Reading While Black

Concrete Loop featured Emily King as an artist to watch for and when I heard her sing I was blown away. I’m in love with any music that combines jazz,soul and r&b (hence my love for Amy Winehouse and Esthero), and her album East Side Story is no joke. It dropped on Tuesday so go check it out.

Monica and Roslyn’s tete-a-tete over at Bam’s blog got my motor running. My brain pieced together bits and pieces of what I wanted to say, but it wasn’t until I read the post that it formed into a somewhat coherent ramble. I’m a pretty big Hitchcock fan, and after indulging in an impromptu marathon of his films, in particularly Marnie, I was struck by a scene wherein Marnie (Tippi Hedren) and Mark (Sean Connery) walk into a restaurant for a cup of coffee. It had never hit me before now, but I was silenced and thoughtful by the fact that in 1964 (when the movie was released), a black man and woman couldn’t have just waltzed into the place, sat down and expected a meal served by a cheerful waitress. Even when watching Casablanca for the first time (not a Hitchcock film, I know, it was rented with his films), I realized that in all of the suspenseful espionage romances like Casablanca or Notorious, there are no black people. And in fact, to this day, black people are never featured as stars of WWII-set romantic movies.

In history we’re taught very little of the contributions of minorities to historical events outside of a few touches on the “Indian Wars” of the 1870s, the footnote that is Crispus Attucks, and the Civil Rights Movement (and a few even mention Cesar Chavez!!). Because of this, most people–blacks included–think that pre-1960s, life for the black American was all bad. There isn’t anyone telling little black kids that we were cowboys, that we fought in major wars, that heck, there were African-American cryptologists working for the CIA in WWII!! And you wonder why black people tend to lack the type of soaring imagination and sense of wonder their white counterparts indulge in spades. The absence of blacks in mainstream history, among other minorities, not only spits in the faces of their many, many tremendous achievements for this country, but basically tells blacks and other minorities that we’re just footnotes in history, that we played no role in shaping the US, that we had no voices.

On the flip side, when minority-American history is spoken of, it’s always the negative, the product of White Guilt. Okay…slavery was bad, raping Native Americans of their land was bad, forcing the Chinese to work railroads and then wanting them to get out once the job was done was bad–but what about the fact that there were educated and wealthy blacks living in the North before the Civil War and after it? Why don’t aren’t black senators and representatives of the Restoration era in our history books? Why are those black cryptologists not even a footnote in history(I only stumbled upon it while Googling “african-americans wwii”)? Why, in Hollywood, is the history of blacks in films only focused on one or two things (Hattie McDaniel and Dorothy Dandridge)?

Edited: post at Racialicious goes hand in hand with the subject of this post.

Diana, Princess of Wales died at age 36. Perhaps it’s because we share the same birthday, but for some reason, when I saw the news report that she was dead, I was very upset. I don’t know why my mother and I were up late that early morning of August 31, 1997, but we were, and the TV was on. I’ll never forget turning to the screen to watch the anchorwoman report on the accident that claimed Diana’s life. It’s a bit harrowing to hear and see the grief from those following the procession, but if you are so inclined, a user on YouTube has the entire funeral here.

Apparently, during a q&a session at a law firm about the do’s and don’ts of corporate fashion, a Glamour Magazine editor nixed such “political” hairstyles such as afros and dreadlocks.

First slide up: an African American woman sporting an Afro. A real no-no, announced the ‘Glamour’ editor to the 40 or so lawyers in the room. As for dreadlocks: How truly dreadful! The style maven said it was ’shocking’ that some people still think it ‘appropriate’ to wear those hairstyles at the office. ‘No offense,’ she sniffed, but those ‘political’ hairstyles really have to go. [Source]

After years of killing my hair with chemicals to fit the standards of beauty when it comes to hair, I have to give a serious “what the hell!?”. I used to dread the end of each month, when the half-inch to inch of new growth sprang from my scalp, contrasting starkly against my lye-relaxed ends. Squirming in my seat as my mother painstakingly slathered first Just For Me, and later, when kiddie perms stopped working, the professional Revlon relaxer on my hair, my scalp burning and itching, the edges of my hair practically sizzling beneath the chemical. It was either that or a visit with the hot comb–sizzling grease and the fear of being burnt if I even moved an inch. And as I grew older, sitting in the chair for 9+ hours as my hair was braided, my scalp already tender from perms, grown even more tender from the grabbing and tugging and pulling of my hair to manipulate it into the 100% kanekalon that came at $2.99 a pack. A brief stop over with weaves made me vow to never touch them again when the absence of new-growth was attacked with even more vigilance for fear that it would look as though I wore a weave–too much work. I’ve tried wigs, rocking my hair natural, letting it take a break from chemicals, beneath the cap–and for a person tired of dealing with her hair, it was a relief to just cornrow my hair and throw a wig on everyday. Finally I said forget it and went to a stylist. Turns out I have three different grades of hair on my head, all growing in different directions. o.O How fun.

For a Glamour editor to call an afro or dreadlocks political is the result of privilege of being able to get up, take a shower and let their hair air dry. To walk into a beauty supply store and just pick up a few items and go instead of mixing and experimenting with tons of different products that fail to recognize that for black hair, one size does not fit all. Of not being seen as unattractive if they decided to let their hair grow out(ya know…a lack of that “pesky” new-growth), etc. I’m wearing my hair curly (riotous curls), so if anyone is offended by my “political hair”, screw that.

