The Ten Best Black Books Of 2006: Revisiting A Banner Year For Black Writers
By Kam Williams
2006 turned out to be an explosive, coming-of-age year for African American writers of non-fiction. Proof for me was that there were so many phenomenal texts to choose from when compiling this list that I found it quite a challenge to settle on the final ten. What’s probably most interesting about the authors who did win is that half of them are relative unknowns, either self-published or associated with modest-sized book companies.
Displaying a variety of unique voices and covering a wide spectrum of subject-matter, the only thing that these gifted craftsmen have in common is an unbridled passion and a soul still intact. For they are able to express themselves on paper in a recognizably Black, and larger-than-life fashion, doing with words what Aretha can do with her voice, and what Coltrane could do with his horn.

 

1) Diary of a Lost Girl by Kola Boof
This alternately heartbreaking and brutally-honest autobiography is not only my top pick of 2006, but just might be the most brilliant deconstruction of the plight of present-day African Americans yet written. Born in the Sudan in March of 1972, she was orphaned at the age of seven after her parents were murdered for speaking out against the government’s involvement in the revival of the slave trade. After being abandoned by her grandmother for being too dark-skinned, Kola eventually found her way to the United States where she was adopted by a kindly African-American couple with a big family. Diary of a Lost Girl is a welcome addition to the genre of African American memoir.

 

2) Deconstructing Tyrone:A New Look at Black Masculinity in the Hip-Hop Generation by Natalie Hopkinson & Natalie Y. Moore
A superb, thorough, and intellectually-honest examination of the latter-day African American male. Leaving no stone unturned, the co-authors assess how such phenomena as homophobia, the incarceration rate, brothers on the down-low, abandonment by baby-daddies, gangsta’ rap’s influuence, academic underachievement and underemployment have contributed to what they see as an unfortunate schism between brothers and sisters. The fundamental question the book raises repeatedly, but in a myriad of ways, is “How can you love your culture, hip-hop, but love yourself, too?”

 

3) Not in My Family: AIDS in the African-American Family; edited by Gil L. Robertson, IV
This urgent, informative and groundbreaking book takes AIDS out of the inner-city closet by initiating an intelligent dialogue designed to shake both brothers and sisters out of their complacency and thereby inspire everyone to action. Among the sixty or so contributors to this timely text are entertainers, physicians, AIDS activists, ministers, best-selling authors, and Congressmen. But just as moving as the clarion call sounded by any of these celebs, are the heartfelt stories related by ordinary folks without any pedigree. Not in My Family is a must read, not merely as a heart-wrenching collection of moving AIDS memoirs, but because it serves to kickstart candid dialogue about an array of pressing, collateral topics.

 

4) White Men Can't Hump (As Good As Black Men): Race & Sex in America, Volumes I & II by Todd Wooten
Not only can’t white men jump, but they apparently can’t hump either, at least according to Todd Wooten, a Marine-turned-self-appointed expert on mating habits across the color line. To his credit, the sagacious, salacious sex historian makes up for his lack of credentials with an infectious enthusiasm for his material and a colorful ability to turn a phrase. Taking no prisoners, the author is an equal-opportunity offender, and an admirable in his effort to close the human divide by addressing a litany of uncomfortable issues with the goal of eradicating both intolerance and underachievement. The book rests on the basic premise that the legacy of slavery has left Black males both devalued and blamed for their collective lower station in life.

 

5) The Covenant with Black America; edited by Tavis Smiley
Every February, talk show host Tavis Smiley has convened some of the most brilliant Black minds around to assess the State of the Black Union. Now, he has come up with a blueprint addressing the most critical issues confronting the African American community. The Covenant with Black America amounts to an exhaustive, encyclopedic assault on the litany of woes presently plaguing African Americans. What makes this treatise unique is the plethora of practical guidance it provides in terms of the undoing the persisting inequalities. This inclusive, optimistic opus ought to inspire anyone who reads it to get involved personally, and to lend their talents to the eradication of the seemingly intractable impediments to Black progress.

