Category: Books

Reviewed by Virginia D. Hudson

Oh, to be different.

That’s what Pecola Breedlove wants in Toni Morrison’s novel, The Bluest Eye. This 206-page novel allows the reader to enter the mind and thoughts of an eleven-year-old black child that has experienced neither the acceptance of the outside world nor the love of a parent or a friend. Instead, she encounters prejudice. Because even at a young age, Pecola believes that being accepted in society means to be measured according to the beauty myth: blonde hair and blue eyes.

Each night, without fail, she prayed for blue eyes. Fervently, for a year she had prayed. Although somewhat discouraged, she was not without hope. To have something as wonderful as that happen would take a long, long time. Thrown, in this way, into the binding conviction that only a miracle could relieve her, she would never know her beauty. She would see only what there was to see: the eyes of other people.

The Bluest Eye was the first novel written by Morrison in 1970. Set in the Pulitzer Prize winning author’s childhood hometown of Lorain, Ohio, the novel traces two families – The Breedloves and the MacTeers. Throughout the short novel the author tackles issues of class, racism, incest, poverty and domestic violence. While the sisters in the MacTeer family attempt to resist the trap of racism, the Breedlove’s, in particular Pecola and her mother, seem to be trapped by it. We learn that Pecola’s mother suffers from the same undercurrent of racism that defines the acceptable standard of beauty. It is also revealed that Pecola is impregnated by her alcoholic father and a victim of her mother’s misplaced anger. Morrison’s work evokes an array of emotions – most notably a lingering sadness, at the life of this young girl as she drifts deeper and deeper into a mental abyss.

But just as the reader sinks into the pace of the novel, Morrison changes the tempo as if to keep you on your toes. Despite the shift in tone, Morrison writes prose so rich that it leaves you thirsty. Drink up. M

February 2002

By Virginia D. Hudson

On a brisk but mild New York weekday, actress Tamara Tunie is in the midst of heading 3,000 miles away to the West Coast. As she prepares for her trip, life is good. A seasoned actress, Tunie’s career spans across film, television and theater. Many will recognize her from her work in films like, “The Caveman’s Valentine,”

“The Devil’s Advocate” or portraying Lt. Fancy’s wife on television’s NYPD Blue, not to mention her ongoing role on the long-running daytime soap opera, As the World Turns. But it’s not those roles that are making critics’ mouths wag. It’s her recurring role on NBC’s hit drama, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (SVU), where she portrays the calm and cool medical examiner. “It’s great,” she says with enthusiasm. Initially her role began with a single episode, but three seasons later, as Tunie puts it, the role turned “into a regular gig.”

As one of hottest primetime series created by Dick Wolf, every Friday night on SVU, audiences can see Tunie in her coveted role as the M.E. uncovering the medical clues used by the detectives of the Special Victims Unit of the New York Police Department to help solve deadly crimes. “Dick Wolf is the emperor of New York City,” says Tunie. Tunie credits Wolf for employing many actors – New York actors. Wolf’s highly successful shows, Law & Order, Law &Order: SVU and Law & Order: Criminal Intent are triple threats and have added a new dynamic to television police dramas.

As an African-American actress with many roles from the big and small screen under her belt, finding strong roles can be a challenge. “I believe I can do anything,” Tunie says. The actress says good scripts, an interesting role where the character “hooks her,” and the director – especially if s/he is somebody she has a desire to work with are what influences her to accept a role.

Speaking by telephone, it’s easy to hear why Tunie is in high demand to narrate films and numerous documentaries. It’s her smooth melodic voice that told the tale in “Eve’s Bayou.” She recently narrated an independent film by a group of young filmmakers about the city’s welfare-to-work program, workfare. Tunie says that after viewing a portion of the film, she knew she wanted to do it. “I practically did it for free, but I believed in this [film].”

But it sounds as if Tunie’s toughest role is about to happen – that of a juggling act. She is off to Los Angeles to film several episodes of 24, Fox’s new primetime series. Without giving too much away about her character, Tunie says, “I give the orders. I love giving orders!” she laughs. But while she pulls triple duty on both coasts – acting on Law & Order: SVU and As the World Turns in New York and 24 in Los Angeles, the talented actress accepts the challenge with ease. “I consider myself truly blessed. I consider myself really lucky, juggling three things at one time. I could complain about it, but it’s a good position to be in.” M

January 2002

By Carla D. Robinson

Tony Medina is a political poet. There was a time in popular culture, not long enough ago, when to call a man such a thing was nearly profane. But thanks to the persistence of artists like Medina, the personal as political is regaining ground.

Last September, many of us lost a great deal, but there’s no question that as a nation we gained something, too. Although we may bemoan being forced to take our collective head out of the sand, Medina is here to make sure we consider the gift of insight that came alongside the pain, to see that we turn that insight into the greatest gift of all, compassion.

Medina, a product of the 1960’s South Bronx, fights against the marginalization of those who use language to hold a mirror to society.

As he explained in an interview, “On one hand, you have the dominance of the MFA program in the academy mass producing poets that are writing stale, stagnant, imitation white poetry. Then you have the circus show atmosphere of the mundane and mediocre coming out of the so-called spoken word and Slam scene.”

Medina believes there needs to be a place for poets, particularly of color, “who have something to say.” To that end, he co-edited (with fellow poet/essayist Louis Reyes Rivera) a new collection called Bum Rush the Page: A Def Poetry Jam.

In Bum Rush, Medina writes that in the Slam arena, “poetry is not what matters, but performance.” His stance on Slam is controversial, but, for Medina, in the beginning was the Word. Not spoken, but written.

