A place we saw the lights turn low

January 24, 2020

A London audience grooved to Lords of the Underground in 2006.Getty Images

By Jamelle Bouie

Opinion Columnist

This week, instead of a take on a book or a movie, I thought I would give you a sense of what I’ve been listening to. I am a huge music fan and am always listening to something. Here is what has been on constant repeat for me this week.

“La-La Means I Love You: The Definitive Collection” by The Delfonics
“Here Comes the Lords” by Lords of the Underground
“Most Known Unknowns” by Three Six Mafia
“Live and Let Die” by Kool G. Rap & DJ Polo

As you can see, other than the Delfonics, this is all hip-hop. But if you listen to rap, these are great, classic records that are worth your time!

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What I Wrote

On Monday, I drove down to Richmond with a friend (and fellow journalist) to cover the pro-gun demonstration at the State Capitol. I wrote about that protest in the context of what gun ownership has traditionally meant in the United States.

In Virginia and many of the 30 other states that allow open carry, Americans have a right to mass, armed protest. But that right, and the right to bear arms in general, are informed by the settler history of the American nation and structured by hierarchies of race and gender, despite our collective pretense to universalism. Or put another way, every American has a right to gun ownership, but the paradigmatic gun owner is still a white man.

Now Reading

John Clegg and Adaner Usmani on the economic origins of mass incarceration, in Catalyst magazine.

Annette Gordon-Reed on Martin Luther King Jr. in the New York Review of Books.

Gabriel Winant on the political limits of ideological antimonopolism in The Nation.

The Editors of Jewish Currents magazine on Adam Sandler’s performance in “Uncut Gems.”

John Ganz on Andrew Yang’s celebrity supporters in The Outline.

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Feedback

If you’re enjoying what you’re reading, please consider recommending it to friends. They can sign up here. If you want to share your thoughts on an item in this week’s newsletter or on the newsletter in general, please email me at jamelle-newsletter@nytimes.com.

Photo of the Week

An armed demonstrator in Richmond, Va.Jamelle Bouie

I always take photos when I’m on a reporting trip, and I have quite a few from my day in Richmond. This is my favorite, partly because I like the way it’s composed, partly because I think it captures the vibe of the event: largely calm, but with the unavoidable suggestion (if not threat) of violence. I took the photo with my digital Leica range finder, using a Konica-brand “normal” lens.

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Now Eating: Smitten Kitchen’s “Pizza Beans”

This is the time of year when I’m traveling for work-related events: giving lectures, speaking on panels, reporting on events. But just because I’m away from home doesn’t mean I can’t cook for my family. I usually spend the nights before a trip preparing meals for everyone, so that my wife does not have to worry about putting something together. For the sake of ease, I gravitate toward gratins when cooking ahead of time, and this recipe — taken from Deb Perelman — is a favorite.

There’s not too much to the recipe, so I’ll just say that it works well with a crisp green salad on the side. When I made it this past week, I didn’t have enough white beans on hand, so I also added some Beyond Meat sausage, browned in a separate pan. Regular sausage also works, but we’re trying to save all meat eating for the weekends, and Beyond Meat sausage is almost as good as the real thing.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, diced
1 large or 2 regular carrots, diced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper or red pepper flakes
2 large garlic cloves, minced
¼ cup dry white or red wine (optional)
4 ounces curly kale leaves, chopped or torn
2 ¼ cups crushed tomatoes (28-ounce can minus 1 cup; reserve the rest for another use)
1 pound cooked firm-tender giant white beans
Up to ¾ cup vegetable broth
½ pound mozzarella, coarsely grated
⅓ cup grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh basil, for garnish

Directions

Heat the oven to 475 degrees. In a 2 ½-to-3-quart (ideally oven-safe) deep sauté pan, braiser, or shallow Dutch oven, heat the olive oil on medium-high. Add the onion, celery and carrots.

Season well with salt and black or red pepper. Cook, sautéing, until the vegetables brown lightly, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, and cook for 1 minute more. Add the wine, if using, to scrape up any stuck bits, then simmer until it disappears, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the kale, and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until collapsed, then add the tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Add the beans, and, if the mixture looks too dry or thick, add up to ¾ cup broth, ¼ cup at a time. Simmer the mixture together over medium heat for about 10 minutes, adjusting the seasonings as needed.

If your pan isn’t ovenproof, transfer the mixture to a 3-quart baking dish. If it is, continue.

Sprinkle the beans first with the mozzarella, then the Parmesan, and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until browned on top. Finish with basil.

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