Thursday, August 27, 2015

Week Three Day One-Five: Favorite #Hashtags of 2015 + amazing #YA adventure books #giveaway

 So we totally disappeared last week! The preparation of our book release got us side tracked just a wee bit, but we still wanted to introduce what we would've chosen if our week's wouldn't have gotten off track! They're too good not to share, so today I'll share what we would've chosen from Week 3, and tomorrow I'll share what we would've chosen for this week, which is 4!
https://s2.netgalley.com/catalog/book/72106
I'm sure many wouldn't automatically associate a hashtag with diverse books. But take in mind The We Need Diverse Books grew the way it did as a hashtag! This isn't to say every single hashtag will be book related, but they all tell a diverse story that deserve to be acknowledged!

All our choices needed to do to qualify, was be something exclusive to 2015, and open a dialogue for diversity in some way. So here goes!

5. #MyAsianAmericanStory created by Jason Fong. Like many hashtags that create a dialogue this intense, this particular hashtag stemmed from the recent comments of Republican candidate Jeb Bush about anchor babies. What's insane is how woke Jason Fong is. Just at 17 (yes you read this right, dude is still in high school)he started an amazing conversation, that encouraged other Asian Americans to share their unique experiences. It also opened up a dialogue about immigration and assimilation. It was lovely to see all the diverse experiences on our Twitter feed from so many different people =) This tweet was the domino.

https://twitter.com/jasonfongwrites

 4. #FlexinMyComplexion inspired by the artwork of Kameelah Janan Rasheed. While she created the work last year, the hashtag started carrying weight this year. Im not sure if it's intended for Black women, or just women with dark skin, but people of African, Asian and mixed ancestry have all flexed their complexion with over 85,000 tweets and shares. Kameelah hasn't gotten the credit she deserves for inspiring the hashtag, so I pray anyone else who's using it, know where it came from =)
http://www.kameelahr.com/straight-flexin
http://www.kameelahr.com/straight-flexin
 3. #GrowingUpPakistani. It was difficult to track the source of this hashtag. It's hard to know if it'd been inspired by sister hashtags like #GrowingUpBlack , #GrowingUpWithStrictParents, or many other awesome hashtags meant to humor folks with the diverse experiences of upbringings not highlighted in the media often. 

I think what stood out about this particular hashtag, is that we had a WIP Romance story with a Pakistani-British character. I know more about the Western experiences(particularly British) from all the research we've had to do for his character(it'll be Blasian pairing! swoon!)but I cracked up so much seeing all the experiences! Anything we missed during the research process(which is never really done by the way!), I definitely want to add subtly within the cracks. But while we're highlighting, I picked one of the funniest ones!
2. #WriteInclusively created by S.C. Write. So he totally puts in his bio upfront he's actually a dude XD So didn't know that until the click! But S.C. is an Indian-American writer who encouraged and continues to encourage writers, and gatekeepers to write, hire and accept more inclusively in the publishing world! 

On S.C.'s blog, they break down what we can be doing more to fight the -isms of the publishing world. It's a campaign to to push action toward the need for diverse books! They're even open to guest bloggers who would like to share their diverse experience as a writer. We're totally inquiring! But while we're here, take a look at the awesome banner!
http://scwrite.blogspot.com/p/writeinclusively.html

1. #IfHogwartsWasAnHBCU created by Black Twitter. Up until now, many of these hashtags weren't in any particular order. But this one was so hilarious, it had to be our number one! Black Twitter is one of the biggest forces on social media for Black audiences. While it's a safe place for Black folk, it's not to say other folks cant enjoy it =) 

There probably isn't a soul on the planet(outside of the radically religious) who isn't a Harry Potter fan. I've probably seen all 8 movies like 890 times combined(though I will say the Goblet of Fire is ironically the one we've seen the most, even though it's not our fave!). Between the two of us, we've read them a combination of...maybe 18 times? So the impact this series has is not lost on many.

If only it'd been more diverse! We didn't have the privilege of reading the books before the films, so we defaulted Hermoine the way she looks in the films. But the conversation about the levels of diversity Harry Potter had are still relevant topics today, even years after the book's last release.

What if Harry Potter had been Black? Or Indian? Or mixed race? He's absolutely lovely to begin with, would changing his race really change how people feel about his story?

Now, Black Twitter has done some awesome stuff, but this hashtag has got to be the best XD It was so hilarious! We'd suggest folks who havent indulged to do so, there were too many good ones to highlight just one! You can click the pic or the hashtag to see some of the highlights!
http://www.buzzfeed.com/sylviaobell/if-hogwarts-was-an-hbcu#.aplED6VKLP

Anywho, since you're all caught up, if you havent already, why dont you enter our giveaways!

We're hosting several, so there are a bunch you can win!
  a Rafflecopter giveaway

And last but not least, if you comment on our Week Two Book Boos Post, it's an automatic entry for upcoming release Magic Academy: The Fire Test
http://twinjabookreviews.blogspot.com/2015/08/week-two-day-three-book-boos-magic.html
 Just click on the hyperlink or picture to link back to the post to enter!

1 comments:

  1. I love to read , recently i found one not so well-known author that I think is quite good. His name is Richard Mann and I would recommend him to anyone who is interested in books.

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