Michael A. Gonzales
Born and raised in Harlem, Michael A. Gonzales has been anointed "the hip-hop Chester Himes" by Miles Marshall Lewis. He's published true-crime essays at CrimeReads, and short stories in Ellery Queen, Rock & a Hard Place and Vautrin magazine.
- Remember Not Me in the Family Circus comic strip? He is now a staffer at the White House.
- The early days of NYC rap culture --Harlem Superstar: DJ Hollywood mrbellersneighborhood.com/2023/03/harl...
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- It's a shame that a magazine of that caliber would try to rip-off young writers. I haven't trusted these charlatans since they gave Truman Capote such a hard time over Breakfast at Tiffany's. At least he had the option of selling it to Esquire instead. Shame on them and Hearst.
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- Reposted by Michael A. GonzalesCartoonist & illustrator E. Simms Campbell (Jan. 2, 1906-Jan. 27, 1971). The 1st Black cartoonist published in a national magazine, his work appeared in Esquire, Playboy, & more. His comic strip, Cuties, ran from 1940–71, but he is most known for his 1932 night-club map of Harlem. #BlackHistoryMonth
- It's Like That: The Makings of a Hip-Hop Writer --the adventures of Michael A. Gonzales in the world of rap longreads.com/2019/06/10/i...
- I think Pinterest was created as a social experiment to test our patience with their weird violations and treating innocent people as though they were criminals.
- In 1995 I spent time with soul man D’Angelo. Having done a profile on him for YSB magazine, I was hired to write his bio. One Sunday afternoon we met at Viceroy Cafe in NYC and talked as we ate grits and catfish and puffed Newports. Years later I wrote about that day and the making of Brown Sugar.
- Me and my old school friends call each other often without scheduling. I had no idea that was a thing.
- My RETVRN belife is that people should just call each other on the phone without scheduling it in advance www.businessinsider.com/iphone-scree...
- Some websites just become so boring. It's as though there was a curse placed on them.
- Currently reading and enjoying Fab 5 Freddy's upcoming autobiography "Everybody's Fly" for a essay/review that I will be writing soon. All of a sudden this brilliant Nancy Remixed cartoon quoting "Rapture" popped up and made my day.
- James Sallis passed away this week. When I wrote my first essay about Chester Himes, he was so generous with his time and thoughts. Later when I started writing crime fiction he sent me a note telling me how much he enjoyed my stories. That meant the world to me. He was one of the great ones.
- Wait until you discover the album she recorded (Street Faerie) produced by Lenny Kravitz.
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- On Broadway mrbellersneighborhood.com/2025/08/on-b...
- Yourself, but as a cartoon
- Recently I've been thinkin' about grudges. Some of my own go back decades. One with a teacher, another with my brother and a few with editors. However, when I saw the footage of Tracy Morgan going off on a former childhood bully, I realized that I wasn't alone in the grudge department. #bully
- This Woman's Work...a one-shot hip hop magazine on women in the rap & reggaeton bizness is having a launch party.
- I watched a fascinating doc on "Song of My City," currently on HBOMax. The short film is a dreamy mix of clips from films shot in NYC in the 1970s. It reminded me of my essay "Cinema and the City." I recommend you check them both out. memoirland.substack.com/p/cinema-and... @hbomax.bsky.social
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- A Hand From One Page, A Bomb From Another: Rethinking "Spy vs. Spy" longreads.com/2023/09/12/r...
- Shout out to my Harlem brother from another, the brilliant writer Barry Michael Cooper, who died on this date last year. Before I knew him I was teaching myself to be a writer from studying his wonder works on page in The Village Voice and Spin, and on screen with the groundbreaking New Jack City.
- Years back I wouldn't date anyone who was a Prince, but then early in the relationship I would try to convert them loving Prefab Sprout too.
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- Reposted by Michael A. GonzalesNew— An American citizen boarding flight from Boston to Lisbon just now told me after showing boarding pass, every passenger stopped on jetway by two ICE agents demanding to take their photo. When passenger asked why, ICE threatened to detain them. If they said no photo, couldn't board/TBD detained.
- Breaking News: Former bubble gum pop star and her soccer ⚽ playing hubby argue with their child.
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- "I didn't get a Peace Prize 🏆 so I'm going to start a war" sounds like a line Terry Southern might have written.
- Rap fans recall Fab 5 Freddy from YO! MTV Rap, but his resume includes painting, directing videos (Gang Starr’s “Just to Get a Rep”) and producing films (Wild Style). This year his autobiography Everybody’s Fly will be released. crimereads.com/big-pimpin-p... @penguinrandomhouse.bsky.social
- Overhead a woman on the bus tell a friend that her boyfriend broke-up with her. "I think he got mad that I knew more about football than he did." 🏈
- Short story opening sentence: "Just because I'd been smoking weed for forty years doesn't mean I was ready for the ass wiping I got from my first edible."
- When I was a kid growing-up in 1970s Harlem, I saw damn near every Blaxpliotation made during that era. The Mack is one that had a lasting influence on pop culture. Check out "Big Pimpin" at @crimereads.bsky.social
- Sometimes you don't have to be told you're fired. You can just feel the vibe that you are no longer wanted.
- When I was a teenager I thought Low was the worst album ever made. A decade later I thought it was one of the best.
- Oh no... please don't take me on another weight journey with Oprah.
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- Most of the time they were on the 50% off table at Boarders, making them hard to resist and easy to afford.
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- I have more munchies now than I did when I used to smoke. What the hell?
- Blackstars I wrote this as a tribute to David Bowie, bookstores and my friend Brook, who worked at a shop where the thin white duke bought tons of texts. #Bowie @mcnallyrobinson.com
- Blackstars I wrote this as a tribute to David Bowie, bookstores and my friend Brook, who worked at a shop where the thin white duke bought tons of texts. #Bowie @mcnallyrobinson.com
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- LOL...
- The best essay I've read on a writer who inspired many of us.