 

6) Mixed My Life in Black and White by Angela Nissel
Brutally honest in tone, Angela Nissel’s heartbreaking tale begins when she was abandoned at an early age by her Jewish father to be raised alone in West Philadelphia by her African American mother, Gwen. Unfortunately, for Angela, this meant that she had to grow up fast during her formative years, negotiating her way in a community where many challenged her Blackness because she was not only light-skinned, but half-white. Mixed graphically relates her battle with depression and suicidal tendencies, her stint as a stripper, and her being threatened with a gun by a neighbor. It’s a minor miracle this survivor is still with us, let alone flourishing, having finally found both the man and job of her dreams.

 

7) Getting It Wrong - How Black Public Intellectuals Are Failing Black America by Algernon Austin
The author’s primary contention, here, is that ivory tower Blacks, who have lost touch with the community, now feel comfortable indicting less fortunate Black folks they left behind for exhibiting symptoms simply long-associated with poverty. Such blaming of the victims is destructive, Austin suggests, because it relies on a stereotyping which makes it convenient for Middle America to see skin color rather than a racist, exploitative economy as the explanation for the plight of the least of their brethren. Getting It Wrong is an excellent opus in that it deliberately deconstructs the unfair and color-coded stereotypes which the both the Black bourgeoisie and the white mainstream culture have come to resort to when referring to African American ghetto-dwellers.

 

8) Letters to a Young Brother: Manifest Your Destiny by Hill Harper
All indications are that the black male is currently in crisis. For this reason, Hill Harper, star of CBS-TV’s CSI: NY, was inspired to publish Letters to a Young Brother, a priceless, no-nonsense, step-by-step guide out of the ghetto, pro
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vided it reaches a pair of receptive ears with a support team prepared to help him achieve his dream. The salient message being delivered by this how-to primer is that education is power, that material possessions do not ensure happiness, and that it’s important to be the architect of your own life.

 

9) Black Cops Against Brutality: A Crisis Action Plan by DeLacy Davis
The book is an invaluable police encounter survival guide, for it offers plenty of sound advice on how to handle the situation, if you are unlucky enough to get detained by a cop for whatever reason. Obviously, as a recently-retired, veteran police officer, the author has some sage insights to share, such as to remain calm, roll down your car window, turn on the ceiling light and keep both hands on the wheel during a motor vehicle stop. He also lets you know how to handle the situation when the authorities arrive at your door, whether with or without a warrant, or if they simply begin questioning you right on the street. Because the author sees the issue as a nationwide crisis, he stresses the need to develop strategies for eradicating police brutality once and for all. Overall, this arrives readily recommended as a legally-sound, morally-upright and most practical guide by a brother who breaks the blue wall of silence to help hip the people about how to deal with the criminal justice system most effectively.

 

10) Lynched by Corporate America - The Gripping True Story of How One African-American Survived Doing Business with a Fortune 500 Giant by Herman Malone and Robert Schwab
In 1969, shortly after being honorably discharged by the Air Force, Herman Malone returned to his hometown of Camden, Arkansas. One evening soon thereafter, the 21 year-old vet was profile-stopped by two white cops who took him for a ride during which they warned that he might find himself floating dead in the swamp if he didn’t leave town immediately.
That’s how he ended up in Denver where he started RMES Communica-tions, Inc. By 1990, RMES was flourishing as an approved vendor for US West. At this juncture, it looked like happily-ever-after for Herman and his family. But unfortunately, their version of the American Dream soon turned into a neverending nightmare when a new CEO took control of US West a couple of years later. The new chairman systematically began backing out of its established agreements with black-owned businesses. So, the suddenly-disenfranchised African-Americans filed a class action suit alleging racial discrimination against the Fortune 500 mega-corp.
As an attorney, I found this cautionary tale about the justice system rather riveting. Mr. Malone makes a very convincing argument that a combination of racism and a judicial kowtowing to corporate interests played a significant role in the resolution of the case. While discouraging, this should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the age-old legal maxim well-known to lawyers, “In the halls of justice, the only justice is in the halls.