Category Archives: Books
REKS- “Judas” (produced by Lee Bannon)
[Book Review] Bien, ce qui se passait a été (What had happened was….)
Wow, I am officially on a reading roll! I’m trying to read all of my 2012 Brooklyn Book Festival books before the year is over. With that said, I offer my review of Jacqueline E. Luckett’s Passing Love. What a beautiful love story.
I purchased this book at a reading I attended during Brooklyn Book Festival week last month. The readers included Jacqueline E. Luckett, Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah, Calvin Baker and Eisa Ulen who read in tribute of her dear friend, author Erica Kennedy who passed away earlier this year. I enjoyed the event and of course I had to support the readers so I purchased Baker’s Dominion and Luckett’s Passing Love. Ms. Luckett was so happy to sign my copy, she included a very inspiring note.
I’ll admit to not being the love story reader but I have to give it to Luckett, I was really pulled in to this story. For one, the story is set in Paris which was my favorite author’s (Baldwin) second home, but the twist is it tells two stories at the same time – the past and the present.
After the sudden death of her best friend, the protagonist Nicole-Marie Handy, has decided to take charge and fulfill her desire to visit Paris. She is through listening to Clint’s (her married boyfriend) condescending thoughts of her and decides to let him go…..but not without giving him “one” for the road of course. Nicole also temporarily leaves behind her elderly parents to spend 3 glorious weeks in the City of Light but what happens towards the dawn of her trip is a shocker to both Nicole and the reader. Nicole learns the truth of the woman she knows as her mother, her father’s true love and the woman at the heart of it all – Josette Prideaux formerly RubyMae Garrett.
I enjoyed this story. It was love all around – maternal love, passionate love, and sacrifice in the name of love. I thought Luckett did a great job of skillfully transporting the reader back and forth through time. Listening to Miles Davis and John Coltrane while reading this book commuted me to the smoke filled clubs with Ruby and Arnette. Perhaps what stood out to me most was what subsequently happens to Arnette. The Arnette incident is a clear remnant of Baldwin’s Rufus Scott from Another Country. I liked Arnette, was disgusted by him and felt sorry for him as well. RubyMae’s story brings to life the camaraderie of the blacks who lived in Paris during the 1950′s and how they loved and looked out for each other. I also enjoyed the mini-french lessons that introduced the Nicole chapters. I picked up a few phrases as a result of.
Overall, this was a good read and I look forward to reading more work from this author.
(My Francais may not be all that but big shouts to Google Translate for my review title.)
You can follow Jacqueline E. Luckett on Twitter @JackieLuckett
[Book Review] Pish-posh and you’ve got the job!
During the Brooklyn Book Festival in September (September 17-23), I attended a few of the many events that were taking place in the borough. I attended one event about book reviewing at the Barnes and Noble in Park Slope. Of course I had arrived about 45 minutes before the panel would even begin so I secured my seat. I comfortably sat next to a shelf that displayed random new fiction. One particular text caught my eye. The cover showed a black woman with natural hair sitting down comfortably on a bench on a sunny summer day facing the Brooklyn Bridge. I picked up the book and began to read the back cover to see what the story was about. After reading the back cover I concluded that I would purchase the book at the end of the panel event.
Grace in the City by Victoria Brown was originally published as Minding Ben in 2011. For whatever reason, the title has changed but I’m assuming the essence of the original story remains identical. The story is set in New York – Manhattan, Brooklyn, Upstate. The protagonist Grace, is a young vibrant Trinidadian woman who comes to New York to stay with family and to subsequently find her way in life. What is planned and what happens when she arrives in New York are totally unexpected. Plans of accommodations fall through and Grace is placed in a series of compromising positions. She eventually secures a place to stay and lands a position with a small family who appear to be typical at first glance. Grace develops friendships with her colleagues and learns how to move about in the business of nannying and the reality of surviving in New York City.
