Happy New Year storytellers and griots!
We saw a lot of great content in 2024, some we made, some we consumed. But before we get excited about all the amazing art we're going to create and consume this year, I want to take some time to appreciate the art we witnessed in 2024.
True art never really dies. There is no expiration date on the value and beauty of meaningful art, whether it's a song, book, or movie that came out in 1985 or 2005.
So, in the spirit of welcoming in whats new and appreciating what's come before, I'm going to share with you some of Silver Bangles' top media picks for 2024.
Best Book
How to Say Babylon, Safiya Sinclair
Published: October 3, 2023
You know how people always talk about the thing they're loving having them in a chokehold? Well that was How to Say Babylon for me this year.
I started listening to this book in November of 2024. The day before Thanksgiving, I found myself researching the best memoirs on Spotify. I knew I would be on my feet cooking for hours and wanted to listen to a book rather than to music or a podcast like I typically would. After reading a few blog posts, I decided on How to Say Babylon. I had never heard of the book or of the author, I don't think, but I wanted to give it a shot.
When I tell you I was GLUED from the beginning! This book is completely and utterly compelling. The fact that the author, Safiya Sinclair, reads her own memoir, makes it even more powerful. Safiya Sinclair is a poet and memoirist and it shows. Not only in how the story is written but also how Sinclair reads it. So poetic. So emotional. You can literally see moments playing out in front of you as if you are there witnessing the very thing she's reading.
I zoomed through this book. Any chance I got, I was listening to it, completely immersed in the author's interactions with her mother or father, or the information she shared about Rastafarianism. Experiencing this book and the author's story was absolutely a highlight of 2024. I encourage you to check it out!
Best TV Show
This Is Us, NBC
Premiered: 2016 - 2022
This Is Us is a generational story about family, love, heartbreak, loss, and forgiveness. Episodes regularly go from present day moments to flashbacks and even flash-forwards. There are 6 seasons, I'm currently on season 3 and I already sense that I'll be a little sad once I finish the series. If you love family stories or love stories, this is the show for you. From the writing and acting to the editing, this show will have locked in from beginning to end.
Best Movie
Released: August 16, 2024
Speaking of family and love stories, if you also love Black women, you will love The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat. Prepare to laugh, gasp, and cry at least once by the end of the film. The film is about 3 best friends navigating their adult years together, through love, heartbreak, and all of life's ups and downs. Tina Mabry, the film's director, is committed to centering the lives of marginalized groups and redefining mainstream cinema.
Let us know in the comments if you read or watch any of our recommendations. We would love to know how you experienced them!
Happy consuming, happy creating ✨
Summer J. Robinson
Publisher. Filmmaker. CEO. Building Silver Bangles Productions, a multidisciplinary storytelling agency committed to telling and elevating stories that inspire Afrikan diasporic intergenerational healing. We do this through book publications, TV, Film, and Documentary productions, programming, and education.
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