Santi Elijah Holley
@santiholley.bsky.social
Author of An Amerikan Family: The Shakurs and the Nation They Created (2023, Mariner Books) and a forthcoming history of Melvin Van Peebles and Black independent filmmaking.
www.santielijahholley.com
www.santielijahholley.com
Reposted by Santi Elijah Holley
also ICYMI:
@santiholley.bsky.social wrote a really fun piece about AI theophanies for @religiondispatches.org this week
religiondispatches.org/are-you-ther...
@santiholley.bsky.social wrote a really fun piece about AI theophanies for @religiondispatches.org this week
religiondispatches.org/are-you-ther...
December 17, 2025 at 8:11 PM
also ICYMI:
@santiholley.bsky.social wrote a really fun piece about AI theophanies for @religiondispatches.org this week
religiondispatches.org/are-you-ther...
@santiholley.bsky.social wrote a really fun piece about AI theophanies for @religiondispatches.org this week
religiondispatches.org/are-you-ther...
Reposted by Santi Elijah Holley
loving this gorgeous eulogy for D'Angelo by @santiholley.bsky.social for @religiondispatches.org
religiondispatches.org/what-feeds-y...
religiondispatches.org/what-feeds-y...
“What Feeds Your Soul”: D’Angelo’s Sacred Secular Ministry
In 1992, an 18-year-old preacher’s son sat at an upright piano before the congregation of Refuge Assembly of Yahweh—a Pentecostal church outside Richmond, his family’s church. Sporting an ill-fitting ...
religiondispatches.org
October 16, 2025 at 6:42 PM
loving this gorgeous eulogy for D'Angelo by @santiholley.bsky.social for @religiondispatches.org
religiondispatches.org/what-feeds-y...
religiondispatches.org/what-feeds-y...
Reposted by Santi Elijah Holley
13. #BlackAugust is a time of reflection, particularly to those who are political prisoners, the forgotten, the exiled (like Assata), and those who resist as a whole.
Here's my booklist for Black August.
Free All political prisoners ✊🏾
end/
Here's my booklist for Black August.
Free All political prisoners ✊🏾
end/
August 1, 2025 at 10:28 PM
13. #BlackAugust is a time of reflection, particularly to those who are political prisoners, the forgotten, the exiled (like Assata), and those who resist as a whole.
Here's my booklist for Black August.
Free All political prisoners ✊🏾
end/
Here's my booklist for Black August.
Free All political prisoners ✊🏾
end/
I began writing an essay about my love of classic Black gospel music, but it turned into something much more.
Published today by @nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/m...
Published today by @nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/m...
I Don’t Know if I Believe in God, but I Believe in Gospel Music
www.nytimes.com
July 22, 2025 at 3:13 PM
I began writing an essay about my love of classic Black gospel music, but it turned into something much more.
Published today by @nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/m...
Published today by @nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/m...
Reposted by Santi Elijah Holley
OPINION: The ideas behind comprehensive immigration reform are not new. What is new is the Trump administration's aggressive and cruel tactics, disregard for immigrants’ rights and due process, and the involvement of the military.
religionnews.com/2025/07/02/w...
religionnews.com/2025/07/02/w...
We're still fighting for migrants' dignity in Los Angeles
(RNS) — The deepest tenets of our religions move us to stand with families, congregants and neighbors who are facing the cruelty and scapegoating by the administration.
religionnews.com
July 7, 2025 at 12:00 AM
OPINION: The ideas behind comprehensive immigration reform are not new. What is new is the Trump administration's aggressive and cruel tactics, disregard for immigrants’ rights and due process, and the involvement of the military.
religionnews.com/2025/07/02/w...
religionnews.com/2025/07/02/w...
Reposted by Santi Elijah Holley
I wrote about Sly Stone and Brian Wilson, genuine visionaries who gave us so much, suffered so much, and ultimately retreated from a cruel world not quite ready for the musical visions they summoned.
Sly Stone And Brian Wilson, Pop Visionaries Who Retreated From A Cruel World
The music icons, both dead this week at age 82, were troubled architects of music's future.
www.stereogum.com
June 12, 2025 at 4:39 PM
I wrote about Sly Stone and Brian Wilson, genuine visionaries who gave us so much, suffered so much, and ultimately retreated from a cruel world not quite ready for the musical visions they summoned.
"Last year, the police killed at least 1,226 people, an 18 percent increase over 2019, the year before Mr. Floyd was killed."
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/24/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/24/u...
Since George Floyd’s Murder, Police Killings Keep Rising, Not Falling
www.nytimes.com
May 24, 2025 at 6:45 PM
"Last year, the police killed at least 1,226 people, an 18 percent increase over 2019, the year before Mr. Floyd was killed."
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/24/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/24/u...
