Black Is The New White – This Week In Books

by Young Che on January 27, 2010

via: DaveyD’s Hip Hop Corner

Here are a few excerpts from Paul Mooney’s latest book: Black Is the New White

Richard loves the whole scene. I mean, he really loves the glamorous life of Hollywood. More than the money, I think, more than the pussy even, more than everything but the drugs, Richard Pryor loves him some Hollywood star power. He could give a lot of it up and just be satisfied alone in a room with a base pipe, but he’d miss that Hollywood connection too much.

Yet giving it up is what he’s always filling my ear about back then. In the middle of the Candy Store, which in Richard Pryor’s eyes is a slice of heaven, he’s talking about giving it up. How he hates it. Sullivan and Griffin and The Tonight Show. The Las Vegas clubs and the top billing.

“It ain’t me, Paul,” he says. “I can’t even say the motherfucking word bullshit! I can’t say ass!”

I want to respond, “Look, I see the way your face lights up when Steve McQueen recognizes you.” But I don’t. I know that these people, the ones we are sitting among at the Candy Store, are the same ones who think they can tell Richard Pryor what to say, how to behave, who to be. To tell him he can’t say “ass” or “bullshit.”

He is a man all torn apart. Hollywood is telling him, You can have everything you want, but we have to put you through our deflavorizer first.

What Richard wants is what I want, what everyone in the What Richard wants is what I want, what everyone in the world wants. To be accepted, to be loved for who we are, not for some playacting version of ourselves.

That’s what he and I set out to do over the next few years: conquer Hollywood on our own terms. Our first step is to turn our backs on it entirely and make our Motown drive north in a blue Buick convertible, heading for the wilds of Berkeley.

The stretch in Berkeley is Richard’s time in the wilderness. He’s like Jesus, going out into the desert and meeting the devil. For Richard, the devil takes the form of a white powder from Bolivia. And unlike Jesus, Richard doesn’t conquer his devil. He makes friends with it. (pg. 101 – 103)

I know that producers who pass me by are leaving millions of dollars on the table. They say the profit motive is sacred, but it’s not true. Racism trumps capitalism. Hollywood prefers to pass up a program that I know I can make a hit, rather than work with a proud black man like me. I make them too nervous. I freak them out. It reminds me of my guerilla newspaper in high school, or my alternative talent show. You don’t want to work with me? Fine. I’ll do it myself. (pg. 140)

After all this time, I’ve learned that people’s reactions to me often have nothing to do with me. Any of the hundreds of executives who I’ve run up against in Hollywood: It’s their trip, it’s not mine.
It’s about color. That’s what’s up. It’s not complicated. It’s not some paradox. It’s simple, it’s basic, it’s racial. Because that’s their problem. Their problem is with the black male. It’s true all over the world. Because we’re the shit, okay? The American Black male is the shit.

I am not intending any disrespect to Africans. I know what the game is. But the American Black man is a unique kind of Black person. All over the world, people copy us. Our music, the way we talk, the way we walk, they are all influenced by us. We are the most imitated people on earth.

So how does that work out to disrespecting us? Because human beings always have a love-hate relationship with those in power. The Black American male has so much power because he is the world’s coolest icon. People love us for it, and they hate us for it, too. Everybody wants to be a nigger, but nobody wants to be a nigger. It’s complicated that way.

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What Matters Now: get the free ebook

by Young Che on December 15, 2009

What Matters Now Image

This ebook is all over the internet and for good reason.  It harnessed thoughts from 70 of the world’s Biggest Thinkers.  Download it here.  Check out Seth Godin’s page if you haven’t already, he has several related links for you to check out in relation to this ebook as you begin to prep your Tribe for 2010.  Below this image I shared some of my immediate thoughts as I read through the ebook yesterday.  Enjoy the read, then Do Something.

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GENROSITY

God made me for this moment. I LOVE GIVING. Time. Money. Art.

FEAR

I fight this monster everyday. The fear of what others think about us is debilitating.

FACTS

I love this. “Just the facts ma’am.” If that’s the case then we’ve lost humanity.

DIGNITY

I spend a lot of time in the projects of the City That Care Forgot, but what I’ve learned is that the people didn’t Forget To Care.

ROOM TO READ

Reading has to be pushed everywhere. It can’t be the forgotten art.

MEANING

Do it for Yourself. I’m back on my MeShit.

EASE

I can’t remember what anything smells like, let alone roses. My nephew was speeding through life until he fell into my life. Both of us were forced to take a step back from our individual lives. It looks different from the outside. Thank you Elizabeth, for encouraging me to look within.

CONNECTED

After being “forced” to take a step back from my life the phone didn’t ring as much (except for bill collectors) and I realized how disconnected I was from the people in my life.

RE-CAPITALISM

With the economy in shambles, everyone has to rethink our approach to business. Consumers have no money to spare. How do you justify your rates?

VISION

I know the Way. TRUST ME. I just need to figure out how to illustrate it better.

ENRICHMENT

Every time you speak, we get better as a result.

1%

This is why our children matter. They are the Tribe within the Tribe.

SPEAKING

You can’t overestimate passion.

ATOMS

Talk is cheap.

EXCELLENCE

Should we strive for anything less?

MOST

Mos Def

STRENGTHS

Know Thyself

RIPPLE

Start In Your Pond. Then jump into mine.

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This Week in Books: HIGH RISK – Children Without A Conscience

December 8, 2009

Not long ago I wrote about the Attracting Power that we all share and how it literally summons the things and people into your life that you need to fulfill your purpose in life. I mentioned a book that I located in the Psychology Section of the local public library titled: Prisoners Of Childhood [...]

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President Obama Featured On This Week With Jasiri X

December 5, 2009

via: RealTalkXpress
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Former Street legend Pee Wee Kirkland…has some choice words about Hip Hop

November 20, 2009

via: DaveyD
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