
Who preserves the homes of Black literary giants | Nneka M Okona
Langston Hughes and Toni Morrison’s childhood homes remain unmarked – raising urgent questions about legacy and preservation
www.theguardian.com
July 6, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Who preserves the homes of Black literary giants | Nneka M Okona
I wrote this and put my soul into it bc it felt so deeply urgent. Thanks to @taralconley.com for speaking to me + adding her voice among many, many others as you can read. Will properly say more about this tmrw but am about to enjoy the rest of my holiday weekend & a glass of cava to celebrate! :)
Who preserves the homes of Black literary giants | Nneka M Okona
Who preserves the homes of Black literary giants | Nneka M Okona
Langston Hughes and Toni Morrison’s childhood homes remain unmarked – raising urgent questions about legacy and preservation
www.theguardian.com
July 6, 2025 at 7:47 PM
I wrote this and put my soul into it bc it felt so deeply urgent. Thanks to @taralconley.com for speaking to me + adding her voice among many, many others as you can read. Will properly say more about this tmrw but am about to enjoy the rest of my holiday weekend & a glass of cava to celebrate! :)
I'm going on a cruise next week that retails for $14K so I guess that? I'm not paying for this by the way. Travel journalist perks. :)
What’s the most expensive place you’ve been? I’m talking about if you add the total of the flight, accommodations, transportation, and spending money. And what time of year did you go?
May 29, 2025 at 10:13 PM
I'm going on a cruise next week that retails for $14K so I guess that? I'm not paying for this by the way. Travel journalist perks. :)
A lot of y'all are hellbent on being boring as fuck. Barely 30 and talking about your 7 p.m. bedtimes and not leaving the house after 1 p.m. I'll be 40 next year and am confused at this because I go to bed late and stay out late, too. Aging does not mean rotting at home.
May 23, 2025 at 3:28 AM
A lot of y'all are hellbent on being boring as fuck. Barely 30 and talking about your 7 p.m. bedtimes and not leaving the house after 1 p.m. I'll be 40 next year and am confused at this because I go to bed late and stay out late, too. Aging does not mean rotting at home.
Reposted by Nneka M. Okona 🇳🇬
Some of y’all noticed I’ve been uncharacteristically offline. This is why, and I remain on leave for a few weeks to handle a PTSD relapse. CJR was dogged in its pursuit of my story. Because of what I do and who I am, I felt that I had to answer their questions honestly.
www.cjr.org/feature-2/we...
www.cjr.org/feature-2/we...
Journalists Attest to Experiences of Sexual Misconduct with Wesley Lowery
Lowery rose to prominence as a reporter and media thinker. Women in the industry say he engaged in sexual harassment and assault.
www.cjr.org
May 21, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Some of y’all noticed I’ve been uncharacteristically offline. This is why, and I remain on leave for a few weeks to handle a PTSD relapse. CJR was dogged in its pursuit of my story. Because of what I do and who I am, I felt that I had to answer their questions honestly.
www.cjr.org/feature-2/we...
www.cjr.org/feature-2/we...
Some news: this piece was selected as one of the 20 *best* pieces of food and travel writing for 2024! So honored and excited. My first anthology! 🥹
May 14, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Some news: this piece was selected as one of the 20 *best* pieces of food and travel writing for 2024! So honored and excited. My first anthology! 🥹
Reposted by Nneka M. Okona 🇳🇬
We’re thrilled to announce that Magical/Realism by Vanessa Angélica Villarreal has been nominated for the 35th Annual Reading the West Book Awards in the Memoir/Biography category!
Now it’s your turn to vote by May 31st. Winners announced June 12, 2025.
Now it’s your turn to vote by May 31st. Winners announced June 12, 2025.
May 1, 2025 at 3:24 PM
We’re thrilled to announce that Magical/Realism by Vanessa Angélica Villarreal has been nominated for the 35th Annual Reading the West Book Awards in the Memoir/Biography category!
Now it’s your turn to vote by May 31st. Winners announced June 12, 2025.
Now it’s your turn to vote by May 31st. Winners announced June 12, 2025.
