Brandelyn: Lyrical Contradiction

          So last night, I had a “Come on Blood!” moment. My Rose and I went to Barnes and Noble because she wanted to find a book and a Grande Caramel Machiotto was calling my name. So we rolled to the BN and perused the aisles, with me happily sucking down my caffeine fix for the day. Now, I have to say that ever since I read Cupcake Brown’s book, I have been really getting into Biography’s, real biographies. By that I mean real stories about real people, who are still alive who are not famous and haven’t saved the world, but have an amazing story that is universal. Cupcakes book is exactly that. So I went over to the section and, yeah…didn’t see anything that caught my eye. No worries, this is Barnes and Noble, home of my novel, I’ll find something to occupy my mind.  So I headed over to the fiction section and began scanning the shelves. Just as a side bar, people really underestimate the power of the book cover. As a writer, the cover is crucial. A striking cover can get someone to just pick up a book and read the cover, and be introduced to a new writer, just off the sheer power of the cover. It’s happened to me a million times. How else do you think I wound up reading “Bling?!” Anyway, as I was scanning, it seemed like every book I picked up that was geared toward Black folks, was so…how do you say…stereotypical, media stereotypical. It seemed like every book I picked up read like this…

            “Having been abandoned by her drug addict mother and beaten up by every man she’s dated, Beautyfull Lashayshay Jackson has given up on the prospect of finding love. Tired of struggling to care for herself and her kids, Beautyfull falls into the sex, drugs and insanity of the stripping world, burying herself in the lifestyle, swearing off the possibility of love and poverty. Tired of giving away her heart for free, Beautyfull swears that the next man she dates will have to have the money to buy her affections.

Lavarius Johnson, an ex-con with a heart of gold, trying to get back on his feet, has all but sworn off women after having his heart broken by one two many women looking for a paycheck and not a boyfriend. When an unexpected death in his family has a surprising pay off, Lavarius suddenly finds himself living the lifestyle he always dreamed about. But as the women that surround him have their eyes on his pockets, he wonders if he can find a woman who can love him for him and not his money.

A chance meeting forces both Lavarius and Beautyfull to question their motives and open themselves up to the possibility of love…”

Now, of course this is an off the top, extremely exaggerated rendering of the tomfoolery I saw last night, but I think it makes my point. I would have to say that with the exception of the Alice and Tony and Gloria, and a view other selects, who, by the way, all happen to be pretty seasoned (read older) in life, this was all BN had to offer. Why does the Black literary world have to be so extreme? Why do we have to be thugs and ho’s or extremely adult political powers? Where is the middle? Where are the twenty something’s that are trying to make it? Where are the college stories that are not just about Sororities and Fraternities? Where are the stories about people? I know that books are meant to be an escape from the real world, but why does the escape have to be so dismal? Why do we constantly have to perpetuate this lifestyle? And why do we continue to support it? Why does the section labeled “African American Interest” filled with “My Baby’s Mama”, and “Yeah, I stabbed the Bitch” and “Chasing Shawntay”?! Is this what African Americans are interested in? Is this what we are drawn to? I guess the answer is yes because there is a HUGE market for this type of material. It took me over an hour to find a book, and I’m still a little skeptical about it. But Toni Morrison has indorsed this author, so we’ll see! But come on! I know too many talented writers with a unique perspective that could honestly rock the literary world!! But most of us are so busy writing that we are not doing anything to put our work out there, myself included. We are being bombarded with these negative images and I personally am tired of it! I am researching ways to stop working and pursue this thing full time. Especially since I know in my heart that I am not equipped to work for other people…I think I got that from my momma! LOL! But for all of my fellow writers and readers…there is an epidemic going on that we must stop! Who’s with me?!