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An
Interview with Michael A Gonzales
By Invisible
Woman
Wednesday, March
26, 2008
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I came across a
blog called Blackadelic Pop....don't
remember how I found it. But the words and
imagery were so wonderful, that it inspired
me to come out of my cave and write again. I
received some comments and emails that
stated how wonderful the blog was too. I
thought to myself "dang, that brother should
try to write for a living" (Invisible
Woman).
Since
I've started blogging, I've met some pretty
interesting folks. The latest is a
Cali lady who blogs about films and
politics, and refers to herself as the
Invisible Woman. What really attracted my
attention was Invisible's statement that the
negative reviews directed at the 2005 film
Shadowboxer, which my friend Lisa
Cortes produced, was the reason she started
the blog in the first place. Well, one thing
led to another and next thing she's offering
to interview me for the site. Below, you'll
find a link to the site...thank you,
Invisible Woman (Michael A. Gonzales). |
Invisible Woman:
I know that you are pretty much a music writer, but what
films have had the greatest impact in your life, both
past and present? If you could write to the world about
one film, what would it be?
MG: Films
have always been a big part of my life as well as a part
of my creative process. If I'm stuck while writing an
article, short story or my novel, I'll put in a movie to
get the juices flowing. Being a native New Yorker,
directors Spike Lee, Woody Allen, and Martin Scorsese
are my cinematic holy trinity. Still, I am a fan of many
genres and styles. This might be cheating, but if I had
to write to the world about TWO films they would be
Annie Hall
and
Mo' Better Blues—both
New York stories that document the ups and down of being
an artist in this crazy city of mine.
Invisible Woman:
What book or other media form do you think would make a
great Black film? Do you agree with the sentiment that a
lot of the readers here have that Hollywood should start
making films that are not specifically "Black," but all
types of stories and subject matters that just happen to
have a black cast?
MG: I read
this cool book last year by Martha Southgate called
Third Girl From the Left about three generations of
women and their relation to movies; I'd love to see
that. I would love if some cutting edge animator created
a feature film based on the Parliament-Funkadelic album
covers of Pedro Bell and Overton Lloyd. As much as I
like the urban camp of Beat Street and Krush Groove, I'd
love to see a film about hip-hop that was as powerful as
Citizen Kane.
My good friend
Barry Michael
Cooper, who wrote
New Jack City and
Sugar Hill (see
Stop Smiling Online), and I often have these
discussions about where we want black film to go. Both
of us are influenced by David Lynch, but don't bet on
Hollywood ever investing in a Black director with that
kind of bizarro vision.
Barry has been experimenting
with film and different technologies, but I could only
imagine what he could do with a few million dollars. I
just wish Black filmmakers like AJ Fielder (who shot
Daughters of the Dust
and
Crooklyn) and Malik
Sayeed (director of photography on Clockers and
Girl 6) were allowed to tell their stories too.
I had this crazy idea for a
script about my family, but I'm sure if it was ever made
it would be more like Martin Lawrence than Wes Anderson.
Invisible Woman:
I have a pretty sizable amount of readership that are
bloggers as well. Some of them aspire to be culture
writers. What advice would you give them?
MG: My
problem with some younger culture writers is that they
limit themselves by not reading more, seeing different
kinds of films or opening themselves up to different
experiences. If you want to write about hip-hop and R&B,
that's cool, but you should read up on jazz, old school
soul, punk, etc. I'm not saying you should be an expert,
but as a music writer you should know the difference
between Monk, Miles and The Clash.
The cultural critics I admired
when I was starting out, most noticeably Carol Cooper,
Greg Tate, Nelson George,
Barry Michael Cooper, Bell
Hooks, Michele Wallace and Frank Owen all knew a little
bit about a lot of things: old novels, films, paintings,
poetry, art galleries and museums, playwrights and small
theater, comic books, rock music, etc. It's all good to
specialize, but don't be afraid to enrich your mind with
something new. It can only make one a better writer.
Invisible Woman:
I ask everyone this one
question. A subject that comes up here quite often is
the dissatisfaction with what "The Hollywood Machine" is
producing in the way of Black Cinema. What, in your
opinion, can the public at large do to change things?
MG:
Yes, I agree. I'm not going to pick on anybody, but it
seems that only certain kinds of Black films are made.
