Black on Black Crime (On Blogging in Black)

"You're headed for self destruction. You're headed for self destruction…"
"Stop the Violence," Human Edutainment Against Lies (HEAL)

"Don't you know we have to put our heads together... make the change, 'cause we're all in the same gang."
"We're All in the Same Gang," The West Coast Rap All Stars

In the eighties at the height of drive-by shootings, gang violence, and deadly fights at rap concerts, emcees came together on wax to create the anti-violence songs, "Stop the Violence" and "We're all in the Same Gang." There was a problem in our communities and artists came together using music to combat the problem. Now, I'm not saying that the rip-off of black authors by black presses is the equivalent to young brothers and sisters losing their lives to gun violence. (I would never say that.) And I'm not even saying that the black presses that have recently been accused of not paying their authors are only ripping off black authors. (I know that a few white authors and authors of other races have been victimized too.) I am saying that the majority of the authors being screwed by black presses are black authors. And therefore we can liken this rape and pillage of our labor and talents to a version of black on black crime.

I'm Blogging in Black today.

So, check out the rest of this post here:

http://blogginginblack.com/

Publishing While Black

"Yet do I marvel at this curious thing:
To make a poet black, and bid him sing!"
– “--Yet Do I Marvel,” Countee Cullen

As I think about what it means to be a black writer in the 21st century, I’'m reminded that many black writers before me have pondered the same question for their own times. So, I want to devote my first post to an examination of what shall here after be called, Publishing While Black (PWB). I believe it is important to have this conversation in a historicized and contextualized manner. I also think I should attempt this exploration divorced from my normal pessimistic viewpoint. (Yes. I’'m going to try and be objective y’'all.) Because, I truly believe that, while we have lots of things that still need to be changed, we also have so much that we can look at as real progress.

Now, I realize that PWB doesn’t have the same drawbacks and possibilities for being pulled over and harassed that Driving While Black has. However, I think we can see some similarities between the two in that both have their own sets of limits, expectations and frustrations. When you’re driving while black you know that you need to be very careful to stay within all limits because most times cops don’t even need a reason to pull you over. The color of your skin is reason enough. When you'’re publishing while black your very career may have limits based on the fact that somebody has already decided where your book should be shelved based on your skin color and in some cases what and who you should be writing about based on your skin color. When you'’re driving while black, you expect to be pulled over, might even be surprised when you’'re not. When you’'re publishing while black if you didn'’t expect things coming into the publishing game, you get acquainted quick fast and in a hurry once you get in. And both come with their own levels of frustration. These vary for writers depending on what they want out of their careers and the expectations they have. Black folk aren'’t monolithic and this is of course true for black writers. But I do think there is something to be gained from thinking about PWB in a historical context. What can we learn by looking at what black writers have had to face throughout time? How does that history help us to better contextualize the contemporary moment?

Read the rest of this post over at the exciting new blog : http://blogginginblack.com/