Who says Black folks don’t read books? They never visited the Harlem Book Fair.
Book sellers, book lovers, authors, publishers, agents, and the just plain curious will all descend on 135th Street and Malcolm X Boulevard this weekend for the 6th annual festival. There will also be a full day of panel discussions on a variety of literary topics.
It’s the largest book fair of its kind and is expected to draw more than 40,000 people. There will be 250 booths, plus storytellers, spoken word poets and opportunities to meet and greet some of your favorite authors. It runs from 12 pm to 7 pm.
Today in New York, it is Poem in Your Pocket Day. Everyone is invited to carry their favorite poem with them to share with friends and family. Ronn ran with the concept and has encouraged bloggers to post poems on their sites.
Now, Ive never been that much of a poetry buff but was actually quite surprised to find I had so much to choose from around the house. Sticking with my personal interests as expressed on this blog, here are a couple I found interesting.
Brothers loving brothers
Vega
Brother to Brother: New Writings by Black Gay Men 1991
Respect yourself, my brother,
for we are so many wondrous things.
Like a black rose,
you are a rarity to be found.
Our leaves intertwine as I reach out to you
after the release of a gentle rain.
You precious gem,
black pearl that warms the heart,
symbol of ageless wisdom,
I derive strength
from the touch of your hand.
Our lives blend together
like rays of light;
we are men of color,
adorned in shades of tan, red,
beige, black, and brown.
Brothers born from the same earth womb.
Brothers reaching for the same star.
Love me as your equal.
Love me, brother to brother.
Telephone Booth Number 507
Pedro Pietri
Aloud: Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Cafe 1994
I will jump out the window
if thats what it takes
to satisfy you sexually,
but only if you live in the
basement
The Revolution Was Postponed Because of Rain
David Allen
Aloud: Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Cafe 1994
The underlying
immediate
political
socio-economic
and trigger mechanism causes
were all in place when
some nee-gro or the other got hungry
had to stop at the McDonalds
had to get on the line
with the new trainee cashier
uhh, wheres the button for the fries?
so we missed the bus
Then the leader couldnt find his keys
didnt want some poor ass moving
his brand new 20 and VCR
out his living room on the shoulders.
It was too late when the locksmith came
Then our demo expert Willie Blew got arrested
came out with his head hanging under his hoody
Didnt know they started doing that
for jumping the turnstiles, he said.
How many times must we tell you–
dont get caught.
we voted against shootin him on the spot
In the winter we were all depressed
so we leaned our guns against the sofas
and listened instead to Tim Tim Tiree
singing about his dysfunctions:
Sometimes I wonder if ahll ever be free
free of the sins of my brutish daddee
Like the cheating, the stealing, the drinking, and the beating…
The weatherman said the 17th would be sunshine
and it wouldnt be too hot–
Tim Tim Tiree doesnt like sweatin
but that night the weatherman came on crying
saying he didnt control the weather
that God was real
that hes lucky He, God, didnt strike him, the weatherman, with lightning
for taking the credit sometimes
and that he, the weatherman, was in no way responsible
for the hurricane coming
and that we, the viewers, should
pray Jesus into our hearts
before it was too late
Superbowl Sunday was out
all the women wanted
to see the game
and the men were pissed
at their insensitivity
The 20th was supposed to be a definite
we looked for some Bastille to storm
didnt find any
settled on the armory instead
before they moved the homeless in
Well bum-rush it anyway, i said
It smells like a collection
of a thousand farts in there, they said
So we waited for the approval of the city
contract to build a Bastille
which set the revolution back five years.
Peace wanted to start the revolution on Tuesday
She was in a pissed-off mood
her tax return didnt come in time for the rent
But they showed the We Are the World video
on cable that evening
and we all held hands
and cried to stop from laughing
and our anger subsided
Looking back, it couldve been a plot
but there are more substantive plots to expose
than the We Are the World conspiracy
Now we wait for the rain to stop
All forces on the alert
some in Brooklyn basements
packed in between booming speakers
listening to Shabba Ranks and Arrested Development
bogling and doing the east coast stomp
gargling with Bacardi and Brown Cow
breaking that monotony with slow movements–
slow, hip-grinding movements
with the men breathing in the womens ears to
Earth Wind & Fires Reasons
and wondering what the weather will be like
next weekend.
Give a black gay man a condom, and he is safe for one night; teach him how to love himself and you keep him safe for life.
– Marvin K. White
This simple statement sums up the challenge facing the Black community and specifically Black gay men as the HIV/AIDS epidemic enters midway of its second decade. Safe sex messages crafted over the past twenty years are either falling on deaf ears or met with ambivalence, while infection rates continue to creep steadily upward.
Into this mix comes a new call to arms. Think Again is a concise collection of essays by a cross section and geographically diverse group of Black gay men that asks readers to look beyond data and simplistic messages, to understand the reasons why Black men who practice same sex desire continue to put themselves at risk.
A bicoastal collaboration between the New York State Black Gay Network and AIDS Project Los Angeles, this is less a book to be read for entertainment, and more for enlightenment and further discussion.
Issues of sexual/emotional desire and the need to love and be loved as they influence risk-taking are addressed head on. G. Winston James highly provocative story John about one man’s desperate attempt to satisfy his sexual needs with a hustler, points out the duel feelings of shame and longing.
Khary Polk’s Love and Basketball questions the effectiveness of existing prevention messages as they relate to the audiences they seek to reach. Limited in the range of options they offer, they are similarly limited in their definitions of manhood and masculinity as they pertain to how Black men define themselves.
Talking about sex more openly and truly understanding the thought processes that lead us to our sexual encounters is the basis for Kevin Quashie’s essay Everyday Sex. He contends all of our sexual acts are choices and decisions we make and often related to the other things we do as we interact.
This book is not for sale, but rather is being given away quite freely so as to engage people in as many places as possible. It comes with no instructions beyond its title. Think again.
Who says Black folks don’t read books? They never visited the Harlem Book Fair.