Truthfully, the public is partially to blame, because
when a different kind of Black film comes along, we
don't support it. I'm not talking about the handful of
folks on both coast, I'm talking about the rest of the
country. As for the Hollywood machine, well, where do I
begin. I've met Black folks involved in the Cali film
world (lets not even talk about the inflated egos) and
I'm not impressed. Creating for a certain audience is
too easy, and I hope to one day see films based on the
works of: J. California Cooper, John Edgar Wideman,
Walter Mosley, Samuel R. Delany,
Octavia Butler and
others. There should be more to movies than black men in
dresses.
Invisible Woman:
Some of the readers have
commented that many singers and especially rappers, are
taking a lot of work from Black actors who have trained
in the craft most of their lives. Some feel it is
unfair, and these actors careers are languishing. What
is your take on this?
MG:
Well, this is a tricky question, because some singers
and rappers are good actors. My only problem is when the
actor is obviously a wack choice. Since Friday is
one of my favorite films, I'm proud of the success of
Ice Cube. And really, Method Man always plays himself,
but that's cool—Cheese
still lives as far as I'm concerned. But, thinking back
to Nas in Belly or Q-Tip in She Hate Me,
makes me very sleepy.
Invisible Woman:
What
upcoming projects do you have popping up in the future?
MG:
I'm working on a few things, but in August a collection
of short stories about superheros of color is coming
out. The book is called The Darker Mask: Heroes From
the Shadows (Tor Books). Edited by Cali crime writer
Gary Phillips and Chris Chambers, the book feature a new
fiction piece from me called "The Whores of Onyx City,"
and introduces my fly female superhero Sage Steele.
Ms. Steele is based in part on
my fascination with blaxploitation queens Pam Grier,
Tamara Dobson and Judy Pace; my personal soundtrack
while writing the story was Cree Summer (Street Faerie),
Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Martina Topley-Bird, Stephanie
McKay ("Tell Like It Is"), J-Dilla, DJ Shadow and
Portishead. Needless to say, the story is funky and
strange. Darker Mask also features powerful stories from
Walter Mosley, L.A. Banks, Ann Nocenti Gar Anthony
Haywood and Jerry Rodriguez.
Currently I have a cover story
coming out in Uptown magazine about the cast of "Cat on
a Hot Tin Roof," an upcoming Ne-Yo feature for Stop
Smiling magazine and my wild styled South Bronx noir
short story "boogie down inferno" has just been
published in a Shannon Holmes ghetto-lit collection Hood
2 Hood.
Invisible Woman:
Any thoughts and/or pop culture recommendations you
would like to relay to the readers?
MG: My only
thought is directed at those who want to writers. Me and
my friend (and sometimes editor) Miles Marshall Lewis,
like to proclaim, "Writers write." Which means, if you
have a good idea you should write it instead of talking
it. I know a lot of writers who talk a good game, but
rarely produce. Of course we all need to pay bills, but
don't wait for somebody to give you loot before you
write screenplay, novel, short story or
whatever...simply strive to be the best.
Source:
Blackadelicpop and
Invisible-Cinema
*
* * * * michael a. gonzales--Harlem native
-- has written cover stories for
Essence, Giant, Latina, XXL and
Stop Smiling. A former writer-at-large for Vibe
magazine, Gonzales has also been a staff writer for
The Source, columnist for New York Press and
a frequent contributor to the New York Daily News,
the New York Post and NY Metro. He has
also contributed articles to Spin, the Village
Voice, Ego Trip, Trace and
Entertainment Weekly.
Gonzales co-wrote
the book
Bring the Noise: A Guide to Rap Music and
Hip-Hop Culture (Random House, 1991).
Praised by
writer/director Nelson George as “evidencing the mastery
of detail required of a subject that is all about
mastery of detail,” the book was a groundbreaking text
in hip-hop literature.
Currently Michael
A. Gonzales writes a regular music column called “On the
Corner” for
Popmatters.com and has written liner-notes for
reissue collections including The Hip-Hop Box Set,
the O’Jays, the Gap Band, the Crusaders and Al Green.
Having written for MTV and BET, he also served as a
consultant to the Experience Music Project’s (Seattle)
inaugural Hip-Hop/Rap exhibit. He also contributed the
essay “From Rockin’ the House to Planet Rock” to their
catalogue Crossroads (2000).