I think what connected me to this story was not only my curiosity of what nannies and child care takers really deal with but also my wanting to read a coming of age story about how islanders make that move to the states to create a life leaving all that is familiar and comfortable behind. I hadn’t watched The Help and I haven’t gotten around to reading The Nanny Diaries yet which is how this book is described as encompassing parts of both stories. I had often wondered about the work of modern day nannies and what the duties included aside from babysitting. This story gave me a truer insight than what I had previously assumed.
I found myself connecting with Grace. She was like a naive little sister – innocent. Grace’s character is someone I know personally, like a good friend I grew up with. I thought Grace was a little mature than the age that is given in the story but I have to say that I did enjoy the read. I hadn’t planned on reading it so soon but I read the first few pages and just committed to it. There were some issues that were unresolved for me in the story and I had hoped to get some sort of closure to some of them like what subsequently happened to Grace’s father and what became of Syliva after the chaos on Eastern Parkway? What did Sol do to the last nanny preceding Grace?…because I know he had something to do with it, lol. I do hope to see this character again though as well as more work from this author. Very good read!
Follow Victoria Brown on Twitter – @byVictoriaBrown
Enjoy 
Return of the Book Reviewer
I know I’ve been missing for a minute, but I couldn’t have returned at a better time. Summer has bid her farewells and school has commenced once again, providing platforms for diverse minds to engage and be engaged. With that said, I have a host of wonderful texts to review, to read, to recommended and discuss.
Now, I am not one to read a book as soon as it’s released. I like to savor it for a minute, let it sit around the house, until I’m ready to commit to it. I also believe in revisiting favorites. There’s a book I read every year about friendship. The Fall season always has me evaluating my friendships and with that, I always find myself reading this personal classic The Friends by Rosa Guy. Guy who passed away earlier this year of cancer is a favorite Young Adult author of mine. My mother suggested this book during my time in junior high school and since I found it again in 2002, I’ve been reading it every year since.
Brooklyn Book Festival was need I say – great! I started off the week with a full house event at BookCourt Books on Court St. in Brooklyn and ended it Caribbean style at Poets & Passion – A Caribbean Literary Lime which was held at St Francis College. I attended quite a few readings and book signing events and sat in on a few panel discussions. I finally met Earl Lovelace and the wonderful and humble Zadie Smith. I also met Jacqueline E. Luckett, Calvin Baker, and the fine poet David Mills. I picked up a few novels that I plan to post reviews on here so stay tuned for my most recent review of Grace in the City by Victoria Brown.
Regarding what I’ve been reading though, some of the texts I’ve read have been pretty decent. I’ve been doing more magazine article reading than books but I’ve managed to get a few texts into my reading bag. I finally got around to reading Marables Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention. It was a very intense read for me. I’m re-reading Leeming’s James Baldwin: A Biography just because I enjoy Baldwin so much and I’ve been periodically reading the short stories of Channers Kingston Noir. Some works I look forward to reading include How to Escape from a Leper Colony by Tiphanie Yanique, Boundaries by Elizabeth Nunez and a recent purchase of Passing Love by Jacqueline E. Luckett.
I think these texts are pretty interesting and I look forward to reviewing them for you. If you have books you think are must-reads, please share them with me on twitter – @saipie.
Take care
[Books] How Do You Black?
I can’t quite remember how I came across Baratunde Thurston because I wasn’t aware of his comedy nor did I follow him on Twitter (I do now though @bartunde). This book came out and I began researching the author who is the digital director of the satirical newspaper The Onion and co-founder of the blog site Jack and Jill Politics. Reading my TimeOutNY magazine, I saw a literary event listed – a comedy author reading series taking place at Greenlight Books in Brooklyn. I decided to hear what this book How To Be Black was about. I wasn’t sure what to expect.
I purchased the book and had it signed (of course) but I wasn’t sure I was ready for the read. I had recently read Toure’s Who’s Afraid of Post-Blackness and although that was a great read, I wasn’t sure I wanted to read more about race and the race issues especially during the height of the Trayvon Martin murder that has been at the forefront of the racial issues in America since Trayvon was murdered in February. In addition to that, I have been continually discussing race in my Baldwin thesis and it seems to consume almost every facet of my thinking these days which is sometimes good and sometimes bad.