Reposted by Nneka M. Okona 🇳🇬
We spent the Pornhub Awards with some of the site’s biggest stars to talk censorship, making money, and the popularity of trans porn—all while the site is blocked in more than a third of US states. www.wired.com/story/pornhu...
Your Favorite Porn Stars Are Sick of Being Censored. But They’re Not Going Away
We spent the Pornhub Awards with some of the site’s biggest stars to talk censorship, making money, and the popularity of trans porn—all while the site is blocked in more than a third of US states.
www.wired.com
May 13, 2025 at 11:07 AM
We spent the Pornhub Awards with some of the site’s biggest stars to talk censorship, making money, and the popularity of trans porn—all while the site is blocked in more than a third of US states. www.wired.com/story/pornhu...
Was gonna go out tonight but decided to stay home to make gumbo and drink wine.
a close up of a woman 's face with her eyes closed and her hair in a ponytail .
ALT: a close up of a woman 's face with her eyes closed and her hair in a ponytail .
media.tenor.com
May 4, 2025 at 1:25 AM
Was gonna go out tonight but decided to stay home to make gumbo and drink wine.
I’m delighted to share that I was selected as one of @ijnr.bsky.social’s Environmental Justice grantees to write about ecological grief (e.g. climate grief) of Black communities in the South for @prismreports.org. Honored to do this work & filled with gratitude for being supported. Let’s get it! ⚡️💥
Congratulations to all 33 grantees of our 2025 field reporting grants! See the winning projects here: www.ijnr.org/2025-field-r...
May 2, 2025 at 9:04 PM
I’m delighted to share that I was selected as one of @ijnr.bsky.social’s Environmental Justice grantees to write about ecological grief (e.g. climate grief) of Black communities in the South for @prismreports.org. Honored to do this work & filled with gratitude for being supported. Let’s get it! ⚡️💥
It’s harder than it used to be but not hopeless. I think writers—especially those who work in media—are being called to do something different + not rely on traditional structures in the same way we used to as they’re *all* crumbling now. It’ll take creativity, innovation & grit to carry us forth.
I'm gonna be honest: If you don't have a popular newsletter, a book under contract, or a staff job at a legacy publication, I don't know how a writer can make a living right now.
So many outlets are gone and I've been holding this grief for quite some time.
So many outlets are gone and I've been holding this grief for quite some time.
May 2, 2025 at 2:32 AM
It’s harder than it used to be but not hopeless. I think writers—especially those who work in media—are being called to do something different + not rely on traditional structures in the same way we used to as they’re *all* crumbling now. It’ll take creativity, innovation & grit to carry us forth.
Reposted by Nneka M. Okona 🇳🇬
The NYT isn't up for this moment because if you look at their history they've always missed the moment. As "the publication of record" it shouldn't exist. The American public deserves better.
Even in the face of explicit fascism, with legal residents being disappeared to torture prisons, life-saving aid being illegally yanked, open discussion of a "third term" ...
... even now, it is so obvious that the NYT's primary worry is the left getting too worked up.
... even now, it is so obvious that the NYT's primary worry is the left getting too worked up.
May 2, 2025 at 12:33 AM
The NYT isn't up for this moment because if you look at their history they've always missed the moment. As "the publication of record" it shouldn't exist. The American public deserves better.
Racism and misogynoir.
why do british people hate meghan markle so much
May 1, 2025 at 2:51 AM
Racism and misogynoir.
Our generation has a loooot to learn about actually being *in* community with folks. Being a host does not necessarily mean you do it all yourself nor pay for it all yourself either. It is a communal effort. With our parents it was always a shared effort despite how it appeared!
April 29, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Our generation has a loooot to learn about actually being *in* community with folks. Being a host does not necessarily mean you do it all yourself nor pay for it all yourself either. It is a communal effort. With our parents it was always a shared effort despite how it appeared!
Seems like a lot of folk who identify as Type A have undiagnosed anxiety.
April 21, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Seems like a lot of folk who identify as Type A have undiagnosed anxiety.
