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Nafisa_goma
Newbie Poster
Username: Nafisa_goma
Post Number: 30
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 24, 2006 - 12:18 pm: | 
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The 10 Best Black Books of 2006 by critic Kam Williams.
http://www.dallasblack.com/site.aspx/reviews/books/tenbestbooks
Door of Kush is proud to be the publisher of the book that came
in at #1--"Diary of a Lost Girl" by Kola Boof.
Happy Holidays and a happy new year everyone.
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Igbogirl
Veteran Poster
Username: Igbogirl
Post Number: 822
Registered: 09-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 25, 2006 - 10:24 pm: |
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My fave of 2006 was 'No Scrubs' by Tyishia Welfario |
Chrishayden
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 3176
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, December 26, 2006 - 03:24 pm: |
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Check out also his five worst list
Rib ticklingly funny |
Renata
Veteran Poster
Username: Renata
Post Number: 1654
Registered: 08-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, December 26, 2006 - 08:41 pm: |
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Great List! Thanks! I actually bought two of those books as gifts for someone else. I'll check out the others, too! |
Lola_ogunnaike
Regular Poster
Username: Lola_ogunnaike
Post Number: 132
Registered: 10-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 28, 2006 - 12:39 am: |
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Their Eyes Were Watching Dogs, was hella funny. |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 6294
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 28, 2006 - 02:04 pm: |
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Where are ya, Lolo? Working your way through your pile of e-mails? Or trying to explain yourself to your boss at the NY Times? If you get thrown out on your little Nigerian ear I know just the person to take you in. Maybe she can help you with your secret mission. |
Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 7224
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 29, 2006 - 07:16 am: |
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Kam's Best Books of 2006 seem quite worthy of reviewing while considering one's literary options. It's interesting though that ALL of his selections are NONfiction.
In THAT respect, you can tell Kam is a man. |
Steve_s
Regular Poster
Username: Steve_s
Post Number: 228
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: 
Votes: 2 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, January 02, 2007 - 06:08 pm: |
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Best books of the year, in my opinion?
Nonfiction:
"The Senator and the Socialite: The True Story of America's First Black Dynasty" by Lawrence Otis Graham.
Fiction:
"All Aunt Hagar's Children: Stories" by Edward P. Jones.
Troy, who the heck would describe their own children as "half-assed," let alone "half-caste"? C'mon man, you know I respect you, but one reason your forum lacks integrity and credibility is because you allow your moderator(s) to post under assumed identities.
Anyway, in my opinion, when the reviewer "Kam" describes Barack Obama's "The Audacity of Hope," as the worst book of 2006, I just dismiss that opinion out of hand as pure politics because obviously, the most remarkable thing about that book is that a potential presidential (or vice presidential) candidate who happens to be an African American has mangaged to be ranked #1 on Amazon.com. What does it matter to me what some anonymous reviewer named "Kam" thinks? I already know from reading DeWayne Wickham's review in USA Today that the book may lack substance in certain areas, however, that's a reasonable opinion. Or are you suddenly promoting credentialism? In that case, let me just remind you that one of our most brilliant thinkers, Ralph Ellison, had a 3-year classical music education at an Alabama college before dropping out. And no, I haven't read Obama's book.
Barack Obama is one of only five African American senators in the history of the country: Hiram Revels, Blanche Kelso Bruce, Edward Brooke, Carol Moseley Braun, and Obama. "The Senator and the Socialite," by Lawrence Otis Graham is a biography of Mississippi Senator Blanche Kelso Bruce. Frankly, I've read enough Amercian History and African American literature to not need much help interpreting issues of class and race as they apply to a life like this man's. He's a completely flawed albeit extremely intelligent and complex human being, whose sense of his own worth and gift for interpersonal relationships somehow managed to survive a relatively "privileged" childhood in which he was beaten daily from the age of eight for not being able to concentrate on carrying bricks from sun up to sundown . 'Nuff said, I'm not defending his politics.
The worst books of the year?
Well, for starters, "1996" by Gloria Gaynor (oops! I mean Naylor) is a truly sad book, but not nearly as sad as her enablers who describe microwave mind control as "the next frontier in civil rights." Luckily for her, this book won't reach a whole lot of readers. Let me just add that I've heard of street lit in which the spelling of characters' names varies throughout, but I'd never actually read one before.
"Wounded" by Perci Everett the thirrrrddddd. The book that makes Leslie Fiedler's case for "higher masculine sentimenatlity" and male bonding in interracial pairs (as described in "Come Back to the Raft Agin', Huck Honey").
Thumper deleted me just for stating the Wyoming/Matthew Sheppard connection and also that "John Hunt" and his uncle Gus were regarded as something like "rare Pandas" up in them parts of Wyoming. I didn't even mention that the Indians approach John Hunt to intervene on their behalf because he "trusts the sheriff" (his words). I mean, come on. I've heard of "I shot the sheriff, but not "I trust the sheriff."
Oh yeah. You know that Ralph Ellison famously opined that craft is morality and he compared the writer's responsibility to that of a doctor.
A recent book by NY Times sports columnist William C. Rhoden draws on the plantation metaphor for sports in its title: "Forty Million Dollar Slaves." I'm a fairly open-minded person, so I'll withhold judgement of the book until I've had a chance to read it, however, I'll admit to being somewhat skeptical after reading the review published in Mr. Rhoden's own newspaper, in which the reviewer writes:
"In the face of these powerful arguments, I wish I did not also have to point out errors, like getting wrong the date of Plessy v. Ferguson, which was decided in 1896, not 1890; and misstating the year baseball’s first professional league got under way — 1871, not 1876."
