Black No More by George S. Schuyler 02/09/2010
 Schuyler's 1931 satirical novel, Black No More, tells the story of Black insurance man Max Disher who undergoes a procedure that makes him the permanently white Matthew Fisher. This novel explores how race is a social construct that can be altered and manipulated by those with power to suit their needs. From the commentary on the often caricatured features of Black folks being inaccurate and how dialect is regional not racial to the scathing criticism of such Black luminaries as W.E.B. DuBois and the NAACP, George Schuyler wrote a brilliant and poignant piece that is unflinching in its attack on the idea of race. I found myself laughing out loud through most of the book especially at his satirization of Dr. DuBois as Dr. Shakespeare Agamemnon Beard and completely ripped his intentions as a "Race Man". The name alone is golden! Max, now Matthew, goes on to infiltrate a white supremacist group and marry a white woman he fell for while still a Black man. Everything about American society is turned upside-down as droves of Blacks flock to Dr. Crookman's sanitariums to experience "chromatic emancipation". It doesn't take long for the true whites to become frantic about issues such as Black babies born to seemingly all white pairings and for the Blacks who've "crossed over" to realize that white might not be right. George Schuyler was a conservative Black author and journalist. He was also a big proponent of miscegenation as a means to eradicate the race problem in the U.S. He and his white wife were the parents of child prodigy and pianist Phillipa Schuyler. Challenges: African Diaspora POC Reading  Classics Circuit Harlem Renaissance Tour 02/03/2010
Tour Schedule February 1, 2010 Shelf Love The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois February 2, 2010 Evening All Afternoon Cane by Jean Toomer February 3, 2010 Daily Words and Acts Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston February 4, 2010 Paperback_Reader Passing and/or Quicksand by Nella Larsen February 4, 2010 BookNAround The Wife of His Youth and Other Stories by Charles Chesnutt February 5, 2010 A Striped Armchair The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man by James Weldon Johnson February 5, 2010 Moored at Sea Overview: The relationship between the Harlem Renaissance and the Negritude movement of the French Colonies that grew from it. February 6, 2010 Joyfully Retired His Eye is On the Sparrow by Ethel Waters (autobiography) and the life of Ethel Waters February 7, 2010 Stephanie’s Confessions of a Book-a-Holic Not Without Laughter by Langston Hughes or The Conjure Man Dies by Rudolph Fisher February 8, 2010 Sparks’ Notes Plum Bun by Jessie Redmon Fauset February 9, 2010 The Zen Leaf Jonah’s Gourd Vine by Zora Neale Hurston February 9, 2010 Breathing Space The New Negro edited by Alain Locke February 10, 2010 Books and Chocolate Passing by Nella Larsen February 11, 2010 Laura’s Reviews Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston February 11, 2010 Musings The Ways of White Folks: Stories by Langston Hughes February 12, 2010 Bibliosue Home to Harlem by Claude McKay February 13, 2010 things mean a lot Mules and Men by Zora Neale Hurston February 14, 2010 eclectic / eccentric Gay Rebel of the Harlem Renaissance by Bruce Nugent and an overview of African-American homosexuality during the Renaissance February 15, 2010 Nonsuch Book Poetry of the Renaissance February 16, 2010 Notes from the North The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois February 17, 2010 Becky’s Book Reviews Mules and Men by Zora Neale Hurston February 17, 2010 Notorious Spinks Talks Gay Rebel of the Harlem Renaissance by Bruce Nugent and the movie Brother to Brother February 18, 2010 The Things We Read Passing by Nella Larsen February 18, 2010 Rebecca Reads Black No More by George Schuyler February 19, 2010 Reviews by Lola Passing by Nella Larsen February 20, 2010 Gimme More Books! The Conjure-Man Dies by Rudolph Fisher February 21, 2010 book-a-rama Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston February 22, 2010 1330v Ebony Rising: Short Fiction from the Harlem Renaissance February 23, 20101 BrownGirl BookSpeak There Is Confusion by Jessie Fauset February 24, 2010 Wuthering Expectations The Conjure Woman by Charles Chesnutt February 25, 2010 Linus’s Blanket Stories by Zora Neale Hurston February 25, 2010 Michelle’s Masterful Musings When Washington Was in Vogue by Edward Christopher Williams February 26, 2010 My Friend Amy Quicksand by Nella Larson February 27, 2010 Bookgazing Gentleman Jigger by Bruce Nugent February 28, 2010 BookLust The House Behind the Cedars by Charles Chesnutt Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez 02/01/2010
 A few weeks ago, I stumbled across a book signing taking place at one of my local bookstores and the author was a native of the city. When I read the description of her debut novel, I knew I'd attend and have to read the book. Wench is a story of historical fiction set in the mid-1800's mostly in Ohio at Tawawa House, a summer resort popular among Southern white men for getaways with their enslaved Black mistresses. First, to learn the existence of such a place caught me by surprise. This is one piece of slavery's history I don't think I expected to ever learn about. The four women who inhabit Perkins-Valdez's debut novel are all very different and pretty well developed. Sweet's name is befitting her mostly soft disposition. Reenie is deemed the wise elder among the ladies, yet she's terrified of water. Lizzie seems to be the most complacent and comfortable with her relationship with her master, Drayle. Mawu is the newest mistress and comes in as intriguing with her African name and