I decided to carry my How To Be Black manual after deciding to take another break on the thesis project and hoping to probably find some more ideas to include in my thesis project. I think it took me all of four days to read this book. I could not get enough of it and I wished it was longer. This book had me crying tears of laughter as Thurston poked fun at what “blackness” is and presumed to be. The utter satire in this text shows the idiosyncratic ways people look at black and blackness. Just the double takes alone at my books’ cover confirmed much of what I read. I’d get a survey of looks to my face and hair and then a full up and down review until my eyes met theirs, then followed by either a wry smile or a quick avoidance. Ha!
I was able to identify with much of Baratunde’s memories of his mother. There exists an obvious feeling of undeniable indebtedness to her for his being the way he is and being able to achieve what he has. I gather from reading How To Be Black that Thurston was influenced much by his mother’s love for road tripping and the wilderness, his memorable time at The Sidwell Friends School, and his developing time on campus at Harvard.
My favorite chapter in the book is “Can You Swim?” I was on the train headed to work when I started this chapter and I think I laughed from Far Rockaway to my stop in Midtown. I had a good day that day because I started that day with belly laughter and I kept thinking about what I’d read that morning. This chapter begins with the nightmare of learning how to swim the “swim for your life” way – by being pushed into the deep end of the pool.
I think the chapter that inspired me the most was “Going Black to Africa.” Here, Thurston discusses his class trip to Africa and how he felt visiting the home of his forefathers. It was a spiritual experience and helped to develop Thurston’s way of thinking with regards to race and how black people were understood in the American paradigm.
I love comedy and I’m making it my business to follow Baratunde’s stand up schedule so I can experience his comedy live.
I enjoyed this book and gave it to my 16-year-old to read. I recommend this as a comical and leisurely read about race. Enjoy
[Books] Shut Up….You Ain’t Black!!!
So, I’ve been at war with a project better known as my master thesis. My project, on James Baldwin, focuses on the exile trope and the way he expresses this through his characters. A major focal point is that Baldwin felt the need to leave America in order to produce his work and to survive. According to Baldwin, had he stayed in America with her racial tensions rising, he would’ve killed or been killed. In the midst of working on my project, I became overwhelmed and considered taking a break from it all. I decided to read something else to kind of scale things back a bit.
I purchased Who’s Afraid of Post-Blackness?: What It Means to Be Black Now at the 2011 Brooklyn Book Festival where Toure was scheduled to sit on a panel. I’m all about discussions regarding race-relations and couldn’t wait to dig in to this text to find out what was this “post-blackness” term he referred to.
I thought the text provided a platform for many of us to address ideologies, traits and stereotypes that we’re probably conscious of all the time but don’t display in front of white people. But what’s more, Who’s Afraid… allowed me to be relaxed in knowing I’m not the only one who is self-conscious of eating chicken or watermelon in front of white people, which is proof that the white gaze still remains a factor and further confirms the effects of racism have been deeply embedded in our psyche.
This text was an insightful read and I attracted all types of gazes as I read it on the train. I enjoy Toure’s honesty when he acknowledges his experience as a burgeoning journalist and how he was questioned when it came to performing his craft. The fact that Toure had been accused of not being Black or Black enough was the motivation of this book. He was forced to examine why someone would feel that way about him and what allowed someone to think that there was a checklist to being Black? Black is however you do Black and that Blackness is limitless.
There is an entire section on Dave Chappelle which I enjoyed and thought was brilliant. Chappelle’s satire of racism poked fun at the white gaze and how that gaze interprets Black people. I have to say the part that intrigued me the most is The Most Racist Thing That Ever Happened…. section with Henry Louis Gates and how racism literally crippled him:
In 1964, in West Virginia a fourteen-year-old Henry Louis Gates Jr. broke his hip and went to a doctor who x-rayed his knew, which was also in pain. The doctor saw nothing wrong with his knee and deemed his pain psychosomatic. “He said that I had a nervous breakdown because I was an overachiever,” Gates said. “He said colored people weren’t supposed to do as well as I had done. I had been stressed out and there was nothing wrong with my knee. White guy thought I was imagining things. And that’s why I walk with a cane and I’ve had a dozen operations since I was fourteen.” Gates remains bitter about the whole thing. “I hope that motherfucker’s burning in hell.”
