Comments on: Still Climbing: Subjects Black Writers Can’t Write About

By: rochellespencer.com » Blog Archive » Joe Biden, “Black People Don’t Read,” and the 10th Annual Black Writers Conference

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 11:15:07 +0000

[...] don’t think anyone got my point (though the delightful Chris Abani reached the same conclusion I did about the novel Push). Still, I hope today, if someone is reading this post, that they decide to reach out to a friend [...]

By: Rochelle

Rochelle — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 22:31:10 +0000

Exactly! “There’s room for it all–what we really need is more black literature from a variety of perspectives–that way, our literature would better reflect the fullness of black experiences and we can stop censoring ourselves.”

By: Zesi

Zesi — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 21:42:59 +0000

I’m of that opinion that someone will find something wrong with your work if you have a black person in it doing anything questionable. We have a range of experiences—some of them are as ugly as those in PUSH but that book is one book, one kind of experience. And I think that people should move beyond looking at the slim stream of black literature that comes out and expecting each novel to be some kind of sweet book where all the men and women are beautiful, smart, and do the right thing (how boring!). There’s room for it all–what we really need is more black literature from a variety of perspectives–that way, our literature would better reflect the fullness of black experiences and we can stop censoring ourselves.