Sag Harbor – Colson Whitehead, 329 pages, Anchor Books
Rating: 4,5 stars
Recommended to: Lovers of coming-of-age stories, summer read…
Particularity: Coming-of-age story by a black man
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Michael Eric Dyson is back with his newly released book today, What Truth Sounds Like. What Truth Sounds Like is Dyson’s continued discussion of race in America, carried over from his book last year called Tears We Cannot Stop A Sermon to White America. It was a book that was written specifically to speak to white America, whereas What Truth Sounds Like is written for us all.
Dyson begins the book focused on a discussion about race in 1963 between Robert Kennedy, James Baldwin, Lorraine Hansberry, and Lena Horne among others. Kennedy was trying to find out their views on fighting segregation and discrimination in the north. There weren’t any civil rights leaders there, just “well-known writers and other professional persons who have served as unofficial spokesmen for their race.”(What Truth Sounds Like, p. 14)
This historical meeting is the catalyst for Dyson to talk about race in America. The opening chapter is an excellent beginning because it brings to light the difficulty of segregation and discrimination during one of the most critical moments in American history. Baldwin and his friends were accusing Kennedy of not knowing anything about black life or the struggles of black people. This is exactly the same reflection that could be made about white people today.
“Baldwin knew that America could only survive if it underwent an extraordinary social transformation-equality for all, hatred for none-that echoed the most noble ideals set out by our founding fathers.” (What Truth Sounds Like, p. 7)
As What Truth Sounds Like develops into chapters discussing the martyrs, the meeting, the politicians, the artists, the intellectuals, and the activists, Dyson goes through many of the different racial situations that have happened in the US in the past but specifically during this past 1 year and 136 days of Trumps presidency. He also talks about specific famous people like Mohammed Ali and his activism as well a mistake he made referring to Frazier with “You seen the gorilla? From Manila?”. He talks about President Obama – what he represented, his good points and the things that didn’t go so well. He mentions so many people from Harry Belafonte to Chadwick Boseman, yes Black Panther and Wakanda. Yes, Wakanda Forever!
If Dyson does anything, he portrays the complexity of race in America and how the country has systematically refused to deal with the problem at all. White people believed because President Obama was elected twice that there was no racism in America. How naive is that thought? One thing is for sure that Dyson says is that racism will have to be fought by both black and white people. What Truth Sounds Like breaks down the good, the bad and the ugly and even tries to give solutions to some issues. His style of writing is clear and detailed. The masses of information he writes about is backed up with notes found in the back of the book.
I highly recommend both What Truth Sounds Like and Tears We Cannot Speak. Moreover, if you prefer, get the audiobook which is being read by Dyson, who has a powerful, rich voice that will have you captivated. I urge you to watch the clip below of Michael Eric Dyson on The View, especially if you don’t know who he is. He’s highly intelligent and doesn’t sugar coat. He gives me life!
* I’d like to thank St. Martin’s Press for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.
What Truth Sounds Like, 304 pages, St. Martin’s Press
Rating: 5 stars
Recommended to: Readers interested in reading about race relations in the United States
Buffalo Dance The Journey of York – Frank X Walker
Some Love, Some Pain, Sometime – J. California Cooper
He Never Came Home – Regina R. Robertson
Lost in the City – Edward P. Jones
Drinking Coffee Elsewhere – ZZ Packer
Nowhere is a Place – Bernice L. McFadden
A Kind of Freedom – Margaret Wilkerson Sexton
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There are so many novels that I’d like to reread but the one that comes to mind 
from an African-American author is Native Son. I first read Native Son in college for a third year literary course. I was blown away by the precision in Richard Wright’s writing style. You will literally go through all emotions while reading this tragic and infuriating novel, which show cases Bigger Thomas one of the most intriguing main characters in an American modern classic. Native son has to be one of the greatest American classics and should be read by all. Have you read it? Were you blown away by it?
“Set in Chicago in the 1930s, Wright’s powerful novel is an unsparing reflection on the poverty and feelings of hopelessness experienced by people in inner cities across the country and of what it means to be black in America.” (Native Son, description from Goodreads)
Native Son – Richard Wright, paperback, 454 pages (Vintage Classics)
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The late great writer and poet, Henry Dumas, has been on my TBR for ages. However I didn’t have any of his books until last year when I purchased this short story collection from Coffee House Press. Note that his work isn’t easy to find these days. His writing has been deemed brilliant and influential. Through 
his work he developed themes of the Black Aesthetic Movement which was eminent in the 1960s and early 1970s. He was also influenced by Moms Mabley, gospel, jazz, blues, and spirituals. Sadly Dumas was shot to death in 1968 by a New York City Transit Police officer, while waiting on a subway platform. It is believed that his death was a case of mistaken identity, although there is no proof of that. I can’t wait to get into this one! Here is his brief and exceptional bibliography:
Poetry for My People (1970) (poetry)
Ark of Bones and Other Stories (1974) (short stories)
Play Ebony, Play Ivory (1974) (poetry)
Jonah and the Green Stone (1976) (novel)
Rope of Wind and Other Stories (1979) (short stories)
Goodbye, Sweetwater: New and Selected Stories (1988) (short stories)
Knees of a Natural Man: The Selected Poetry of Henry Dumas (1989) (poetry)
Echo Tree: The Collected Short Fiction of Henry Dumas (Coffee House Press, 2003) (short stories)
Quote: (Themes in this quote = slavery, freedom, capitalism, greed, america…)
“If an eagle be imprisoned
on the back of a coin,
and the coin tossed
into the sky,
the coin will spin,
the coin will flutter,
but the eagle will never fly.”
