4 comments about remembered rapture: the writer at work.

1. Hooks' life absolutely depends on writing. In fact, she talks about writing to *avoid death* in many places throughout this collection of essays: there's the confessional writing that she does to avoid suicide early on in her writing life; there's also other more figurative deaths including despair and domination. These two can be overcome in writing by writing works of reconciliation and community, which hooks says she is always trying to do. This is a way of writing that will be most interesting to those among us who are interested in writing as resistance, or with social transformation.
   
   Death seems to stalk black women who write. Hooks points to Audrey Lorde, Toni Cade Bambara, Lorraine Hansberry, and others who died quite young. This is another reason why the writer must use her time deligently: she does not know when her time will be over. It is also a reason to write autobiographical work, so we'll know something about you, the writer, when you're dead. We still know very little about the life of Zora Neal Hurston, hooks says.
   
   You can already see there are many writers about whom hooks thinks. The author's habitus includes: Matthew Fox on spirtuality, Dorothy Allison on growing up poor or working class, Cornel West on race, Tillie Olsen on class, Jeanette Winterson, Ann Petry, Emily Dickenson and more.
   
   From childhood, hooks was eager to write: first poetry and diaries, then fiction, and later the critical non-fiction for which she is so well-known. (Did you know that bell hooks wrote her first book, Ain't I a Woman, when she was nineteen?) She observes that once you are pegged into one genre of writing, say that of the critical essay, it is unlikely that you will be able to cross over into other genres successfully. This is not because you will not be good at different kinds of writing. This is because publishers, critics, and the academy will see you as a writer of critical essays, end of story. Hooks says she revolts against these divides.
   
   This is an example of the kinds of insight hooks offers about the institutional apparatus which surrounds your solitary efforts, even now. I'm not convinced that the world is always as she sees it. I'm also not willing to let what could be the wisdom of experience in the academy and in publishing pass me by without giving it some thought, like: what kind of writing would I like to be associated with? When people see your name in print, do you want people to say, "That's that funny/insightful/bookish/concise/unfathomable poet/scientist/essayist/scholar"?
   
   Here is some of what I learned from hooks in Remembering Rapture, starkly rendered here for the sake of space though they are subtlely offered in the text:
   
   Tips for (women) becoming a (great) writer, gleaned from bell hooks:
   >>Write as if you are dying. What better way to make you use your time wisely? Who knows when you will be able to write no more, and you want to leave your trace, don't you?
   >>Don't be a bore: essay writing can and should be creative, though it usually is not.
   >>Write yourself into the text. From feminism we've learned that writing that does not use the pronoun "I" is not necessarily more objective. Scholarly writing can include "I".
   >>It's YOUR story! When writing autobiographical work, or any work that relies on your version of events, remember that the way you remember events will differ from the way other people do (and that's okay!)
   >>Don't ruin your mother's life! When writing autobiographical work, or other stories with real people in them, there are ethical questions you must consider in writing about the lives of other people
   >> If you are a woman, expect to confront sexism. (Sorry to state the obvious.) Eg. asking women to think about how their writing will affect their children is sexist
   >>Teach at a CEGEP (a college, in most juristictions outside Quebec): choose intellectual life over academic careerism (hooks teaches at the oh-so-prestigious City College of New York. Ever hear of it? Me either. But, she chose to work there because she can be a thinker there and at the same time teach young black people, which is important in her own politics.)
   >>Get some smart friends. As a writer, you must have much solitary time to contemplate and to work. But you also need to have good conversations to stimulate your creativity.
   >>Celebrate words. Choosing the right words is so powerful, as we who work in the mighty field of communication know. For example, hooks does not call herself a "black feminist" because these words participate in legitimizing a separate-but-equal feminism.
   >>Show how brilliant you are by articulating your points so that a wide audience can understand them. Don't use language to obscure meaning. The point is not to render ideas less complex - the point is to make the complex clear.
   >>Value your audience and know who they are! Who do you speak to? Let them stimulate your writing by communicating with you about things you've said.
   >>IF YOU ARE A WOMAN, WRITE! NO WOMAN CAN WRITE TOO MUCH BECAUSE WOMEN HAVE NOT WRITTEN ENOUGH.
   
   I'm still pondering some of the things hooks comes out with in this book, but I defintely like the "throw down" style of it - one that is also in her other essays. ( That's one of the uses that the writer can make of the short essay, says hooks!)
   
   On the point of writing yourself into your work: I'd be willing to bet pecunia to pens and paper that hooks will make you think that you should write a bit of your own autobiography in whatever else you write. I have not been comfortable with this technique, instead adopting a dispassionate authorial voice over material that I have often felt passionate about. Hooks really makes me want to think and write about, as she works to do within her own conditions of living, how being a white woman from a working class background is interwoven with whatever else I choose to study. She asks those who are aspiring to write within academic venues if we're also apiring to betray our roots. Are you writing work that edifies who you are, or who you would like to become? But more about what this has to do with ME when I reflect on my own writing. . .see, this book allows you to reflect.
   
   Finally, if you are a writer, writing should be a pleasure. The craft of writing is hard work, but if you feel that rapture when the work is done and the words are beaming out from the page, perhaps you are a writer after all.



2. Essential for "the aspiring indigenous black female writer." Honest encouragement and insider info from a young woman writer who has blossomed into one of the most important writers and intellectuals of our times. Plus, it's good fun for those with a passion for writing or reading.

   Her observations are wise. Her grasp of history is absolute. Her ideas stimulate intelligent and loving thought, conversation, and action. Read this book.




3. I saw the interview of bell hooks on C-Span. Went and purchased the book the next day. It serves as a primer for women who are writers or want to be writers. She candidly discusses the inside of the publishing industry. Also, she makes it clear that writing is something that a person should love for the craft not just for the money. Do not put this book down before you finish it. Near the end she pays a warm tribute to the black women writers who have influenced her work. As expected, it is well written and should become a part of our reference libraries.



