All Posts

My life list has grown; this marks growth for some birders. A lifer for a birder is a first-time sighting of bird. The Merlin Bird ID app makes it easy to track these. I’ve been a casual birder for over a decade. I share the excitement of seeing a new bird for the first time, but I’ve been less dedicated to tracking every new bird. Though, recently, updating my life list has helped me reflect on my own journeys.

This is an excerpt from Rasheena Fountain's book Starfish Blues: A Memoir, released April 22, 2026 and available to order. I’ve felt the God that wraps around my body tightly, but gently—the God of Black Moses that offers direction. I needed versions of God that Grandma’s church couldn’t offer me, however. I needed freedom like Audre Lorde’s words—like blues riffs and house music. Fountain as a DJ for a wedding in 2011 We need safe havens—places to feel free—even if those p

Below is an excerpt from Rasheena Fountain's forthcoming book, Starfish Blues: A Memoir . It will be released through Climate Conscious Collabs Press on April 22 and is available for preorder . My daughter on Bainbridge Island, WA on July 1, 2016 Night had turned into day as I arrived at O’Hare Airport. I had arrived four hours early. In the back of my mind, I could hear the “I told you so’s” if anything were to go wrong on the journey. I didn’t want to risk making any mista

Below is an excerpt of Rasheena Fountain's forthcoming book, Starfish Blues: A Memoir . It will be released through Climate Conscious Collabs Press on April 22 and is available for preorder . “The lure of the arctic is tugging at my heart. To me the trail is calling! The old trail, the trail that is always new.” — Matthew Henson, author of A Negro Explorer at the North Pole My grandfather Robert Brookins in his home on the West Side of Chicago I could feel Granddad wanted me

The film also considers the meaning of having the blues, who has them, and what has become of the blues. The inception, need, and...