|
|
|
We Speak for Ourselves: A Word from
Forgotten Black America by D. Watkins
c.2019 Atria $26.00 / $35.00
Canada 208 pages
By Terri
Schlichenmeyer
The Truth Contributor
You could be rich
someday.
That’s what they say: you
could have a great job, a nice car, and a crib on the beach,
if you want them. They say it could happen, if you seize
opportunities that come your way. They say it’s possible to
be successful if you just pull yourself up by some imaginary
bootstraps. And according to
D. Watkins
in his new book We Speak for Ourselves,
they are lying.
Oprah, Jay-Z, Beyonce,
Kanye. Of course, you know who they are but did you ever
notice that they aren’t like most black people? |
 |
|
That’s something D. Watkins sees in the
books he reads on race, in the TV he watches, and events he
attends: there are "different types of black people" and
when it comes to news and "maybe even in society…. People
from the street are absent…"
In Watkins’ world – "Down
Bottom" in Baltimore – gunshot is a common background noise.
It’s also common for multiple generations of black men to
die by bullets, for girls to get pregnant early, and for
boys to sling drugs.
What else do they know,
except what they see? Kids on the street are not "dumb," he
says, but a "street hustler mentality" is given to them as a
sort of heritage because there aren’t a lot of choices,
opportunities are few and the need for money is powerful. It
doesn’t help that education for black students is often
underfunded, proper nourishment is sometimes lacking,
housing may be sub-par, "open-air drug markets are real,"
cops can be "more crooked than the crooks," and "Black
Taxes" exist.
And yet – Watkins is
proof that success is possible, but it’ll take action:
promote literacy. Teach a child something. Get to know
people who are different than you. "Be the person you needed
growing up." Speak up, but remember that your voice won’t
mean a thing "if action is not added to those words."
Sometimes it happens:
your eyes are open but you can’t see. When author D. Watkins
writes, though, you’re smacked with the very thing you’re
missing.
Watkins, who starts
We Speak for Ourselves with a cocktail party attended
by elite blacks, turns his attention quickly to the majority
of black people he knows, none of whom are rich or famous.
This tour, if you will, takes readers into his neighborhood
through a voice that quietly hammers home the realities of
privilege, inequality, poverty, and feelings of
helplessness, but Watkins doesn’t let us linger there.
Observant readers will find simple actions
for change-making, and remind ers
that we always hold the power to act. There’s quiet advice
for keeping a cool head when wrongs are presented, and a
gently-urgent plea that differently-backgrounded people
spend time together. There’s also one hilariously subtle
thread of humor, so look for it.
No matter which
part of the sidewalk you occupy, this short, quick book is a
must-read if you worry about our future.
We Speak for
Ourselves offers the beginnings of a map forward, and in
thought-provoking ideas, it’s rich.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright © 2019 by [The Sojourner's Truth]. All rights reserved.
Revised:
04/25/19 14:57:24 -0400. |
|
|
More
Articles....
Jera’s Heavenly Sweet: Baked Goods for Any Occasion
Vision Boarding – Setting Goals and Sharing Dreams
Po’Up and Paint Makes its Debut
NANBPWC Toledo Club Talent Night
|
|
|
|
|
|
Back to Home Page |
|
|
|
|
|
|
