Black Lives Matter: A Look Back
I'm looking back at my reading journals to see what Black writers I read. I can only go back to 1990. I'm not doing this retrospective to say, "Oh, look how aware I was!" or "Oh, look at what a wretched one-dimensional reader I was!" It's just a look back, bookworm warts and all.
1990: Zero books by Black writers.
1991-1992: I wasn't keeping track these years.
1993 - 1998 Journal: One book by a Black writer. Mary: An Autobiography by Mary E. Mabane. There was also a note on a wishlist at the back of the book to read the 1948 novel The Living is Easy by Dorothy West.
From what I remember about the Mebane autobiography, Mary Mebane was discouraged by practically everyone she met in her life: Black, White, male, female, young, old, rich, and poor. Still, she persisted. She succeeded. She kicked ass and took names and wrote her two-volume life story. The sequel to Mary: An Autobiography is called Mary, Wayfarer, which I haven't read but always thought that the title was melodic.
1999-2009 Journal: Fourteen books by Black writers.
Three on the wishlist:
The Uncalled by Paul Laurence Dunbar (with the Dewey Decimal number listed: 823 D898a)
The Living is Easy (1948) by Dorothy West
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
1. A Lesson Before Dying - Ernest J. Gaines. Novel.
2. The Motion of Light in Water - Samuel R. Delany. Memoir.
3. The Broke Diaries - Angela Nissel. Humor.
4. Go Tell It on the Mountain - James Baldwin. Novel.
5. Quicksand - Nella Larsen. Novel.
6. Song of Solomon - Toni Morrison. Novel.
7. The Color of Water - James McBride. Memoir.
8. Passing - Nella Larsen. Novel.
9. Malcolm X - Randy DuBurke. Graphic Biography.
10. The Measure of a Man - Sidney Poitier. Memoir.
11. The Known World - Edward P. Jones. Novel.
12. Dreams From My Father - Barack Obama. Memoir.
13. Native Son - Richard Wright. Novel.
14. Black Boy - Richard Wright. Memoir.
1990: Zero books by Black writers.
1991-1992: I wasn't keeping track these years.
1993 - 1998 Journal: One book by a Black writer. Mary: An Autobiography by Mary E. Mabane. There was also a note on a wishlist at the back of the book to read the 1948 novel The Living is Easy by Dorothy West.
From what I remember about the Mebane autobiography, Mary Mebane was discouraged by practically everyone she met in her life: Black, White, male, female, young, old, rich, and poor. Still, she persisted. She succeeded. She kicked ass and took names and wrote her two-volume life story. The sequel to Mary: An Autobiography is called Mary, Wayfarer, which I haven't read but always thought that the title was melodic.
1999-2009 Journal: Fourteen books by Black writers.
Three on the wishlist:
The Uncalled by Paul Laurence Dunbar (with the Dewey Decimal number listed: 823 D898a)
The Living is Easy (1948) by Dorothy West
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
1. A Lesson Before Dying - Ernest J. Gaines. Novel.
2. The Motion of Light in Water - Samuel R. Delany. Memoir.
3. The Broke Diaries - Angela Nissel. Humor.
4. Go Tell It on the Mountain - James Baldwin. Novel.
5. Quicksand - Nella Larsen. Novel.
6. Song of Solomon - Toni Morrison. Novel.
7. The Color of Water - James McBride. Memoir.
8. Passing - Nella Larsen. Novel.
9. Malcolm X - Randy DuBurke. Graphic Biography.
10. The Measure of a Man - Sidney Poitier. Memoir.
11. The Known World - Edward P. Jones. Novel.
12. Dreams From My Father - Barack Obama. Memoir.
13. Native Son - Richard Wright. Novel.
14. Black Boy - Richard Wright. Memoir.
1 comment:
Yep. I heartily recommend The Color of Water. McBride is on my tops list. I was just about to start Deacon King Kong but decided to do a communications business book. It's short, don't worry.
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