48. Macnolia (reread)

48. [Macnolia] by A. Van Jordan

My experience rereading this book, is quite different than the first. A lot of time has past. A lot of things have taken place. But, my respect for Jordan as a poet, writer has only grown.
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47. Black Genius (reread)

47. [Black Genius] by Walter Mosley, Manthia Diawara, Clyde Taylor and Regina Austin

A friend of mine often told me how this book impacted her life. She carried it with her where ever she went. Her aim was to hear each of the authors speak in person, understand their vision out of their own mouths, and have the book signed in rememberance of the person and the ideas. One day she lost the book and all the signatures she once accumulated. Each time she recounted the story to me, I understood her distress.

I hope she has obtained another copy of the book, and begun again. Because it's not about the signatures, it's about the ideas. And the ideas are not lofty words printed on unread pages... but guidelines for action, for life. If there is anyone who embodies this collective Black Genius, it is her. I hope she knows this, and I hope she has begun again.

I reread the book with her in mind and with hope for "African American Solutions to African American Problems".

With Love.
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46. It's Bigger than Hip Hop

46. [It's Bigger than Hip Hop] by M. K. Asante Jr.

I usually hate to include books on the Black Bookshelf before I have finished the last page, occassionally I do. Usually, if I am so moved by the beginning of the book that I can not wait to share it with the world.

This is a book that I wish I would have read and reviewed as soon as the book hit the shelves. Sometimes in publishing, it seems that so many decisions are made off of initial sales. This is a book that I would not want to go out of print.

When I come across books like this --that is, books that I am sure my generation would enjoy and learn from -- I always wonder how to actually get the books in the hands of the people.

I absolutely loved Kitwana's Hip Hop Generation, but many years have passed; it is time for an update. Hip Hop is not simply a musical genre, it is a culture. This culture encompasses, music, film, education, fashion, politics, crime, activism, laws and many, many, many other entities. Asante does an excellent job at exploring various facets of Hip Hop culture and it's impact on everyday people.

I loved the book, and if I can figure out a way to get into the hands of more young people, I'll definitely take action. I hope that young Asante continues on the journey he has begun, continuing to teach and write.
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45. Unreliable Truth

45. [Unreliable Truth] by Maureen Murdock

The importance of memoir is the first person perspective. It is not an absolute truth, but a reconstructed truth -- for memories are limited, but not necessarily false.Retweet this

44. Bird by Bird

44. Bird by Bird by Ann Lamott

I read entirely too many books on writing. It is a method of procrastination and a means of justification.

If the procrastination is limited and used to mull over creative ideas, if the justification is used to give you the confidence to get more work done, then the books of writing may be of great help.

I have had this book for years and years, it was refreshing to reopen it and discover a forgotten world.
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43. What Moves at the Margin

43. [What Moves at the Margin] by Toni Morrison

I must have finished reading this selection a month or two ago. Somehow I am just now getting around to offering a response.

Just flipping through the book, rereading my highlighted notations, I have an overwhelming desire to read the entire book again. Perhaps I will.

I love reading Morrison because I am reminded that I am not alone. Though content and style she has found a way to say what others think, believe and understand; through talent she has found an audience to receive the collective truth in a way many other writers, black, female or otherwise, have not.

Yes, "there is the miraculous walk of trees". Not only must we ask whether it is progress or movement, we must also ask whether we are rescinding into a backwards foolishness.

I do not have an answer. I watch the walk of trees. I take notes.

And so I meditate on the things which Morrison raises, which I myself have not found the words to express:

1. What is the sentiments of black women in women's lib?
2. Why do many black women find it impossible to respect white women?
3. What does it mean for black women to be seen as emasculating or masculine?
4. How do we deal with privilege? White male privilege? White female privilege? Even light-skin privilege? So much on the surface effects the outcome of our lives.
5. What is a heroic writers' movement? And why is it impossible for a black writer to be a solitary individual? Another privilege not afforded to black skin.

I will re-read each entry in greater detail... perhaps I will have more questions, or more things to say.
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Self Portrait in Books

Please complete using only books you've read this year... Try to use titles only once!

Describe Yourself: [All the Rage] Aaron McGruder

How do you feel: [Ignore Everybody] Hugh MacLeod

Describe where you currently live: [Slumberland] Paul Beatty

If you could go anywhere, where would you go: [Sweet Life 2] Violet Blue

Your favorite form of transportation: [Willing] Scott Spencer

Your best friend is: [Unholy Ghost] Nell Casey

You and your friends are: [Skinny Bitch] Rory Freedman

What’s the weather like: [Empire of Illusion] Chris Hedges

Favorite time of day: [Keep it Real] Lee Gutkind

If your life was a(n): [Spiritual Liberation] Michael Beckwith

What is life to you: [The Myth of Sisyphus] Albert Camus

Your fear: [Touched With Fire] Kay Redfield Jamison

What is the best advice you have to give: [First We Read, Then We Write] Robert D. Richardson

Thought for the Day: [Race Matters] Cornel West

How I would like to die: [I Say a Little Prayer] E. Lynn Harris

My soul’s present condition: [The Beautiful Struggle] Ta-Nehisi Coates
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42. Getting Started as a Freelance Writer

42. Getting Started as a Freelance Writer by Robert W. Bly

In any give year, I read a handful of books on writing. I am extremely interested in how artists create art. What is their lifestyle like? Are they a visiting professor at a University? Do they work a 9-5 in Corporate America? Or, are they a freelance writer?

