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Rambunctious Debate on
Black Literature - - Smut or Literature - - at Book Expo
 Book
Expo America’s
town hall meeting at the Washington Convention Center on what Black
people are reading versus what they should be reading turned into a
rambunctious, passionate debate. The meeting billed as “Their Eyes Were Watching Smut”
pitted traditionalists versus those who write and promote hip-hop
influenced, sometimes self-published books categorized as urban fiction
or street literature.
Ida Jones, Port of Harlem
book reviewer attended the event and recalled that the audience gave
much thunder to one lady who said she was raised in a
middle-class family, but has a cousin named “Ray-Ray” who is in and out
jail. Jones recalled her adding, “we all have a cousin Ray,
Ray that we have to acknowledge.” Jones reasoned, “That how she
justified inc luding street
literature in our diet of reading
choices.” On the other end of the debate,
Jones recalled another
lady declaring, “We all have a voice and we all can sing, but we should
not all cut a record!”
About 4 of every 10 of the participants were male.
Some traditional publishing houses
are now publishing works by
such
artists as Nikki Turner, author of The
Hustler’s Wife and Project
Chick. After the book expo, Jones received a review copy
of Thug-A-Licious from Random
House. Jones, who also has a piece in the upcoming National
Geographic Society’s Legacy:
Treasures of Black History, added, “The difference between Black and White
literature is that they have the same dirt, but they have never let it
become their mainstream voice.”
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