My fellow bad apple, Angel Luis Colon, and I have great news to share with you. Our two-night reading and fundraiser, Two Bad Apples present Reading for Relief, raised $2100 for charity!!! *AND* Once Upon A Crime bookstore and the Astoria Bookshop sold a lot of books! The majority of book sales were for books by the readers, all crime writers of color. You guys are amazing and wonderful and wow, thank you.
YAY FOR ALL OF THIS!!!
The $2100 for charity were given to the following non-profits:
Redeemer Center for Life, a Black-led non-profit in North Minneapolis with a mission to act as an agent of hope and transformation. Their programs include 26 affordable housing units, youth leadership programs, workforce development opportunities, and community engagement projects.
Black Lives Matter which was founded in 2013 after the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer. Its mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. By combating and countering acts of violence, creating space for Black imagination and innovation, and centering Black joy, BLM is winning immediate improvements in Black lives.
Minneapolis Foundation’s Fund for Safe Communities was established in 2018 to support tangible, specific, and meaningful actions to address and prevent violence and was created with a task force of youth who have lived through violence.
Division of Indian Work, their mission is to support and strengthen urban American Indian people through culturally-based education, traditional healing approaches, and leadership development.
Little Earth Residents Association was originally created to provide affordable housing for Indigenous people in urban Minneapolis. Little Earth provides entrepreneurship training, interpersonal connections, multi-level support, and education services to the American Indian community in South Minneapolis. Their mission is to create highly rated educational and social programs, pre-school partnerships, elder services, neighborhood stability, health initiatives, and cultural programming that fosters a vibrant community.
If you missed our two-night event and would like to view the taped readings, here are the links:
Thurs: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/two-bad-apples-present/register
Fri: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/paquetulosepaslive
And the link for Astoria’s Bookshop Reading for Relief Latinx Reading List is still up: https://bookshop.org/lists/two-bad-apples-present-reading-for-relief-latinx-reading-list
Thanks again to everyone who made this possible including Once Upon A Crime bookstore, the Astoria Bookshop, Thursday readers Abby Collette, Tracy Clark, Jennifer J. Chow, Stephen Mack Jones, Cheryl Head, Angie Kim, and Friday readers Cina Pelayo, Alex Segura, Richie Narvaez, Hector Acosta, Desiree Zamorano, Hector Duarte, and Angel Luis Colon. You guys rock!
Writer Jessica Laine 