I have many books that examine the art of writing, others that explore the craft of writing; Bly presents one of the clearest books I've read on the business of writing. Thank you, Mr. Bly. Someone had to talk dollars and cents.

I read the book twice before I bought it, and a third time today after I made the purchase. And, I am convinced that if I am diligent this book might yeild the highest return on a $19.95 investment I've ever made.

Sure, many people want to write The Great American novel. The way things are going, my generation sure could use one. But, the reality is, if it takes you 10 years to generate your masterpiece, it sounds like you are going to have to find a way to pay the bills in the interim.

I would strongly recommend this text to anyone interested in freelance writing, copywriting, ghostwriting, or corporate communications. Perhaps this book may change your life, perhaps it may change mine.
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41. The War of Art Revisited

41. The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

This is another re-read. I initially read The War of Art in 2006; both my brother and I were impressed. For the past four weeks, this book has been on my mind. But, I couldn't exactly put my finger on 'why'.

After picking this book back up, I remember.

Resistance.

In recent years I have a new understanding of the word 'Resistance'. I thought I experienced resistance in college! Times change, people change and resistance adjusts to block our current needs.

Pressfield notes that many industries would crumble if more people faced their own Resistance. "Prisons would stand emptyt. The alcohol and tabacco industries would collapse along with the junk food, cosmetic surgery, and infotainment business, not to mention pharmacuetical companies, hospitals and the medical profession from top to bottom. Domestic abuse would become extinct, as would addiction, obesity, migraine headaces, road rage and dandruff."

Pressfield was the first author that brought to my attention the fact that Hitler was an artist. The knowledge of that single fact, literally opened my eyes. A year or so later when the Virgina Tech tragedy occurred, I was reminded of Pressfield and how important it is for artists to face their own Resistance, overcome, and create art.

Some people, Julia Cameron included, believe in the possibility of 'The Happy Artist' or 'The Happy Creative'. Pressfield reminds us that we must face resistance even when we are not happy, "Because this is war, baby. And war is hell."

Sometimes it is a great pleasure to re-read books at different points in your life. When one reads any text their consciousness will always focus on the ideas, characters and situations that resonate with their life and their situation. Even reading a book two to five years after the initial encounter can have a bold effect. One concept which I remember from the first read, but never walked away with was the relationship between Resistance and trouble. Pressfield asserts that artist get themselves in trouble because its a cheap way to get attention.

Even creating a soap opera of our life is just an excuse not to do what we are here to do. Create art.

In 2006, I thought that there were three books on writing that every would-could-should-will-be writer should read. Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones, Betsy Lerner's Forest for the Trees and Steven Pressfield's The War of Art.

Three years later, and heaps of books later, I'd say the exact same thing.
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Inside a Writer's Head; Inside a Writer's Life

Here are a few essays which I hold dear. I am certain that, down the years, there have been others which I have been moved by, but these are the first that pop into my mind.

Enjoy.

George Orwell "Why I Write"

"Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertaike such a thing if one were not drivoen on by some demon whome one can neither resist nor understand."

Chinua Achebe "The Empire Fights Back"

"But unfortunate though it may be , the penalty an artist suffers for embracing a narrowness of vision can hardly be called unjustified. What is both unfortunate and unjust is the pain the person disposessed is forced to bear in the act of dispossession itself and subsequently in the trauma of a diminished existence." -Achebe

Orhan Pamuk "My Father's Suitcase"

"For me, to be a writer is to ackowledge the secret wounds that we carry inside us, the wounds so secret that we ourselves are barely aware of them, and to patiently explore them, know them, illuminate them, to own these pains and wounds, and to make them a conscious part of our spirits and our writing." -Pamuk

James Baldwin "Words of a Native Son"

"Please take note. I'm not interested in anybody's guilt. Guilt is a luxury that we can no longer afford." -Baldwin

Martha Southgate "Writers Like Me"

"Things are tough all over, but arguably tougher for some. For many black writers, a writing life very rarely unfolds the way it does for so many white writers you could name: know you want to be a writer from the age of 10, get your first book published at 26, go on to produce slowly but steadly over a lengthy career." - Southgate

Edwidge Danticat "Writers Like Us"

"Writers don't leave any mark on the world. Not the world where we are from. In our world, writers are tortured and killed if they are men. Called lying whores, then raped and killed, if they are women. In our world, if you write, you are a politician, and we know what happens to politicians. They ended up in a prison dungeon where their bodies are covered in scalding tar before they're forced to eat their own waste. " - Danticat

bell hooks "Women Who Write Too Much"

"Even though writing is a solitary act, when I sit with words that I trust will be read by someone, I know that I can never be truly alone. There is always someone who waits for words, eager to embrace them and hold them close." -hooks

Chris Abani "Ethics and Narrative: the Human and the Other"

"Every writer thinks he feels things the most, that he is somehow special because he gets to narrate the world to everyone else as though they aren't living it. Pride is one of the deadly sins, one writers commit every time we put pen to paper." -Abani

Plus, An Interview...