I have to admit that there are times I find myself feeling weird around white people and I’ve been in situations where I felt I needed to validate myself or my knowledge of certain topics because of the white gaze. I’ve had white friends say things that I thought were inappropriate and I would quickly respond sarcastically to let them know what they said was dumb. There are still some ideas and ways of thinking that I’m working on and will probably continue to work through for the rest of my life. I’m sure there were jobs or opportunities I didn’t get because I am Black and there are Black people who do embarrass me. I mean, I have my reservations about Section 8 tenants like the Black tenants who destroyed my house….(very bitter about that, lol.) This, again, are ideologies I am forced to confront and work through everyday and I was relieved to know that I’m not the only one who feels the way that I feel. I’m also comforted that listening to bands like America, Bread, Nirvana and Nickelback doesn’t make me less Black either.
What does being Black mean to you?
Kudos to Toure for this book. Enjoy
[Books] F*ck Off!!!…I mean Freak Out!!!
I was reading my usual Sunday Times magazine some months ago and in there was an excerpt from a book that was coming out. A funky book by Nile Rodgers of Chic. I not only grew up on the music of his band but would stop mid conversation to speed skate around the rink to Good Times at the legendary Empire Rollerdome in Brooklyn. Once I heard that guitar followed by the piano being mixed in, I would make my way to the skate or dance floor!
Le Freak: An Upside Down Story of Family, Disco, and Destiny by Nile Rodgers is indeed a fearless memoir on Rodgers life and how the legendary music of Chic came to be. I’ll admit, I didn’t know much about Chic and the details behind the band but I have to say, once I read Rodgers’ book, many of the songs I’d heard that were produced by Rodgers and his endearing musical partner Bernard Edwards made sense. They produced hits for Sister Sledge, The Pointer Sisters, Diana Ross, and even Luther Vandross sang on some of their records. This explained the fluidity of that “sound”. That sound resonated in all of their productions and it deemed successful, obviously.
Rodgers shares stories – some happy and some sad – about his eccentric family from his mother and her sometimes dangerous lovers, his troubled father, to his loving step-father whom Rodgers admired dearly. There are many funny stories, like the one about how Rodgers and Edwards met, the history behind the song Freak Out and the brief fall out behind Diana Ross’ I’m Coming Out.
I met Nile Rodgers as he discussed his book at the Barnes and Noble in Union Square. Equipped with his guitar, he explained to the audience the history behind the bass line that would later carry the Sugar Hill Gang’s Rapper’s Delight. He is a charismatic dude and was very pleasant as he autographed the two copies I purchased.
I enjoyed this memoir very much so if you have a loved one that’s really in to music like that, this would be an on target gift for the holiday season, I promise!
[Books] Before the Coldest Winter Ever, there was….
I remember reading my first Donald Goines novel Dopefiend during the fourth or fifth grades. I recall vividly how excited I was to show my fellow classmates the inappropriate language that was used in a real book. Words like SHIT, FUCK, and PUSSY were employed to tell this harrowing story of the effects of being the unfortunate bearer of carrying the “monkey” on deck.
What was I doing reading such a book at that young age? Well, my mom is an educator and had always been passionate about music and books. There were all types of books available to read. And as long as we were reading something, my mother was happy. I came across this title on the bookshelf in the living room one afternoon – I read the synopsis on the end cover and quickly proceeded to my room to read it. Needless to say, with all the sex and drama that took place in this book during the birth of my puberty, I was done reading in one weekend!
Dopefiend, although fictional, is a true-to-life depiction of days in the life of the drug addict and the drug dealer. Set in 1970′s Chicago, the protagonist, Terry, is a hardcore skin popping junkie. He turns his young girlfriend, Terry – a privileged only child – onto heroin in order for him to get a discounted rate on his own drugs from Porky, an obnoxious drug dealer who sells out of an active dope house.
