http://www.booksforblacks.net/bookdiva/index.php/site/index/ Books, Film, Music and More en b4b1014@yahoo.com Copyright 2009 2009-02-04T10:30:00-05:00 http://www.booksforblacks.net/bookdiva/index.php/site/married_to_africa_a_love_story/ http://www.booksforblacks.net/bookdiva/index.php/site/married_to_africa_a_love_story/#When:10:30:00Z Married to Africa: A Love Story, by G. Pasqual Zachery, is one of the most facinating stories I have ever read.  It is a true love story because only love can explain how these two people with opposite personalities and major cultural differences could establish a relationship and marry. Of course the skeptic in me says, it is all about the green card.  But that is dimishing the work and effort Zachary and his Ibo wife, Chizo, have put into this relationship. Where Chizo is bold and brash, Zachary is mild-mannered and introspective. He is a journalist and foreign correspondent for major media institutions like The Wall Street Journal.  He met Chizo in Ghana where she was working at the Accra zoo as a keeper and surrogate mother for an orphaned chimp named Jimmy. Their story is a wild romp through the highs and lows of courtship African style and marriage American style. While they are in Africa, Chizo calls the shots about where they go and what they do. She makes it clear that she loves him thoroughly, but he has to take her as she is.  That means he has to understand her fear of fetishes and witchcraft and her daily talks with God. While Zachary is a non-practicing Jew, he begins to find his own sense of the divine. Once they are in America and married Chizo continues to test his resolve and dedication by proclaiming herself to be independent and knowledgable about almost everything. Zachary is on a roller-coaster ride with Chizo. There are some really hilarious moments in their story, like the time Chizo forgets the security code to the alarm system and the police come to investigate.  Chizo answers the door with a knife in her hand.  The police are dumbfounded and vexed.  She tells Zachary she was cutting yams when they arrived. Zachary has a love for AFrican culture and African people.  He appears extremely naive in his approach to courting and marrying Chizo.  He has endured situations most men would run away from. But always he remembers his love for Chizo and she for him.  There are some really poignant moments in the book and at the end you are rooting for this unlikely pair.  Chizo’s daughter has come to live with them and Zachary has two children of his own. How this blended family will fare, is another book. 2009-02-04T10:30:00-05:00 http://www.booksforblacks.net/bookdiva/index.php/site/the_book_of_night_women/ http://www.booksforblacks.net/bookdiva/index.php/site/the_book_of_night_women/#When:10:30:00Z Marlon Brown’s latest novel takes us inside the rebellious hearts and minds of the enslaved Jamaicans and Africans on the Montpelier plantation.  His story centers around the women who plot and plan the destruction of the plantation system. A green-eyed girl child is born in the dark of night and immediately becomes an object of fear and jealousy.  Her mother died birthing her and no one stepped up to take her. They would have rather left her in the bush to die. The headman gives her to a strange couple to raise and Lilith, as she is called, begins her life. James uses the language and vernacular of Jamaican slaves in an almost uncomfortable way for the reader.  However, the cursing and obscenities become minor distractions and annoyances in the telling of the tale.  The reader is soon caught up in a web of deceit and treachery from the slave-holders to the slaves.  The men in the story are reference points to keep the reader clear on what the stakes are for these women, both black and white. The night affords invisibility to them and they do unspeakable things under cover of darkness, each as a way to manifest her own destiny of freedom. They are all unfailingly human in their triumphs and failures and in the end, the price is often their lives.  No one is left untouched because their lives are inextricably intwined, both the slaves and their captors. Sex and love between the enslaved and their slavers forms a back-drop and often-times blurs the lines of who is who and what the rules and roles are. If you enjoyed John Crow’s Devil by Marlon James, you will certainly find The Book of Night Women equally enjoyable. 2009-01-29T10:30:00-05:00 http://www.booksforblacks.net/bookdiva/index.php/site/sweetsmoke_by_david_fuller_slavery_muder_and_mystery/ http://www.booksforblacks.net/bookdiva/index.php/site/sweetsmoke_by_david_fuller_slavery_muder_and_mystery/#When:10:00:00Z With Sweetsmoke screenwriter David Fuller abandons the standard tale of plantation life for a plantation murder mystery.  