Creative Tradition
When my students and I read Sing, Unburied, Sing, we were aware that author Jesmyn Ward had Toni Morrison’s Beloved (which one or two were familiar with) in mind, along with other texts such as Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying and Homer’s Odyssey, while she composed the novel. This was no great insight. Ward had revealed this […]
Check the Action
The success of the excellent movie American Fiction has brought renewed attention to Percival Everett’s Erasure, the 2001 novel on which the movie is based. Several commentaries have been posted on YouTube, including an enthusiastic review by the self-styled Rambling Raconteur. During a largely unobjectionable review, he notes that the “My Pafology” section of the novel […]
Hold Everything
When I saw a teenage Beyoncé play the lead in Carmen: A Hip Hopera, which was made for MTV, I figured there was no limit to how big a star she could become. That wasn’t just a Destiny’s Child-bills-or-jumpin’-voice; that was a voice that could master anything it wanted to. You didn’t place that voice […]
Fresh Fresh
As I turned back into the Language Lane, I was reminded of the continual vibrancy of African American Language when I was watching the video “Good Good,” featuring Usher, Summer Walker, and 21 Savage. Reflecting on a serious romance that has ended, Usher sings, “we ain’t good good but we still good.” In other words, […]
Might Say
Unless it’s going to be all war all the time in the land of old Palestine, a political solution must be sought. That a viable one to balance peacefully the existence of the state of Israel with justice for five million people in an apportioned Palestine—three million in the West Bank and two million in […]
Champions
Reflecting on the World Athletics Championships recently concluded in Budapest, I find that I enjoyed a few of the language performances by Sha’Carri Richardson and Shericka Jackson almost as much as I admired their scintillating displays of speed at 100 and 200 meters. For example, Sha’Carri’s 10.65 in the 100 was no joke, a top-five […]
Semple Soliloquy on Montgomery
The fuss fading over the Brawl in Montgomery. The rap song been made by Gmac Cash. Jokes told. Names handed out to the Alabama Avengers or Aquabruh or Acquamayne. The Negro National Anthem been rewritten: Lift every chair and swing. Spirituals: Swing Low, Sweet Chair. Chair sales in Walmart leveling out. Tee shirt sales stagnant. […]
Scary or Not?
I have been off the block too long. I admit to being confused when I saw that the boxer Shakur Stevenson called out fellow boxer Vasiliy Lomachenko and deemed Lomachenko to be scary. I thought he meant scary as in frightening or terrifying. If so, why would Stevenson want to tangle in the ring with […]
Political No-Brainer?
Today, Chris Wallace reminded me why, besides the Trump fetish they pretend not to have, I watch CNN less and less these days. While interviewing Matt Damon about Oppenheimer, the new film by Christopher Nolan (Insomnia, Inception, The Dark Knight, Dunkirk), Wallace asked the actor if the United States was right or wrong to drop […]
Deep Democracy
After Cornel West announced his quest to run for president as the Green Party nominee, he mentioned in several interviews the idea of “deep democracy.” I decided to revisit his book Democracy Matters: Winning the Fight against Imperialism (2004), in which he explains the components of the concept. I also reread my summary in Composition […]