It’s indeed a sad story of drug abuse, despair, loss, and affliction. Teddy witnesses the murder of his close friend, and drug buddy during a botched robbery and Terry is subsequently admitted to a mental institution after finding her pregnant dopefiend friend hanging from the ceiling of her room. A confirmation that drug addicts eventually quit. Usually they’re either in jail or dead when they do.
[Books] Snitches Get Stitches…………B*tches!!!
I learned about drugs and to “Just Say NO!” as a shorty in Southside Jamaica, Queens. My family lived right off of Sutphin Blvd which is a main ventricle in the lower section of Jamaica, Queens. I remember vividly two crack houses on my block – right across the street from each other. And fiends would be outside early in the morning to late at night when it was time to go to bed, and even later than that! This was the early 80’s during the reign of Fat Cat, Supreme and the Supreme Team.
One of the things that scared me about drugs was not having a place to sleep and walking around smelling like urine. Walking to Jamaica Ave. one day with my mother and brothers, we saw a man laid out on the sidewalk fast asleep. He reeked of urine and was unaware, apparently, that he had fallen asleep in the street. When my mother noticed me staring, she told me that if I ever decided to do drugs, that would be me. That was all I needed to know!
Mr. Untouchable – The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of Heroin’s Teflon Don tells the story of an American rags to blood money riches hero. Leroy “Nicky” Barnes is considered the “Fat Cat” of the drug era preceding my years in Southside. Nicky Barnes was undeniably a heavy hitter in the streets of Harlem shortly before Alpo, Rich and AZ were twinkles in their father’s eyes.
Nicky Barnes, responsible for not only destroying Harlem with his influence of heavy drug trafficking but he is most remembered for snitching on his whole crew. Mr. Untouchable is Barnes’ own story on what happened and why it happened. In a nutshell, Barnes felt that he had been shitted on and wanted to show his Council members that he was still the HNIC even if he was to be locked down for time that might exceed natural life.
This memoir can easily be the screenplay for a Donald Goines novel. Dedicated to inmate #05404-054 in Allenwood Federal Penitentiary – this memoir is easily a cynical shot at Guy Fisher – The Council member who was allegedly sleeping with Barnes’ girlfriend ShaMecca, while he was locked down.
This book came out some time ago and it’s a good text if you want to get the story from the horse’s mouth. Barnes is in the Federal Witness Protection Program and for obvious reasons but I wonder, isn’t he still sort of living in “jail” by having to hide from everything he once knew and loved?
Here’s a clip from the documentary……
[Books] “What Did the 5 Fingers Say to the Face?!……..”
Most might recognize Charlie Murphy due to the undeniable resemblance to his multi-million dollar comedian brother Eddie Murphy, who recently accepted to perform as host of the 84th Annual Grammy Awards. He has appeared in many movies – Harlem Nights, CB4, Mo ‘Betta Blues, etc. And although Charlie may not be as big as his younger brother, he is not far from it.
In his memoir, Murphy focuses immensely on his adolescent years in Brooklyn, his time in the armed forces and life on the road as head of security for his brother. He gives insight on how it was growing up with a no-nonsense father and step-father, which many of us can relate to, the painful loss of his biological father and having an intensely famous younger brother.
What this memoir does is shows us the growth of Charlie and how he came to be a comedian. As Murphy explains it, comedy chose him. Parallel to being a real life tough guy, I learned that Murphy’s passion lies in writing. He is an avid screen writer and has written many movies. He wrote the screenplay for his brothers’ A Vampire in Brooklyn which starred Angela Basset.
But success didn’t come out without struggle. Murphy was indeed a thug and found himself near death on a few occasions. Charlie Murphy had his share of close calls growing up in the hood and admits to being part of a gang and doing a few years locked down. You can guess by many of the characters he’s played that he genuinely embodies that thuggish persona and he applies it well.