4. Again, hooks demonstrates her range as writer and social critic. She writes about what it means to be a writer who is Black, feminist, and spirtually connected. This work will answer many of the questions readers of her other works may have about her inspirations as a writer, why she chose to write her memoirs, what challenges she has faced as a writer, and how we, her readers, can connect with our own lives through writing (She says:"Writing becomes a way to embrace the mysterious, to walk with spirits, and an entry to the realm of the sacred." And on her early writings: "My write was an act of resistance not simply in relation to outer structures of domination like race, sex, and class; I was writing t resist all the socialization I had received in religios, southern, working-class, patriarchal home that tried to teach me silence as the most desirable trait of womanliness"). It's not offen that we get to hear a progressive writer talk about the act of writing. This area is usually preserved for mainstream writers. So it's good to see hooks revealing parts of her self in this work. I think will see a lot more from hooks. I hope she delves more into her experiences in the academy, showing us her interacitons with her students and co-workers. While her life is important, we also need her critical eye on the people around her.

5 comments about Major: A Black Athlete, a White Era, and the Fight to Be the World's Fastest Human Being.

1. I read (and still own) the Andrew Ritchie book on Taylor and wondered what Todd Balf would have to add? I have to admit I've often not liked some of his magazine articles but whether I've changed since then or he's become a much better writer is open to question. I think he's become a better writer. I remember reading Ritchie's book like a textbook. I felt I needed to read it, but rarely was it enjoyable. Balf's on the other hand (even though I already knew the basic story) was hard to put down. I'm sure I'll read it again. If you want a definitive "textbook" on Major Taylor, Andrew Ritchie's your author. If you're looking for an enjoyable book about Major Taylor, it's Todd Balf's by a bike-length...or two!



2. If my comments save at least one person from wasting money and time on this junk, they've been worth the effort. I'd also like to add that I have nothing personal against Todd Balf. I hope he lives to be one hundred and five years old, and is healthy and happy the whole time.
   
   In 1988, Andrew Ritchie published an excellent biography of Marshall "Major" Taylor ("Major Taylor: The Extraordinary Career of a Champion Bicycle Racer"). Ritchie's book is greater than the current book by Todd Balf in every way. It is still in print, and you should buy it instead. It is researched more thoroughly and accurately and is an infinitely superior piece of writing. It also contains more than three times as many photographs than Balf's unnecessary lump of inked-up paper.
   
   Todd Balf's successful career illustrates the depressing state of contemporary publishing. Being a professional writer no longer requires the ability to write, and publishing houses of today don't seem to employ editors. Balf appears to have attended all the social consciousness courses wherever it was he went to college, but he must have skipped out on the English grammar and composition classes (if they had any). His bad writing is so distracting, it makes enjoyment of the book nearly impossible.
   
   Balf is not merely a lousy writer. He also is afflicted with a terrible case of White Man's Guilt. He is fixated on race to the point of repeatedly discussing the tone and texture of Taylor's skin (and the skin of Taylor's wife, Daisy). He imagines pathetic scenes such as Daisy brooding over the eradication of southwest Africans by German settlers in 1904, a tragic but irrelevant event of which we have no way of knowing she was even aware. Nearly every white person mentioned in the book is a loathsome racist, and even the "white picket fence" of suburbia is dragged out as an icon of Caucasian evil. In contrast, Andrew Ritchie, in his well-written 1988 book about Taylor, discusses racism almost as much as Balf, but reports it in a straightforward manner, without Balf's beard-and-glasses university-campus shrillness. Ritchie presents Taylor as a great athlete and a man of strong character who was a victor, while Balf must keep him a victim.
   
   Balf also reaches deep into the fool's bag of specious psychoanalysis, attributing elaborate, unlikely motives to long-dead people he never met. Taylor's purportedly profound reasons for sprinting at the finish of races, the theoretical identity crisis that made him write his father's name as an emergency contact in his pocket notebook, and Floyd McFarland's apparently insidious motives for taking his pet dog along on a trip are among the subjects that are painstakingly dissected with in-depth psychobabble. Is it possible Taylor sprinted to go fast and win races, or that he just wanted a relative called if he had an accident, or that McFarland merely liked having his dog around? Balf can't abide any such simple notions; nothing resembling his pscho-hooey is to be found in Andrew Ritchie's biography of Taylor.
   
   Then there are Balf's awkward similes: "...like the Holy Ghost rushing in to lay a revivalist out cold," (p. 112), and "Blood poured forth like the fountain at Rockefeller Center." (p. 199) are two examples of silly high school freshman-style writing that represent many. It might not be strictly incorrect, but it certainly feels ill-fitting to read a simile comparing a man's bleeding to death in 1902 to a structure that didn't exist until 1934.
   
   Finally, there is Balf's ridiculous discussion of the 2002 Little 500 bicycle race at Indiana University as an illustration of contemporary racism comparable to what Taylor faced a century earlier. The 2002 protests were over two issues. The first was that Team Major Taylor (TMT) was included in the event without having to go through the same qualifying races as all of the other teams, while a team that had properly qualified was excluded to make room for them. The second was that it was believed one of TMT's riders had previously raced as a professional, which is against Little 500 rules. Balf ignores all of this, and states that the other teams protested because TMT was made up of black riders. The fact that there have been no protests in subsequent years, when TMT has gone through the proper qualifying procedures and has only had riders with unquestionable amateur credentials, proves that Balf has chosen an empty example.
   
   There are those who will disagree with me about what I have discussed above. Many people today share Todd Balf's peculiar type of social and racial obsessions, and might even enjoy a dumb metaphor or simile (or ten or twenty). Well, that's all subjective. They're welcome to believe whatever they can swallow, and can hate me all they want; I'll manage without their love. But then there are his egregious errors of grammar, word usage, logic, and facts--bad writing that cannot be supported objectively and for which there is no excuse. I have listed several examples below for the entertainment of casual readers who haven't yet imploded with PC righteousness, and for the convenience of anyone at Crown Publishers who might want to make corrections for the unfortunately unavoidable paperback edition.
   