non-Christian beliefs. It doesn't take long for Mawu to instigate the idea of the ladies escaping to freedom. At about a quarter into the book, we get some back story on the development of the relationship between Lizzie and Drayle on their Tennessee plantation. This is an important section as it reveals the complexities of Lizzie's feelings towards her master and how those feelings cause a tug-of-war for her when it comes to the idea of her being a free woman. Perkins-Valdez does a very nice job of incorporating this portion without it disrupting the story's flow and seeming unnecessary. The dynamics of Lizzie relationship with her children and Drayle's wife, Fran, are also revealed. It's Lizzie's role as a mother/ child-bearer, and that of the other women, that is almost paramount to their feelings toward seeking freedom. The last summer that all of the women are together at Tawawa House brings a number of tragedies that catapult them into various directions away from each other, but not in spirit. Dolen Perkins-Valdez writes very clean and, sometimes, lyrical prose. Her characterizations are not as fully realized as I would have liked for other characters besides Lizzie, but ultimately this is Lizzie's story. I did, however, feel invested in these four women. Though, I've not done any research on Tawawa House, I'm confident the essence of the setting have captured beautifully. Wench is an exciting debut as it's filled a widely unknown void in the history of American slavery and I'm looking forward to Dolen Perkins-Valdez's future writings. Challenges: African Diaspora POC Reading Why "I Read In Color" 01/29/2010
For those unaware, I started a web ring of sorts several months ago for those who blog about POC books. After starting this book blog, I found myself frustrated in my search for more book bloggers of color or those that read books by people of color in a significant quantity. I found one or two so sporadically that I decided to create something that would easily identify those who fit the description. A button would do it! To take it a step further, I figured I'd link it to a page that housed links to everyone "wearing the badge". My hopes were that other newbies wouldn't have to dig so deep to find kindred reading spirits to follow and get book recommendations. Now, in the wake of the issue of whitewashing and other issues in publishing regarding POC books, I see the IRIC web ring as something a bit bigger. It's another tool that will hopefully invoke change. It's a very simple statement, I Read In Color, but a strong one. With many "voices" behind it, IRIC should send a clear message to publishers. So, join us here and below the form is the button. Be sure to use the html provided as it's important to have the button link back to that page so that all the member blogs are discovered. Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington 01/26/2010
 Up From Slavery is Washington's autobiography chronicling his life from his childhood spent in slavery in Virginia to his being the famed orator and driving force of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Unsure of the year of his birth, Washington always had a strong desire to improve his life through education. He struggled to put himself through Hampton Institute where he cultivated a stern belief in hygiene, agriculture, and trade skills. Booker T. Washington's brilliance is easily displayed in his idea that the institution of slavery harmed both slaves and slave owners' families. Labor was forced upon one group while the other had little to no training in trades altogether and that lack of self sufficiency became most evident during Reconstruction. This also fueled his desire to have the students of Tuskegee educated in agriculture and trades like brick making with as much emphasis as traditional school subjects. This was so much a focus that the first students, literally, helped to build the school brick by brick. This was also due to very little funding which eventually changed once much wealthier admirers took notice of Washington's work with southern Blacks. He was an unshaken, organized, and disciplined man who wholeheartedly believed in each person's need to be competent in some trade and be the best one could possibly at it. Today, as we try to climb out of this economic depression and see our fellow man and woman in dire need in Haiti, we can still take heed to his words of wisdom delivered in his famous Atlanta Exposition Address: Cast down your buckets where you are. Do what you can- with full effort - with what and who you have around you. Challenges: African Diaspora Black Classics POC Reading Announcing Winner of Meet Me Under the Ceiba 01/25/2010
After consulting random.org, Nina Forsythe has been selected the winner of an autographed copy of Silvio Sirias' novel Meet Me Under the Ceiba. Nina will hopefully respond within 48 hours. After that time, a new winner will be chosen. Congratulations Nina! And thanks to Silvio Sirias for a writing a great book exposing me to Nicaragua and to Bronzeword Latino Virtual Book Tours. Social Justice Challenge: Religious Freedom 01/25/2010
Religious freedom should be about people freely practicing the spiritual belief of their choice or none at all without persecution and without detriment to others. Just as those who are harmed or even killed because of their faith are not free in their religion, those who do the harming and killing in the name of some belief are not free in theirs. Those with religious freedom will be able to nurture their spirituality without concern of being harmed or the need to harm others who don't believe what they believe. I assume for the intents and purposes of the challenge, religion is being used interchangeably with faith. Normally, I differentiate as religion is more organizational and faith is individualized. Having said that, religion/faith should be and is a personal decision. There's no place for it in government which is what often leads to the issue of religious persecution. When this life is over, it'll be between you and God...if that's what you believe. 2010 GLBT January Mini-Challenge 01/18/2010
