Palestine Week 2024
January 18, 2024 – January 25, 2024 In keeping with our ongoing mission of uplifting racial and cultural connections, Busboys and Poets is hosting Palestine Week (January 18 through January 25, 2024). This week-long series of events will offer a diverse range of programming featuring Palestinian food, music, dance, poetry, discussions, and other enriching events. … Continued
A Seat at the Table: The Making of Busboys and Poets
We’re proud to announce A Seat at the Table: The Making of Busboys and Poets, the new memoir from our CEO and Founder, which reveals the vision, challenges, and triumphs behind opening Busboys and Poets. Packed with misadventures, unexpected triumphs, and insights on race, business and politics, Andy Shallal’s memoir takes us on a “How I Built … Continued
For Langston Hughes on His 123 Birthday
Speech given on February 1, 2024 in Havana, Cuba In 1927 Langston Hughes walked into a Cuba amid an emerging community of artists, intellectuals, and radicals. He saw a “sunrise in a new land [– a day – in his words]sic – full of brownskin surprises, and hitherto unknown contacts in a world of color.” … Continued
Black Lives Matter
We at Busboys and Poets are distressed at the senseless violence against Black men, women, children, and Black people of all genders that has become all too commonplace in this country. Not a day goes by that we don’t see a video, a Tweet or a Facebook post of a Black person facing assault or … Continued
Everest Base Camp #14
Getting the key to finding your mojo. It’s 5:30 am. I am sitting upright in my bed just plain miserable. It is still dark outside. My sad excuse for sleep was horrible. 3 hours tops. Drinking 4 cups of obviously well caffeinated milk tea before bed. Dogs barking all night long. Cold feet (literally). 4 … Continued
“Meet the People Who Gave Birth to Hipsterism—Hint: They Aren’t White Kids from Williamsburg”
An excerpt adapted from Rebecca Walker’s book, “Black Cool: One Thousand Streams of Blackness”