A Very Special Episode- Election Edition

Black Romance Has A History

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Children of the 70s, 80s, and 90s will always shudder when the words "A Very Special Episode" are mentioned, because nothing fun typically followed when our favorite sitcom got serious for a week or two. Mention the name Gordon Jump, or Mr. Horton, to devoted fans of Diff'rent Strokes and you'll see what I mean. And so here we are, with our very own Very Special Episode. Because the 2024 elections were not fun, or lighthearted, and we're both trying to cope by working through it.

So! What follows is an hour long gabfest between Steve and Nicole about the election, about Edwin Meese (Steve really wanted to fit Edwin Meese in here), about the stark evidence of romance not being inherently progressive and feminist that many of us tend o ignore, and more. We do our best at the end to give some positive thoughts and advice, so you'll have to tell us if we succeeded.

If you're not in a place to absorb election content right now, that's totally fine! Go back and listen to our chat with Beverly Jenkins, because no one gives hope and positivity like Ms. Bev.

Make sure to follow us on Instagram and subscribe to the podcast on your favorite platform so you don't miss an episode!

Got an idea or question? Email us: [e-mail]

Follow the hosts on the interwebs:

Steve Ammidown

Website: https://romancehistory.com/about/

Socials

IG: @romancehistorian

Bluesky: @stegan.bsky.social

Nicole M. Jackson/Katrina Jackson

Websites:

https://www.katrinajacksonauthor.com

https://www.bgsu.edu/arts-and-sciences/history/faculty-and-staff/nicole-jackson.html

Socials:

IG: @katjacksonbooks

Mentioned in this Episode

“Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography” (1986) https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/attorney-generals-commission-pornography-final-report

Corey Alexander, Corey’s Book Corner

Xan West, Eight Kinky Nights: An f/f Chanukah Romance

Alyssa Cole, Be Not Afraid

Beverly Jenkins, Indigo

Beverly Jenkins, Night Song

Kit Rocha, Beyond Shame

Romancing the Vote

June Jordan, Directed by Desire: The Collected Poems of June Jordan

Nikki Giovanni, Chasing Utopia: A Hybrid

Nikki Giovanni, A Library

Piper Huguley, The Preacher’s Promise: A Home to Millford College Novel

Tyler Feder, Bodies Are Cool

Suggested readings

“Very Special Episode” https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/VerySpecialEpisode

Avery Kreemer, “What’s Next for Redistricting Reform after Issue 1 Failure” https://www.daytondailynews.com/local/whats-next-for-redistricting-reform-in-ohio-after-issue-1s-failure/JQRIJXHTGVGTHP553CIWY2N4IY/

Anthony Comstock’s “Chastity” Laws https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/pill-anthony-comstocks-chastity-laws/

Amy Werbel, Lust on Trial: Censorship and the Rise of American Obscenity in the Age of Anthony Comstock

Katrina Jackson, “On spicy books, cartoon covers, and the disappearance of erotic romance,” https://www.katrinajacksonauthor.com/mefromscratch/onspicybooks

Steve Ammidown, “Lest We Forget- Ann Wassall, Pamela Mancuso, and Nancy Richards-Akers,” https://romancehistory.com/2023/10/03/lest-we-forget/

Grace Byron, “Ghost Sex: On Amy Sohn and Anthony Comstock” https://observer.com/2021/08/the-man-who-hated-women-amy-sohn-anthony-comstock/

Nicole M. Jackson, “Black Love as Activism,” https://observer.com/2021/08/the-man-who-hated-women-amy-sohn-anthony-comstock/

Heather Andrea Williams, Self Taught: African American Education in Slavery and Freedom