Charlie Murphy might be remembered best by his time spent on the Chappelle Show. He played many characters but probably his best character was as himself on the True Hollywood Stories skits. The most memorable one is perhaps the three-part skit where he recaptures his encounters with the legendary Rick James…hilarious!
[Books] “When your hair is nappy, they aint happy……”
Paul Mooney’s “Black Is The New White” is a memorable recollection of Mooney’s rise to comedic stardom. He discusses his family background, his displacement from Louisiana, to DC to California to his relationships with his comedic colleagues, good and bad. Mooney has seen it all and tells it in this memoir.
Mooney is best known for his racial comedy which proves to be, at times, discomforting to his white audience. I’ve been to his standup shows and have seen them walk out! In his memoir, Mooney shares how he met and developed a loving friendship with comedic genius Richard Pryor. He also discusses encounters with other comedians and tells of the ins and outs of making it big in the industry of laughter. There’s drugs, a whole lot of sex and much to laugh about.
I’ve always enjoyed Mooney’s comedy and I learned that although he is quite the well known standup who is heavily in rotation at Caroline’s on Broadway, he is also the genius behind the scenes man writing for Red Foxx’s “Sanford and Son” sitcom, “The Richard Pryor Show” and most recently “The Dave Chappelle Show”.
With a sincere and comical introduction by Dave Chappelle, I thought Mooney’s “Black Is…” was an endearing account of his passion for comedy and his love for his dear friend Richard Pryor.
Anyone who knows me knows I love to laugh and Mooney is one of my favorites. Check out these outtakes from his “Ask a Black Dude” sketch from the Dave Chappelle Show……
[Books] Untitled Too
Oh damn………
So this book was read a long time ago but still remains relevant since the term “nigger” is still in heavy rotation. I think the title pretty much gives an overview of what to expect in the text right? But I’ll tell you, this book really breaks down where this word comes from and what it represents and what it has evolved (?) in to.
The term “nigger” remains a controversy – should it be used?; who has the right to use it? and once approved, when should it be used? With these potential rules and “free” passes available, why not learn if you even want to use the term in the first place? The idea is that everyone has their own reason why they use it or why they don’t. However, learning where “nigger” is birthed will either confirm your reasons to use or not to use it.
Interesting, when I found this book, I thought of something James Baldwin said regarding “the nigger”……
“In order for me to live, I decided very early that some mistake had been made somewhere. I was not a “nigger” even though you called me one. But if I was a “nigger” in your eyes, there was something about you – there was something you needed. I had to realize when I was very young that I was none of those things I was told I was. I was not, for example, happy. I never touched a watermelon for all kinds of reasons that had been invented by white people, and I knew enough about life by this time to understand that whatever you invent, whatever you project, is you! So where we are now is that a whole country of people believe I’m a ‘nigger,’and I don’t , and the battle’s on! Because if I am not what I’ve been told I am, then it means that you’re not what you thought you were either! And that is the crisis.”
The author Randall Kennedy is a professor at Harvard Law School and once served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.
[Books] Untitled
I thought I’d bite off Nas and “untitle” this blog posting with all due respect to the reviewed book…….
So I read this book a long while ago but I have to say I it was a heart warming read. See, I had an idea who Dick Gregory was via my mom. She used to watch him whenever he was on t.v. telling jokes….he’s a comedian. But he’s also a social activist – he was very vocal during the Civil Rights movement; he’s a writer, humanitarian and a most notable vegan.
Gregory’s biography, published in 1964, presents itself as a comfortable inside look at how Gregory developed as a comedian and how he turned despair into something fruitful and even marketable. Gregory talks about how he met his wife Lillian, and their struggles during the early years of their life together – they’re still married today. This autobiography focuses much on the struggles with racism, growing up black in the ghetto, in other words – a story about life right? Hence the title…..
I found this book at a sidewalk sale somewhere and probably paid $1 or something for it. It’s a cool read if you’re into vintage and the blues….Enjoy ;-)
|Books| “For all y’all smart dumb cats out there…..”
