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SELECTED PRESS

SPOTLIGHT ON PUBLIC RADIO

11.1.23 - CODE SWITCH 

Where are the Black Punks Now?

7.27.23 - NOTES FROM AMERICA 

A Punk Rock Guide To Making A Scene

8.5.23 DECODER RING / SLATE 

What's Really Going on Inside a Mosh Pit

2.28.23 - KXEP - SOUND AND VISION

Stranger in the Punk House: A Look at Black Punks

6.20.22 THE TAKE AWAY

Becoming Afro-Punk

5. 21. 22  ALL THINGS CONSIDERED

New graphic memoir shows how punk rock helped a young Black man find his identity

10. 30. 06 ALL THINGS CONSIDERED

Film Looks at Lives of Black Punks

LA Times
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BLACK PUNK NOW

 

Starred Review

— KIRKUS

Black Punk Means Liberation

— The Nation

Where are the Black Punks Now?

— Code Switch

Fear and Pogoing in Las Vegas

— Alta 

Review 

— Razorcake

10 Best Music Books of 2023

—  Pitchfork

 

5 of the Best Music Books of 2023

— Guardian UK

How Sista Grrrl Riot Made Room for

Black Queers in Punk

— Interview Magazine

THE HIGH DESERT

LA MADE: James Spooner and Kathleen

Hanna in Conversation w/ Sextile Performance

—Los Angeles Public Library

2022 Top 10 Books for Adults 

—New York Public Library

Top 10 Graphic Novels of 2022

—Washington Post

Top 10 Comics of 2022

—Publisher's Weekly 

Graphic Memoirs

—Publisher's Weekly Podcast Reviews

The Graphic Memoir of an Apple

Valley ‘Afro-Punk’

—LA Times

Becoming AfroPunk

—The Takeaway, NPR

An Illustrated Life

—Departures Magazine

Afropunk Pioneer Explores

‘The High Desert’ of His Origins

—AndScape

New Graphic Memoir Shows How

Punk Helped a Young Black Man Find Identity

—All Things Considered, NPR

Newly Published, From the California

Desert to Capitol Hill

— New York Times

Afropunk Goes Graphic Memoir: 'PW'

Talks with James Spooner

— Publishers Weekly

Starred Review

— Publishers Weekly

Starred review

— KIRKUS 

Publishers Weekly Exclusive

— Publishers Weekly

SPOONER PROFILES & 
BLACK PUNK HISTORY

A Punk Rock Guide To Making A Scene

WNYC - NOTES FROM AMERICA 

The Beauty and Freedom of Black Punks

— Harpers Bazaar

We Still Need To Be Seen 

— The Guardian

"Fuck That Thing." That’s all punk needs.

— Diaphanes

​The Afro-Punk Pioneers Who Defy Stereotypes

The Voice UK

The Very Black History of Punk Music

— Al Jazeera

The Rockers putting their Blackness at the fore of Punk and Hardcore

The Guardian 

The Process: James Spooner on AfroPunk 

— Believer Magazine

James Spooner Shows a Different

Shade of Punk 

— Phoenix New Times

AfroPunk at The Hammer Museum (Q&A) 

–UCLA (video)

A Talk With James Spooner 

— High How Are You

The Musical Influences of Basquiat

with James Spooner

— The Broad Museum

The Lasting influence of Jean Michel

Basquiat with James Spooner and Ed Patuto 

— Auture Magazine

James Spooner on Minor Threat 

— Heat Rocks Podcast (audio)

AFROPUNK (Festival and Criticism)

AfroPunk Returns to Brooklyn

— CBS Sunday Morning

AfroPunk Is Back With New Message 

— Brooklyn Eagle

Riot Woman With James Spooner 

— Riot Woman Podcast (audio)

AfroPunk Staff Report Abuse 

— Vibe Magazine

AfroPunk Community Speaks Out 

— The Rad Voice

Couple Thrown Out of Afropunk

The Root

The Misguided Evolution of AfroPunk 

— Bitch Media

Gentrifying AfroPunk 

— New Yorker

Looking for The Punk 

— Nylon

The True Story of How AfroPunk

Turned a Message Board into a Movement 

— Fader

Is AfroPunk No Longer Punk 

— Vice

A Weekend at AfroPunk 

— PitchFork Magazine

Truly Indie Fans 

— New York Times

James Spooner’s Doc 

— XLR8R Magazine

AfroPunk Started With a Documentary 

— Village Voice

AfroPunk Stretches Racial Labels 

— MSNBC

The Evolution of AfroPunk 

— Forbes Magazine

AfroPunk’s Growing Pains 

— Mail & Guardian

James Spooner Goes in Depth 

— Tribes.org

AfroPunk Before AfroPunk 

— Ebony Magazine

The Evolution of AfroPunk 

— Mic

AfroPunk: More Than a Festival;

It’s Black Culture 

— Huffington Post

AFROPUNK (Early Years)

AfroPunk – A Black Punk Documentary 

— NPR

Afro on The Outside, Punk on the Inside 

— NY Sun

The Rock N Roll Nigger Experience 

— Brooklyn Rail

Fear of A Punk Planet 

— Vibe Magazine

AfroPunk Scene 

— MTV.com

How AfroPunk Became a Movement 

— Racked NYC

Director Interview 

— Indiana University Interview (video)

James Spooner Interview 

— AfroPunk Media (video)

AfroPunk – MTV Promo 

— MTV (video)

James Spooner on Grit 

— Grit TV (video)

Director Interview 

— AfroPunk Media (video)

Director Interview 

— DefKon (video)

Much Music Interview 

— Much Music (video)

Rock N Roll Nigger Experience 

— Documentary is Never Neutral

TATTOOS​

Vegan Dark Skin Tattoos 

— LA Sentinel

Tattooing the African Diaspora

with James Spooner

— Los Angeles Public Library (video)

Dark Skin Tattooing

— ATTN: interview. (video)

The Rise and Fall and Rise of Vegan Tattoo

— Driftwood Magazine

Samsung Commercial (video) 

MISC

What's Really Going on Inside a Mosh Pit?

Decoder Ring / Salt  

A Freedom Ride: Black Kids on Bikes 

— Street Films (video)

James Spooner's Ipod Commercial 

— Apple (video)

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