Reposted by Nneka M. Okona 🇳🇬
Harvard will not comply with the Trump administration’s demands to dismantle its diversity programming and limit student protests in exchange for its federal funding, the university president announced www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
April 14, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Harvard will not comply with the Trump administration’s demands to dismantle its diversity programming and limit student protests in exchange for its federal funding, the university president announced www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Journalism has always been an enforcer & willing participant of white supremacy. Lynchings and other acts of racist hate + violence were promoted & published in newspapers remember. Let’s not forget this especially now.
America’s largest newspaper chain, Gannett, will stop publishing diversity data and has removed mentions of diversity from its corporate site
Gannett will stop publishing diversity information, citing Trump’s executive order
The company also removed mentions of "diversity" from its corporate site.
www.niemanlab.org
April 11, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Journalism has always been an enforcer & willing participant of white supremacy. Lynchings and other acts of racist hate + violence were promoted & published in newspapers remember. Let’s not forget this especially now.
Self-deprecating takes on writing and being a writer just never hit for me. It’s not a tone I like or appreciate. A lot of you are miserable & insecure and bring those things into your creative practice droning on and on about how much you hate writing. Deeply uninteresting.
April 8, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Self-deprecating takes on writing and being a writer just never hit for me. It’s not a tone I like or appreciate. A lot of you are miserable & insecure and bring those things into your creative practice droning on and on about how much you hate writing. Deeply uninteresting.
We really *need* more Black writers to write biographies of our Black figures. Doing some preliminary research on Duke Ellington for this essay I’m working on. And I’m struggling because what is written about him is so racist. Revelatory in some respects but racist.
April 7, 2025 at 11:10 PM
We really *need* more Black writers to write biographies of our Black figures. Doing some preliminary research on Duke Ellington for this essay I’m working on. And I’m struggling because what is written about him is so racist. Revelatory in some respects but racist.
Reposted by Nneka M. Okona 🇳🇬
here’s a curse word free version of “look it up” as requested by countless teachers and librarians 🥰😘
April 7, 2025 at 8:35 PM
here’s a curse word free version of “look it up” as requested by countless teachers and librarians 🥰😘
Reposted by Nneka M. Okona 🇳🇬
It’s the birthday of Billie Holiday, a survivor of abuse & an enemy of the state who was targeted by the FBI through her use of narcotics for bringing lynching to light, & died handcuffed to her hospital bed.
April 7, 2025 at 4:02 PM
It’s the birthday of Billie Holiday, a survivor of abuse & an enemy of the state who was targeted by the FBI through her use of narcotics for bringing lynching to light, & died handcuffed to her hospital bed.
Reposted by Nneka M. Okona 🇳🇬
When we worry about the declining rates of literacy and a lack of reading skills, it's often about children. But how often are adults reading these days? And what are we reading? A new NPR/Ipsos poll finds out.
Most Americans want to read more books. We just don't.
When we worry about the declining rates of literacy and a lack of reading skills, it's often about children. But how often are adults reading these days? And what are we reading? A new NPR/Ipsos poll ...
www.npr.org
April 7, 2025 at 3:41 PM
When we worry about the declining rates of literacy and a lack of reading skills, it's often about children. But how often are adults reading these days? And what are we reading? A new NPR/Ipsos poll finds out.
Reposted by Nneka M. Okona 🇳🇬
An unsecured database used by a generative AI app revealed prompts and tens of thousands of explicit images—including child abuse material and de-aged celebrities.
The company deleted its websites after WIRED reached out.
The company deleted its websites after WIRED reached out.
An AI Image Generator’s Exposed Database Reveals What People Really Used It For
An unsecured database used by a generative AI app revealed prompts and tens of thousands of explicit images—some of which are likely illegal. The company deleted its websites after WIRED reached out.
wrd.cm
April 5, 2025 at 8:53 PM
An unsecured database used by a generative AI app revealed prompts and tens of thousands of explicit images—including child abuse material and de-aged celebrities.
The company deleted its websites after WIRED reached out.
The company deleted its websites after WIRED reached out.
Music not good, dancing hasn’t been good in at least a decade, vocals have not further developed at all, etc.
I need yall to release Chris Brown. The music is not that good for yall to still be going up for him.
April 5, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Music not good, dancing hasn’t been good in at least a decade, vocals have not further developed at all, etc.