Alice Walker "Everyday Use"

"Writing poems is my way of celebrating with the world that I have not committed suicide the night before."

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40. Slumberland

40. Slumberland by Paul Beatty

"Way back when, and probably tomorrow, in the exact place where you now stand, something happened. Whatever happened, at least one person gave a fuck, and at least one person didn't. Which one would you have been? Which one will you be?"

And this is my introduction to Slumberland; land of candid prose, and blatant opinions. This novel is not for the easily-offended. And while I fall into the afore mentioned category, I greatly enjoyed the book.

The plot took a back seat, to the author's lyrical prose and witty content. But, the reader will not tire of Beatty's words. Slumberland is a laugh-out-loud, literally, novel.

The narrator's voice was distinct and well developed. I wonder if Beatty enjoyed The White Tiger, if he has read it. I think I took a lot from this book. Namely, a man's mind is different from a woman's. While Ferguson, my have been a hilarious extreme. Beatty reminds me that I have a little bit more learning to do before I construct a book of all male characters.

Slumberland was a fine read. Humor helps. Always.Retweet this

"Why Literature Doesn't Matter"

In my email today, I received a NYTimes: UrbanEye article entitled, "Why Literature Doesn't Matter" I was intrigued not because I disagree, but because it may very well be true.

I was redirected to an article, "Pop Culture in the Age of Obama" by Kurt Anderson. I thoroughly enjoyed the article despite my disagreeance with one argument, which we will get to later.

Anderson pointed out that it has been almost a decade since Time magazine has placed an author on it's cover. And while that is not the only gage of public sentiment, I understand the illustration. Has literature been evicted from mass culture?

Right now, I am leaning towards yes.

Well over 100,000 books are published in the US each year. This does not mean that any of these books are having a lasting impact on our culture. All it means is that in this day and age, more people want to become authors. Indeed, some people who want to write a book, specifically to tell their story, don't even read books themselves. So while the number of people authoring books remains steady, the number of readers steadily declines.

In my own desire to write a book or two, I have discovered how much it takes to crank out page after page of legitimate prose. And one of my greatest fears (am I alone?) is that authors spend their lifetime constructing the perfect line for an audience of one.

About a week ago, I stated that poetry doesn't sell. I think that Black Poetry can sell, but only if that person is an excellent performer and public speaker. All of the well renowned Black poets are no stranger to the stage. I think that there are many excellent Black poets whose work on the written page is astonishing, but I am afraid it will never reach the eyes and ears of other Black people, let alone the rest of America if the poet himself cannot raise his voice to speak.

So the next question is, should literature matter?

Should writing be solely theraputic? Or, should a writer devoted solely to craft remain unagitated when the world does not know of, let alone approve of, his work?

Or is literature meant to move culture forward as either a reflection of it, or in opposition to it?

In the end, I think literature is not much of anything if it does not at least aim to move the culture forward. (This is not to say that all art is political, or that all art is propaganda. But it is to say that even art for art's sake if great enough will have an impact.) Some art will be a reflection of the culture, while other art will rebel. But the aim of both is to have an impact.

We are living in unliterary times. This does not mean that writers should give up the pen. But it does mean that writers will have to go above and beyond to make their words mean anything. (What is a meaning that is never seen, spoken or heard?)

On a different subject, Anderson mentioned, "the steady blackening of American popular culture." I am going to have to meditate on how I feel about this statement. Hip Hop wasn't the first form of Black music, that white youth embraced. In the past, White Americans have embraced Rock-n-Roll (And what would America be with out Rock?), Jazz and the Blues. As a matter of fact, I can't think of anything that Black folks have created for popular culture, that white folks have embraced.

Just because white folks listened to Billie Holiday sing "Strange Fruit", doesn't mean that Black folks stopped getting lynched.

So, what will make this generation different? Obama's presidency that is for sure. But to attribute his success to the "blackening of American pop culture"? I'm not too sure Kurt, let me meditate on that for a little while longer.Retweet this

39. All the Rage

39. All the Rage

I'm trying to remember the first time I was introduced to The Boondocks. Though I am not certain, it must been early in my collegiate career.

Every time I read The Boondocks, I exhale. "Thank God someone had the nerve to say it."

McGruder has the audacity of courage. More than I'll ever have. And above all, a sense of humor that is unparalleled.

I've been thinking about criticism within the Black Community. I wonder if the community could bear such criticism from a non-black artist? Probably not. So, we need the criticism from within to keep us on our toes. Towards progress. And humor helps. Always.Retweet this