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The 10
Best Black Books of 2008 (Non-Fiction)
By
Kam
Williams
1.
Hope on a Tightrope: Words & Wisdom by Cornel
West
Hope on a Tightrope earns the #1 spot at the dawn of the
new political era of Barack Obama. Why? Because in spite
of the uncritical euphoria surrounding Obama’s historic
accomplishment, Dr. West has the guts to call attention
to the pressing plight of the least of his brethren even
before the President-elect has had a chance to take
office.
Plus, the iconoclastic author, in urging the incoming
administration to address the concerns of the poor and
underprivileged, cleverly invokes “the fierce urgency of
now,” the same phrase coined by Dr. Martin Luther King
and appropriated by Obama as his campaign theme. Props
to Professor West for such a passionate reminder that
the struggle for equality couldn’t possibly end
automatically upon with the ascension of a black man to
the nation’s highest office.
2.
Faith under Fire:
Betrayed by a Thing Called Love
by LaJoyce
Brookshire
Everybody is aware of the devastating toll the
escalating AIDS rate has been taking on the black
community. For this reason, inner city schools all over
the country ought to consider adding this memoir to
their curriculum as a precautionary measure. The book
revolves around author LaJoyce Brookshire’s relationship
with a duplicitous brother on the down low who callously
put his monogamous wife’s life at risk.
Only well into their marriage did a bell go off in her
head, but by then he already had full-blown AIDS, and
she was left in shock by the carousing, carelessness and
sexual preferences by a partner she had incorrectly
assumed to be a straight, faithful spouse. Not exactly
anybody’s idea of a fairy tale romance, but a wake-up
call to sisters who can’t be too careful, given the
rampant spread of AIDS by convicts, intravenous drug
users and brothers simply too afraid to admit they’re
gay or bisexual due to the intolerant nature of a macho,
inner-city culture marked by an intolerance of
homosexuality.
3.
Standing Tall: A Memoir of Tragedy and Triumph by C.
Vivian Stringer
When Don Imus referred to the young women on the Rutgers
University Basketball Team as “nappy headed-hos” a year
ago, it deeply affected their Coach, Vivian Stringer who
“couldn’t shake the feeling that I had fallen down in my
responsibility to protect these girls.” What almost
nobody knew is that Vivian was recovering from breast
cancer at the time Imus’ indefensible remarks thrust her
into the national limelight, and that her mother
suffered a stroke right in the middle of the
controversy.
So,
Stringer never let on that she was going through chemo
and caring for her seriously-ill mom while handling the
crisis with the utmost poise and dignity. Poignantly
written without a whit of bitterness, Standing Tall is
as moving a memoir as I ever remember reading. The tears
started flowing from the first page and didn’t stop till
I finished the book.
4.
Black Pain: It Just Looks Like We’re Not Hurting by
Terrie M. Williams
Social Worker Terrie Williams is most persuasive, here,
making the argument that life is hard in the ‘hood, that
people are suffering from depression as a consequence,
and that the time has arrived to remove the stigma in
the community still attached to seeking out
psychological help. A convincing call for
African-Americans to trade in their self-defeating
stoicism for some long-overdue mental health treatment.
5.
Don't Blame It on Rio by Jewel Woods and Karen
Hunter
Did
you know that Brazil has become the favorite vacation
destination of a rapidly-increasing number of
professional African-American males? Are black women
even necessary any longer? Perhaps not, according to
Jewel Woods and Pulitzer Prize-winner Karen Hunter,
co-authors of this eye-opening exposé which blows the
cover off the clandestine sex trade currently
flourishing in Rio.
The
city is apparently a popular port of call with bourgie
brothers from the U.S. due to the easy availability of
local women who don’t have the attitude or emotional
baggage they generally find attached to sisters back
home. A rather revealing look at a disturbing cultural
trend.
6.
Be a Father to Your Child by April R. Silver
How
do African-American males feel about fatherhood
nowadays? Here’s a hint: Between 70 and 85% of black
kids are now being raised by single-moms. The popular
notion is that misogynistic gangsta rap might have
formed men generally unwilling to shoulder their fair
share of the burden when it comes to parenting.
