Danyel Smith
@danyelsmith.bsky.social
i tell stories 🔆 NYTM. 3X author. creator/host, Black Girl Songbook pod. vintage VIBE + Billboard. film consultant. ESPN. Rock Hall. MacDowell + Yaddo
https://www.danyelsmithwriter.com/
https://shinebrighthq.substack.com/
https://www.danyelsmithwriter.com/
https://shinebrighthq.substack.com/
Pinned
Danyel Smith
@danyelsmith.bsky.social
· Apr 7
it’s the 110th anniversary of Billie Holiday’s birth: April 7 1915. in Episode 28 of my Black Girl Songbook #podcast, i celebrate the influence of Holiday’s music as it shows up in artists like Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Diana Ross, and more. listen in www.theringer.com/podcasts/bla...
Reposted by Danyel Smith
have yet put my finger on exactly why but i don’t like at all that commercial where the Black aunt doesn’t know what to do with her tween niece when her tween niece visits
February 17, 2026 at 5:02 AM
have yet put my finger on exactly why but i don’t like at all that commercial where the Black aunt doesn’t know what to do with her tween niece when her tween niece visits
have yet put my finger on exactly why but i don’t like at all that commercial where the Black aunt doesn’t know what to do with her tween niece when her tween niece visits
February 17, 2026 at 5:02 AM
have yet put my finger on exactly why but i don’t like at all that commercial where the Black aunt doesn’t know what to do with her tween niece when her tween niece visits
right!
Obama at the Allstar game looking goodt!
February 15, 2026 at 10:32 PM
right!
me, being quiet.
February 15, 2026 at 10:13 PM
me, being quiet.
ah! today is her birthday! I became an opera listener while researching Shine Bright. and i'm so glad you enjoyed my book.
February 10, 2026 at 8:46 PM
ah! today is her birthday! I became an opera listener while researching Shine Bright. and i'm so glad you enjoyed my book.
Reposted by Danyel Smith
Co-headlining summer tour in Heaven? (via @danyelsmith.bsky.social )
Parliament- Funkadelic or Sly & The Family Stone?
February 10, 2026 at 3:39 PM
Co-headlining summer tour in Heaven? (via @danyelsmith.bsky.social )
Reposted by Danyel Smith
Truly a miraculous arc if you were around in the 80s, 90s and remember the weight of HIV and the toll it took. Unreserved and unqualifiedly good news.
Just because good news is worth celebrating:
There is now a Prep medication that is an *every six month* injection.
HIV has, effectively, a vaccination.
There is now a Prep medication that is an *every six month* injection.
HIV has, effectively, a vaccination.
February 7, 2026 at 4:48 AM
Truly a miraculous arc if you were around in the 80s, 90s and remember the weight of HIV and the toll it took. Unreserved and unqualifiedly good news.
🫣
I like to imagine Mazzulla came in just showed them nature videos.
February 7, 2026 at 4:36 AM
🫣
i feel like threats were made 😭
Oh to listen in to what the coaches were saying….
February 7, 2026 at 4:30 AM
i feel like threats were made 😭
!!!
Etta lived in Riverside and whenever she would call me in the newsroom it was a delight. She was a big Trader Joe’s fan. 🤣
February 7, 2026 at 12:50 AM
!!!
this is too much! but going with Etta because we're both from California. also i listen to this probably too much www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY_2...
February 6, 2026 at 11:49 PM
this is too much! but going with Etta because we're both from California. also i listen to this probably too much www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY_2...
Silk to the Sonic
February 6, 2026 at 11:46 PM
Silk to the Sonic
impossible. but going with Sly because I am from Oakland
Parliament- Funkadelic or Sly & The Family Stone?
February 6, 2026 at 11:45 PM
impossible. but going with Sly because I am from Oakland
a tough one but Holland
Tobey Macguire Spider-Man or Tom Holland Spider-Man?
February 6, 2026 at 11:44 PM
a tough one but Holland
Earvin
Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson?
February 6, 2026 at 11:43 PM
Earvin
Off The Wall
February 6, 2026 at 11:42 PM
Off The Wall
those subject lines get real thuggish when your credit card expires and you haven't given them the new info yet
February 6, 2026 at 6:35 AM
those subject lines get real thuggish when your credit card expires and you haven't given them the new info yet
Before Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio makes Super Bowl history, I'm talking halftime shows tonight with Usher, Jermaine Dupri and Maurice Garland on Apple Music 1 🎙️
1AM PT — stream live free or catch it anytime with a sub music.apple.com/us/station/u...
1AM PT — stream live free or catch it anytime with a sub music.apple.com/us/station/u...
Usher Radio Station on Apple Music
Listen on Apple Music.
music.apple.com
February 6, 2026 at 5:04 AM
Before Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio makes Super Bowl history, I'm talking halftime shows tonight with Usher, Jermaine Dupri and Maurice Garland on Apple Music 1 🎙️
1AM PT — stream live free or catch it anytime with a sub music.apple.com/us/station/u...
1AM PT — stream live free or catch it anytime with a sub music.apple.com/us/station/u...
Reposted by Danyel Smith
The number of people currently in ICE custody is now over 73,000, the most in history.
February 3, 2026 at 1:11 PM
The number of people currently in ICE custody is now over 73,000, the most in history.
a song.
February 3, 2026 at 6:42 AM
a song.
Reposted by Danyel Smith
Joel Embiid and James Harden have not played against each other since December 2021, when Harden was in Brooklyn. By February 2022, the two were teammates.
One of the other has missed each of the six 76ers-Clippers games since Harden was traded in Fall 2023.
One of the other has missed each of the six 76ers-Clippers games since Harden was traded in Fall 2023.
February 2, 2026 at 9:20 PM
Joel Embiid and James Harden have not played against each other since December 2021, when Harden was in Brooklyn. By February 2022, the two were teammates.
One of the other has missed each of the six 76ers-Clippers games since Harden was traded in Fall 2023.
One of the other has missed each of the six 76ers-Clippers games since Harden was traded in Fall 2023.
Reposted by Danyel Smith
No masks on cops. No masks on cops. No masks on cops. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
The Real Reason ICE Agents Wear Masks
Face-coverings may work less to protect federal agents from danger than to make it easier for them to do unconstitutional things.
www.theatlantic.com
February 2, 2026 at 8:41 PM
No masks on cops. No masks on cops. No masks on cops. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
yes! Oakland girls fo-evah
February 1, 2026 at 9:55 PM
yes! Oakland girls fo-evah
Reposted by Danyel Smith
ANTI turns 10 today. Rihanna’s been a constant in my thinking / writing / editing / magazine-making for years, and she pops up in my newsletter more than almost anyone shinebrighthq.substack.com/p/rihanna-te....
rihanna ➕ teedra ➕ what's exactly what
'i love how my brain feels'
shinebrighthq.substack.com
January 28, 2026 at 8:56 PM
ANTI turns 10 today. Rihanna’s been a constant in my thinking / writing / editing / magazine-making for years, and she pops up in my newsletter more than almost anyone shinebrighthq.substack.com/p/rihanna-te....