   "J.K. Starling" [The 19th century bicycle innovator's name was Starley.] (p. 20)
   
   "In 1860, oil was discovered in Wirt County. It was the same year Fort Sumter was occupied by Union troops..." [Fort Sumter was a Union fort. It was occupied by Confederate troops, in 1861.] (p. 35)
   
   "But it was more than just his Amazonian size..." [The noun Amazon and adjective Amazonian refer to mythical females.] (p. 64)
   
   "Harry Sanger" [The inventor of a shaft-driven bicycle was Sager.] (p. 107)
   
   "Taylor had a 23-pound bike and a 108-gear inch sprocket" [This refers to the Sager, a shaft-driven bicycle. Shaft-driven bicycles do not have sprockets.] (p. 107)
   
   "He dashed off a letter to the Stanley brothers in Boston and anxiously awaited their reply [in 1898]. The evolving appliance would run through a host of names, but motorcycle would eventually stick." [Motorcycles had existed since the 1860s. The first motorcycles available for purchase by the public were sold in 1894. The word "motorcycle" was in use at least as early as 1896.] (p. 110)
   
   "At season's end, McFarland would have strode aboard a westbound train ... Out of the window, he would have seen sights hurdling toward him that only a few years earlier were the province of explorers--the Holy Cross Wilderness in Colorado, the rushing Yellowstone River, and the soaring big walls at Yosemite." [Hurtling, not "hurdling". And I don't know about Holy Cross or the Yellowstone, but "the soaring big walls at Yosemite" have never been seen from any train window.] (p. 131)
   
   "Taylor's heroics at Philadelphia had whetted the appetite for more speed-busting efforts--people wanted to know where the barrier lie." [lay, not "lie"] (pp. 132-133)
   
   "It was circular, not oval like other tracks ... `Now spurt,' cried Munger, as they approached the final turn." [If the track was a circle, there was no "final turn."] (pp. 139-140)
   
   "He was proud of his star turn and seemed to enjoy the experience, sharing the stage with Parisian chartreuses..." [Chanteuses. Chartreuse is a color.] (p. 162)
   
   "Daisy Morris' adult life..." [incorrect form of possessive] (p. 164)
   
   "...Daisy Morris's home." [correct form of possessive--a gold star for Todd!] (p. 165)
   
   "She grew up in a small rented wood frame with her widowed grandmother..." [They lived in a frame?] (p. 165)
   
   "...the covetous camera lens fixing on his body..." [The lens was covetous? Since the photos show Taylor from head to foot, how can we know the (covetous) lens was fixed on his body?] (p. 173)
   
   "In the second heat Taylor took a different tact and led on the final straightaway..." [Taylor was a polite fellow, but this should be tack, not "tact".] (p. 175)
   
   "A French newspaperman noted that it had discovered that Taylor's mother..." [It? Was the reporter a robot?] (p. 179)
   
   [Concerning a voyage from San Francisco to Sydney] "He had 15,000 nautical miles to wonder if he'd be welcomed or chased away." [The distance is about 6,400 nautical miles.] (p. 205)
   
   "...the native Aborigines..." [redundant] (p. 206)
   
   "...sank ships and blew homes into a boiling Tasmanian sea." [Tasman Sea] (p. 208)
   
   "...Taylor was already on his short sprinting form and blasting by others as if standing still..." [Sounds like Taylor was standing still. Hard to do if he was "blasting by."] (pp. 208-209)
   
   [In a discussion of sports events of 1903] "Basketball seeded itself [bizarre metaphor] in Springfield, Massachusetts, and found a home in hundreds of newly-built YMCA gymnasiums." [Basketball was invented at the YMCA gymnasium at Springfield in 1891.] (p. 218)
   
   "In yet another fiery immolation, Elkes died instantly." [Fiery? The crash was caused by a flat tire.] (p. 218)
   
   [Referring again to the distance between Australia and the United States] "Taylor and McFarland were some 15,000 miles from where it had started." [From San Francisco, their departure point in the U.S., it's less than half that far.] (p. 233)
   
   "Taylor went straight to the track and prepared for the evening races ... Normally Daisy would've sat in the shade of the classically carved, arched grandstand, out of the brutal southern Australian sun..." [Brutal sun in the evening?] (pp. 236-237)
   
   "Lance Armstrong, who was ushered into the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame the same year that Taylor was, in 1996..." [The USBHOF official website indicates Taylor was inducted in 1989, not 1996. As of June 2008 Armstrong had not yet been inducted. These facts were confirmed during a personal communication with Vincent Menci, curator of the USBHOF, on June 2, 2008.] (p. 249)
   
   "Billy Brady didn't die, but became William A. Brady..." [He is now 145 years old.] (p. 250)
   
   "The populous social movements that rose during the Gilded Age...[populist, not "populous"] (p. 277)
   
   [In a discussion of races held in the year 1900] "The Madison Square Garden Six-Day that closed the millennium..." [Astoundingly, Balf demonstrates that he doesn't know the difference between a century and a millennium.] (p. 282)
   
   "...and finally, thanks to my editor, Kristin Kiser, who in spite of all the things, personal and professional, that occupied her time, she managed to make me feel that this was a project she was going to see through and not let up on." [In this tormented sentence near the end, Balf reveals that he has an imaginary friend; after reading this mess of a book, I can't believe Ms. Kiser really exists. If she does, I'm available to show her how to edit the second printing, if there has to be one. My fee would be reasonable.] (p. 293)



3. I'm glad I read this book. As a life-long bicyclist that includes fast road bikes and some racing, I was interested in- and sympathetic to- this historical speculation.
   Half's thesis presents an incredible influence the bicycle had in the development of personal transport technology and social structure in the late 19th century. It is an exciting speculation that is supported with well-researched data. Coupled with that is extraordinary extrapolation of implication. In other words, the data are over-interpreted.
   Yet, Half's perspective is worth a listen. His story can be put into the annuls of any sporting debate-- Who was the best in sport 'z'; Is sport 'i' better than sport 'j'; If 'x' met 'y' in the ring, who would win...; What is the significance of event 'a' in terms of social significance, and what was in the minds of the players? Etc.
   This is a fantastic story in black & white. Literally. Good vs. Evil. Integrity. Winning vs. losing.
   Three stars? I was a bit uncomfortable with the writing. Pompous vocabulary, in places; journalistic style & license; biased objective; and fantasy.
   Keep all this in mind. The story is historically exaggerated. Yet there is within it truth, and what is the truth? Truth is what is recorded in history. Is truth more important than what we make of it?
   Here is a fresh perspective. Enjoy the read. I'm glad I read it.



