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Stephanie Maria

@staylokey.bsky.social

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Stephanie Maria @staylokey.bsky.social · Mar 11

never pick fight with a poet
before you know it, they’ll
embarrass you with epithets
attack you with alliterations
mock you with metaphors
annoy you with analogies
scorch you with symbolism
lance you with literary devices
dragging every defense down
you won’t last another round

#writer #bvm #poetry

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Stephanie Maria @staylokey.bsky.social · Aug 19

YASSS!!! Check it out 🥰

Stephanie Maria @staylokey.bsky.social · Aug 17

This was a cute age gap love story between a single mom and her kid’s coach. They both spend a beautiful vacation together during carnival, and spiciness ensues! You’ll root for the couple to get out of their way & simply love. 🥰 This was a really fun Summer read!

#bvm #blackbooksky #booksky
#books

The cover of A.H. Cunningham’s book, Ms. V’s Hot Girl Summer: A Harlequin Novel, and a portrait of the Author.

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Stephanie Maria @staylokey.bsky.social · Aug 2

Y’all, this story felt SO real! I thought it was a true story! I’m over here googling, trying to figure out who the villain of the story is 😮‍💨 I was angry and sad, but I calmed down when I learned it was fictional. LOL 😅 But that lets you know how AMAZING this story is! 💕
#poetry #prose #bvm #booksky

A portrait of the author Safia Elhillo and the cover of her book Bright Red Fruit. 💕

Stephanie Maria @staylokey.bsky.social · Jul 26

“We Should All Be Feminist…” The author argues this point with precision…😌 A beautiful short read, listen, or TEDTalk watch that outlines, with witty commentary 😏, what it means to be a feminist from a feminist. No worries, all genders are called to the carpet for real talk.

#blackbooksky #booksky

Cover of book “We Should All Be Feminists“ By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and a portrait of the author.

Photo credit: https://feminisminindia.com/2020/06/23/book-review-we-should-all-be-feminists-chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/

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Stephanie Maria @staylokey.bsky.social · Jul 21

Yay!!! I’m glad you like it. 😁

Stephanie Maria @staylokey.bsky.social · Jul 19

THIS book is an entire MOOD!! 🥹 Warsan, whose poetry is in the interludes between songs in THE QUEEN 🐝’s Lemonade album, doesn’t disappoint!! Her words travel through love, loss, identity, and home, charged by her Somali-British heritage.

#blackbooksky #booksky #bvm
#blacksky #beyonce #poetry #poet

A portrait of the poet-author WARSAN SHIRE and the book “Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in her Head”

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Stephanie Maria @staylokey.bsky.social · Jul 19

🔥🔥🔥

Stephanie Maria @staylokey.bsky.social · Jul 18

🔥🔥🔥

Stephanie Maria @staylokey.bsky.social · Jul 18

Yayyyy, I’m glad and can’t wait to hear what you think! 💕

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Stephanie Maria @staylokey.bsky.social · Jul 18

Thank you for reading my review! 💕

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Stephanie Maria @staylokey.bsky.social · Jul 18

As an educator obsessed with unknown or hidden Black history, I ADORED this read HON-EY!!! 😍 I wanted MORE STORIES!!! 😩 I hope there's a 2nd book in the making… 😏

#blackbooksky #booksky #bvm
#queer #harlem #book #LGBTQIA+
#blacksky #blackwriter #blackhistory

Photo credit: www.ebar.com/story/153643

A portrait of George M. Johnson and the book cover of “Flamboyants: The Queer Harlem Renaissance I Wish I'd Known” featuring a painting of Josephine Baker.

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Stephanie Maria @staylokey.bsky.social · Jul 17

Another life-changing read!!!😌🥰 Radical self-love is the only path forward to healing mass insecurities, as well as arresting body shaming thoughts, and releasing judgment of other body types. Open this book and get ready to be lovingly challenged.💕

#blackbooksky #booksky #bvm #bodypositivity #love

A split-screen image of the audiobook cover and a picture of the author of “The Body Is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love.” The cover features the author Sonia Renee Taylor in the buff with butterfly wings and a sunflower crown.

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Stephanie Maria @staylokey.bsky.social · Jun 28

If you're looking for a quick read to end June #Pride with pizzazz, enjoy Brontez Purnell’s book. They are a WHOLE MOOD! You feel a roller coaster of emotions. Just let your stomach flip & your hair toss in the wind. I guarantee it’s worth the wild journey. ✌🏾😘
#booksky #blackbooksky #poetry #bvm

The cover of the book “Ten Bridges I’ve Burnt: A Memoir in Verse” by Brontez Purnell who’s also the authored 100 Boyfriends.

