Questions on Blackness

Do you ever find yourself answering questions without thinking? It is as if you're so used to the same conversation that the answers spill from your lips unconsciously. I have, on many occasions, been involved in these mindless situations. The catch to it is the person asking the question is genuine and rightly concerned but the answer, to myself, is generic. There are so many people who don't know and have to be told where to start and have the same thoughts. There is a serious brainwashing that happened and becoming aware has been the new thing to do.

Questions on Blackness are the new fad. As if people in Black skin are reaching a tipping point and wanting to be in the know. Books have been written for years on this subject and only a few have been putting eyes to words. I am finding people who know enough to carry a valid opinion and those who need to re-learn because of their school taught education. I've been brushing up on new facts and details just so my answers can seem less regurgitated. We're an opinion based society but one should not doubt proven fact. The point of learning is to be open-minded and question what you need to be understood. Lately people have been depending on the interpretation of others rather than reading the same source and forming their own conclusions. But there has also been people just searching for a debate that may not end with them understanding the point.

There are those who have compiled a list of reading materials for those who are looking for answers to their questions on Blackness. For those who tend to deter from reading books, the Internet is a tremendous resource in learning anything. Some examples of what I have read so far:

1. They Came Before Columbus
2. Selected Writings and Speeches of Marcus Garvey
3. The Fire Next Time
4. Stolen Legacy
5. The Destruction of Black Civilization
6. Images of Color, Images of Crime

I have people ask me what I feel once I have read books about the history of black people and I do have an answer. I am upset with my educators (my general education teachers and professors). I would have liked for my educators to at least share the extensive knowledge that I am now obtaining. Is it that they didn't genuinely know these details or they didn't feel the need to share information?

Recently I have stopped lumping every single Black American in the same category and come to the realization it is quite impossible for one race to be cohesive. The human aspect of it all has damaged that thought. While we're lumping every Black person in our statements of helping the race we have failed to realize the human aspect. Not everyone will be on the same page but we must do the work for those that are.

40 Books for 2014

Reading is my thing. For as long as ever, I wanted to be a writer and I loved to read. Books hold a plethora of knowledge hidden between covers. I am guilty of judging a book by it's cover but there is a method to my madness. I read a lot whether magazines, newspapers or articles on the Internet.  Finding myself lacking in novels and books that I can learn from, I had to make a decision. The decision was to read as many novels as I can in a year but I also set a limit. To read 40 books in 12 months, 52 weeks or 365 days was a challenge I accepted for myself. There were ups and downs, books that were hard to understand, books that were straightforward, books that were difficult to get through and books finished just as quickly as I started them. The feeling of accomplishment after reading the last page and word was euphoric. The complete list is located at the bottom.

My top five of the 40 books are:

1. The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

2. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

3. One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

4. Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

5. The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

I challenge others to read more than 10 books in 2015 and keep challenging yourself to read more. For this new year my goal is 50 books and I have already started.

Until the end of the year!

My 40 Books for 2014

1. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
2. Flatland
3. Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and The Literary Imagination
4. Parable of the Sower
5. In Love and Trouble: Stories of Black Women
6. The Heart of a Woman
7. Kindred
8. Wouldn't Take Nothing For My Journey Now
9. The Twelve Tribes of Hattie
10. Zami: A New Spelling of My Name
11. Looking for Alaska
12. A Long Way Gone
13. Getting to Happy
14. Giovanni's Room
15. Song of Solomon
16. Caucasia
17. Wild Seed
18. Mind of My Mind
19. Clay's Ark
20. Patternmaster
21. Passing
22. The Phoenix and the Carpet
23. The White Boy Shuffle
24. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
25. The Mis-Education of the Negro
26. Mumbo Jumbo
27. Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone
28. The White Tiger
29. Tar Baby
30. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
31. Dreaming in Cuban
32. Tuff
33. A Song Flung Up To Heaven
34. One Crazy Summer
35. Brown Girl, Brownstones
36. Jonah's Gourd Vine
37. Jazz
38. The Fire Next Time 
39. Cane
40. Animal's People

All photos courtesy of CheVenyke Photos