4. There is nothing wrong with Balf's new book, and for someone not familiar with either Major Taylor or the history of American bicycle racing, it is an interesting, pleasant read. However, it simply is not as good, nor as in-depth, as Andrew Ritchie's previous (and still in print) "Major Taylor: The Extraordinary Life . . ." As good as Ritchie's book is, it, in turn, is still not as good as getting your hands on a copy of Taylor's own autobiography "The Fastest Bicycle Rider in the World," either in the original edition at a mind-blowingly expensive cost, or in a current print-on-demand edition at a still irksome cost.
   
   Taylor had an iron will and an unbreakable spirit; was a clean-liver in an era when the average professional was a brawler and a dissipate; he could be a world-class whiner; he was obsessive and paranoid. He called his most bitter rivals bigots and rubes; they shot back that he was a professional scab and a self-rightous sob sister. The truth, of course, was somewhere in the middle. It's hard for both Balf and Ritchie to discuss the less heroic parts of Taylor's personality, but these come out in his own writing. You can learn a lot about Taylor by reading Balf and Ritchie; on the other hand, you can learn OF Taylor only by reading his own words.



5. I found the book to be well written and well-researched from a historical perspective. The book was enlightening, not only regarding cycling history but also cultural history.
   
   The major flaw in the book was in the epilogue regarding the Little 500 bike race at Indiana University. The author made the assumption that the 32 other teams in the Little 500 were protesting because Team Major Taylor had black riders. He did not seem to understand that the protest may have been in regard to a team being added to the race that did not qualify in the time trials thus depriving a qualifying team of a place in the race. Team Major Taylor qualified 6th in the 2008 race and finished 2nd. No protests took place. This was a minor portion of the book, but does cast some doubt that the remainder of the book was as thoroughly researched as it might have been. Was Floyd McFarland as really as bad as the author wrote? Or did the author embellish some of the facts to make a book?
   
   Todd Balf is an excellent writer with remarkable insight. Read the book, skip the epilogue. The author's assessment of early 20th century race relations is insightful; his attempt to extend this to the early 21st century comes up short.

5 comments about The Color of Love: A Mother's Choice in the Jim Crow South.

1. What a riveting story of an era that I, too, was born into but on the other side of the fence than Gene Cheek. It makes me so sad to realize that I had the same sentiment as all the "rogue" whites because I was also taught to dislike those that looked different. And in my town the only ones that were 'different" were the less fortunate blacks. I am sorry for my generation and my race that this burden was placed on the Gene Cheeks of the US. I couldn't put this book down until I had completed it. Thank you Gene for sharing your story and again I apologize to you and your family and am so thankful for your Grandma and Mama---people that everyone would love.



2. A sensitive and heartfelt memoir. I enjoyed reading the book. However, it is important to remember the Jim Crow South did not have a monopoly on racism. Racism is racism. I grew up in eastern NC, where my mother and father taught me to respect all people. I had an entirely different experience. When I took a job north of the Mason-Dixon line in the 90's, I could not believe the racism prevalent there. The difference I saw was the jokes and stereotypes and wink-winks were done behind closed doors. I was disgusted. Racism in the South during this era was ugly. But it was not restricted there, never has been.



3. I am a native of Winston-Salem, NC where the accounts in this book took place. It was so exciting to ride through the neighborhoods where Gene and his family lived. Some of the houses are still standing; I think I saw the house he grew up in during one of my "history searches". I thought this book was enlightening, refreshing and a testament that not all people buy into "traditions" their family's try to hand down. There are many people like Gene's mother, grandmother and step-father who are more attentive to how you are as a human, than what color your skin is and I was fortunate enough to know them and become friends with many people who shared this mindset. I enjoyed reading the touching story of the love between a mother and son, and although I applaud his unselfishness and love of his brother, I can't help but think that he might have been a little less understanding in real life. But then again, I am only expressing how I would feel. The campus I work for (mentioned in the book as Winston Salem Teacher's College, now WSSU), is requiring all freshmen to read this book. I am happy that they are. It is, again, a wonderful, yet painful account and it is history that needs to be told.



4. Gene's book is absolutely the best book I have ever read. He speaks with such eloquent words that go straight to the heart. He writes in his "about the author" section that he has "lived an unremarkable life" - as you read the book you realize the opposite - he has lived an exceptionally remarkable life which he unfolds for the reader with great authenticity and care. It is a profoundly moving book that is written in an exceptional manner. All you can think of as you read it is "please don't let this be the first and last book you write." For those of us who can remember the days of the very segregated South, this book will resonate with you. For those of you who are not old enough to remember this book is a must read, as we must never forget our history.
   We should all be grateful to Gene for giving us such a gift as he has - I know I am.



5. I too was driving home from work when I had the good fortune to learn of Gene Cheek's boyhood experience while listening to NPR. In a world that continues to struggle with hatefulness, I encourage anyone and everyone to meet Grandma "Pearl" Anderson, Jesse Eugene Cheek, and the gracious, strikingly patient gentleman - Mr. Cornelius Tucker. The historical implications of this young man's socio-political recollection of pre-Civil Rights America encourages us all to embrace courage, love, and strength, instead of relenting to fear when confronted with difference. I've chosen to use this literary work in my Freshman English class; my students won't part with it. They have been captured by the emotion, the characters, and the voice of a boy who lost a portion of the child inside. Gene Cheek should be acknowledged for taking the risk to write and share this experience. There's hope, if this book is able to reach a readership willing to make a difference in the world.

