ULEBDS :Well-Read Black Girl by Glory Edim

    




The Urban Life Experience Book Discussion Series continued on Saturday Oct. 5th. Thirteen of us met here at the Wilson Library for a lively discussion of Well-Read Black Girl: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves. This collection of essays gathered by Glory Edim features a wide array of writers describing the works that gave them a glimpse of themselves through literature.

     Shelara started out by saying that although she didn't see herself in the literature she read at school, her parents made it their purpose to buy books in which she was reflected. 

     Kay said that when she was growing up she didn't recognize that she wasn't seeing herself in the stories she read, she related, " When I was growing up I think I was colorblind. I was going to the library three or four times a week. I loved the Dick and Jane books and later the white teenage romances. For me it has to be a good story. Of course now, I buy books by Black authors in order to support them." 

  I had no idea of the great stories and poems I had been missing until I read this book, and I consider myself a great reader! I had never read (or went to see) any plays by Lynn Nottage. Oh did Hazel get all over my case about that! "You don't know Lynn Nottage? She was the Creative Director at the Yale Rep. Where have you been?"

I am proud to point out that we've read and discussed at least three of three of the works by authors featured: An American Marriage by Tayori Jones, Citizen by Claudia Rankine, and Sing Unburied Sing by Jesmyn Ward. Jesmyn Ward's discussion called "Magic Mirrors" is the initial  essay in the collection and one of the later articles is Morgan Jerkin's description of her interview with Claudia Rankine. 

     Not only did the book have twenty or so outstanding essays, lists of book recommendations such as:"Classic Novels by Black Women," "Books on Black Feminism," and "Science Fiction and Fantasy Books by Black Women." The recommendation lists alone are enough to make any serious reader want to buy this book. 

I was so impressed with the poem at the beginning of the book by Lucille Clifton, (who I was unfamiliar with until now), I purchased her 1993 collection The Book of Light for our collection at the library. 

Tayori Jones' essay "Her Own Best Thing," where she discussed Toni Morrison's Tar Baby was pretty ironic considering that as a young person, Ms. Jones felt that Toni Morrison's main character was selfish for not choosing to live up to her family's expectations and Tayori Jones' main character didn't live up to certain expectations in An American Marriage.

N.K. Jemisin's essay called "Dreaming Awake," led to a conversation about Uhura on Star Trek. One of our readers, Barbara, took exception to Ms. Jemisin's comment that Uhuru was a receptionist on the show. Several women at the table pointed out that she was a "communications specialist" Barbara continued,  pointing out that "Uhuru was standing toe to toe with everyone on that crew." 

     Shelara shared a story in which the actress who played Uhuru (Nichelle Nichols) spoke to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. about wanting to leave the show. Dr. King said no, stay on the show, you're doing a good work for the movement. (These are the good tidbits you find out in book discussions.) 

The essay called "Two New Yorks" by Zinzi Clemmons led to the most animated conversations. Kay told us her family had a multi-family house in New York when everything in Harlem was black-owned. She said "now everything is tables and chairs outside." Kelly said that "people are switching. People living in the suburbs want to come back to the city. Poor people are getting Section 8 Vouchers to take to the suburbs." The book Halsey Street by Naima Coster deals with this idea of gentrification. 

All of the essays are written by Black women, mostly about Black women authors. I was pleased to see that Barbara Smith broke out of that mold in her essay, "Go Tell It" by writing about James Baldwin. She stated on page 39 "...he was one of two or three Black people allowed on television - not to sing or dance, but to speak about politics and race." Later, on page 41 she wrote, "I actually stopped reading Eldridge Cleaver's Soul on Ice in 1968 and never finished it because of Cleaver's homophobic attacks on Baldwin." 

Bsrat Mezghebe also featured a male author (and white) in her essay "Finding My Family," where she features the book Boy by Roald Dahl. 

We ended our discussion reexamining the idea of representation. Asadie told us how she came to the United States at age six and an older family member would take her to the library. After high school, she attended UConn and never saw herself in any book until lately. 

Claire said she spent 39 years in Bermuda before making her way back home to Ohio and and never encountered any Black writers. She said, "I'm overwhelmed by what we have now." 

Connie reminded us that when we discussed Ida B. Wells back in February, Ida Wells shared in her biography that she had to read books by white authors, "so," Connie continued, "I'm glad that now people can see themselves."