Along with the mystery is a tale of the self-discovery and valor of a slave named Cassius Howard. Cassius sets out to solve the murder of a free woman, Emoline Justice. Emoline became a mother-figure to him, nursing him back to health and sanity after his wife was murdered and his infant son sold away. Fuller lays bare the politics of slave life on the plantation. The ultimate prize is life among familiars.  No one wants to be die, be beaten or sold away. The slavers hold the keys to personal power and gain. Emoline had done the unthinkable.  She taught Cassius to read--a skill punishable by death.  The origin of his naming by Hoke, the plantation owner is a theme that runs throughout the tale.  The name was taken from the Tragedy of Julius Ceaser, by Shakespeare.  It incites Cassius to steal the book to discover what the plantation owner saw in him at his birth, before he became a man. The tale is fortified by the presence of a slave woman Quashee, an African, in whom Cassius first sees intelligence and later, loyalty. The two join forces as Cassius begins to unravel the mystery of Emoline’s murder. The Civil War forms a backdrop for the murder, intrigue and politics of all involved.  Was Emoline a spy for the North?  Was her death a conspiracy? Was she killed for her money? These questions entice the reader to stick with the story until the murderer is revealed. Unlikely characters become allies and seemingly benign characters prove treacherous.  Fuller does an adequate job with the characters and tale of plantation life, however his strong suit is mystery and intrigue. 2009-01-14T10:00:00-05:00 http://www.booksforblacks.net/bookdiva/index.php/site/sounds_of_60s_lago/ http://www.booksforblacks.net/bookdiva/index.php/site/sounds_of_60s_lago/#When:10:00:02Z 2008-03-24T10:00:02-05:00 http://www.booksforblacks.net/bookdiva/index.php/site/black_history_month_2008_whos_in_control/ http://www.booksforblacks.net/bookdiva/index.php/site/black_history_month_2008_whos_in_control/#When:10:00:00Z I See Black People: The Rise and Fall of African American-Owned Television and Radio by Kristal Brent Zook With I See Black People, author Kristal Brent Zook presents a history of the politics of black television and radio.  Zook ‘s research includes interviews with broadcasting pioneers such as Percy and Pierre Sutton founders of New York City’s Inner City Broadcasting and owner of WLIB-AM, the first black-owned radio station in Harlem, New York City and Catherine Hughes owner of Radio One and TV One. The interviews are candid and thought-provoking. Ms. Hughs’ take on BET is interesting and revealing as she says of owner former owner, Bob Johnson “All of us, including myself, beat up on Bob so badly because we wanted BET to be everything to everybody.” If you want to know who is in control of your television and radio dial, take some time with I See Black People. 2008-02-12T10:00:00-05:00 http://www.booksforblacks.net/bookdiva/index.php/site/black_history_month_2008_the_real_deal_on_africa/ http://www.booksforblacks.net/bookdiva/index.php/site/black_history_month_2008_the_real_deal_on_africa/#When:10:00:00Z The Destruction of Black Civilization: Great Issues of a Race from 4500BC to 2000AD, by Dr. Chancellor Williams. The Destruction of Black Civilization is one of the most important books in the canon of African historical works for Africans in the diaspora. Contemporary white scholars take issue with the writings of Dr. Chancellor, which is to be expected.  We are to believe what is written by Europeans, but not by people of color. For sixteen years Dr. Williams traveled through Africa compiling research and taking personal accounts of history and testimony from indigenous Africans.  He introduces us to notable figures like Queen Nzinga of the Congo, who fought the Portuguese invaders, leading her own army and Hannibal Barca who led his army on the backs of elephants. Dr. Williams answers the question “How did Blacks who built great civiliations become the race we are today.” Once you read this book you will see the systematic, organized and deliberate destruction of a great race. 2008-02-06T10:00:00-05:00 http://www.booksforblacks.net/bookdiva/index.php/site/black_history_month_things_fall_apart/ http://www.booksforblacks.net/bookdiva/index.php/site/black_history_month_things_fall_apart/#When:16:00:00Z Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Random House celebrates the 50th Anniversary of Things Fall Apart. Chinua Achebe was my introduction to African writers. This is one story of how Europeans came to Africa and intruded into the cultural, spiritual and economic lives of black Africans. Things Fall Apart is a fictional work based in history. Through Achebe’s writing, you see the oppression, manipulation and dominance of the Europeans over the Africans.  