In addition,
Gonzales’ essays have appeared in
Best Sex Writing 2005 edited by Violet Blue (Cleis
Press),
Beats, Rhymes & Life edited by Kenji Jasper
(Harlem Moon, 2007) and
Best Sex Writing 2006 edited Felice Neaman and
Frederique Delacoste (Cleis Press). A 1999 Code magazine
feature on Prince was reprinted the following year in
the landmark music criticism collection
Rock and Roll is Here to Stay edited by William
McKeen (W.W. Norton & Company, 2000). “My Father Named
Me Prince” appeared alongside pop culture pieces by Tom
Wolfe, Joan Didion and Lester Bangs.
Gonzales has
published fiction in
Brown Sugar 2: A Collection of Erotic Black Fiction
edited by Carol Taylor (Simon & Shuster, 2001),
Bronx Biannual 2 edited by Miles Marshall
Lewis (Akashic Books, 2007), Uptown magazine,
Brown Sugar 3: When Opposites Attract edited by
Carol Taylor (Simon & Shuster, 2003) and the upcoming
superheroes collection Darker Mask edited by Gary
Phillips and Christopher Chambers (Tor, 2008).
Gonzales’ short
stories have also been published in France and England.
Like Gypsy Rose Lee, Norman Mailer and Spike Lee before
him, he lives in Brooklyn.
* * *
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Generation Soul: Can Dru Hill Revive The Vocal
Group?
* * *
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02_My_Story,_My_Song.mp3
(24503 KB)
(Kalamu reading "My Story, My Song"
Featuring blues guitarist Walter Wolfman Washington)
Audio:
My Story, My Song (Featuring blues guitarist Walter Wolfman Washington)
|
Greenback Planet: How the Dollar Conquered
the World and Threatened Civilization as We Know It
By H. W. Brands
In Greenback Planet, acclaimed historian H. W. Brands charts the dollar's astonishing rise to become the world's principal currency. Telling the story with the verve of a novelist, he recounts key episodes in U.S. monetary history, from the Civil War debate over fiat money (greenbacks) to the recent worldwide financial crisis. Brands explores the dollar's changing relations to gold and silver and to other currencies and cogently explains how America's economic might made the dollar the fundamental standard of value in world finance. He vividly describes the 1869 Black Friday attempt to corner the gold market, banker J. P. Morgan's bailout of the U.S. treasury, the creation of the Federal Reserve, and President Franklin Roosevelt's handling of the bank panic of 1933. Brands shows how lessons learned (and not learned) in the Great Depression have influenced subsequent U.S. monetary policy, and how the dollar's dominance helped transform economies in countries ranging from Germany and Japan after World War II to Russia and China today. He concludes with a sobering dissection of the 2008 world financial debacle, which exposed the power--and the enormous risks--of the dollar's worldwide reign. The Economy |
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Sex at the Margins
Migration, Labour Markets and the Rescue Industry
By Laura María Agustín
This book explodes several myths: that selling sex is completely different from any other kind of work, that migrants who sell sex are passive victims and that the multitude of people out to save them are without self-interest. Laura Agustín makes a passionate case against these stereotypes, arguing that the label 'trafficked' does not accurately describe migrants' lives and that the 'rescue industry' serves to disempower them. Based on extensive research amongst both migrants who sell sex and social helpers, Sex at the Margins provides a radically different analysis. Frequently, says Agustin, migrants make rational choices to travel and work in the sex industry, and although they are treated like a marginalised group they form part of the dynamic global economy. Both powerful and controversial, this book is essential reading for all those who want to understand the increasingly important relationship between sex markets, migration and the desire for social justice. "Sex at the Margins rips apart distinctions between migrants, service work and sexual labour and reveals the utter complexity of the contemporary sex industry. This book is set to be a trailblazer in the study of sexuality."—Lisa Adkins, University of London |
* * * * *
The White Masters of the
World
From
The World and Africa, 1965
By W. E. B. Du Bois
W. E. B. Du Bois’
Arraignment and Indictment of White Civilization
(Fletcher)
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Ancient African Nations
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Enjoy!
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The Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan
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The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
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Only a Pawn in Their Game
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson Thanks America for
Slavery /
George Jackson /
Hurricane Carter
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The Journal of Negro History issues at Project Gutenberg
The
Haitian Declaration of Independence 1804
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January 1, 1804 -- The Founding of
Haiti
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updated 25 March
2010
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