In the name of literary unity
I resigned my post as columnist at Blogging In Black over the summer due to extreme overload, but I still peek in now and again. And they've declared December, National Buy a Book By a Black Author and Give it To A White Person Month.
Consider it one more step toward racial harmony.
Lordy, if you take offense easily, don't bother to visit the site or comment on the initiative.
It's all very tongue in cheek, yet a real effort to help books written by African Americans to be seen as simply books not merely "black" books.
In a way, it's sort of like what we're doing at The Brown Bookshelf - simply trying to bring attention to these books so they may be mentioned alongside of mainstream books without the added identification of the author's race.
Yeah, yeah I know - by declaring this special month, race is automatically a focal point. But it's a complicated web from which none of us really knows how to emerge.
I think it's an interesting initiative and feel it's a good step to help authors outside of Toni Morrison, Gloria Naylor and even Terri McMillan gain a broader audience.
So check your bookshelf , see which titles' theme resonates beyond the color lines and gift it to a non-black friend of choice. :-)
Consider it one more step toward racial harmony.
Lordy, if you take offense easily, don't bother to visit the site or comment on the initiative.
It's all very tongue in cheek, yet a real effort to help books written by African Americans to be seen as simply books not merely "black" books.
In a way, it's sort of like what we're doing at The Brown Bookshelf - simply trying to bring attention to these books so they may be mentioned alongside of mainstream books without the added identification of the author's race.
Yeah, yeah I know - by declaring this special month, race is automatically a focal point. But it's a complicated web from which none of us really knows how to emerge.
I think it's an interesting initiative and feel it's a good step to help authors outside of Toni Morrison, Gloria Naylor and even Terri McMillan gain a broader audience.
So check your bookshelf , see which titles' theme resonates beyond the color lines and gift it to a non-black friend of choice. :-)
posted by Paula at 5:04 PM
2 Comments:
The truth is we are black authors and whatever we produce will have the distinct classification as black writing or black books, whatever. And, given our unique perspective on the world around us - which is based on our peculiar modern world experience, our literary products can only really be viewed as African American literature. It's unfortunate that black authors don't wanna be classified as such. This is the same attitude that - upon integration, for instance - saw black communities vanish because black couldn't wait to go have a burger at a white counter. What's wrong with solidifying and strengthening - and being proud of - black literature? Fanon says 'when I enter a room my race enters with me.' What's wrong with being a black author?
whatever we produce will have the distinct classification as black writing or black books, whatever
True. And I don't believe any of us have a problem with that. How can we? It's fact.
The issue is, the pigeon holing of books. I know for a fact that my books will resonate beyond race. I write about the teen experience and a variety of teens can enjoy my characters adventures.
I wrote those books with black protoganists because I'm black and I want the story told from an African American perspective but that doesn't mean I want my books exclusively marketed to African American teens.
It's one thing to know your primary target audience, it's another to be told that you may only target that audience.
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