For this dominance to take hold, there had to be Africans who were ready to betray their own people for financial and political gains. A lot of this was done through white Christian missionaries and British military. European education was held out like a carrot, to entice African families to turn their sons over to the Europeans for “education.” This caused many great divides between fathers and sons, weakening the strong family unit. First published in England in 1958, Things Fall Apart tells the story of a Igbo (EE_BO) village in Nigeria and of the tragic figure Okonkwo, a man of great wealth and popularity, yet fearful of appearing weak. This is a story of a clash of cultures, where old customs are replaced with new and unfamiliar customs and things only get worse. This is the story of colonialism through the eyes of a son of Africa.  Through Okonkwo we step back in time to the arrival of Europeans on African shores.  And things do not only fall apart, they get progressively worse. If you want to understand modern day Africa, this is where you begin. 2008-01-31T16:00:00-05:00 http://www.booksforblacks.net/bookdiva/index.php/site/richard_wrights_unfinished_novel/ http://www.booksforblacks.net/bookdiva/index.php/site/richard_wrights_unfinished_novel/#When:10:00:00Z A Father’s Law, by Richard Wright In honor of the year-long centennial celebration of Richard Wright’s birthday in 1908, Harper Collins has just released his previously unpublished final work A Father’s Law. The draft of this manuscript was discovered by his daughter Julia when collecting his personal effects at the time of his death in 1960. A Father’s Law is a radical departure for Wright. It is a who-dunnit, with CSI overtones. Surprisingly, Wright shows a knack for writing psyschological studies of human behavior. Written in the six weeks before his death, the writing is not as tight and precise as his previously published novels. Wright set his story in the suburbs of Chicago with the promotion of black police officer Ruddy Turner to Chief of Police of the affluent suburb of Brentwood Park. Turner is an upright defender of the law, a Republican and a Catholic, a different sort of black man than Wright’s usual characters. He is married with a son Tommy, with whom he has a strained relationship. A series of murders in Brentwood Park and the psychological tension between Ruddy and Tommy make for interesting insights into the lives of middle class parents who give their children material comforts, but fail to make human connections. Ruddy feels inadequate when his son, who is studying sociology, offers scientific techniques in crime-solving.  He begins to wonder if his own son is a criminal genius and has committed the murders in Brentwood Park. Wright thoroughly explores the divide between working-class parents and their more educated children.  Ruddy has “made it,” but the rewards are fragile and vulnerable.  He has to juggle his blackness with just-the-right amount of humility and adherence to the white norms that surround him. This is by no means a psychological thriller and it reflects the absence of Wright’s final attention. It is however a celebration of a great American writer whose contribution to the literary canon is priceless and eduring. 2008-01-16T10:00:00-05:00 http://www.booksforblacks.net/bookdiva/index.php/site/my_year_2007_in_books/ http://www.booksforblacks.net/bookdiva/index.php/site/my_year_2007_in_books/#When:04:00:00Z Habara Gani and Happy New Year... 2007 was a hectic and exciting year for me and I’m looking forward to a slower-paced, yet exciting 2008. I didn’t write many book reviews this year, but I read a lot of books; saw a lot of films; and listened to a lot of music.  This year I also went back to books that I have read and enjoyed. I want to share some of my 2007 past-times with you. My Favorite Books in 2007 My #1: The Wizard of the Crow, by Ngugl wa Thiong’o Exiled Kenyan writer, Ngugl wa Thiong’o spins a darkly comic tale of Africa and her dictators. The Wizard of the Crow takes place in Abruria, a fictional country that could be anywhere in Africa, with characters drawn so exquisitely and completely, that the Ruler could be any dictator in Africa.  There are about 765 pages to this book and the reader is advised to take his/her time and get to know the Abruria characters as they appear because all of them are important to the story.  This is parody at it’s highest level.  Abruria is a country where down is up and the newest government project is “Marching to Heaven,” erecting the tallest building in the world.  