4 comments about Huey: Spirit of the Panther.

1. this is a good book for someone that doesn't know jack about the panthers. it touches on all the main points. i think fredericka newton puts a little too much dirty laundry out there, but then again, i didn't have to live with huey. i think she's earned the right to say whatever she damn well pleases. the main point for someone that doesn't know anything, isn't to judge the panthers, but to realize that through the force of a sense of justice and passion and commitment, the panthers went from semi-delusional youngsters who wanted to play at being superheroes, to growing, evolving, changing and becoming an army of justice for the overall black community. soldiers were killed. propoganda was disseminated, the u.s. govt. did everything they could to take them down and drive them apart. but in the final analysis, the "army" of the panthers laid their bodies down, fed, clothed, educated, nationalized and internationalized the struggle... and thus.. every black man and woman who breathes air today, is that much more advanced and able to walk upright due to the battles won by the panthers. yes, huey was only human. but you only have to scratch the surface of black history to understand the man, his angels, demons and choices. like i said. a good book for someone that wants to take a nice shortcut in their journey to understanding the black experience as seen through the eyes of the panthers.



2. Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. are the two faces of the Civil Rights Movement that people identify with but the mainstream media undermines the heroic significance of Huey P. Newton and the organization he created, the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. A revolutionary, leftist organization that fought for education, affordable housing, justice and combated police brutality, amongst other things. Due to under-documentation, David Hilliard's biographical account of Newton is well received and a breath of fresh air.
   
   While Hilliard documents the principles in which the Black Panther Party was founded on (the chapter on how Huey confronted the police with shotgun in hand is brilliant), Newton's legal troubles, the rift between Newton and Elridge Cleaver, and the constant surveillance Newton was under by the FBI very well, the book contains three flaws.
   
   1) The style of the writing isn't very captivating and is sometimes spoken in the first person, which sometimes makes it sound like a novice's personal journal. 2) Due to the fact that it is in first person at times and Hilliard is actually a surviving member of the Black Panthers, he does not present the material from a neutral perspective. More elaboration on how Huey was perceived by the media and people (interesting fact on how Richard Pryor paid for his rehab) would of been a welcomed addition. 3) There is a lack of detail in Huey's personal life. There's very little mention of his childhood, very little mention of his marriage and vague details surrounding his death. It doesn't explain the sequence of events. Who did it? Was he captured? Was there an investigation? How did the media cover the story? What is the consensus?
   
   As with every other human being, Huey was a flawed individual and aspects of his drug addiction is only discussed towards the end of the book, even though it has been something that has been prevalent throughout his entire life.
   
   For those who do not know the man behind the shotgun and the spear, should still pick up the book for basic recollections that are often misrepresented and swept under the rug. Huey was a courageous man with great influence that fought for a better country and diminish poverty. Either that or pick up Revolutionary Suicide.



3. As an authorized biography of Huey P. Newton, written by his longtime comrade David Hilliard, "Huey: Spirit of the Panther" presents the most thorough, friendly account of Newton, his ideas, his struggles and his downfall. Unfortunately, because Newton's life was so eventful, intersecting with all the major political, social and cultural of the late 1960s and early 1970s, many things are going to be overlooked. Also, because of Hilliard's closeness to the subject, we are not clearly presented with the reasons, legitimate or not, why Reagan or the FBI/the Nixon administration wanted to destroy him, no matter how obvious their racist/capitalist motives might seem. I found myself wanting to know exactly how Newton was portrayed in the mainstream press. But since Hilliard and co-writers Keith and Kent Zimmerman (who also co-wrote one of my favorite rock autobiographies, John Lydon's "Rotten" [1995]) are more concerned with the intimate details of Newton's life, as well they should, his biography lacks a more global, dialectical vision of the man, what he represented, and how people (ab-)used him for their own political advantage.
   
   Because Hilliard, one of the few surviving founding leaders of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was in the trenches with Newton, he has access to some excellent behind-the-scenes information. He does an excellent retelling of the James Frey shooting that landed Newton a three-year prison term. He also presents FBI and COINTELPRO documents, forged by the government in part to break-up the relationship between Newton and Eldridge Cleaver, adding a new wrinkle to their fraught friendship. He tells about how the FBI rented the apartment across from Newton's Penthouse for the sole purpose of spying on him. He finds it curious that blueprints of Newton's apartment were found in raids on SLA compounds in 1974 (but, unlike Elaine Brown, does not speculate that they were a counterrevolutionary group created by COINTELPRO). He also gives a wonderful account of Newton's exile in Cuba during the mid-1970s.
   
   Where Hilliard's book lacks punch is in the details he overlooks. He skims through Newton's childhood in Louisiana and his adolescence in Oakland. He doesn't talk about the regimentation of the Black Panther members' lifestyle (a model, early on, based on the Nation of Islam's dietary code), which was, apparently, contradicted by Newton's own problems with alcohol and controlled substances (Hilliard does not say if Newton did anything more than drink during while he actively lead the BPP, though he was in direct contact with some of Oakland's major drug dealers). Hilliard, in large part trying to protect the dignity of his fallen comrade, doesn't focus much on this life in the 1980s, after the Panthers had effectively dissolved (though he does talk about how Newton got his Ph.D. from UC Santa Cruz).
   
   That being said, the last two chapters--one a recounting of Huey's last days by his second wife Fredericka--show Newton, sadly, as a hopeless drug addict. The chapter does not forwardly state that he was addicted to crack, but implies it. This could have been an opportunity for Hilliard to talk about the infiltration of hard drugs into Oakland and other black urban centers in the 1970s and 1980s. These final two chapters humanize Newton, and they are tragically sad to read. These aspects of Newton's personality (who was, later in life, apparently diagnosed as bipolar), his excessiveness and his need for adrenaline, are not fully pursued throughout the preceding chapters. In the final chapter, Hilliard admits his own problems with substance abuse. Hilliard makes reference to himself several times throughout the biography, and it leaves me wishing that he would have said more about his role in the Panther Party and his relationship with Newton. I do not think this would in any wya make him seem self-important. Following the tragedy of his "reactionary" descent into drug abuse, Hilliard ends the book with a celebrated passage from Newton's autobiography, where he defines his idea of "revolutionary suicide." It is a fitting way to conclude the biography.
   
