Tuesday, July 03, 2007

A Prayer for Deliverance this Holiday...


Patrick Fitzgerald, Esq.--can you hear me? I have a suggestion...see image to the left.
Oh, and coming post-Fourth, my interview with author LISA JONES JOHNSON, who penned the novel A DEAD MAN SPEAKS, nominated for an NAACP Image Award. Lisa lso works with National Lampoon and ComedyTV.com.
Next week look for my talk with CORA DANIELS, author of GHETTO NATION. And be sure to check out Martha Southgate's piece in the New York Times about the decline of black literary fiction, and the travails of trying to compose something that doesn't contain the words "Thug," "Thong" or "Jesus, I need a good man" in the title or contain plot elements of "The Young & the Restless."

5 comments:

Snowman said...

Again you are overstating much to entertain us and make you points. However, I am no Karl Rove fan and that image would suit me fine.

Hope to see you at the bookstore again. Come by Pusser's in Annapolis and see Joel about sponsoring a book event.

Anonymous said...

Many people are using the term gangsta, and I'm glad you injected Putin and the Chinese (mainland). Quite appropriate.

Anonymous said...

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Pebbles Flintstone said...

Chris,
Thanks for this. I am really looking forward to Cora Daniels' book, Ghetto Nation. I saw it in the bookstore and was completely intrigued by the premise. I hate seeing Paris Hilton using terms like "bling" and "holla". It sounds ignorant when our folk use it, and even worse when they say it. What the hell?

I will probably pick the book up this week.

Unknown said...

I'm interested in hearing from Cora Daniels, too. It's interesting that ghetto fabulousness has made so much money for black and white MALES in the rap/music industry, where they exploit and disrespect poor blacks and women and repackage it as entertainment for mostly white consumption - esp. in the beginning of their solo careers when the majority of the rap stars came from mostly poor families/neighborhoods/backgrounds.

I notice it esp. in regards to black women: "buzz words" like ghetto rat, hoodrat, ho being thrown around in rap and other media and everyone KNOWS that those are signifiers for black women.

Why are we okay with this? Why are we okay with the N word? Inviting whites and others to participate in the exploitation and disrespect of of Blacks, through their (AND OUR) consumption and purchase of this stuff, is a form of cultural treason.

When people say ghetto, I cringe because I know they associate ghetto with all that is black, ugly, poor and is perceived as "culturally backwards" but at the same time "authentic blackness". Isn't it ironic that we are now selling this to whites and others who buy it up willingly?

Don't get me wrong: I am a child of the inner city and late 80s, early 90s hip hop and things have really changed since then. There is an ugliness and disrespect targeted at poor people and women that is seems deliberate and encouraged by white handlers and black gatekeepers that is very shady to me.

Rap has become a caricature. This is why black men whose families hail from the middle class (Lil Jon, for example) are now exploiting ghetto fabulousness to make money and part of the reason why white kids are having ghetto parties at college.