― Henry Dumas
Echo Tree The Collected Short Fiction of Henry Dumas – Henry Dumas, paperback, 381 pages (Coffee House Press)
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This is one of the few vintage Signet editions left from my family’s book collection. It reminds me of my Uncle Lawrence. RIP. He talked a lot about 
Claude Brown and this book. I’m due for a reread of Manchild in the Promised Land. I read it the year I graduated from high school and was completely blown away by it. I then understood a lot better some of the things my uncle was always talking about. Poignant and inspiring with plenty of lessons to be learned by all, it’s a must read!
“Claude Brown is a black man who made it out of the ghetto who pulled himself up from Harlem, from the gang wars, the crime, the dope pushing to become a law student at one of America’s leading universities. Mantled in the Promised Land is his story. It is one of the most extraordinary autobiographies of our time.” (back of paperback, Manchild in the Promised Land)
Manchild in the Promised Land – Claude Brown, paperback, 429 pages (A Signet Book)
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I read this one a few years ago when it came out. Very interesting story that is written with a lot of creativity. This was my first book by James McBride and it certainly won’t be my last. I think I might even think about rereading this one. “Henry Shackleford is a slave boy in Kansas Territory in 1856, when the region is a battleground between anti- and pro-slavery forced. When the legendary abolitionist John Brown arrives in the area, an argument between Brown and Henry’s master quickly turns violent. Henry is forced to leave town-with Brown, who believes he’s a girl.” (Inside flap of The Good Lord Bird) .
The Good Lord Bird, hardcover, 417 pages (Riverhead Books)
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I decided to go with Another Day in the Death of America because it’s on my 2018 TBR. It’d a book hat I’m hesitant about reading because of the tragedy it contains. However, I realize and accept that these stories need to be told. Sadly, gun control is something we still can’t seem to tackle properly in the US. Let’s hope we won’t wait until the number of dead rises far beyond its current number. “Saturday, 23 November 2013, ten children and teens were shot dead. The youngest was nine; the oldest was nineteen. White, black, and Latino, they fell in suburbs, hamlets, and ghettos. None made the national news. There was no outrage about their passing. It was just another day in the death of America, where on average seven children and teens are killed by guns daily.” (Inside flap of Another Day in the Death of America) “24 hours. 8 states. 10 young lives lost to gun violence.”
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I thought about quite a few novels to suggest for today but the one that stood out is Nowhere Is a Place, which I had the pleasure of reading last year. I took the time to read through all Bernice L. McFadden’s novels last year. It was great to see how she has developed over her writing career. She is a wonderful writer who knows how to create and to grow a character throughout a story. Sherry is haunted by an unexplained incident from when she was young and it leads her on a discovery of her family as an adult. It was hard to put this book down. I was completely engrossed and fell in love with Sherry and her straight shooting, hysterical mother, Dumpling. This would be a great place to start reading McFadden if you’re interested. Have you read Nowhere Is a Place? What titles of family sagas from African-American authors would you recommend?
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I don’t usually make TBRs because I have a lot of trouble following them. Remember I’m Fickle Fred. I’m totally capable of quitting a book for no apparent reason, sometimes even when I’m enjoying it. I know strange. So my TBR list for February is eclectic but interesting – Tar Baby by Toni Morrison, A Red Death by Walter Mosley, Buffalo Dance The journey of York and When Winter Come The Ascension of York by Frank X Walker, The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis, Halsey Street by Naima Coster, and Debbie Doesn’t Do It Anymore by Walter Mosley. There is one debut novel, one Middle Grade, 2 Poetry books, 1 detective novel, and a great American Classic, which is a reread. I feel like if I can manage to get through all of these then I can maybe work in a 400+ page book towards the end of the month. Big plans! Let’s see if I can keep my eyes on the books I’ve chosen. I’m mostly looking forward to rereading Tar Baby. It’s been a long while since I picked it up. I remember it sparking some lively discussions in college. I hope it will do the same during our discussions on Goodreads. So what are you picking up this month? Will you be exclusively reading African-American authors? Are you joining me in reading Tar Baby?
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