In the opening essay of “Speak My Name,” titled, “How Does It Feel To Be A Problem?” novelist Trey Ellis recounts this joke by the comedian Franklin Ajaye:
I was walking down the street last night and this old white couple kept looking back at me like I was going to rob them — so I did.”
Ajaye cleverly captures how images of Black masculinity are part of the white imagination. Historically, Black men have fought against racist stereotypes. They have also come to realize their own power. This is evident in Ajaye’s humor as well as Don Belton’s new anthology, which features the work of a number of established Black male writers and several refreshing new discoveries.
This new anthology can serve as a companion volume to recent books which celebrate the Million Man March of last October. It is not as comprehensive as “Brotherman: The Odyssey of Black Men in America,” edited by Herb Boyd and Robert Allen, but it rivals the more literary “Swing Low: Black Men Writing,” edited by Rebecca Carroll.
Yes, we are currently caught in the market promotion of the Black male. In fact, the 1995 Time magazine “Man of The Year” featuring Newt Gingrich should have been removed from the newsstands — 1995 was the year of the Black male! Images were everywhere, from the return of Michael Jordan, to Colin Powell, Mike Tyson, Louis Farrakhan, O.J. Simpson and Johnnie Cochran. Black men proved they were no longer invisible.
Words and Music
Black masculinity has built and shaped America. It is an old story which our fathers taught us; it is measured by their quiet dignity as well as their fears. What is heroic about “Speak My Name” is the fact that the contributors are men who decided to become writers. They all made the decision to use words instead of fists. They are writers shaped by the 1960s, like Arthur Flowers, who writes:
