52 Books, Week 10: Is Bill Cosby Right?
Don't waste your time on this one folks. It ends up being less a critical look at class distinctions in contemporary black society, more an ad hominem attack on Bill Cosby (which I could have done without especially for 200 + pages). The description of anti-intellectualism is interesting, as well as a small bit about the way we explain poverty in our society (individualistic, structual, fatalistic); but most of the time its a direct attack of Bill Cosby's statements (who knows what I was expecting, with a title like "Is Bill Cosby Right"), but a little more meat would have been filling.Of particular interest is Dyson's description of seven types of black folk: ghettocentrists, gangstas, griots, gamers, gospelers, gentries, and gayz (why he added the z on gayz, who knows, but knowing Dyson, he probably wanted to make it "hip-hop"). The following are Dyson's words, not mine.
Ghettocentrists: Hold that the inner city is the source of authentic black identity and supplies important standards, norms, habits, traits and behaviors for black community (James Baldwin, Allen Iverson, Richard Wright).
Gangstas: Believe that the lifestyle and ideology of the outlaw, the rebel and teh bandit challenge the corrupt norms of the state, the government, and the rule of law in society (Chester Himes, NWA, 2Pac, Donald Goines).
Griots: Believe in the obligation to presevere cultural memory, racial practice and ethnic solidarity (Marcus Garvey, J.A. Rogers, Maulana Karenga)
Gamers: Include folks who hustel in a variety of guises, and who seize the metaphor of gaming, to explain and extend the trickstering tradition in black culture (Booker T. Washington, Sean Combs).
Gospelers: Represent the spiritual renewal and religious vitality of black culture (Mahalia Jackson, T.D. Jakes, Yolanda Adams)
Gentries: Black aristocrats, black elite, who embody the ideals, norms, behavior and performance of proper society.
Gayz: Challenge the monolithic conception of black identity while forging solidarity in the fight against the terrors of race and class (James Baldwin, E. Lynn Harris).
Like I said, interesting.
Dyson's a pretty compelling orator, so go listen to his speech on Democracy Now, instead of reading this one.
Labels: 52 Books
posted by The Generalist at 11:35 PM
3 Comments:
dyson is generalizing and catagorizing... *smh* and instead of attempting to solve an actual problem (that Bill Cosby targeted - in a poor manner, but a problem nonetheless) he just attacks cosby's character and "realness"...
I can't say that anything Dyson has written has "filled" me up. It takes a Special BOOK to do that for me. Unfortunately Dyson's sometimes gross generalizations hinder what could potentially be impressive works...maybe not impressive...
I suddenly have this urge for a Puddin Pop! I guess Cosby was right.
In general, Dyson embodies all that I dislike in Academia as a matter of how he seems to pump out a book in a month just in time to cash in on a current event without giving any real thought to what he is saying. He is an entertainer, nothing more nothing less. His speeches are fun in that they rhyme, he speaks fast, and he good with voice inflection--in short, he is a lively speaker. But other than that, what is he really saying?! I feel like he is one of many who are great entertainers but ought not be known for their brillance, because frankly, there is none. Unfortunately, this has become the face & stereotype of African American Studies Programs. Now, some will say, "but if it gets people to read, then who cares, people are educating themselves." WRONG. People are stupidifying (damn right I made that word up) themselves because many will buy the argument at face value and in a sense will go into the world to parrot back whatever they read in one of his books. Now, you might say "How is it different from people parroting other books?" I would argue that no one is going around picking up one of Gerald Early's books who isn't a reader and accustome to analyzing arguments and engaging in crtical thinking. All that to say, Dyson among others is full of hot air and more interested in the cash than actually engaging people in critical thinking. And for those of you ready to cry "but we live in a captilist society," I have two words for you -- social responsibility.
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