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Stephanie Maria @staylokey.bsky.social · Jun 26

This is an excerpt from the #poem “Home” written by Warsan Shire. Every word hit me like bricks! 🧱
🥺😮‍💨🫰🏾🔥 #human #home #poetry

Excerpt from the poem “Home” By Warsan Shire

no one leaves home unless home chases you fire under feet
hot blood in your belly
it's not something you ever thought of doing until the blade burnt threats into your neck
and even then you carried the anthem under your breath
only tearing up your passport in an airport toilets sobbing as each mouthful of paper
made it clear that you wouldn't be going back.

you have to understand,
that no one puts their children in a boat unless the water is safer than the land no one burns their palms under trains
beneath carriages
no one spends days and nights in the stomach of a truck feeding on newspaper unless the miles travelled means something more than journey.

Stephanie Maria @staylokey.bsky.social · Jun 26

Grandma wasn’t always a teacher.

Stephanie Maria @staylokey.bsky.social · Jun 22

Trump shows force like
a big baby with a torch
fumbling through court.
You’re a jester performing
for yourself—MAGA cheers
from a hung jury
helping you commit war crimes.
Where is Congress to reel you in?
Impeach him for his sins.
This is unconstitutional,
my fellow Americans.
#protest #poetry #Iran

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Stephanie Maria @staylokey.bsky.social · Jun 19

Black women! Come to the front, let’s huddle up. Sisters of the Yam is THAT GIRL in the book world! This is the prerequisite read to cultural self-recovery & self-actualization. If you haven’t claimed it, this has the knowledge to free living Sis.

Happy #Juneteenth
#blackbooksky #bvm #blackskywomen

The cover of the book “sisters of the yam: black women and self recovery” written by Bell Hooks and on the cover is a picture of Bell Hooks.

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Stephanie Maria @staylokey.bsky.social · Jun 18

This magically written modern-day poetic folk tale is laced with sisterly love, queer love, and shocking betrayal. No worries, the betrayal leads to a satisfying conclusion at the end. It is a cautionary tale indeed with a lovely lesson to learn. 😌👌🏾
#booksky #poetry #prose
#queer #folktale #pride

The cover of the book “The River Has Roots” written by Amal EL-Mohtar next to a picture of the author.

Picture Credit: CBC Books

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Stephanie Maria @staylokey.bsky.social · Jun 16

Picture Credit: www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

Q & A with Mahogany L. Browne

In her latest collection for young readers, 'A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe,' writer, organizer, and educator Mahogany L. Browne centers on a myriad of New York City teens grappling with...

www.publishersweekly.com

Stephanie Maria @staylokey.bsky.social · Jun 16

I almost forgot the feeling😮‍💨 I needed to recall for gratitude's sake. If you don’t remember, need to be reminded, or need to remind someone else about what it was like during COVID-19, read this! For Educators, there are good short stories for High School ELA lessons too!
#blackbooksky #booksky #bvm

A Picture of Mahogany L. Browne and her book “A BIRD IN THE AIR MEANS WE CAN STILL BREATHE.”

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Stephanie Maria @staylokey.bsky.social · Jun 15

I see no king here
I see a coward taco
cloaked in fascism

#nokings #haiku #blacksky
#nokingsprotest #poetry
#bvm #skypoet #noking

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJWf7dnC1dP/?igsh=YmZwOXR1eWhzenp1

Stephanie Maria @staylokey.bsky.social · Jun 15

The first poem I memorized was on the TV Show Moesha by Lady Lunatic Poem “The Equation” 🔥🔥
I can still recite it from memory! 😏
#bvm #blacksky #blackskyover30
#blackskypoet #blackpoetry #poetry #harriettubman

youtu.be/lgrG598_R-M?...

Lady Lunatic Poem “The Equation” 🔥🔥 | Moesha

YouTube video by Teion Sole

youtu.be

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Stephanie Maria @staylokey.bsky.social · Jun 6

This book is a CALL to ACTION for undervalued people starting a #company or investing in one. It’s highly motivational & inspiring to Black women with Impostor Syndrome. This is the representation & roadmap into business you’ve been waiting for! Run, don’t walk! #blackbooksky #booksky #bvm #business

The cover of the book “It’s About Damn Time: How to Turn Being Underestimated into Your Greatest Advantage” is on a purple background with a photo of the author Arlan Hamilton in the foreground.

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Stephanie Maria @staylokey.bsky.social · Jun 3

Thank you 😊💕

Stephanie Maria @staylokey.bsky.social · Jun 2

It has been a 🔪 murder and mayhem plot, neck-twisting reading roster in #May, with a splash of OMG Head-shaking Romance baes.💕 I might continue this momentum into June.😏😌

#readinglist #booksky #bvm
#blackbooksky #blackwriters
#romance #thriller #mystery

You Bet Your Heart by Danielle Parker; Below Zero by Ali Hazelwood; Rhythm and Muse by India Hill Brown; A Most Agreeable Murder by Julia Seales; The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Benedict; The Widow’s Husband’s Secret Lie by Freida McFadden; Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica; When We Talk to God by Sharifa Stevens; Write for Life by Julia Cameron; Brands and Bulls**t by Bernhard Schroeder.