This guy turns 2 years old today and I love him just as much as when he first came into the world
May 23, 2025 at 4:20 PM
This guy turns 2 years old today and I love him just as much as when he first came into the world
Reposted by Santi Elijah Holley
This was such a good read and I wanted more of this interview! Love the inclusion of a reading list as well.
senior editor talked to the legendary Dr. Yvonne Chireau about being the Hoodoo consultant on Ryan Coogler's latest blockbuster, *Sinners*
religiondispatches.org/i-dont-do-ho...
religiondispatches.org/i-dont-do-ho...
“I Don’t Do Horror, Ryan Coogler” — Black Magic’s Dr. Yvonne Chireau on Sinners and Bringing Hoodoo to Life
It was my absolute pleasure to chat with Dr. Yvonne Chireau, author of the iconic Black Magic and official Hoodoo consultant for Ryan Coogler’s latest smash hit, Sinners.
If you don’t know her ...
religiondispatches.org
April 25, 2025 at 1:54 AM
This was such a good read and I wanted more of this interview! Love the inclusion of a reading list as well.
Give Ryan Coogler all the awards already
April 25, 2025 at 5:58 AM
Give Ryan Coogler all the awards already
Don't call the police.
A 2024 analysis of LAPD data since 2017 found that nearly a third of people shot at by police were struggling with some kind of mental illness.
By @shoton35mm.bsky.social
For more details: lataco.com/lapd-hector-...
By @shoton35mm.bsky.social
For more details: lataco.com/lapd-hector-...
April 16, 2025 at 3:17 AM
Don't call the police.
With everything happening in the news so quickly, we must not overlook this equally important presidential directive
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
Maintaining Acceptable Water Pressure in Showerheads
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1. Purpose.
www.whitehouse.gov
April 10, 2025 at 1:18 AM
With everything happening in the news so quickly, we must not overlook this equally important presidential directive
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
It's now beginning to make sense why Trump kicked off his presidential campaign in Waco
April 8, 2025 at 3:39 AM
It's now beginning to make sense why Trump kicked off his presidential campaign in Waco
On one hand, it feels wrong for Bruce Springsteen to be a billionaire. On the other hand, if anyone deserves a billion dollars, it's Bruce Springsteen
April 4, 2025 at 9:16 PM
On one hand, it feels wrong for Bruce Springsteen to be a billionaire. On the other hand, if anyone deserves a billion dollars, it's Bruce Springsteen
Are we liberated yet?
April 3, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Are we liberated yet?
Someone please explain this Greenland thing to me
March 28, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Someone please explain this Greenland thing to me
It's a wrap, yall
Kendrick Lamar’s "Not Like Us" is having a religious moment.
Catholic clergy hype Lent on TikTok with Kendrick Lamar's 'Not Like Us' dance
(RNS) — With a Catholic clergy Lenten dance trend, a callout by pastor and Sen. Raphael Warnock and a prominent place in sermons by Black pastors, Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ is having a religious…
religionnews.com
March 25, 2025 at 8:50 PM
It's a wrap, yall
President Barack Obama @barackobama.bsky.social I hope you like nice mushrooms
March 24, 2025 at 10:41 PM
President Barack Obama @barackobama.bsky.social I hope you like nice mushrooms
Chance the Rapper said "I met Kanye West, I'm never going to fail" and we never heard from him again
March 24, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Chance the Rapper said "I met Kanye West, I'm never going to fail" and we never heard from him again
I'm honored to have my work included in this list 🫠
Meta used at least 16 of my books, and numerous articles, to help train the AI it will use to make billions.
Authors, search your name here:
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
Authors, search your name here:
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
Search LibGen, the Pirated-Books Database That Meta Used to Train AI
Millions of books and scientific papers are captured in the collection’s current iteration.
www.theatlantic.com
March 21, 2025 at 12:41 AM
I'm honored to have my work included in this list 🫠
Reposted by Santi Elijah Holley
We gon see who really The Most High.
Why is Easter on 4/20 this year? Why would the Lord test me like this 😭
March 13, 2025 at 7:07 PM
We gon see who really The Most High.
Reposted by Santi Elijah Holley
I think the forcible abduction of a legal permanent resident by an authoritarian administration cracking down on constitutionally protected political speech should be a front-page scandal.
March 10, 2025 at 5:46 PM
I think the forcible abduction of a legal permanent resident by an authoritarian administration cracking down on constitutionally protected political speech should be a front-page scandal.
Reposted by Santi Elijah Holley
Writing is 99% self-loathing and beating yourself up and 1% getting down a good sentence and being like, yeah that one's a banger.
March 6, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Writing is 99% self-loathing and beating yourself up and 1% getting down a good sentence and being like, yeah that one's a banger.