In the ninth grade, Daniel Keyes’ Flowers for Algernon lured Medina into the world of fiction. “It was through fiction that I fell in love with literature and said I wanted to be a writer,” he recalled. But when he began writing poetry three years later, he moved away from fiction. “I didn’t feel as secure about my fiction as I did my poetry, but what I didn’t know as a young writer about fiction, I learned in poetry and began applying what I learned in poetry in my fiction.”

Medina spends a good deal of his artistic life working with and creating for children. Three of his ten books are written for them. In the beautifully nostalgic DeShawn Days, his first children’s book, Medina includes an inspiring little epilogue that relates his journey to becoming a writer. He helps children consider the less fortunate in his second children’s book, Christmas Makes Me Think. “I want kids who are shaped to be materialistic and greedy to be a bit more sensitive to the unnecessary suffering their privileges bring to others. I want them to see how they are related to everyone on the planet.” His latest book, Love to Langston, is a series of biographical verses on the famous poet, written to give children “a fuller depiction of Langston’s complex and fascinating life.” Sharing words with children is but another way for Tony Medina to craft a better world. M

May 2002

by Ramona Prioleau

With the all-encompassing tragedy that was 9/11, the passing of one man who touched the lives of so many may have been overlooked. Then again, when that man launched the careers of some of today’s most vibrant wordsmiths and literary activists, the odds of that occurring were slim.

In January, literature’s Ras Baraka, Willie Perdomo, asha bandele, Kevin Powell, Tony Medina and others gathered to pay tribute to their friend and mentor, Glenn Thompson. While the event could have been somber, Glenn’s mentees made it a celebration because as independent publisher John McGregor noted, “Glenn sure did like to party.”

In fact, McGregor remembered meeting Thompson at New York’s Palladium where in between “cutting the rug,” Thompson took a moment to hawk his wares – books, books and more books.

That Thompson made his name in the literary world might come as a surprise to some who knew him as an adolescent. Having endured a difficult childhood, Thompson didn’t learn to read until age 12. Subsequently developing an insatiable appetite for the written word, Thompson went on to chart a career in publishing that included developing the For Beginners Series, Harlem River Press, Black Butterfly and Writers & Readers imprints. But not before he traveled near and far to visit the many places he read about. Even with his sojourns abroad, Thompson was a New Yorker that embraced the “do” aspect of his native Bed-Stuy.

Just shy of his 61st birthday, Glenn passed after a yearlong battle with cancer. More than many, his living was not in vain. Some of those he influenced were on hand on a brisk Sunday afternoon in January at Leloft, a performance space that doubles as hostess Sandrine’s bohemian abode. The gathering of Thompson contemporaries was generously sprinkled with the hip, neo-soul set. A crowd that blended the ‘fro and locked clique with the hot curl crowd, each variously adorned in kente, denim and all black. The crowd grooved to contemporary jazz splendidly performed by The Teodross Avery Group and viewed Renaldo’s artwork.

But the afternoon was about the Word. To pay homage to a man that dealt in the written word, Perdomo, bandele, Powell, Baraka and Medina captivated all with spoken words and rhymes that make their collective experiences so relevant. Not to be missed was Ras Baraka reading from the well-worn pages of his journal, reflecting that the world needs love and asking forthrightly whether there were any American poets present.

Before the crowd had fully absorbed the force of Baraka’s words, up sprang Perdomo to dazzle the throng with his brilliant smile, expressive gaze and high voltage linguistics that quickly acquainted everyone with the world that he so gallantly represents. Taking time to remark on New York’s recent history, Perdomo sounded the rat-tat-tat of “41 Bullets Off Broadway.” With the discomforting veracity of his words still in the air, Perdomo switched gears and waxed nostalgic in “Crazy Bunch Barbecue 1999,” in remembrance of an old timers’ day gathering of his childhood friends from Spanish Harlem.

Prior to reading from Absence in the Palms of My Hands (Harlem River Press), asha bandele took time to thank Thompson not only for publishing her critically-acclaimed first work, but also for “being a bridge for so many and laying a path so that others could achieve.” Anecdotes of days spent bonding with Thompson proteges while they shared their dreams of future success over Gray’s Papaya hotdog specials warmed the crowd. But it was bandele’s reading of her “Poem For Audre Lorde” and “The Subtle Art of Breathing” that captivated everyone with their themes of anguish and loss.

Praising Thompson for providing a literary outlet for established writers and up-and-coming talent, Powell lightened the mood when he read from and flashed the book jacket of his 1995 Recognize (Writers & Readers) that features Powell in a high top fade a la Kid ‘N Play. In addition to paying homage to Thompson, Powell took time to reflect on the passing of Tony Medina’s dad and read his recently penned “Rican and Soul” in Medina’s honor.

Passing the mic to Tony Medina to conclude the afternoon’s readings, Powell introduced him as the most prolific of the poets reading that day and jokingly referred to him as the funky, cold Medina. Keeping with Powell’s light tone, the usually reserved Medina humorously referred to himself as the “Taliban of Love” – an off-handed reference to his goatee, long hair and olive complexion. In his verse, though, Medina was seriously reflective, describing the surreal confluence of events during the fall of 2001 – the loss of his dad, the passing of a mentor and the devastation of his hometown. Medina took the crowd on an autobiographical journey, describing the matter-of-factness of his South Bronx birth and his coming to terms with his father’s death and its aftermath. Reading in a manner that blended heartfelt yearning and passion, Medina’s verse struck an emotional chord befitting the gathering.

While many could have rushed into the early evening blessed to have attended an event featuring some of the hottest New Jack and Jane poets, most left in awe of a man that touched so many and strived so valiantly to spread the written word. M

February 2002