On tour for her book The Memory Librarian & Other Stories, multi-media artist Janelle Monáe opened up about her struggles in creating art and not finding time to live in the moment in a recent episode of The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. In terms of her words in her art and public remarks, Monáe told Trevor she didn’t really feel like she was living what she was saying. This went as basic as saying “Believe in yourself.” Much of this time of reflection came at the same time as others, during the pandemic when the world was forced to slow down and as she put it, “Forced us all to go in, and stay in [with ourselves.]”
Monáe explained that she felt the need to prove herself as an artist and a lover of science fiction, but now she is just floating in her joy. This gave her the space to think about the new memories she wanted to make and find joy in her own life. One story within the novel (Timebox) that wrestles with these questions features a character who finds a room where time stops. Monáe explained,
It kind of speaks to time poverty in a sense. You know Black and brown folks, we’ve been spending out life-fighting, right? to be included in all these things. What if you had an opportunity to steal time, to get time back? Would you rest? Would you show the community this place? If you could get time back, how would you use it?
Many of these internal questions come through in different aspects of the novel. They’re all woven together in this continued Afrofuturist narrative. Written as an anthology, the book features various stories by Black and brown authors, and each story was worked on together with Monáe and an established writer.
- The Memory Librarian by Janelle Monáe & Alya Dawn Johnson
- Nevermind by Janelle Monáe & Danny Lore
- Timebox by Janelle Monáe & Eve L. Ewing
- Save Changes by Janelle Monáe & Yohanca Delgao
- Timebox Altar(ed) by Janelle Monáe & Sheree Renée Thomas
This novel doesn’t just provoke questions, but Monáe told Noah she is challenging others to be “their own memory librarians.”
(via The Daily Show With Trevor Noah, image: screencap)
Here are some other bits of news we saw today:
- Amy Henning, best known for her role as Creative Director of the Uncharted series, will helm a new Star Wars video game. (via CBR)
- Meet the grassroots activists a part of the Frontera Fund, who helped drop the murder charges for Lizelle Herrera. (via Ms. Magazine)
- Fifty days ahead of Ms. Marvel‘s release on Disney+, Marvel shares the official, vibrant poster for the series. (via Marvel)
- The federal mask mandate ends mid-flight thanks to a Trump-appointed Florida judge causing complete chaos. (via NYT.)
Doctor Eggman wishes he could’ve been at the Easter Egg Roll too. 🥚 Thanks for having us, @WhiteHouse! https://t.co/GZ8bY0Aq0U
— Sonic the Hedgehog (@SonicMovie) April 19, 2022
What did you see out there online today?
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