The request: What we'd love for you to do is take a moment to write a paragraph or two on why this challenge and/or this issue is important to you. The response: Mine is not some profound statement or even one touting my vehement belief in the need for equality for the LGBT community. I do think that members of this community should be able to live and love as they so choose. They're humans, with human emotions and desires, just like heterosexuals. But, my reasons are a bit more selfish. I simply like to be well read and saw this as another opportunity to read with purpose. I'd like to be more informed on this issue, especially as it relates to people of color, and beyond what I've seen on two wonderful TV shows ("The L Word" and "Noah's Arc"). So, cheers to the challenge that dare not speak its name. Check out the GLBT Challengeto join. Sugar by Bernice L. McFadden 01/13/2010
 Gut-wrenching. Moving. Heartfelt. Truth. Those are just a few words I'd use to describe Bernice McFadden's novel, Sugar. This year is the tenth anniversary of its publication and it's taken me all that time to finally read it. Once I finished, I stopped regretting not reading it sooner. I think I was supposed to read it now, where I am in my life. Only now can this story bring tears to the brink of spilling forth. Only now can I empathize with the title character, a prostitute, who begins to realize there is more for her in this world than a piece of a life. Sugar's story unfolds when she returns to Bigelow, Arkansas, a town near where she was born, to start over. But since she knows only one way of life, she falls easily back into it and much to the delight of most of the men and the chagrin of the women of the town. The women want her gone and she's a tough, defiant woman who, initially, can't be moved. She slowly develops a friendship with her neighbor Pearl who lost a daughter, who Sugar seems to bear quite a resemblance to, fifteen years earlier. While Sugar is learning secrets of her own past, the secrets of some of the other townsfolk are revealed who share a link to her. McFadden does an excellent job of exploring morality and judgment through a number of startling back stories involving some of the same women who gossip about Sugar. A real testament to the author's storytelling abilities is the nuanced friendship that blossoms between Pearl and Sugar that allows Pearl to truly begin healing from the loss of her daughter. The story reads like it will be one of redemption for the protagonist, but McFadden keeps it real and doesn't tie everything up nice and neat at the end. McFadden's writing is accessible and a bit haunting. It has a foreboding tone that didn't allow me to put my guard down. Sugar has a very open ending that I'll hopefully find resolution to in the follow-up, This Bitter Earth. Challenges: African Diaspora 
Meet Me Under the Ceiba is more than a murder mystery of sorts. It presents harsh criticism on the homophobic attitudes still rampant in Nicaragua and towards all GLBT Latinos. One way Sirias exemplifies this throughout the novel is that most of the characters constantly refer to Adela derogatorily as cochona (dyke). This is, for some, to make light of her murder. Silvio Sirias has done a wonderful job of writing a variety of female characters that all (except Ixelia's mother, Erlinda) exhibit a great deal of strength and independence in spite of a number of unpleasant circumstances and typical marginalization of women. There is also a strong propensity towards the idea of "women's intutition" as each woman in Adela's life all claimed that their last encounters with her were apparent. With one exception, the men are all portrayed as jealous, obsessive, controlling, and sometimes abusive. Some might want to pull the man bashing card but that's moot since this is based on a true story. Those characteristics have to be in place for a man to be driven to kill because of a beautiful woman. Against the backdrop of what seems to be a well described town in Nicaragua, Sirias sharp, colorful writing explores the little discussed issues of homosexuality in that country and the flaws behind human emotions. Challenges: GLBT Challenge Author's website:www.silviosirias.com Silvio Sirias has been kind enough to make himself available for any questions today and will also be giving away an autographed copy of Meet Me Under the Ceiba to the question or comment of the day. Feel free to join in the discussion. Silvio Sirias Blog Tour Dates: Monday 11th: Book Lover Carol http://bookluver-carol.blogspot.com/ Tuesday Jan 12th: Brown Girl Speaks www.browngirl.weebly.com/book-speak.html Wed Jan 13th: Regular Ruminations www.regularrumination.wordpress.com Thursday Jan 14th: The Tranquilo Traveler http://blog.joshuaberman.net/ Friday Jan 15th: Pisti Totol www.pistitotol.wordpress.com Monday 18th: Mama XXI www.mamaxxi.blogspot.com Tuesday 19th: Farm Lane Books http://www.farmlanebooks.co.uk/ Wed 20th: Sandra's Book Club http://sandrasbookclub.blogspot.com/ Thurs. 21st: Latino Books Examiner www.examiner.com/x-6309-Latino-Books-Examiner Friday 22nd: Una in a Million http://unainamillion.blogspot.com | AuthorA brown girl blogging about the book world. In my other life, I'm a homeschool mom, wife, eco-frugalista, audiophile, entrepreneur...and still a bibliophile.      
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