by Peggy McGlone, NYU News. Themes of joy and family are how Deborah Willis and co-author Kevin Merida organized their photographic biography.

by Joelle E. Menodza. Octavia’s Bookshelf, which survived the Eaton Fire, has become a haven for mutual aid resources and support. Nikki High, owener of Octavia’s Bookshelf in Pasadena, shared on social by media that her doors were open.

By Colleen Shalby, Melissa Gomez and Brittny Mejia. Photography by Christina House. In Altadena, the Eaton fire destroyed more than 1,000 structures and killed at least five people. The fire has upended a cherished way of life in the eclectic community, where residents are drawn to its solitude and sense of community.

by Brian Palmer, Southern Cultures. These little incidents were more symptom than disease, I realize now, but I didn’t have language for it then, didn’t have a name for white supremacy. I knew from just watching and living that I was not fully accepted in my own country.

by Veronica Chambers, The New York Times. A constant interrogation of heritage, inheritance and “dreaming as planning,” to use the Gloria Steinem phrase — that gave Nikki Giovanni’s work the kind of firepower that burned so brightly for more than 60 years, right up to her passing at age 81. Change is a through line in her work.

by Sofia Hallström, artnet. Curation plays a vital role in contemporary art. Curators consider aesthetic value of works and their cultural, political, and historical significance provoking dialogue that resonates with diverse audiences.

by Dodai Stewart, New York Times. They observed the scarab beetles, they would see them every morning, coming out of the mud, the same cycle of life, doing the same thing every day, not getting bored or tired,” Mr. Khalil said.

by Daniel Cassidy, ARTnews Watercolor painting by 19th-century artist William H. Dorsey now on display at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania after it was plucked from a Glenside, PA thrift store.