   While Hilliard's book is filled with wonderful inside information, it doesn't quite precisely articulate just how crazy his life was, especially during the period after he was released from prison in 1970. There was a lot of pressure on him from supporters and (government) detractors alike. Also, as I said earlier, there is just too much information that is left out, owing to the vastness of the Black Panther Party and the revolutionary movements of the times (Hilliard says there were BPP chapters, at one point, in 47 of the 50 United States). Criticisms aside, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in this tumultous but necessary moment in America's history and to anybody fascinated with the visionary genius of Huey Newton, who ultimately rejected the term "revolution" in favor of "the transformation of society." Other books I highly recommend: Huey P. Newton's "Revolutionary Suicide," Elaine Brown's "A Taste of Power" and Eldridge Cleaver's "Soul on Ice."



4. This book should be taught in ALL college level US History courses. Not "special interest" African American studies courses, but mainstream education.
   
   It is EVERY CITIZEN OF THIS COUNTRY'S United States Government that it is revealed in this book. It is a moment in history never to be forgotten so that in this democratic society we do not ever yield to or turn a blind eye to such explicit violence and corruption; something we are still too close to today.
   
   Huey, Spirit of the Panther is a thoroughly referenced, footnoted historic documentation of the strategic workings of the US Government's branches of the Criminal Justice System and the Federal Bureau of Investigations to maintain an unjust and supremacist status quo. The mainstream needs to know and understand this history. White people, specifically, need to understand police brutality, unlawful arrest, explicit oppression of dark skinned people by the local, state and federal governing bodies of this country.
   
   People of all races will greatly benefit from understanding the true ideology-not the sensationalized FICTION that the state and federal governments succeeded in portraying in mainstream media-of the Black Panther Party and its critical contribution to this very important moment in the struggle for freedom in a white supremacist country.
   
   Huey, Spirit of the Panther reveals Huey P. Newton's true vision and his ideology for social transformation. We learn that Huey P. Newton was a revolutionary who understood that a revolution will not happen overnight, it is a constant work in progress. There is much to learn from his ideology: it is not about a war between any one organization and the oppressor but a war between the oppressor and those who are being oppressed.
   
   Thank you David Hilliard for this crucial historic document.

5 comments about The World Don't Owe Me Nothing: The Life and Times of Delta Bluesman Honeyboy Edwards.

1. This is a biography about a blues singer named Honeyboy Edwards who was a contemporary of blues legend the late Robert Johnson. I became interested in his history when I saw a documentary on Robert Johnson's life containing interview footage of Honeyboy Edwards. The lives of musicians in the 20's, 30's and 40's tend to be fascinating and this is no exception. It is a great read.



2. AS A BLUES HISTORIAN AND GUITAR COLLECTOR I HAVE MANY BLUES RELATED BOOKS IN MY COLLECTION. THIS BOOK HOWEVER MUST RATE AT THE TOP OF THE PILE. WHAT FANTASTIC FLOWING STORY LINES, MAKING IT HARD TO PUT DOWN. IT GIVES A GREAT INSIGHT INTO THE WAY OF LIFE IN THOSE EARLY DAYS OF THE BLUES. THE PLACES HE HAS SEEN AND THE PEOPLE WHO HE GOT TO KNOW & MEET IS JUST MIND BLOWING. ANYONE WHO IS NOT BLUES MINDED SHOULD READ THIS BOOK JUST TO UNDERSTAND HOW HARD IT WAS IN THOSE DAYS JUST TO LIVE AND PUT FOOD ON THE TABLE.(I BET HE THOUGHT EVERONE IN THE MODEN WORLD WAS SOFT)TRULY ENJOYABLE.



3. Fans of blues music and musicians will relish this autobiography of Delta bluesman Edwards, which charts his rise to fame and his survival in a critical musical world. His first-person observations of the changing blues style and field are especially meaningful given that so many blues titles are not written by participants in the field.



4. Honey and his astute collaborators have given us the genuine article: a poignant, detailed, uproarous chronicle of what Robert Palmer called the"Deep Blues," the Delta tradition from which all other blues styles emanate. If you've heard Honey sing either in person or on his fine recordings, you will hear the voice you read. He offers dozens of unforgettable moments, from the first sounds he ushers from a broken-necked guitar to his mother's death to the death of Robert Johnson, that are alive and chilling. My only criticism is that the photographs featured in the book are spartan, contemporary views of critical sites in this artist's life. More historical photography would have enhanced the text. The publisher of this well-designed softcover has made the text relaxingly readable. After my first 50 pages, I wanted to purchase all of Honey's recordings and read more about him. He is an articulate, funny, precise chronicler of his own life. If only I could do the same with my own life! First rate.



5. This autobiography succeeds memorably on several levels. Told in spare, moving words, it provides a vivid picture of life in the Mississippi Delta long before the civil rights movements of the '50s. In addition, it's a kind of African-American "On the Road," told from the perspective of one who crisscrossed the Southern United States, scuffling to make a living playing the blues. And finally, it's a terrific history of the blues, told by a man who made a significant musical contribution himself and who played with nearly all the essential artists of the '30s and on.

   Edwards, born in the Delta around 1915, worked the fields as a kid before he learned to play the guitar and began hoboing around the South. He rode the rails, played in innumerable small towns, and polished his craft. Along the way, he hung out and played with the likes of Sunnyland Slim, Big Walter Horton, Little Walter Jacobs, Robert Junior Lockwood, Muddy Waters, B.B. King and yes, Robert Johnson. The book describes how these architects of the modern blues passed songs, licks, and stories back and forth, keeping a form that relies so heavily on tradition dynamic and vital.