As far as I'm concerned, that makes Ellison's point perfectly. First of all, it's almost inconceivable to me that a book about segregation could misstate the date of the court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, the landmark legal case in segregation law. So instead of making sure his facts are correct, the author opens himself up to patronizing comments, even by sympathetic reviewers, as in the above paragraph.
As I said, I don't dismiss the premise out of hand, however, the author has to present a coherent case. I don't accept the plantation metaphor if it's just used as a rationalization for the misbehavior of problem athletes like Terrell Owens. Otherwise, why shouldn't the same excuse apply to someone like Chicago Bears rookie superstar Jim McMahon, who, thrilled to be "released" from what he considered an oppressive culture in Utah, strolled into his first public function with the Bears holding a cold beer in his hand, and would later routinely lock horns with Ditka, his coaches, teammates, and journalists during his career with the Bears.
Later. |
Enchanted
Regular Poster
Username: Enchanted
Post Number: 446
Registered: 11-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, January 02, 2007 - 06:54 pm: |
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Which moderator referred to their children as "half-caste" I missed that one.
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Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 6398
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: 
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, January 02, 2007 - 07:51 pm: |
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I also found the way Kam off-handedly dismissed Obama's book a little off-putting. And I, too, blew Kam's assessment off because of how his politics always color his reviews. It is ironic that Obama is catching the most flack from black Americans. |
China_b
First Time Poster
Username: China_b
Post Number: 2
Registered: 12-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 10, 2007 - 02:01 am: |
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I made this posting earlier on the Culture & Race Disscusion Board, while browsing on this page, I realized it's actually more fitting here. I suggest all of you visit: www.whitemencanthump.com ,and then revisit the discussuion of this book. Frankly, I'm stunned by the lack of disscussion about this book. This book is the best book on race and sex in America ever written, period. Kam Williams (aalbc's most prominent book & movie reviewer) selected this book as the 4th BEST BLACK BOOK OF 2006 and it wasn't released until the year was nearly over. I think this author rolled the dice with the silly book title, but there's nothing silly about this book at all. He chose the title to show how wrong it is to judge a book (or a person) by its cover (or its title). The basic premise of the book is that racism against black men stems from fear of the black penis. The evidence he provides is concrete solid, abundant in volume, and overwhelming in its description. He shows how heinous historical events such as: Scottsboro, Rosewood, Anti-Miscegenation Laws, Lynching, and Castration, shape the very attitudes that mis-portray black men in today's media and Hollywood. I've read both books (500 pages) twice, and I still skim thru them from time to time because I keep them next to my bathtub. This book will make you laugh-out loud, CRY, cuss, and scream. He mixes his real life experiences with history, Hollywood, the media, the Iraq War, immigration, prison life, and dozens of other truths, lies, myths, and events. This book and the author's name are all over Google, and what I find confusing is the fact that Black Radio won't touch him, but White Shock Jocks love him. White Shock Jocks love him even though he consistently tells them: "All I'm saying is that, if these things whites have said about the black penis and the black male sexual prowess are true, then that means we're better in the bedroom than you." I heard him drop this bombshell during a radio interview, and the host no longer thought Flavor Flav's "Flavor of Love," or Tim Meadow's "The Ladies Man" was so damn funny. His book takes the white love for creating black sexual buffoonery and put's a Bush-like Whitehouse spin on it that shuts white folks up and turns them into quiet little grade school students. He shut these host up and politely lectured them uninterruppted for 15 minutes. After the interview they said they couldn't wait to buy the book. Unfortunately, black folks seem to be missing out. That's pretty sad. |
Kola_boof
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Kola_boof
Post Number: 3824
Registered: 02-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, January 11, 2007 - 10:39 am: |
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Steve_S:
Troy, who the heck would describe their own children as "half-assed," let alone "half-caste"? C'mon man, you know I respect you, but one reason your forum lacks integrity and credibility is because you allow your moderator(s) to post under assumed identities.
Excuse me, STEVE_S
But why on earth would I need to use a "assumed identity" (which is what you do) on this board when I say everything I want to say as openly and straight out as it can be said in the first place???
Troy's "MODERATOR" has not been to this board in MONTHS for your information---but I'm back now, pretentious ass WHITE FUCKER----and if you have any other "PREJUDICIAL CONCLUSIONS" then maybe you ought to start by using your REAL NAME (as I do) and be MAN ENOUGH to direct them directly to Miss Kola Boof.
You're the one...with the assumed identity.
Only for "THUMPER" did I create Snakegirl, and I've not hidden the fact of who that is.
And as far as me calling my children "Half-Caste" goes---I don't have any Half-Caste children. Mine are Black. That's just the goddamned point, WHITE MAN.
When I say "Half-Caste"...I mean---"Not all mine."
What do you WHITE MOTHERFUCKERS mean when you call a mulatto person Black????
Don't you really mean---"Not mine at all."
YES, THAT'S WHAT YOU MEAN.
And that's exactly what you meant for
500 years...WHITE MAN
If TROY didn't tell you already----KOLA said "FUCK YOU".
Now how much more integrity and credibility can a white man want...than that?
PHONEY PRETENTIOUS MOTHERFUCKER.
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Schakspir
Veteran Poster
Username: Schakspir
Post Number: 800
Registered: 12-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, January 11, 2007 - 01:00 pm: |
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Kola: PHONEY PRETENTIOUS MOTHERFUCKER.
Schakspir: speak of the devil, asshole. Nobody on this board is as phony and pretentious as yourself. You've been lying so long, you don't even know your own name. |
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