“Legendary Hip Hop artist Ghostface Killah settles into one of his most popular characters, Pretty Toney, and offers readers a hilariously unique perspective on life via guides to and advice on everything from sex to gambling, family to education, even how to eat on just $5 a day, better known as “The Hustler’s Diet”. A singular twist on Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People for the Hip Hop generation complete with illustrative photos. Born as a series of shorts on MTV2, Pretty Toney and his musings quickly became a channel and online hit, with fans uploading the shorts on YouTube and circulating them virally. The book will also include a CD of Ghostface reading the material, the perfect accompaniment to enjoying the book.
As one of the original members of the seminal 90s rap crew the Wu-Tang Clan, Ghostface Killah made an impact before he released his debut album, “Ironman”, late in 1996. Like all members of the Wu-Tang Clan, the rapper used the group as a launching pad for a successful solo career and “Ironman” debuted at number two on the pop chart. His work with Wu-Tang continues, as does his solo career. His 2006 album “Fishscale” was a top ten hit and on many top ten lists for album of the year.”
This book came out a few years ago and I thought it was a must have. I can’t lie, I enjoyed watching these clips on MTV2. They were hilarious because they were so true. We all know how to get by on a Hustler’s Diet, learned that as a kid growing up. We know how to listen out for the sink after your peoples use the bathroom, assuring that their hands were washed. I thought Ghost and director Joseph Brightly were indeed genius for putting this in book form so we can revisit it anytime we want. There are photos that depict the scenarios Ghost speaks of….Donnell Rawlings (Ashly Larry of Chappelle Show) is in a few. You need to add this to the coffee table collection…it’s contents are quite useful 
Celebrity / How To / Out There / Music / Essays / Urban
Hardcover, 9.25 x 6.25 inches, 112 pages, four-color photographs throughout
ISBN: 978-1-57687-411-0
$22.00
powerHouse Books
37 Main Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
powerHouse Books 212-604-9074
powerHouse Arena 718-666-3049
powerHouse Arena Toll Free 1-866-99-ARENA
Bookstore Hours:
Weekdays: 10am – 7pm
Weekends: 11am – 7pm
Order inquiries:
212 604-9074 x101
orders@powerHouseArena.com
[Books] Back in the Days Remix – 10th Anniversary
“Back in the Days documents the emerging Hip Hop scene from 1980-1989—before it became what is today’s multi-million-dollar multinational industry. Back in the days, gangs would battle not with guns, but by breakdancing. Back in the days, the streets—not corporate planning—set the standards for style. Back in the days, Jamel Shabazz was on the scene, photographing everyday people hangin’ in Harlem, kickin’ it in Queens, and cold chillin’ in Brooklyn.”
by Jamel Shabazz
Introduction by Fab 5 Freddy
Essay by Carlton Usher, Ph.D.
Interview by Jeff Chang
Photography / Portraits
Hardcover
7.25 x 9.75 inches
132 pages
80 four-color and black-and-white photographs
ISBN: 978-1-57687-567-4
$35.00
$41.00 CAD
powerHouse Books
37 Main Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
powerHouse Books 212-604-9074
powerHouse Arena 718-666-3049
powerHouse Arena Toll Free 1-866-99-ARENA
Bookstore Hours:
Weekdays: 10am – 7pm
Weekends: 11am – 7pm
Order inquiries:
http://www.powerhousebooks.com
212 604-9074 x101
orders@powerHouseArena.com
The pictures in this book are extremely nostalgic. From the bomber jackets to the jelly sandals. And if you grew up in the hood during a time before and after crack, you will appreciate the photos and the memories they bring back to you.
Happy Birthday James Baldwin
James Arthur Baldwin was born August 2, 1924 in Harlem, New York. An acclaimed writer, he produced the majority of his works in Europe as an American exile. Baldwin is important to American literature and has been identified as one of the most profound and dynamic orators and essayists of his time. James Baldwin died on December 1, 1987 in France. Take some time to review some of his works.
My favorite Baldwin book – The Fire Next Time