“As I was reading the comments, I thought to myself that my natural hair is political. It is my way of saying that I am tired of chemical burns and paying to much money to some hair salon. I am tired of trying to fit someone else’s beauty standard and I have decided to make my own. Plus, my hair has never been more healthy.” –BGWQLC

The Professional Prejudice @ AfroBella

Before commencing with the interview, I asked Nadina about her unique heritage. According to Nadina, “I’m perfectly happy being referred to as Arab, and this is what you should probably use for the purposes of the interview (it’s similar to ‘Latina’ or ‘hispanic’ and I’m certainly proud of my Arab heritage), but I am most precisely, Palestinian-Canadian, not Lebanese, and the reason for that is the abject treament of the Lebanese government of the Palestinian refugees who flooded Lebanon after the creation of the Israeli state in 1948. We never recieved citizenship, even now that there are fourth generation Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon, with nothing more than refugee status! It’s not an easy situation to explain, but you can stick with ‘Palestinian’, ‘Lebanese with Palestinian roots’ or ‘Arab’.“

1. How long have you been published?

Fashionably Late is my first novel, so I’ve only been published since June of this year.

2. How do you feel your heritage has shaped your writing and outlook on the genre in which you write (themes, characters, settings, etc)?

My heritage has had a huge impact on my writing and has lent it the kind of authenticity sought after by agents and publishers. I don’t think that multicultural writing in the Western world is anything new, it’s just nice to see how mainstream it has become in the past few years. This opens doors for authors such as myself and adds some much-needed perspective in commercial fiction. Aline Hallaby, the main character in Fashionably Late is a thoroughly assimilated Lebanese-Canadian chick, but she still has to walk that line between living her own life, a very western notion, and duty to her parents, who’ve sacrificed so much to get her to where she is. I also really enjoyed including other characters who share Aline’s ethnic background but who have very different ways of dealing with their ethnicity: Yasmin is only Lebanese in name and no longer identifies with her roots at all, while Sophie comes from a very progressive Lebanese Christian family (Ali is Muslim). The Arab world is so rich and layered that it’s hard, as an author, not to find material and inspiration in it.

3. While you are obviously proud of your heritage, do you feel an “ethnic” moniker can hinder your ability to reach a wider range of readers?

This is a very debated topic – almost as debated as the whole ‘chick lit’ thing (as in, does a pastel cover help or hinder a woman’s writing career, and why is she being marketed as a female novelist in the first place, not just a novelist?)

My personal answer is that the marketing department at my publishing house knows best! I do think that anything you can do to differentiate yourself from the mass of books out there is good, and if you look at my novel, it has not been overly marketed as an ‘Arab’ book for ‘Arab’ readers anymore than Khaled Hosseini’s Kite Runner is for South Asian readers. People enjoy reading new perspectives (just as I adore Indian and Latina chick lit, and as many books about far-off places I can get my hands on) will enjoy Fashionably Late, and will identify with it just as I identified with Terry McMillan’s How Stella Got Her Groove Back even though I’m not a divorced black woman having an affair with a man half my age. I think that a person closed to different, fresh perspectives might not enjoy Fashionably Late, so maybe it’s just as well that I’m identified as an ‘ethnic’ writer.

4. What is your reaction when a non-Arab writes a successful novel featuring characters of your ethnicity/heritage?

I haven’t seen any yet! I have an advantage in this field in that Arab-American characters in commercial fiction are still extremely rare. Probably because of the political climate, and perhaps because it might seem coldly flippant to treat the very serious topic of being Arab-American today in the light tone of commercial fiction. I do not think there are many non-Arabs out there that would choose to write about Arab characters unless they were somehow immersed in the culture – either through living in the Middle East for a while, or through a family or work connection. If it’s well done, nuanced, multi-layered and above all, honest, I have no problem with it. Quite the opposite, I would love to see more positive books about Arab-Americans out there.

5. Have you, at any point in your publishing career, felt marginalized by your heritage?

Absolutely not, but my publishing career is still very young, so maybe you should ask me again in a few years!

6. How have you or your books been marketed? Has the content of your books enabled you to market them towards a mainstream audience?

Because Arab-Americans, like Americans with Greek or Asian heritages for example, are not a recognized marketing sub-group unto their own (unlike say Hispanics or African-Americans), it wouldn’t make business sense to market Fashionably Late only to Arab-Americans and Canadians. Also, Fashionably Late was written with a broader audience in mind (much like, I suspect Terry McMillan and Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez or Mary Castillo’s books) so not marketing the novel to a broader audience would have been a bad idea. That being said, I did take extra steps to bring Fashionable Late to the attention of the Arab-American and Canadian communities, just to raise awareness that a novel about our immigrant experience with North America now exists in national, commercial fiction, where in the past, only literary novels (like Diana Abu Jaber’s for example) dealt with that topic.

7. Do you feel that you are required, whether due to external or internal opinions, to write characters sharing your ethnicity?

To be honest, yes. That’s not to say I can’t or won’t write about different ethnicities – in fact, I consider myself a ‘citizen of the world’ and having lived in such culturally mixed places like Saudi Arabia, Montreal, and the Cayman Islands where you rub shoulders with South Africans, Greeks, Italians, Jamaicans, English, Kiwis, Cubans, Hondurans, etc on a regular basis, I look forward to including a rainbow of cultures in my writing. But, I do feel a responsibility to write primarily about the Arab experience for now because a) we’re so misunderstood in North America , where negative portrayals of us fueled by ignorance and misplaced fear run rampant, and b) I love writing about the Arab culture. It’s really interesting to me, and with all our issues, the conflicts in my novels just write themselves! As long as I can still write a fresh story with Arab-American/Canadian characters in it, I’ll do it!

Visit Nadine at NadinaDajani.com!