   A major strength of the book is Edwards' distinctive voice, transcribed by his collaborators to retain its distinctive rhythms and dialect. The book's title sums up his attitude. His memories include violent death, physical and emotional loss, and great material want. Still, you sense strongly that he wouldn't have had his life any other way. His narrative is devoid of self-pity, but it never glosses over the difficulty of the times he endured, which included stints in prison.

   The book concludes with useful appendices that define key terms and offer capsule biographies and discographies of musicians Edwards encountered. A good bibliography is also included. Highly recommended for those interested in the blues and in American social history. Great read.

5 comments about ``Why Should White Guys Have All the Fun?'': How Reginald Lewis Created a Billion-Dollar Business Empire.

1. Have you ever read a book that you had to struggle to get through, yet you were still glad you read it? That is my feeling about this book. I found the book boring, tedious to read at times and a bit more technical than what I'm used to. Nevertheless, I could not get past the fact that Reginald Lewis and all that he accomplished after starting with nothing was an incredibly inspirational story that needed to be told. His drive and inability to accept "no" are something that we can all learn from and appreciate, but the writing in the book just didn't hold my attention.



2. what a man! talk about inspirational. 3rd time i've read this and it makes me feel like i can conquer the world. this book gives me so much confidence and raises my self-esteem to new levels. just an awesome book about an incredible man.



3. This work tells the story of a black man who rose to become a top CEO.
   
   Author BLAIR S. WALKER, discusses the chronicle of his subject's private life based on dozens of interviews and also consulting many sources and borrowing on an unfinished autobiography Reginald Lewis wrote shortly before his death from brain cancer in order to give a full and accurate account of this intense, goal-oriented man's life.
   
   If motivation and inspiration is what you seek, you will find it in various chapters throughout the book. Power packed with valuable business lessons on deal making and negotiations, this book has the ability to cultivate your mind set in many a positive ways.
   
   Lewis was a tough- minded narcissistic individual. He was a man set on being an exception to life's ugly stereotypes towards African Americans.
   
   Although the book does fall short in not talking about the deaths of two keystone figures in Lewis's life which was his grand pop and grand mom who were considered some of his greatest strength as a boy.
   
   Lewis and his two LBO's became a greater success than the famous "burning bed" blunder by the former First Boston Corp..
   
   Overall, you will find this book an entertaining read.



4. I was blown away by this book, more so for the similarities between Lewis and myself. I think he was proud of being black but I agree with him that its only an aspect of who you are. Americans as a whole, whether they are black and white tend to group successful blacks as some sort of exception, which is a done and TIRED story. Reginald is a man's man that did things his way successfully. Too bad his life was cut short no telling where he might of been and how much more successful he would have become.
   
   For readers its a look at an intense, fearless, determined, and extremely ambitious man who just happened to be African-American.



5. The Lewis and Walker edition of 'Why Should White Guys Have All the Fun?' is one of the most well-researched and written books that exist from a partial business autobiography/biography standpoint. When you read (and study) this book you feel as if you know Reginald Lewis (Reg) personally. You felt that you have sat at the same table, in the same room, with the same true characters that made him the man that he was.
   
   Reginald Lewis was no saint. But, he was driven by passion and a determination to be the best. Walker (the co-author) has created many things within the context of this book: A bio, a blueprint, an academic view of business, a detailed account (diary) of a very accomplished man. But most importantly, Walker and Lewis together have created a great story. It's more than just mere inspiration, it's a book that when you're done, you will want to make Reg a member of your advisory counsel (the kind that motivates and drives you when their physical presence is no longer here). Reg is now a part of my advisory counsel - and he's given me good advice. Read this book regardless of your ethnic background because it truly drives home a point: We can all have fun!

No comments about Gullah Statesman: Robert Smalls from Slavery to Congress, 1839-1915.

5 comments about How Race Is Lived in America: Pulling Together, Pulling Apart.

1. I had the opportunity to read some of the testimonials and accounts that appear in this book when they were first published as a series in the New York Times. When I read the book, I had the chance to enjoy a few narratives that I had missed. This book makes a great effort to put into focus the dynamic of race relations in America. All the stories are touching and beautifully written. The reader is not led into any specific conclusion; once you read all the stories you will have a better picture and will be able to judge where you stand pertaining race relations. I identified myself with more than one of the subjects of these stories. Congratulations to the New York Times for this momentous documentary that surely will make history. No matter which race you identify yourself with, there is something for you in this book.



2. This collage of independant stories revealed the courage of ordinary Americans doing extra-ordinary things. In each of these stories, the indiviuals challenged their own personal beliefs, and cultural and ethnic diffrences, to come together and build alliances that transcended race. This is the ideal of what true Americans are and the values of real patriotism and heroism foiled up into an amazing hardcover, that all peace-loving humanitarians should own. The NY TImes and Joseph Lelyveld, You get 2 thumbs up for this incredible work of art. My gratitude to you,
   Sincerly, Malik Padgett



3. How race is lived in america deals with the issues of race that we are still dealing with today and how race still does matter. The collection of new york times pieces deals with how race is played out. From race being a straign on frienships (a group of inter-racial friends making the transition from middle school to high school and two cuban friends-one white and one black-coming to america and facing different challenges) to race in the work place (looking at race relations at a tyson factory in north carolina to a black-white owned internet company). The book gives a rather good detail of where are in terms of race now.



4. I picked this up last night and couldn't put it down. Not only that, but after each chapter I just stopped and thought for a minute or two. Just incredible.
   Get it and read it.



5. I read this for class the past semester and thought that while there are some really incredible circumstances discussed,(White quarterback, growing up multi-racial, and minority public servants) that some people were noticeably left out. Native Americans received a further blow of marginalization. (they were mentioned once as something of a prop) Also, the diversity among Black and Asian communities was very much ignored. I must say that it's obvious who the writers/editors are marketing towards in their readership, because many of the arguments continue some monolithic dialogues that haven't changed in 20+ years. Going into a work like this will take some serious analysis on the part of the reader to notice what I'm talking about, as it is written with an almost indistinguishable slant. The work has great potential for use as a teaching tool, but focus should remain on analysis rather than taking work verbatim.

