November 2008

Book Review:

"The Black List"

The Bookworm is Terri Schlichenmeyer. Terri has been reading since she was

3 years old and she never goes anywhere without a book.  She lives on a hill in

Wisconsin with two dogs and 11,000 books. You can reach Terri at

bookwormsez@yahoo.com. by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and Elvis Mitchell

c.2008, Atria        $29.95 / $34.99 Canada     200 pages by Terri Schlichenmeyer,

Washington Informer contributor Do you have a black sheep in your family?

 

Maybe it's someone who can't find a job because he's black-listed. His former employer

black-balled him. Because of that, he's in a black mood. He would consider blackmail,

but it would be a black day if he did, and it might leave a black mark on his record. In the

meantime, he's madder than a black widow spider.

 

And now you might question why the word "black" accompanies so many negative thoughts

and words.

 

You'd be right to ask. So was author Elvis Mitchell, and in the new book "The Black List",

he ponders the meaning of the word and discusses race as he and photographer Timothy

Greenfield-Sanders present twenty-five heroes for our time. In undertaking this project, Mitchell says that one of the purposes of this book is to exhibit the wealth of variety in the black experience in America. Through interviews (done during portrait sittings), he lets the subjects speak for themselves.

 

From tennis great Serena Williams: "[Sister] Venus definitely opened a lot of doors for me because she was first…. You know, for me, it was like the Red Sea. She parted it and I just kinda walked through."

 

Speaking of his childhood in a Jewish-Italian-Irish-African-American neighborhood, actor Lou Gossett, Jr., says, "…we got insulated in an ideal kind of environment. It was not until we left there and got into the reality of the rest of the world where the racial problem existed."

 

About her books, author Zane says "I made the central character… a black female psychiatrist because … I know it's often considered a stigma of weakness to seek psychiatric help in the African-American community."

From Reverend Al Sharpton: "… who decided after two centuries of struggling for educational excellence that being a thug now is the definition of black manhood?"

About equality, Chris Rock said, "Equality is not in being great… The true equality is the equality to suck like the white man, you know?"

 

From the former president of Planned Parenthood, Faye Wattleton: "I'm really sorry that my daughter didn't have an opportunity to grow up in a segregated African-American community…where the lawyer lived next to the housepainter, who lived next to the doctor… and we were all together."

 

So you say you don't recognize some of the faces on the cover of "The Black List"?  Neither did I, but I sure will now.

This is one of those books to have around to page through when you need a little oomph in your life. Author Elvis Mitchell and photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders present each person in words and pictures, and what the subjects say is spontaneous and yet thoughtful, powerful and sometimes playful. Each profile is a few pages long and the portraits beg to be studied, both of which make this book great for browsing.

 

If your mood is a little gray lately, come read this book. If you want to meet a few people who will inspire you, "The Black List" should be on your reading list.