In Reference to Nick Chiles's NY Times Op-Ed January 4, 2006 piece...
Print media in the US is just as ruthless and racist in pursuing the almighty
dollar. So it should come as no surprise that in the absence of a strong Black Social
Justice Movement HoochieMomma Lit will become the dominant form of "literature"
flooding our streets and Black book sections of Barnes & Nobles/Borders/B. Dalton/Essence
Mag. Just Look at how Black America tolerates/uplifts BET, Black-oriented radio
programs, chittlin circuit "Yo Momma" plays and "HustlenFlow/get
Rich or Die Tryin'" type flix....
This whole US society is degenerating into a lump of antireaders/anti-intellectuals...
and Black America's quest to be "integrated" into this mess drags us down
with the dumbed down hedonistic white majority.
The revitalization of great BlackLit can only come about thru the revitalization
of our Freedom Struggle... our righteous fight for complete social revolution and
justice. Otherwise, all our youngfolk (and oldfolk) will have to inspire before
them is "Down Lowism" and "Swingers' Parties" and Gangsta Lit/Rap/Flix.
Capitalism will and does profit off of our youth's miseducation and glorification
of the superindiviualistic lifestyles of HoochieMommas and GhettoGangstas (both
of whom are submicroscopic playas upon the larger playing field of the highest form
of organized crime: capitalism).
Nick Chiles (below) could form a small group of parents and youth to sit down with
the B&N bookstore manager and work out a series of book signings/talks/dicsussion
groups/school collaborations dealing with the more serious BlackLit material. Or
Nick Chiles and a small group of folk could work with a local school and pull together
a reading club for preteens and teens that focus on positive BlackLit. Nick Chiles
could also help transform the local school's literature program and help in the
training of teachers in teaching good BlackLit (many of our young teachers have
grown up on just Terry McMillan, but Not Toni Morrison or Toni Cade Bambara. They
have grown up on reading the now classics from the 80's, but have rarely read BlackLit
before the 1970's... and then very very selectively).
There are many many things that we- as concerned parents and adults -can do to help
stem the ghettotrashlit tide. Every little collective effort-bit counts.
======================
Brother I have an argument with my lady about this topic all the time! She doesn't understand why I debase the books that she reads. She thinks I am putting her down by talking bad about these books; it's not about her - well it is, in the sense that she represents the hundreds of thousands of our people ESPECIALLY OUR SISTERS that are reading these trashy novels.
ReplyDeleteThere is very little good or productive coming out of our people reading these books, except that some of our folks are getting money from them and even that is meaningless because that money will wind up right back in the hands of folks that don't look like us and it won't generate any other businesses or income for our community.
These books stimulate the lowest parts of our beings, worse, they take up space on bookshelves that could be taken up by some more meaningful works that our people need to read.
Brother I have an argument with my lady about this topic all the time! She doesn't understand why I debase the books that she reads. She thinks I am putting her down by talking bad about these books; it's not about her - well it is, in the sense that she represents the hundreds of thousands of our people ESPECIALLY OUR SISTERS that are reading these trashy novels.
ReplyDeleteThere is very little good or productive coming out of our people reading these books, except that some of our folks are getting money from them and even that is meaningless because that money will wind up right back in the hands of folks that don't look like us and it won't generate any other businesses or income for our community.
These books stimulate the lowest parts of our beings, worse, they take up space on bookshelves that could be taken up by some more meaningful works that our people need to read.