There are fantastic stories within stories, mistaken identities; torture in jail cells; love gone bad; love finding two lovers; and all sorts of hilarious, non-sensical happenings. Do yourself a favor. Stolen from Gypsies, by Nobel Smith: Generally, the myths speak of babies stolen by gypsies. Stolen from Gypsies is a madcap tale told by a hypochondriacal English nobleman named Ambrogio Smith is like Monty Phython, The Black Adder and Mel Brooks on crack.  Ambrogio, the narrator, lies in bed in attendance by his slavish manservant, Antonio.  The laughs never stop coming.  This is the story of a child stolen from gypsies, replete with antiquated slang, bawdy English, beet-juice enemas and a glossary to boot. The Death of Vishnu, by Manil Suri: With The Death of Vishnu, Manil Suri, takes on themes of religion, lost love, classism and spiritual emptiness. While Vishnu lies unconscious on the landing of an apartment building in Bombay, the lives of the residents spiral out of control all around him. Vishnu becomes an inconvenience, where he once was a playmate to the children of the building and later, a handyman. His alcoholism has stolen away his life and now he drifts in and out of consciousness.  His story is as riveting as the other stories in the building.  This is Bollywood on paper with music, laughter, sorrow and tears. The Village of the Water Spirits: The Dreams of African American, by Michael Ortiz Hill with Mandaza Augustine Kandemwa and Twin from Another Tribe, by Michael Ortiz Hill and Mandaza Augustine Kandemwa. Michael Ortiz Hill is an Nganga--a South African healer, born in North America.  In The Village of the Water Spirits, Ortiz Hill begins to collect the dreams of African Americans about white people. His initiator is Mandaza Augustine Kandemwa, a Shona and an Ndebele Nganga.  They met when Ortiz Hill brought the dreams of African Americans to Kandemwa for interpretation.  In his work with the ‘water spirits”, Kandemwa is often involved in dream-telling and interpretation.  In his work as a collector of dreams, Ortiz Hill learned that Africa is at the very core of African American dreaming. In Twin from Another Tribe, Ortiz Hill and Kandemwa recount their separate journeys towards initiation and their inevitable twinning.  Kandemwa is from the Shona people who were sworn enemies of the Ndebele people.  All attempts to find a Shona initiator were futile until his spirits led him to an Ndebele Nganga.  Across the world in Los Angeles, Ortiz Hill was reeling from the Rodney King verdicts and riots. He began to prepare himself to go to Africa and to be initiated.  He was initiated by Kandemwa, who in a dream saw Michael, his “brother.” Eventually, Ortiz Hill initiated Kandemwa, freeing his spirits in a trance possession.  They had become twins. 2007-12-30T04:00:00-05:00 http://www.booksforblacks.net/bookdiva/index.php/site/the_black_outsider_in_british_society/ http://www.booksforblacks.net/bookdiva/index.php/site/the_black_outsider_in_british_society/#When:18:52:00Z In Foreigners: Three English Lives, once again, Caryl Phillips turns his eye to race, class and identity.  Although somewhat of an outsider himself, Phillips admired and was primarily influenced by African American writers like James Baldwin.  He considers himeslf first and foremost a British author. Phillips was born in St. Kitts, brought to Leeds, England as an infant, and later emigrated from England to New York City as an adult. Foreigners, historically and fictionally examines the role of the black outsider in British society. Phillips, in most of his novels, introduces characters that are slightly out-of-step with the societies surrounding them. Some are struggling against oppression, others are struggling against themselves. Some of his previous works of fiction include, Cambridge, a Caribbean love story of slavery, betrayal and murder; Crossing the River, a tale of black lives severed from ties of home; and A Distant Shore, the story of two dissimilar individuals who form a tentative friendship in a small northern England town. The “foreigners” in this hybrid of history and fiction are all black men who at varying points in time were the talk of Britain. The first was Francis Barber, who as a child, was “given” to the 18th century writer Samuel Johnson. The second was boxer Randolph Turpin, although bi-racial, he was considered black by English standards. Turpin beat Sugar Ray Robinson in 1951. The third and lesser-known man was Nigerian immigrant David Oluwale who died at the hands of British police in 1969. None of these men in their latter years lived very significant lives. They were tragic heroes who, at some point were the objects of British fascination, but never assimilation.  Phillips style of writing is a bit awkward and uneven in places, but the telling of the tale is more than enough to compensate for the choppy flow. Black Diaspora Writers 2007-12-07T18:52:00-05:00