Talks + Readings: Social Movements of the 21st Century and ‘Coming Out’ for Porn

Book Launch: When We Fight, We Win!
Tuesday, January 5 at 7:00 p.m. at The Powerhouse Arena, 37 Main St, Brooklyn. (DUMBO)
The past year was filled with updates on the Black Lives Matter movement and a long-overdue Supreme Court victory for the LGBTQ movement. To take stock of the social movements shaping our world, turn to Greg Jobin-Leeds’ new collection. When We Fight, We Win!, a collaboration with AgitArte, profiles the successful activists and artists making waves behind the headlines you’ve seen flying by of late, from the fight to end mass incarceration to steps forward on immigration rights and environmental protection. The book launch will feature a conversation between Jobin-Leeds and AgitArte’s José Jorge Díaz, as well as remarks from activist leaders from the book, including Rachel Schragis, Felipe Sousa-Rodríguez, Isabel Sousa-Rodríguez, Che Gosset, Manissa McCleave Maharawal, Lily Paulina. RSVP at RSVP@powerHouseArena.com

Kelsey Miller presents Big Girl: How I Gave Up Dieting and Got a Life
Wednesday, January 6 at 7:00 p.m. at WORD Bookstore, 126 Franklin Street

Maybe it’s not a new message, but in the season of abstemious recovery from holiday gorging and ambitious New Year gym-goers, Kelsey Miller’s salvo against dieting will have you laughing at every juice cleanse package being shoved in your face this week. Now a senior features writer at Refinery29 and the creator of the website’s Anti-Diet Project, her memoir chronicles the pain and humor of her years experimenting in the diet lab, until she found her own path towards healthy living and body positivity. RSVP here.

Navel Gazing by Michael Ian Black
Friday, January 8 at 7:00 p.m, at BookCourt, 163 Court Street

Comedian Michael Ian Black has ample material to mine for a memoir  — his long career in the biz has kept him hopping from one wacky project to another, from the Jim Gaffigan Show and the original Wet Hot American Summer, to goofy Klondike commercials and a buddy podcast about eating snacks (and the list goes on). Now in his mid-forties, Black channels the comedic reality of American middle age in Navel Gazing, focusing on the certain, specific indignities of realizing you are not, in fact, immortal.

Coming Out Like a Porn Star
Saturday, January 9 at 7:00 p.m, at Bluestockings Bookstore, 172 Allen Street
It’s 2016 and we thought we were so over reading “coming out” narratives. That is, until we heard about Jiz Lee’s collection Coming Out Like A Porn Star: Essays on Pornography, Protection, and Privacy. Now we’re talking! Using the “diverse porno rolodex” collected from Lee’s decade of queer and hardcore-gonzo pornography work, the book spans kinks and genres to tease the palate of almost everyone. Contributors will gather at Bluestockings to read excerpts on working in the adult industry. Besides Lee, the lineup includes stars who are also frequent writers in their own right: Stoya, Lorelei Lee, Milcah Halili Orbacedo, and Jesse Jackman. You can bet this is event is going to get steamy. RSVP here.