Michael A. Gonzales
banner
magonzales.bsky.social
Michael A. Gonzales
@magonzales.bsky.social
Born and raised in Harlem, Michael A. Gonzales has been anointed "the hip-hop Chester Himes" by Miles Marshall Lewis. He's published true-crime essays at CrimeReads, and short stories in Ellery Queen, Rock & a Hard Place and Vautrin magazine.
Reposted by Michael A. Gonzales
#SaggSeason
#SaggGenius
#BillyPaul

“in my case, that meant singing like a horn player. I’d always been a John Coltrane fan—he was from Philly; you know, and he told me once he wanted to be a singer and that’s why he played the way he did. Well, I sang the way he blew."
medium.com/@tnimixtape/...
Am I Black Enough For You? The Legacy of Billy Paul by Mark Anthony Neal
Billy Paul was a grown man of 37 years-old when he registered his first and only Pop hit with the classic “Me and Mrs. Jones.” But to think…
medium.com
December 1, 2025 at 11:02 PM
One of those books I read a million years back when I was trying to teach myself to be a music journalist.
December 1, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Reposted by Michael A. Gonzales
Who in their right minds would have a dedicated magazine section of their bookstore devoted to random film, TV and music issues from across the last five decades? Plus Mad Magazine anthologies? Why, us, of course. mzs.press/Magazines-c1...
Magazines
This section contains magazines of both recent and older vintage. Some were purchased in the wild (i.e. out of a rack at a store), while others were found in secondhand shops or liberated from the pro...
mzs.press
December 1, 2025 at 7:21 AM
Reposted by Michael A. Gonzales
December 1, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Finally read, and enjoyed, Tar Baby by Toni Morrison. Next stop will be Sula.
--portrait by Tim Okamura
November 30, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Good Burger
November 30, 2025 at 4:09 AM
Reposted by Michael A. Gonzales
Filling a book with beautiful language is hard. Doing so without coming off high-toned or inauthentic to your characters is even harder.

Daniel Woodrell threaded this needle better than any contemporary author I know. His passing is an enormous loss.

#RIP #DanielWoodrell
November 30, 2025 at 12:21 AM
Reposted by Michael A. Gonzales
You know what? I'm going to post this again. It's really important that as many Americans see this as possible.
Trump’s FBI Spent Nearly $1 Million on Redacting Epstein Files
A new report reveals the FBI’s frantic “special redaction project” when they thought the Epstein files would be released.
newrepublic.com
November 29, 2025 at 7:50 PM
It's Billy Strayhorn Day...
Frankie Five Hundred (a Harlem based short story that attempts to show a different side of Black life in 1959 NYC)
evergreenreview.com/read/frankie...
November 29, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Frankie too is a Sagittarius
#SaggSeason
@markanthonyneal.bsky.social
In 1959 the coolness of Kind of Blue played on the console, the cinematic hotness of Shadows simmered on screens and my Harlem dwelling Mom worked in a bookstore, went to jazz clubs and took modelling classes. Check out the story Frankie Five Hundred: evergreenreview.com/read/frankie...
November 29, 2025 at 5:34 PM
The Making of a Writer (2003)
Indeed, I had been trying to look like a writer since I was a teenager. This is me at 40 on the penthouse of the Hudson Hotel in NYC.
November 29, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Reposted by Michael A. Gonzales
Andrew Cuomo is like a gambler who has lost all of his cash at the blackjack table, but refuses to leave the casino. "I could've won..."
a man in a suit and tie is speaking into a microphone at a podium that says governor andrew m. cuomo
ALT: a man in a suit and tie is speaking into a microphone at a podium that says governor andrew m. cuomo
media.tenor.com
November 29, 2025 at 2:56 AM
Reposted by Michael A. Gonzales
You might be cool, but you ain't Burt Bacharach and Angie Dickerson cool.
November 29, 2025 at 2:43 AM
Andrew Cuomo is like a gambler who has lost all of his cash at the blackjack table, but refuses to leave the casino. "I could've won..."
a man in a suit and tie is speaking into a microphone at a podium that says governor andrew m. cuomo
ALT: a man in a suit and tie is speaking into a microphone at a podium that says governor andrew m. cuomo
media.tenor.com
November 29, 2025 at 2:56 AM
You might be cool, but you ain't Burt Bacharach and Angie Dickerson cool.
November 29, 2025 at 2:43 AM
Reposted by Michael A. Gonzales
Hey, wanna buy some CDs? Here's a complete guide to everything Burning Ambulance Music has released in our first 5 years:
burningambulance.substack.com/p/its-black-...
It's Black Friday! Buy Our CDs!
A guide to the Burning Ambulance Music catalog...
burningambulance.substack.com
November 28, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Reposted by Michael A. Gonzales
Alt text, the cover of Toni Morrison's TAR BABY with an abstract blue human form & yellow squiggles on a turquoise background, & an illustration of a lush forest carpeted with moss.
Reading Tar Baby by Toni Morrison. Never expected her to name drop Frank Frazetta when describing the beauty of a landscape.
November 28, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Reading Tar Baby by Toni Morrison. Never expected her to name drop Frank Frazetta when describing the beauty of a landscape.
November 28, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Reposted by Michael A. Gonzales
Homeland Security doesn’t grasp the fact that the first Thanksgiving was about making “room at the table” for European “invaders.”
November 27, 2025 at 11:57 PM
Dizzy Gillespie
Oasis
Prince
Sade
Nancy Wilson
Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you’ve seen.

Heart
Raphael Saadiq
Arctic Monkeys
Green Day
Babyface
November 28, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Just realized today that if you have the Netflix with commercials there are some movies that are blocked to you. Remember when we all loved Netflix? Not no more. @netflix.com
a cartoon of spongebob and squidward with the word capitalism on the bottom
ALT: a cartoon of spongebob and squidward with the word capitalism on the bottom
media.tenor.com
November 27, 2025 at 12:56 AM
November 26, 2025 at 11:56 PM
From the Soul: The Life and Music of Jesse Powell @evergreenreview.com
--A cool story about a hot player
November 25, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Reposted by Michael A. Gonzales
On Broadway
an NYC essay by Michael A. Gonzales
mrbellersneighborhood.com/2025/08/on-b...
On Broadway
On Broadway
mrbellersneighborhood.com
November 23, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Reposted by Michael A. Gonzales
Seeking recommendations of poets with a jazz orientation who might be interested in writing something for a 2026 CD. Please do NOT recommend a woman with the initials H.H. Thanks!
November 25, 2025 at 1:14 AM