Prakruti Bhatt is an Arts & Culture video producer/reporter at OPB. During the course of her career, Prakruti has mainly covered music, pop culture, and the arts. Her work has appeared in ProPublica, Saveur, Hyperallergic, the Times of India and Mumbai Mirror. Prakruti grew up in Abu Dhabi, UAE, before moving to Mumbai, India, to pursue a bachelor’s in mass media from the University of Mumbai. In 2022, she earned an MA in journalism, with a specialization in arts & culture, from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism in New York City. When Prakruti's not being picky about selecting just the right songs for her monthly Spotify playlists, she's looking for the next book or video game to immerse herself in.
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Culture & Politics: Santi Elijah Holley & Mitchell S. Jackson
PBF PassNovember 4, 2023 @ 10:15 am - 11:15 am
The Old Church
Two new books that explore the influence of Black culture and politics on American culture and politics. Santi Elijah Holley‘s An Amerikan Family is the long overdue story of the Shakurs, persistent fighters in the U.S. struggle for racial justice, and one of the most prominent, influential and fiercely creative families in recent history. Holley will be interviewed by OPB reporter Prakruti Bhatt. Equal parts photo-rich lookbook, and cultural commentary, Fly: The Big Book of Basketball Fashion is the story of the extraordinary intersection of high fashion and basketball, from the league’s inception to today, and celebrates the iconic style of NBA athletes. Author Mitchell S. Jackson will be interviewed by OPB reporter Paul Marshall.
For over fifty years, the Shakurs have inspired generations of activists, scholars, and music fans. Many people are only familiar with Assata Shakur, the popular author and thinker, living for three decades in Cuban exile; or the late rapper Tupac. But the branches of the Shakur family tree extend widely, and the roots reach into the most furtive and hidden depths of the underground. Whether founding one of the most notorious Black Panther chapters in the country, spearheading community-based healthcare, or engaging in armed struggle with systemic oppression, the Shakurs were at the forefront.
They have been celebrated, glorified, and mythologized. They have been hailed as heroes, liberators, and freedom fighters. They have been condemned, pursued, imprisoned, exiled, and killed. But the true and complete story of the Shakur family—one of the most famous names in contemporary Black American history—has never been told.
An Amerikan Family is a history of the fight for Black liberation in the United States, as experienced and shaped by the Shakurs. It is a story of hope and betrayal, addiction and murder, persecution and revolution. Drawing from hundreds of hours of personal interviews, historical archives, court records, transcripts, and other rare documents, An Amerikan Family tells the complete and often devastating story of Black America’s long struggle for racial justice and the nation’s covert and repressive tactics to defeat that struggle. It is the story of a small but determined community, taking extreme, unconventional, and often perilous measures in the quest for freedom. In short, the story of the Shakurs is the story of America
‘Magnificent…. A uniquely intimate history of Black liberation…. Writing as a historian and storyteller, Holley never lets us lose sight of the complex tapestry of movements that marked the era…. Seeing the humanity in these revolutionaries can allow the next generation of activists to see themselves as capable of resilience, and of becoming new models for making change.’ — Los Angeles Times
Each chapter of Fly: The Big Book of Basketball Fashion explores the style of an era and the cultural influences that shaped it: The league’s inception in 1949, pre-Civil Rights Movement, when the NBA was mostly comprised of white players who wore suits and skinny ties. The years following the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the birth of funk and R&B when basketball fashion got flashier (think Walt “Clyde” Frazier and Wilt Chamberlain wearing fur coats and big hats). The Michael Jordan era of the 1980s and 1990s, with its oversize suits. The epic Iverson/Hip-Hop years of the late 1990s and early 2000s. And now to today, a time defined not only by social media and high fashion’s birthing of the tunnel walk (think LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Russell Westbrook), but one in which athletes are idealized as style icons and activists, figures who inspire conversations beyond how they play and what they wear.
“A gorgeous, glamorous look at the intersection of fashion and basketball.”—Bookpage
Portland Book Festival General Admission Passes are required for entry into all events. Passes are $15 in advance and $25 day of Festival. Youth 17 & under get in FREE. All full-priced General Admission Passes include a $5 book fair voucher and entry into Portland Art Museum. Passes admit attendees to the Festival; individual events are first-come, first-served. More info here.
Bios
Santi Elijah Holley
Santi Elijah Holley is an award-winning journalist and the author of two books, most recently An Amerikan Family: The Shakurs and the Nation They Created. His writing has appeared in numerous outlets, including The Guardian, The Atlantic, the Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post. He lives in Los Angeles.
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Mitchell S. Jackson
Mitchell S. Jackson is the winner of the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Feature Writing and the 2021 National Magazine Award in Feature Writing. Jackson’s debut novel, The Residue Years, won a Whiting Award and the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. His essay collection Survival Math was named a best book of 2019 by fifteen publications. Jackson’s other honors include fellowships, grants, and awards from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, Creative Capital, the Cullman Center of the New York Public Library, the Lannan Foundation, PEN America, and TED. His writing has been featured on the cover of the New York Times Magazine, the New York Times Book Review, Time, and Esquire, as well as in The New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine, the Paris Review, the Guardian, and elsewhere. Jackson is a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine and a columnist for Esquire. He holds the John O. Whiteman Dean’s Distinguished Professorship in the Department of English at Arizona State University.
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Paul Marshall
A native Oregonian and a lifelong resident of Portland, Paul Marshall was first introduced to OPB by watching PBS Kids and “PBS Newshour” as a youth.
Prior to OPB, he worked as a sportswriter covering sports in the Atlanta University Consortium. He also worked as a sportscaster, show host and producer for KWVA Eugene 88.1 FM’s Sports Department.
In addition to his work in radio, Paul writes as a freelance journalist, covering events like the Portland Pro-Am Basketball League and profiling the Scarlett Brothers. His work has been published in the Portland Observer and the Catholic Sentinel. He’s also worked as a PA announcer for Portland Community College.
Paul graduated from Morehouse College with a degree in Political Science and a master’s degree in Journalism from the University of Oregon.
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