5 comments about No Place Safe.

1. This beautifully written book by Kim Reid is both sensitive and timeless. It is about so much more than it appears: A daughter's conflictual and complicated relationship with the mother she loves and yearns for, a black child coming to terms with the white majority, a child faced with the unstoppable murders of children just like her, and a child becoming a woman, to name just a few. Ms. Reid's writing is sensitive and emotional yet not cloying or annoying. She takes us into her experiences with a subtle and skilled hand that allows us to go there right along with her. I came out of reading this book with a profound respect for the writer, as well as a new appreciation of growing up black in the days of the Atlanta child murders. I highly recommend this book and look forward to seeing what the author comes up with next.



2. The way Reid interweaves the story of tragic lost lives of children with her own sort of "lost chldhood" is brilliant, esp. from the point of view of her cop mother being so deeply involved in the cases. It's just really a fantastic read. It has stayed with me for days, especially being a mom. Heartbreaking, of course. And they never found the killer, which just tears me up. But there's much more to the book than that. She weaves that story beautifully with her own.



3. I could not put this book down. I ended up reading all of it in two settings. It is an endearing story of a girl growing up in the most challenging of situations during her tender and impressionable teen years. The "coming of age" story allows the reader to feel like they are there, reflecting back to their own childhoods, and see a very complex world with unfathomable situations through the eyes of a street smart and feisty 13 year old. There were several parts that I laughed out loud and others I was aghast at the very pointed racism that this young teen had to experience. Great book Kim, you are to be well commended for such a great first book.



4. NO PLACE SAFE details the consuming, high-pressure investigations of the 1979-1981 disappearances and murders of black boys and young men in Atlanta--investigations in which author Kim Reid's mother worked as a lead investigator. While this story alone propels this book to read like a compelling novel, Kim's powerful revelations about her schools, her community, her family, and herself make this a powerful document of life in a major Southern city during an especially tumultuous time.



5. Author Kim Reid beautifully captured the voice of an Atlanta 13-year-old who is mother to her younger sister while their single mom works as a police officer; is one of few black students who attend an all-white private school in a distant, affluent neighborhood; and who lives unnervingly close to where dozens of black boys and young men have been murdered (Atlanta Child Murders starting in 1979).
   
   Reid includes information that isn't common knowledge--at least not to me: "Until the early sixties, black officers could arrest only black citizens. In 1979, white and black patrolmen had been allowed to partner in only the last ten years, and black cops were still in a minority, which meant they stuck together outside of work. The only tie that bound black and white cops then was the fact that on the job, they were cops regardless of what they looked like. Fortunately, that was usually enough."
   
   In one instance she brilliantly summarizes her mother's character: A white police officer stopped by her house at 2:00 a.m., expecting to be accommodated. "At two in the morning?' Ma said. Cop or no cop, she sounded like she was ready to bless the man out. There weren't many things that pleased Ma as much as a good night's sleep, which I always believed was here escape from having to work extra jobs, being a cop, a single mother, and just being a black woman in general."
   
   If this book had been written as a young adult novel set in 1979-1982, I would give it five stars. Why? Because it focuses on issues that are still important to teens today. Reid's title is also good for a novel, although I'd suggest she come up with one that hasn't been used before, so it'll be more recognizable. But as a memoir, the book is thin; it should have included more information about the murders, and an more in-depth analysis of what her mother and sister also went through.

4 comments about Die Nigger Die!: A Political Autobiography of Jamil Abdullah al-Amin.

1. This is the autobiography of the type of man who has long gone out of style in the black community--an original man. While down-to-earth in manner, H. Rap Brown had a understated intelligence that served him well. But it's his ability to translate thoughts into words that make this book worth reading. From issues like skin color to class divisions, Brown outlines many issues that still face the black community today.
   
   A lot of political works get caught in the trap of trying to reflect the intelligence of the writer, Brown does the best job of effectively communicating from the black street perspective.
   I'm sure he would like for everyone who reads this to read his Revolution by the Book, and when you compare the two you can chart the evolution of an original man, from street scholar to religious cleric. Read it for yourself and make up your own mind.



2. When H.Rap Brown's classic autobiography was first published, he was former chair of SNCC, the leading Black liberation group in the United States. Back then, I used this book as an introduction to the Black Power movement. Rap Brown was a grassroots leader, and he spoke the language of the grassroots community. In my estimate, H. Rap Brown was one of the most successful political agitators of the black revolt. With the exception of Malcolm X, there were few that could match his effectiveness of moving people in the streets. For that precise reason, Brown, now Imam Jamil Al-Amin, has been a key victim of repression, for fighting for black liberation.



3. H. Rap Brown has been called the african-american Jim Goad. In Mr. Brown's case, however, his screed is directed not at women and liberals but instead at "honkeys," "crackers" and, of course, "THE MAN!" This autobiography gives the reader insight into the anger that fueled one man's efforts to bring down "the system." Overall, though, the book is kinda insubstantial and considering the darn thing cost nearly 15 bones, there are much better books on the subject.



4. While rightfully cited as an articulation of Black anger in the 60s, there are portions of this book that are difficult to take seriously. Rap/El-Amin's hilarious descriptions of pilfering items in Lyndon Johnson's White House, the story of his being stopped by the Louisiana cops for wearing ragged clothes, his refusal to eat or drink anything in prison for 43 DAYS (last time I checked in biology class, no human could go that long without water) etc. come off like wild tall tales told by one of Richard Pryor's characters. Even when the book is serious, there is never a dull moment. His observations on Ebony magazine, poor whites, and the explaination of the book's title, will make you laugh as well as think. Oh yeah, check out his "Rap" early on in the book, the contents of which would make NWA blush!

   The recent noteriety of Rap/El-Amin adds a somber note to the proceedings, but in the meantime, read this. You can see why this wild, controversial, and colorful book was so popular in the late 1960s. A cross between Richard Pryor and Malcolm X! Certainly one of the most entertaining of the Black Power manifestos.