But
before you jump to conclusions, you might want to read
this collection of empowering essays by black men of the
Hip-Hop Generation who have not abandoned their
children. For this uplifting tome, which includes
contributions by rapper Talib Kweli, writer Bakari
Kitwana and filmmaker Byron Hunt, offers a heartening
mix of poetry, prose and pictures designed to reassure
skeptics about the prospects of the black family.
7.
The Naked Truth: Young Beautiful and (HIV) Positive
by Marvelyn Brown
This bittersweet biography chronicles the author’s
evolution from being diagnosed HIV+ to feeling
desperate, frightened and abandoned to blossoming into a
fearless AIDS activist. Now 24, this brave young lady
deserves considerable credit for going public and thus
putting a face on a still generally hidden and denied
disease at a time when African-Americans account for the
majority of new infections in the United States.
8. The
Race Card: How Bluffing About Bias Makes Race Relations
Worse by Richard Thompson Ford
Was
it fair for Michael Jackson to turn himself white only
to reclaim his blackness when he wanted to sue his
record company? According to Richard Thompson Ford, many
well-off African-Americans are more than willing to
make inappropriate accusations of prejudice for purely
selfish reasons.
The
author concludes that such opportunists who resort to
the tactic of playing the race card “are the enemies of
truth, social harmony, and social justice.” His
solution? “For all decent and honest people” to join in
condemning any such perpetrators. Certainly, food for
thought in what has recently been dubbed “post-racial”
America.
9.
Letters to a Young Sister: Define Your Destiny by
Hill Harper
Actor Hill Harper received nothing but positive feedback
a couple of years ago upon the release of Letters to a
Young Brother, his inspirational how-to book for
African-American males. Its uplifting message emphasized
the value of a good education over the accumulation of
material possessions while also stressing the importance
of being the architect of your own life.
So,
it is only fitting that he would choose to write a
companion text for black females with the help such
luminaries as Michelle Obama, Angela Bassett, Ruby Dee,
Nikki Giovanni and Sanaa Lathan. This invaluable tome
addresses a litany of concerns occupying the inquiring
minds of impressionable girls still in their formative
years. Overall, an uplifting collection of sage insights
aimed at instilling self-confidence, self-respect and
self-reliance.
10.
Sweet Release: The Last Step to Black Freedom by Dr.
James Davison, Jr.
Is
it detrimental for African-Americans to continue to
think of their struggle for advancement as a collective
as opposed to a solitary enterprise? This is the
controversial contention put forward by Dr. Davison, a
psychologist in private practice in California. He
believes that those black folks still viewing reality
through a pre-Civil Rights Era prism are only standing
in the way of their own freedom.
According to the author, the key rests in
African-Americans breaking the psychological bonds to
their racial past by asserting their individuality, a
step which he claims “has little to do with racism,
prejudice, or discrimination.” A bitter pill to swallow,
but so shockingly confrontational that its prescription
for black sanity is a must read, despite the doctor’s
apparent right-wing political allegiances.
Honorable
Mention
All
about the Beat: Why Hip-Hop Can’t Save Black America
by John McWhorter
Barack Obama: Making History Edited by Tanya
Ishikawa
The
Chronicles of a Gentleman (The Untold Truth) by
Leroy Sanders
Company I 366th Infantry by Harold E. Russell, Jr.
How
to Build a Million Dollar Business by Richelle Shaw
Life as a Single Mom by Stephanie M. Clark
Life Is a Game by Jim Copeland
My
True Soul: Exploited, Apprehended & Broken Within by
Shawna M. Harrison
Why
Black People Can't Lose Weight by Makeisha Lee
Why
African-Americans Can't Get Ahead by Gwen
Richardson
25
Things That Really Matter in Life: A Comprehensive Guide
to Making Your Life Better by Gary A. Johnson
Worst
Black Book of 2008
A
Bound Man: Why We Are Excited about Obama and Why He
Can’t Win by Shelby Steele
The title says it all.
Black conservative Shelby Steele took a calculated risk
in publishing a book predicting Obama wouldn’t win.
Oops. A bigger blunder than the Chicago Tribune’s “Dewey
Elected’ headline prematurely announcing the demise of
Harry Truman in 1948. Probably already out-of-print.
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posted 14 December 2008 |
